Sick Ducker — Roleplayer Guild

Stephan "Blue Face" Burkhart

Male | 29 | 168 cm | 68 kg

Salzburg, Austria, 1889 | Austrian


 Profile                             

Appearance

Observers often describe Stephan as roguish, skittery and a man of quirky intents. He appears mostly average, but in that sense of commonness, many can't help but notice something off-putting about him. Stephan rarely attracts attention in the ways he act, and when he does, he draws questionable stares. 

168 cm (5 feet 6 inches) is below national average. The Burkhart family was never tall, and Stephan proves no exception. In happier times, some say 68 kg (150 pounds) is a bit underweight. But in the hard times of this Great War, Stephan is just about as malnourished as any other person. In fact, his employment in the intelligence service guarantees him meals many have not eaten in months. His lack of bulk wasn't a wartime thing, instead, Stephan always is the smaller child.

His eyes are blue, a darker shade that borderlines gray. His hair comes in a color between blond and brunette, either dark blond or honey brown, depends on who he asks. A messy crew cut is generally the hairstyle, with short facial hair studs, the result of irregular grooming, rounding it out. His face is long than it is wide, however, his chin retracts more than it protrudes. In terms of his core, they are flat and unassuming; little muscle or fat. Limbs are balanced thickness, though they aren't obviously under his choice of long sleeves and full-length pants.

Scars are nearly non-existent. Stephan accumulated most of his (concealable) scars due to child play, rather than fighting in major conflicts.


Personality

If you want a nice man, Stephan's definitely not it. There isn't much warmth outside of common courtesy. That is to the average person on streets. To his superiors or anyone Stephan wants to curry favor with, he appears so polite and accepting that it's basically sucking up. Some may call him "spineless", but Stephan prefers "adaptable".

From work to play, Stephan is the type to do everything to win. Honor is a social construct to him, one that is gradually becoming obsolete. Not matter if it is a game of chess or sabotaging enemy defenses, playing dirty is the standard. Working in the intelligence service made him no stranger to rumors, and Stephan likes to stay abreast of all the murmurs around him. It was partially his inner control freak, partially his inner insecurity. 

Serious about getting want he wants does not mean Stephan is humorless. He tends to deadpan and crack out dry wit in dire situation. For some reason, joking around tend to make life and death struggles a little more bearable, therefore, he finds a laugh or two helpful in coping with stress. 

Since his longest romantic venture, and the one that ended the most spectacularly, his confidence dropped to nothing around attractive women and romantic rivals. His chance for future hook-ups diminishing significantly after his ex-girlfriend spread rumors about his "short sword", which was then disseminated across the empire as the punchline of a renowned comedian. Sexual drought contributed to his ailing mood.


Background

Gilbert and Adela Burkhart had a pair of twins on a summer eve of 1889. Their children, a boy and a girl, would grow up as Stephan and Ursula. Gilbert was a mathematician, a well-known professor at the University of Salzburg. Adela, on the other hand, elected domestic life in order to care for her children. In his younger days, Stephan remembered not much of his father. Being a rising scholar in a time of great scientific advancements meant Gilbert spent much of his time with his faculty, rather than his family. Stephan and his sister grew up with their mother, and their maternal grand-parents, who were fiercely proud German-Austrians. From their grand-parents, the young Burkharts would be introduced to Grimm's folk tales, and when they were older, the accomplishments of Chancellor Bismarck. 

Stephan would first glance inside a world of numbers on his twelfth year. Just as he and his sister finished elementary school, their father had managed to obtain a tenure at the university. This stabilization of career allowed Gilbert to spent more time with his kids, but because he never did much of that before, his efforts rarely had the bonding effect. In the beginning, Gilbert taught his twins math puzzles, and as expected from young teenagers, they were poorly received. As time went on though, Ursula took a liking to mathematics. Stephan never did, while his sister grew to understand his father's joy, he became bitter and isolated. The teenage Stephan frequently sneaked out to play with the rowdier kids, but a combination of their jealousy for his well-off family, and his dull personality meant he always had a bad time. Other kids picked on him, sometimes starting fights and always prevailed over him due to his unimpressive stature. Eventually Stephan got fed up, he started to fight back. These fights were less lopsided as Stephan fought dirty. He would overcome shorter height by striking below the belt, defeat wider boys by tripping their fat legs and blind faster opponents by throwing boiling water into their faces. These tactics still resonates with Stephan today.

