[hider=Ansgar]
[center][h2][u]Ansgar Staudinger[/u][/h2][/center]
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[center][img]https://i.pinimg.com/originals/47/0f/a8/470fa85dc51b974529cbcbb5688566d8.jpg[/img][/center]
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[b][u]Age:[/u][/b] 47

[b][u]Gender[/u][/b] Male

[b][u]Race:[/u][/b] Human
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[b][u]Personality[/u][/b]
Despite the trappings and appearance of, at times, Priesthood, at a casual conversation, Ansgar still comes off like his former bandit days. He tends towards bleak, gallows humor and speaking with sarcasm and disdain for nobility and generally anyone who was born into their station, seeing it as little more than glorified entitlement. He still knows the tricks and tools of the trade from back in his younger years, and has no qualms using them, which has created entertaining moments of a priest picking locks, or lifting something out of another thief's pocket to prove a point. And this suits Ansgar just fine, he much prefers that his peers see him as an uncouth, barely recivilized thug playing at being a pious man, it makes his job easier as far as he is concerned. He would march to war alongside soldiers and guards alike, sheparding them along and fighting as viciously, if not even more so, than they would.

Woe unto any who think that his faith is a sham, because Ansgar is earnest in that his newfound faith saved him from the Executioner's block (and giving his younger sister the satisfaction of outlasting him, and taking his head for that matter). Despite the crass warrior exterior, he is still a priest at heart, and always watching and considering his surroundings. Before, it was looking for ambushes and guards hunting his partners and him, now it was looking to those around him for what they truly were, and why they hid it. He wears his chains, once binding him, now a constant reminder of his past and how he rose above it. And may whomever attempts to mock him for such things be ready for the crude remark they will be getting in return. Though no matter how poorly he got along with someone, he will still give them their last rites and see them buried, commended to whatever gods they follow.

[b][u]History[/u][/b]
[hider]Born into the Imperium's middle class, Ansgar and his younger sister by two years, Reinhilde, were the children of an experienced soldier, retired due to his wartime injuries. As the elder child, Ansgar was expected to follow in his father's footsteps while his younger sister would be relegated to supporting or secondary roles, something that she resented greatly from the moment the idea was proposed. The siblings would spend a great deal of time sparring, the sister holding advantage in agility but still failing to beat him out more often than not due to being younger and having trained less than her brother, something she would resent for some time to come. But at the age of 16, Ansgar would volunteer for the Imperium's army, being assigned to a regiment and sent off to war with little ceremony, and within two years he would hear of his sister and her disappearance into the Imperium's army as well, told to keep an eye out for her.

Under the command of a noble with little regard for the lives of the men beneath him, only the results he got from the men before they passed on, he would find himself outliving his peers over and over again, things coming to a head shortly after his tenth year of service, when his request for leave to visit his ailing family was denied. In his rage, repressed and bottled over the long years, he murdered the noble in his fit of rage, the man's upbringing and fancy training no match for a soldier's steady hand honed by the harshest teacher of them all. After he realized what he had done, he quickly fled, only stopping to visit his parents one last time before fleeing into the wilds of Averland, where he would engage in banditry and raiding, using his military training and experience for his own gain.

Being twenty six when this started, Ansgar would spend several years preying on anyone that dared set foot outside the walled cities, contributing to the dangers and hostilities facing the nation through his own selfish greed, and lack of direction to do anything else. Things would not last forever, and despite doing well, he was tracked down by several bounty hunters, accompanied by a rather peculiar looking priest, dressed in mail and wielding a Dane axe as easily as a northern raider might. Backed into a corner, Ansgar would kill off the bounty hunters but find himself disarmed, wounded, and at the mercy of this warrior priest, who made him an offer. Take his second chance, and join the priest's brotherhood of repentant souls, or be taken back to the Imperium and tried for his crimes. The answer was rather obvious, even if he didn't believe in the whole priesthood nonsense.

