The Hunter

The Wandering Wolf

NAME: Zaer.

ALIASES: Zed, Bulldog and Cold-Eyes.

AGE: 34.

OCCUPATION: Witch Hunter.

SPECIES: Lycanthrope.

GENDER: Male.

WEAPON OF CHOICE: An enchanted silver-like sword.

APPEARANCE:

Zaer is a tall, hairy man with broad shoulders. He has long black hair and a thick, rough beard. His most notable feature is his white left eye, and the three scars running through it in the form of a claw scratch. He's muscular and large, with an especially hairy chest, arms and legs. His attire consists of a large black leather vest. This vest has some laps of chain-mail wrapped around more vulnerable areas around the torso of the wearer. Two spiked leather gloves come with the vest. Small spikes come from the back of the hand and even smaller spikes form around the knuckles for an advantage during unarmed combat. Firm leather pants and boots compliment this particular outfit, and so do the spiked knee-protectors on the pants. During Zaer's travels, he's usually spotted wearing a dark leather hood on top of this attire as well. Large scars cover his body thanks to countless battles during his life, and faint scars in his neck still show the original place where he was bitten by a particularly difficult creature he had fought. A special enchanted sword is always to be found on Zaer's belt, where it is stored in its sheath until it is needed for battle. The final piece of this armored puzzle is the custom-designed hunting crossbow on the hunter's back, right next to the quiver of bolts held in place by the bandolier around the man's torso.

Once transformed, the hunter walks on two large hind legs. Bones seemingly break and snap to allow the switch from human into monster, which shows in this bestial form. Large amounts of black hair form around him, and longer, thinner arms extend from his enlarged torso. Two massive claws form at the end of his arms, and a terrifying wolfish head breaks out from his neck. Sharp snapped bones extend from his back, where his ribs have snapped into to make room for this creature's muscle and flesh.

PERSONALITY:

As a man who seems lost in the world, Zaer is especially cold-hearted. At first glance, he's incredibly stoic. Brave, but emotionless. After his revelation later in life, however, he has been taking life a bit less seriously. He's been able to "relearn" emotions and how to really feel about situations. He will rarely joke or smile. Anger is also rare, but not as much as happiness. Zaer will more often than not pursue materialistic goals because they're easily followed and have a morality-free option. He does struggle with morality, however. He does not steal or kill without good reason, and prefers blunt action over subtlety or stealth. Yet even with this, he's a formidable hunter due to his instincts. Despite his reluctance to use stealth, he is well-versed in its usage. He despises religion and magic in any form, seeing it as excuses to abuse power. He will more often than not lash out to mages and other supernatural beings. However, he can definitely be reasoned with if shown that they are not feral, have their power under control, and do not abuse their gifts or curses in any form.

VOICE:

Zaer's voice is a bit deeper than average, but not too much. He has no real accent, but tends to use slang picked up from different locations he has visited. Once he switches into his more bestial form, his voice lowers significantly and he constantly growls. He is still fully in control of himself, but will be more inclined to follow instinct rather than reason, which shows in his more aggressive way of speaking.


BACKSTORY:


Zaer's life wasn't difficult. Just like the lives of his parents weren't difficult, but not in the same way. Zaer's parents were well-respected nobles. They owned farms and businesses, armories and entire properties of land. The two were close with the rulers of the lands they had their businesses in. Of course, when Zaer's mother was expecting, a lot was to be expected of the child who would then be known as the offspring of two of the land's most important people. The birth went smoothly. Zaer was a strong-minded child, from the second he was rejected by his parents for his deformed eye. Such important people wouldn't dare to be seen with a "tainted" child. So, he was "donated" to an orphanage at a young age, where he spent the rest of his childhood. He grew up in bad conditions, which he was never truly bothered by. Sicknesses were nothing, bullies were boring, and he generally seemed like a strong yet lifeless child. He was regularly scolded for his vulgar language towards his peers and caretakers, yet any punishment felt hollow and useless to him. He didn't mind. He didn't feel like he had a purpose at all, so why bother resisting? Once he reached puberty, he started training out of boredom. Sneaking up on fellow orphans, practicing his swings outside with a wooden sword, and he was even caught attempting to pick the lock of the door to the kitchen. He took on a more stoic posture, and quiet attitude during this time. He did what was asked of him, and did what wasn't asked of him all the same. His left eye had taken on a more natural look at this point in life. He was still able to see the same as any other, but had a completely white eye; iris and all. He wanted to become a mercenary. Why? It seemed easy. Scare other people into leaving others alone, and kill whatever felt like ignoring the warnings. So he did. Once Zaer got out of the orphanage, he took a job at the local blacksmith for some time. Once he had enough gold, he got himself some equipment and started to take small mercenary jobs around town. He lived like that for quite some time. Traveling from city to city, town to town just for another contract. It's what he did best, so he didn't stop. He encountered monsters during this time too. It wasn't a secret that roads were haunted by beasts and bandits during the day, and watched by vampires and werewolves at night. Usually he'd get away with a couple of scratches, and the head of a monster as a trophy. He didn't care. Every day was just another job.