It was noteworthy that from 1901 to 1903, Gilbert was invited to teach in the University of Bath, England. The entire Burkhart family moved to Great Britain for three years, a time period where Stephan and Ursula gain fluency in the local language. Finishing his guest lecturing in 1903, the family promptly returned to Salzburg.

The time would have to come for him to grow up. At the age of eighteen, Stephan was looking at not so much of a bright future. His grades were average, definitely not sufficient for entrance to higher education. His sister was the star in their family, she had already mastered many university materials thanks to her father's tutoring. With her sheer genius and hard work, she would become one of the first women to graduate with a master of science from the University of Vienna. Such a successful daughter for such disappointing son, when Stephan said he might take a year off to travel or go into boxing, his father snapped. In the few instances of anger, Gilbert lambasted Stephan on the importance of knowledge. He would either see a talented son, or an uneducated boor who would no longer be welcomed in his home. With no choice or income, Stephan reluctantly went to university.

As far as he knew, he was only enrolled in Salzburg University because of connections. As for what to study, he chose economics because the professor wore a stylish fedora. However, Stephan would surprise everyone, himself the most, in the next four years. He found his calling in economics, or so he thought. The coursework wasn't exactly a cakewalk and he didn't always find motivation, but for the majority of the time, he performed so uncharacteristically well that the exam supervisors thought he was cheating. Well, he did cheat a couple of times, though these were the exceptions rather than the norm. The norm was a young man destined for the financial world. His college life went so well that he even made long-term friends. One of them would be Stephan's Hungarian roommate, a tall, freckled person named Salamon. It was Salamon that reignited the patriotic sparks sown by Stephan's grand-parents. A staunch supporter of the joint crown, Salamon gave Stephan something larger than himself. They would join rallies of students supporting the monarchy, while coming into blows (sometimes physically) against radicals and minorities. 

By 1912, Stephan Burkhart had kickstarted a promising stockbroker career in Vienna. Salamon came and went, supposedly returning to his native Hungary to start a patriotic political party. The Burkhart family, which Stephan redeemed himself in with his academic success, found his political passion intimidating. In the bustling streets of one of Europe's busiest cities, Stephan had no time to look behind. The stock market is an unforgiving world, somehow, with wits and knowledge, Stephan managed to churn out several profiting portfolios in two years. He even met a client that turned into his girlfriend, but the relationship broke off with Stephan's lackluster endurance in the bedroom. Ever since, his love life had been limited, all thanks to rumors swirling around his "winziges Schwert".

Were it not for 1914, Stephan could very well have worked himself to the top echelon of the Vienna Stock Exchange. However, his hopes and dreams were dashed as an archduke took a wrong turn in a powder keg city. One assassin's shot would prelude to billions around the world, and in the blink of an eye, war was all around Stephan. Salamon finally wrote back. His letter was brief; urging his friend to do his duty for the emperor. Stephan did.

In the wake of the Great War, Stephan enlisted in the Austro-Hungarian Common Army. He signed his name, gone through a physical exam and was given a set of uniform. He went into basic training, and half a day later, he washed out. It was before any exercises were given, and Stephan joined his new comrades in the mess hall. As he took the first bite into army rations, he felt his throat tighten. It was an allergy he never paid attention to. He was allergic to a specific type of sardine from early youth, and as his parents found out, Stephan quickly conditioned himself to a sardine-free diet. He had been off the specific type of food for so long that he got used to it. Not a lot of people would mention food preferences to recruiters, so when the allergy hit in full swing, the officers were shocked. It was in his panic that Stephan received his nickname; "Blaugesicht". According to other soldiers, his desperate face turned blue from the lack of air.

No military would change their rations for just one soldier; the army was out of the question. His parents were relieved to have him out, but Stephan felt nothing but shame and defeat. It was a rite of passage denied by his human body, and quite frankly, something he could really do nothing about. Then a former client of his came to the rescue. Quirin Maximillan, a retired government official recently pressed back into civil defense. Maximillan offered another route, one which the choice of food was lax; intelligence service.

So there he was, a man behind a desk. Stephan started out as some brass' secretary (where he advanced his driving skills by chauffeuring lazy officers), got promoted to censuring department (also learning encryption protocols), pulled into the finance division and finally, as he repeatedly volunteered and the war took its toll, transferred to a field agent. It was 1917 and in the two years that Austria-Hungary fought, Stephan proved himself poor soldier material. If he did ship out to the battlefields, he wouldn't have had a chance against Entente fire. His sessions with the civil defense made certain his marksmanship and fieldcraft were mediocre at best. With that said, when Stephan did fight, he fought like few had. This was an age where wars were no longer "honorable" (though some argued they never were). Stephan embraced dirty fighting to the fullest, in one sparring session, he surprised a skilled opponent by smuggling out a bottle of pepper, than subsequently applying it to the man's face. In another live fight against a drunk, Stephan dispatched the brute with a swift brass knuckle below the belt. 

