[hider=Gottmar von Eibenschütz][b]Name[/b]: Gottmar von Eibenschütz

[b]Sex[/b]: Male

[b]Race[/b]: Human

[b]Age[/b]: 42

[b]Appearance[/b]: https://i.imgur.com/pkLztc7.jpg 

[b]Religion[/b]: Like the rest of the Order of Witch Hunters, Gottmar worships only Calidorus, seeing him as a natural patron of their crusade against the users of dark magic.

[b]Backstory[/b]: Gottmar was born in the small town of Eibenschütz in southern Asmeinland, the second son of the ruling Baron, August von Eibenschütz. As a young noble, he received a good education in both academic disciplines and the art of combat, showing a particular aptitude for the latter. When he was 16, he and his elder brother Manfred were sent with a small force to deal with a suspected band of brigands in the nearby forests. Coming across a campsite in the woods, however, they could find no-one but an old woman, sat at the campfire brewing some kind of herbal tea. Gottmar’s brother enquired as to whether the woman knew of any criminals in the area – unfortunately, she was less than cooperative, and he gave her a sound beating before the party left. A week later, he was dead; taken by an unknown illness, suffering in unbearable agony for the last days of his life.

Shortly afterwards, the old woman from the forest was seen in Eibenschütz. Nobody thought anything of it, until she entered the castle one day and demanded to speak with the Baron. Reluctantly granting her an audience, he watched in utter confusion as she shuffled into the Great Hall and proceeded to rant at him in an obscure dialect of Solymic. Annoyed that his time was being wasted, he had the crone spend a day in the stocks, pelted with shit and rotten food.

That night, August rose from his bed, grabbed a knife from his bedside table, and stabbed his sleeping wife to death. Covered in blood, he proceeded to stagger through the castle, not awake – animated instead by some unseen force – murdering anyone in his path. Bursting into the bedroom of Gottmar’s younger sister, he put out both her eyes before slitting her throat. Her screams were the only thing that roused the sleeping castle guards, who, along with Gottmar, awoke and rushed to where the sound had come from. Seeing what his father had done, Gottmar rushed forward with sword in hand to kill the man. He was too late. August turned his knife on himself, plunging the blade into his own heart.

It did not take a genius to connect the deaths of August and Manfred with the strange old crone who both had angered. Gottmar took the castle’s garrison and roused the citizenry, who gathered their torches and pitchforks and stormed the old woman’s camp in the forest. Even a witch must sleep, and the furious mob burned her alive in her own tent, her terrible screams and attempts to cast spells coming far too late to save her.

After a lengthy period of consideration, Gottmar decided to journey to Altenschloss, the nearest city that housed a chapter of the radical Order of Brother-Soldiers of the Temple of Blessed Calidorus in Asmeinland (better known as the Order of Witch Hunters). Passing their initial trials, taking their vows, and undergoing their purification rituals to render him devoid of – and also immune to – sorcery, the young nobleman became a fully-fledged Witch Hunter, sworn to seek out and destroy dark magic wherever it manifested. For 26 years, this has been his profession. Now a senior and well-respected member of the Altenschloss Chapter, Gottmar still relentlessly carries out his duties with a dedication both admired and feared by his brothers in the Order.

[b]Motivation[/b]: Initially unaware of Htraknu, merely tracking a witch across the country. When he learns of Htraknu, however, he will see it as his duty to rid the world of such a foul magical threat.

[b]Magic[/b]: None at all. As a member of the Altenschloss Chapter of the Order of Witch Hunters, Gottmar was subjected to a ritual whereby the blood was completely drained from his body, “purified” by Order priests to rid it of all magical taint, and reinjected into him. This ritual renders the participant partially immune to magic – magically summoned fire, creatures, weapons etc. can still harm him, but illusions and direct magical attempts to manipulate the mind and body have no effect. Unfortunately, this also means that he is unable to use magic in any form, even with the assistance of substances or artifacts that would normally assist in sorcery. Technically, as being drained of all blood does have a tendency to kill the victim, Witch Hunters are no longer strictly speaking alive, occupying a grey area between life and undeath. They still require food and water, like any living person, but are somewhat desensitised to pain and do not sleep. Their skin has a deathlike pallor, and flesh wounds rarely heal fully, leaving most Hunters covered in scars from their various exploits.

[b]Skills/Strengths[/b]: Extremely physically fit, highly proficient swordsman and marksman, good knowledge of tracking, survival skills, and alchemy, expert knowledge of the occult. Immune to direct magic.

[b]Weaknesses[/b]: Gottmar’s inability to utilise magic in any form is a clear weakness, and in some cases his immunity to its effects can also be a disadvantage – it is not just harmful magic that he resists; healing magic will not work on him either. 

[b]Gear[/b]: 
[list]
    [*]Clothes, long leather coat, wide-brimmed capotain hat with internal steel reinforcement
    [*]Hardened steel cuirass, pauldrons, rerebrace and vambrace on right arm
    [*]Arming sword
    [*]Hatchet
    [*]Short falchion
    [*]Pair of daggers, one iron and one silver
    [*]Set of stakes and mallet
    [*]Repeating crossbow and bolts
    [*]Dried food
    [*]Waterskin
    [*]Small hip flask of brandy
    [*]Medicinal herbs, bandages, needle and thread
    [*]Flask of holy oil
    [*]Holy symbol of Calidorus
    [*]Small bag of salt
    [*]Firesteel
    [*]Money[/list]
[b]Other[/b]: Nothing I can think of that isn’t covered above.[/hider]