That was, until Zaer encountered something different. The contract he had received this time was specifically for him, as he was mentioned by name. He didn't think much of it. Probably just a trader who recommended his services to a colleague. The trader in question seemed different though. Cloaked in black, long hair gliding down their attire and soft green eyes shining from underneath their hood. Zaer still didn't care. Coin is still coin, after all. So, they went on the road and towards their destination. Once they reached a small clearing through a forest, the trader and the mercenary were ambushed by witches and bandits. Zaer slaughtered them all the same, but seemed to be much more sloppy and weak against the witches. The trader seemed shocked at the bloodshed caused by the mercenary. Zaer told the trader to keep moving, but she didn't want to. She wanted to rest at the clearing, and they did. The trader asked questions about Zaer, and about how he felt. It felt strange. Being asked how he felt. He responded confused, as if he didn't really know. The woman couldn't lie to the man before her anymore after they had talked for a while. She knew him, or rather, his parents. She recognized the strange eye he had, and many features. She said she was the cause of his troubles. He told her she was full of it, a crazy old bat. Well, that crazy old bat revealed that she had cursed Zaer's parents out of hatred. They had ruined her life, buying her land and raising the prices of everything she owned. She lost her son because she couldn't afford help. She felt cold and helpless during that moment, and she did a special ritual. She wanted to mark those who had taken her son from her, and take away their emotion. Their ability to feel. Turns out she targeted the baby who had been in between her actual targets. It explained so much, when Zaer thought about it. His coldness. His inability to cry or smile. His eye. Zaer looked at the witch in slight disbelief.

That's the reason?

His life was a hollow mess, a cold grave of nothingness...because of a curse that wasn't even meant for him, but for his parents? Because of an accident? His entire life was changed, because of an accident he had absolutely no control over?

He left the caravan there, and took the head with him. Shoved the blade straight through the witch's throat and snapped it to the side. It was a clean and quick kill. This was a joke. His life was a joke.

When he returned to town, he tossed the head to the nearest guard. He wanted to be locked up. To just end it all. He didn't want to die just yet, but he needed time to think. He stayed, spending months in jail, but he survived all that time. Once he was released, he decided to go out with a hunt. He remembered his time as a Blacksmith, and forged himself a marvelous monster hunter's blade with the coin he had made during his life. An enchanted longsword made to meet death with. He went after a monster hunting contract, even after being warned not to by another monster hunter. The monster hunter's reddish, cat-like eyes looked at the back of Zaer as he ignored the warning. He went after Werebeasts. A werewolf pack, to be precise. Not the normal kind either. These didn't howl during a full moon, no. These were people whom had transformed at will at some point. They were able to control themselves, but decided to stay a monster until they became feral. Some of the most dangerous creatures in the monster world. Zaer took a bow and his silver-like blade towards the hideout of the beasts at night, ready to fight to death. He slaughtered and endured vicious battles. Gutted a wolf, broke another's spine, blinded a third with his arrows, and forced his blade down another's throat. Even with his expertise and almost cold, dead rage and bloodlust, he didn't come out of the cave that night. His corpse was shredded, mauled and ripped to pieces.

Yet he woke up. He woke up much later. He didn't know where he was, or what happened. He was naked except for his ripped cloth pants. The monsters around him were dead. The special blade sticking out of the head of the last beast he murdered. He got up and reached for the item he remembered forging, and almost instantly pulled away, cringing at a pain in his hand. The material seemed to hurt in some way. He pushed through the pain and yanked his sword out of the corpse. He felt weak with the blade near him, but soon got used to the feeling. He found his old armor near the entrance of the cave: a large, black leather vest with a bandolier around its shoulder whilst the small bags and pouches remained still on the belt. Equally strong leather pants and boots fitted him well as he put the clothes and armor on. He felt an itch when he took the equipment, and yanked out a large tuft of werewolf hair from the inside of his attire. He looked at his reflection on his sword and widened his eyes. He had a beard, rough long hair and his right eye had turned a dark yellow. Zaer put the puzzle pieces together once he felt a pain in his neck and saw the bite wounds in the reflection cast by his sword. He was infected with Lycanthropy. He wanted to die and even that choice was taken from him. So he decided to turn this around. He turned back to the town where he had made his blade, only to find it burned and slaughtered. Every single person murdered. Zaer tried to lie to himself for as long as he could until he heard eye-witness statements: A Werewolf with a white left eye, and right black eye. That was the creature who caused the destruction. Zaer knew it was his fault. He had no control over his first transformation, just like any other Werebeast has at first. But after witnessing what he had done, he felt determined. He wasn't going to die. He was going to kill every witch, every mage, and every single monster he would meet during his travels to avoid something like this from ever happening again. He knew he could control this beast now. So he embraced these new instincts. These instincts were going to help him live. These instincts were going to help him kill. This "curse" is what made him into a Witch Hunter. Zaer now frequently hunts at night as a monster, and hunts his own monsters during the day. Just another day. Just another goal. Just another job that needs to be finished.

CURRENT MOTIVES:

Zaer is hunting. That's all he does. Hunt. He still takes mercenary jobs quite often as well, and can usually be found either protecting a traveling merchant, out in the forest hunting, or drinking mead in a tavern.