What really got Stephan into field service was his knowledge in English and Italian. His English could almost pass as a Brit, and though his Italian was nowhere native, paying attention in those college classes finally paid off. In addition, he had came to know much about military procurement, both allied and the enemy, thanks to his economic background. Last of all, Stephan could use Morse code to its full extent. His first major mission was to cut Allied withdraws from Swiss banks. But as he got into position, the director called everything off. He took a couple of minor assignments then, some of which included extracting a British businessman of German descent, wrecking searchlights in the French Riviera (discovering electronic workings in the process) and spreading scandalous rumors about a Greek general. 

Experience breeds confidence, right? No, Stephan felt the opposite. The more he worked (and admittedly, better at what he does), the less he felt certain. The surge of devotion four years ago seemed to have burned out. As the war dragged on and on, the suffering it caused became apparent. Men died by the thousands on the battlefield, and across the home front, a shortage of necessities became apparent. His mother died from an illness, while his father struggled to find purpose in retirement. Infiltrating hostile countries made matters worse. He found out the other side suffered the same, yet they also spewed out the propaganda of honor and righteousness. The war felt meaningless, but the worst was that he got a complete view from all sides, and Stephan's side is losing. Still, he sworn his loyalty to the emperor, and till the day this war ends, he will pull his weight for the empire.

Because duty is the best distraction from a purposeless life...


 Capabilities                    

Languages

German (native)
English (fluent)
Italian (working knowledge)
Hungarian (basic phrases)

Skills

Mathematics
Market and military finances
Morse code
Cryptography
Basic electronics
Decent driver

Flaws

Strong allergy to sardine
Mild nearsightedness
No live combat experience
Awkward in romantic encounters

Combat Style

Unconventional. They say knowing your strength is half of fhe fight, and Stephan Burkhart certainly got to know what he could and could not do. For starters, he would not match shots against a skilled shooter, because he will be outmatched every time. He also knows not to match fists with the brawns, because it'll probably end up worse than a straight up shootout. What he does is making sure he never gets in a fair fight. No sharpshooter can shoot back when he's flanked, and no brawler can brawl with a bowl of pepper in his eyes.

Stephan carries the tools for his trade. Like any good spy, his pistol is cut down to be concealable. A brass knuckle serves as back up when guns are impractical. Lastly, he carries a bag of spicy pepper to blind anyone who gets too close. 

Violence is often the last resort for him, but when Stephan sees no other choice, he will strive to fire the first shot. Stealth and secrecy play important roles in his approach. Though he is clumsy in the wilderness, Stephan is able to readily blend in with an urban crowd. In turn, he can safely gather information on his threats before deciding the best way forward (or back).


Connections

Gilbert Burkhart (father, retired mathematics professor at University of Salzburg)
Ursula Burkhart (sister, physics department head at Salzburg Girls Academy, assistant supervisor at local optics factory)
Quirin Maximillan (former client, civil defense recruiter)
Salamon Puskas (university roommate, artillery captain of the 6th Common Artillery Regiment)

Opinions of Group Members



 Inventory                        

Cash

256 Austro-Hungarian Crowns
50 British Pounds
50 Swiss Francs

Tools 

Camera with film
Freiermann brand crowbar

Weapon and Ammo 

Frommer Stop (compact 9mm variant)
3x five-rounds magazines
Brass knuckles

Outfits

Ski coat
Brown scarf
Green turtle neck sweater
White cotton t-shirts
Khaki pants
Leather shoes
Leather gloves
Corrective spectacles
Set of tuxedo
Government issued gas mask and replacement filter

Jewelry, Valuables and Personal Belongings 

Weiss wristwatch
Salzburg University graduation ring

Books and Documents 

Imperial Intelligence credentials
Italian dictionary
Fake Swiss passport
Spanish phrase book
Solveig the Shield-maiden and Jorwen the Red-bear (fantasy novels)

Rations 

Two bars of Toblerone
Small bag of pepper for "creative application"

Packs and Bags 

Cloth messenger bag
Concealable pistol holster
Traveling rucksack
Leather belt with three detachable pouches
Wallet
Water canteen with sleeve

Misc 

Basic hygiene supplies
Ten cheap Bulgarian cigarettes
Lighter
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Ill Malard

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