Ansgar would spend several years studying and meditating, learning the prayers and history of the order of battle priests, not a single one of them were innocent and seeking redemption for their past actions. Despite his initial expectations, he found himself believing in this simple, but earnest faith and it gave him a core of strength he hadn't had since losing faith in the Imperium's army. Once he had found his faith, he was taught how to channel it into a weapon, whether it manifested through his weapon and armor or was launched with bolts of light to reach offenders from afar. With that, he would depart and roam the land, spending nearly thirteen years as one of the wandering warrior priests. He would hunt down criminals, assist hunting parties that targeted beasts that legitimately threatened the well being of the surrounding peoples, and even wander battlefields administering final rites to those that had been overlooked or defiled.

These wanderings and continued attempts at redeeming himself for his past actions gave Ansgar an insight into the world as it was turning into, and it was falling apart. Despite efforts to the contrary, the world was spiralling into ruin and decay, and it was unclear how any one man or woman could ever hope to stop it. This was when word of the a call to arms reached him, through a missive delivered to him from the order's main temple. He was chosen to depart immediately for the Devoured City of Venridge, and offer his services on behalf of the temple. Such an undertaking would not be easy, but things were never easy, far as Ansgar was concerned, so he would depart at once, with a single goal in mind. Reach Venridge, and figure out what needed to be done from there.[/hider]
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[b][u]Weapons[/u][/b]
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[*] Two handed Warhammer, it's blessing personally maintained by Ansgar.
[*] Dirk, tucked into a sheath that is firmly secured to his left leg.
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[b][u]Magic[/u][/b]
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[*] Healing Magic - Fueled by faith and learned to channel through his mentor in his early years as a priest, Ansgar is capable of mending torn flesh and broken bone, as well as purging illness and poison from the afflicted with enough time, meditation, and prayer.  Though in a pinch, he is perfectly handy with both splint and bandage, as well as remedies he picked up on during his banditry days, since walking into town and seeking a healer was not really an option for those like him at the time.
[*] Wrath - Unlike priests and healers that maintain oaths of pacifism and peace, Ansgar has learned to channel his faith into a weapon as sharp as any sword, and a shield as sturdy as any wall, if what he said would be believed. When necessary, he can channel his wrath into his combat abilities, war hammer glowing a hot white and, if the situation is desperate enough, emitting a corona of soulfire that would sear any that got too close, friend or foe. The undead are especially susceptible to such a display of power, lesser specimens being turned away at the sight, and often crumbling under a single blow. Of course, he cannot maintain such a state for long, due to how taxing it is on his body, but while he is channeling it, it gives him an edge that he may very well need.
[*] Ruin - A man can be as dangerous as he wants in a melee, but if he cannot reach his enemy, what good does all that skill and talent do them? Though Ansgar is still training himself in these techniques, he can launch bolts of light that blind and burn the flesh of those targeted by the attacks, with the added bonuses against the undead. While that is his only reliable attack at range, if the situation grows dire enough, an earnest prayer and incantation could, God willing, bless him with the means to bring down a column of power to smite a target, though this will leave him drained and unable to call upon any other abilities for some time.
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[b][u]Other[/u][/b]
His younger sister, [url=https://68.media.tumblr.com/90cced634f92e4dd2eacd7a0eb602c86/tumblr_ohb9xrXAt21tk8qrqo1_1280.jpg]Reinhilde Staudinger[/url], remains currently employed as an executioner for the Imperium. Ansgar has not had contact with her for over fifteen years, and has no intentions of rectifying that.

