Эрик Павлов

Эрик Павлов (Erik Pavlov) is a big bald, clean shaven man with a pair of big axes.  All three of them are for hire.

Where Erik came from no one is certain he doesn’t talk a lot.  When he speaks his words are a polyglot of Montaigne, Eisen, Avalonian, Vestenmennavenjar and Usuran with a smattering of other tongues of Théah including the dead ones.  His accent slides from region to region with no obvious rhyme or reason.  He has travelled the land for at least thirty years as far as anyone can say.

Erik wants two things in life: enough money so he doesn’t sleep on the street and books.  He has no moral standards as to who he fights for as long as they pay.  He has little loyalty to anyone leader, side or cause happily changing allegiance for a bag of coins or a new book.  Erik doesn’t care what the book is about or who its by.  He devours it from front to back.  Then he may discard it, give it away, clean his axes with it, kindle a fire with it or if its pages are particularly soft carefully prize each sheet as bumf.

He doesn’t talk a lot but when he does he often surprises others with his insightful thoughts.  Sometimes though his insight is mired in misunderstanding.

In battle he and his axes are a devastating shock to many opponents as he charges ahead of his allies into the fray.  A story is told of him reading a book on the fieldwork during a battle.  He sat unconcerned as bullets and cannon balls crashed around him.  His companions sallied forth to attack the enemy.  He read on.  At the last moment he tucked the book in to the back of his belt, picked up his axes and charged.  Somehow he struck the first blow and broke the enemy line leaving his companions to follow his blistering assault.  As the enemy fled he sat down on a still hot cannon and started reading again.

There is a chance that Erik knows anything that has been printed somewhere in Théah ever and if he doesn’t know he’s even more likely to know what book to find it in.

Erik is aware he is no longer entirely human.  He doesn’t know why.  He hopes he may find out why in one of the books he reads.

Notes

Back from the Dead is a new monstrous quality – no matter what kills him, no matter how utterly destroyed his body is Erik eventually returns to life.  This is just like the Regeneration quality except it only happens when he has died and at least two new moons have risen.  The next day Erik wakes in somewhere in Théah (usually a gutter but once it was a shocked princess’ bed) with just his two axes and a pair of ragged trousers to call his own.