[hider=Alberich Steinhäuser]
Name: Alberich Steinhäuser

Titles: Alberich is known by minor titles, although none noble due to his lower heritage. Many call him the Lumberjack Guard because of his twin axes, as well the way he made his living back in his village. The few survivors of the Dark Lord's assault on his village call him the Brave, a title gained from helping to fend off the various soldiers of the Dark Lord at the time of the assault.

Age: Alberich is a man well into his middle-aged years at an age of 32 years old.

Gender: Male

Race: Human

Appearance: 
Alberich is a rugged man, battered and scarred from his line of work as a village guard and a lumberjack. Not skinny by any means, he has a tall and muscular build, with a weight of 182lb (82kg) and a height of 6'1'' (2.11 meters). His blonde hair and mustache is usually kept unkempt, free-flowing despite its shortness. Alberich's eye color is considered brown, but they have more of a hazel tint to them.
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Typically, Alberich wears a simple set of clothing, nothing fancy and meant for everyday use. He wears thick leather boots that go up to his shin, and metal knee pads to protect his knees from possible injury during his job that requires a lot of heavy physical movement. The breeches he wears are a dark brown, dirty and covered in layers of saw dust and dirt while his shirt is a light blue, dyed from the various flowers that grew around his village.

In battle, Alberich wears a light set of guardsman armor consisting of reinforced leather with various bits of chainmail. The leather is cured from pig leather, shaped to fit Alberich's large frame. However, as to have free range of movement, he keeps a chainmail dress underneath the hardened leather to protect his joints such as his knees and elbows. For head protection, Alberich wears an old-fashioned kettle helm, which has kept him safe from a mighty number of arrows and particles dropped on his head.

Personality: Alberich was originally a happy-go-lucky man in contrast to the dark times that were going on. He and his friends would often fool around, joking about with Liebwin and Wolfram and complimenting the village ladies. When Wolfram had died, Alberich grew into a honest man after joining the village guard, which was an appealing trait to the tavernkeep's daughter. However, the slaughter of his family and friend has brought a cold feeling to Alberich, and he is no longer as merciful as he would've been years ago. Determined to achieve his goal, he won't let anyone stand in his way. 
 
Weapons:
Alberich wields a large battleaxe from his time in the village guard, kept sharpened and polished despite its age. At his hip lies his old and trusty wood-cutting ax, rough and rugged from chopping the thick bark of trees. Alberich also has a wooden shield painted with a white dragon on a teal background that he wields with the wood-cutting ax. While not his, he keeps the scratched shield as a token remembrance of the fallen Guard Captain he served with.

Skills/Magic: 
While Alberich lived as part of a lower social class, his family was rich enough to teach him how to read and write the native alphabet. He knows how to hunt and skin a beast, as well cook it. Horse riding is little a challenge to him, as the few village horses were either reserved for the farmers or the village guard. Alberich is capable of chopping wood evenly, and his viable knowledge of the various types of wood and wood cuts can help with campfires and construction.

During his time in the village guard, Alberich was taught how to handle many weapons such as the sword and spear. However, he wields none so masterfully as the battleaxe, his superb ability with the weapon trained over the years. Alberich knows how to put just the right amount of power behind a swing with an ax, and can be quite accurate with the accurate with the weapon due to cutting numerous pieces of wood. He can block with a shield, but Alberich often finds the large size of shields to slow him down in combat.

In terms of magic, Alberich has little ability in the arcane arts, if none at all. He considers the use of magic the work of the gods, and believes those that use the arcane are meddling where they should not. However, in these trying times, he would sooner prefer an arcanist (or any magic user) on his side over a coward who would run from the battlefield in the face of terror.

History:
Alberich was born to Helmut and Ishilde Steinhäuser, and was the product of a young marriage due to the short life expectancy where his village located. From his birth, Alberich's parents taught him everything they knew, from the arts of cooking to how to skin a beast. When his parents were busy, he would often go out and play “adventure” (a made-up game about fighting the Dark Lord) throughout the nearby forest with his friends, Liebwin Henninger and Wolfram Olbrich.

Sadly, by the time of Alberich's teenage years, Wolfram would fall victim to a boar in a hunting accident. To honor their time with Wolfram, Alberich and Liebwin joined the village guard when they came of age. If not fighting off the various countryside bandits and thugs created by Dark Lord's advance, Alberich would often be dealing with the tavern drunks alongside Liebwin. Around this time, Alberich fell in love with the tavernkeep's daughter, Linde Auernheimer, and the two of them would have a daughter by the name of Eike not long into their romance.

Alberich and Linde would live a relatively peaceful life despite the constant threat of the Dark Lord's forces quickly approaching various villages nearby, including their own. One day, a rider from the king rode into the village, giving the village mayor a list of supplies required to go to the king's men fighting the good fight against the Dark Lord's army. Knowing that the list would include men, Alberich left his post to stay home with his family and to help the ailing lumberjack of his village, Hilger Schottel, to produce the required arrow shafts and weapon hilts for the King's request while his friend, Liebwin, would be promoted to guard captain and sent off to the front lines.

A few years passed in silence, and Alberich made a quaint living supplying the king with his various requests. During these years, he would often write Liebwin, and Liebwin would write back to assure his childhood friend that he was not dead. Eventually, Liebwin's letters would no longer arrive, and a frantic Alberich grew worried for his friend. However, when Liebwin would ride into the village with a regiment of men-at-arms, Alberich's worries would not cease when he learned that the foe was right on the village's doorstep. Since Alberich was healthy and had knowledge in fighting, he was hurriedly placed in the village militia to fight alongside the soldiers while those unable to fight would be evacuated.

Yet, the evacuation order was not fast enough. A vicious pack of trolls supported with goblin and dark elven archers charged the village with the intent to raze the village. Many startled and surprised villagers and soldiers were slaughtered by the savage beast of a troll, fittingly named Trolgar, as he led the Dark Lord's forces through the village. Alberich and Liebwin would try their best at pushing the foe back and out of the village, but they could only look in true horror as Trolgar would keep them from reaching Linde and Eike, barbarically cutting the two cowering girls with a deranged laugh of his own.

Enraged, Alberich and Liebwin would charge the troll, even fighting Trolgar into a corner, but a cat backed into a corner is even more deadly. Their skill in arms would be quickly matched by Trolgar as he sliced a large gash in Liebwin's chest, felling him. Alberich would have quickly been next to fall under Trolgar's might, if he hadn't picked up Liebwin's shield and blocked Trolgar's wild swing. As Trolgar stumbled backwards, Alberich leaped with his axe, slicing off the troll's arm as a soldier would ring the village bell, ordering a retreat. Knowing that many would have their back turned to the now victorious foe, Alberich would quickly retreat yet with caution in case Trolgar would assault him once more. However something must have risen in the troll as Trolgar would only smirk at Alberich as he left the battlefield, the troll grinning as he held his bleeding stub of an arm. 

Now, Alberich wanders the land as a mercenary in search of the Dark Lord's forces, seeking to avenge his family and friend. The events of the village battle would replay over and over in Alberich's head, building determination in Alberich as he seeks to be the one to brutally finish off Trolgar just as the troll had slaughtered his loved ones during that fateful night. 
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