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[b][u]Post Example[/u][/b]
[b]"Staudinger! Grab your hammer, we've been had![/b]

Ansgar jumped out of his small bed, having been relaxing after the latest raid that had hit some Imperium convoy that had gone too far off the beaten path. It'd been too easy, he'd told them this, but they went for it anyways. Turned out to have a hefty amount of coin, far too much for how underguarded the convoy had been. He had planned to skip out the following day, had his things packed already and everything, but it seemed retribution had arrived before he could skip out on that meeting again. He got out of the crude wooden doorway they had put into the cave entrance in time to see the one who had raised the alarm run through by one of the hunters, and wasted no time bringing the hammer down on the offending hunter's head before he could pull his weapon free of the dead bandit. Wrenching the hammer clear of the dead bounty hunter, he still saw several others already approaching, some man wearing plate with a red collar unrolling a scroll and speaking loudly. [i]"By order of the Imperial Throne, you have been charged with murder of a superior, desertion, robbery, extortion, evasion of apprehension, and other crimes I need not list here. What say you?"[/i]

[color=598527]"To hell with you, your charges, and the Imperium, I stand by what I did. Let's get this over with, I want to get some sleep before finding someone else to rob, business has been rather lean lately."[/color] Ansgar didn't wait for the bounty hunters to encircle and strike from all sides, instead charging the far left flank of them first, a kid far too young to be in this line of work. He stumbled backwards, shield raised against the impending hammer blow which never came. Instead the blow came across his shins, shattering them and sending him to the ground, and as the other hunters were moving to attack, watched the young blood get his chest caved in. The next had a spear, lunging and landing a shallow cut along his side, passing between an old wound in his mail hauberk, which he hadn't the time or coin to find a blacksmith willing to fix it for him.

Hooking the shaft of the spear with the hammer, he twisted and wrenched the spear sideways and away from the hunter, a swift kick to the groin sending him to the ground, winded and in pain. He kept the last two hunters in front of him, the two trying to attack at once from both sides, sword and mace coming in at the same time. Rather than statically block, Ansgar turned the incoming mace blow aside, guiding it into the sword strike and forcing them both to his left side. Bringing the two handed hammer up from the deflection, he slammed the head of the hammer into the one hunter's gut, causing him to collapse, retching and coughing up blood before the hammer came down on his neck, putting him out of his misery. The spear hunter was getting to his feet, in time to see the swordsman have his shield hooked and jerked forward, pulling him off balance for a pommel strike and follow up blow to the head, putting him down as well. [color=598527]"What, never had a man fight back before? The convoy you used as bait put up more of a fight than this!"[/color]

The spear wielding hunter, still unsteady, lunged at the hammer wielding bandit, trying for a better angle on the gap in his armor this time. Problem being, Ansgar was expecting the follow up attempt, deflecting and grasping the shaft of the spear, and headbutted the spearman, breaking his nose and sending him reeling back again. Ansgar thrust the spear into the man's gut, sending him to the ground, and turned to see the armored man who had read the charges produce a two handed axe. Well then, seems the talker meant business. [i]"Not bad for a bandit, a shame you strayed from your destined path as a soldier."[/i]

[color=598527]"You tell a man he can't go see his dying father when your regiment isn't going to be sent off for several months while replacements are trained, and see how he reacts."[/color] Ansgar charged the armored man, bringing the hammer down for the man's head, only for him to deflect the blow along the haft of the axe, using the axe head to hook and disarm Ansgar of his hammer. Cursing, he took a swing at the balding, smug face of the axe wielder, only to get a knee to the gut and the blunt side of the axe head to the head, stunning him and sending consciousness fleeing for a scant second. When he got his senses back, he felt the cold steel of an axe blade and the stern face of the man wielding it staring at him. [b]"Banditry made you sloppy, but still salvegable. I offer you one chance at redemption, come with me, and my temple master will decide if you are fit for the cloth."[/b]

[color=598527]"Fit for the cloth... You're a priest? Hell kind of priest walks around with an axe? It is better than being hung or beheaded, I suppose..."[/color] Chuckling, the armored priest stood up, grabbing Ansgar by the collar of his mail hauberk and hauled him to his feet. [i]"The kind that used to be a bandit as well, now come, its a long way to the temple and we'll need to avoid any other bounty hunters. Now, let us see if you can be redeemed"[/i]
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[b][u]Theme Song:[/u][/b]
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kc_9RT4q8YA[/youtube]
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