Photo:
Name:
True Name: Albel S. Faustus
Alias: Soren E. Rasmussen
Nickname: "Beloved" (Erasmus = Greek for Beloved), "Doktor" (German for Doctor)
Age: Stopped his aging at mid 20's, around 26. In reality, is several centuries old (he has lost count).
Gender: Male
Height: 6' 2"
Weight: 165 lbs; 11.5 Stone; 74.84 Kg
Sexuality: Omnisexual
Faction: Alchemist
Occupation: Alchemist and odd jobs (some requiring alchmemical knowledge); His study of alchemy is varied and far-reaching, his main focus being medicinal works. His main source of legal income is as a waiter in a local Tea-shop. Other sources of income are often dubious. Free Doctor to those living in the slums.
Physical Appearance: A man of average height and sturdily built, but not overly so. His dark ebon hair is most often swept back and roughly parted midway, that is when it's kempt. His eyes are a haunting shade of violet. When secluded in his workshop, his hair is rather a mess as is his dress. He will, if not prompted by incoming guests or having to go out, bathe rather irregularly and wear the same clothes day in and out, stating "they've built up a proper amount of comfort." He looks to be in his early to mid-twenties, of pale almost paraffin complexion from lack of constant contact with sunlight. He has been told by patrons - mostly young, ladies-in-waiting - off from work for the day, who frequent the tea-shop he often works in that he is rather good looking, and rakishly so. His manner of dress varies for the occasion. From a simple pair of slacks and comfortable shirt, to a full three-piece suit or the uniform for the tea-shop. He wears a pair of thin, silver-rimmed glasses that give him an educated air - as one would expect from a scientist/alchemist. Has a barely noticeable scar across his throat in a diagonal from left clavicle to the right side of his jaw. Carries a fold-able scalpel he uses as a utility knife for various things. Carries a foldable scalpel which he uses as both a scalpel and utility knife.
Personality: INTROVERTED. Would love to live as a hermit, staying secluded within his lab and dismantling the world. However, as money is a constant need for everyday life, for food, resources, etc, he must venture out from time to time for work. He can be cold and calculated at times, as is his wont as an alchemist. He is kind to most everyone, but ruthless if someone manages to call forth his ire. “I'm kind to everyone, but don't mistake my kindness for weakness. If someone is unkind to me, my kindness is not what you'll remember of me.” Fortunately, he is a rather mellow person, and keeps to himself except for the times he does his public works.
Flaws: Has a slight limp in his left leg in which he took an arrow in his youth, it still aches on rainy days. Has a barely visible scar across his throat in a diagonal from left clavicle to his right ear. Must “eat” to keep his body in check. Has a bad habit of speaking to others as if they were children, because age-wise they are to him. He can keep his composure most times, but it occassionaly slips.
Background: Born in the late 1500's in a small German village, it was a life of poverty and hardship. Constant threat from thieves and bandits was a daily worry, not to mention where your next meal would come from. The earth, though rich and able to grow bountiful amounts of food, was at once inhospitable because of disease. By the time Albel was 10, the village was waning and on the verge of death. To stave their deaths awhile longer, Abel's family sold him to a wealthy landowner as a servant, boasting he was both strong and healthy, with a mind to match.
Starting at first as a stable-boy, and quickly working his way up to an in house servant in charge of serving tea to guests. Tea, at this point becoming a passion, as it had innumerable types and variables in creation, he could try out many permutations of blends and even came to create his own varieties of leaves ranging from green to black. However, he soon came to resent the people to whom he was sold. They were indeed wealthy, but did nothing with their wealth but waste time on frivolous parties and trinkets. After coming to the conclusion he could not live in with himself any longer if he were to stay in such a place, he escaped by night a month after his 15th birthday. During his escape, he was almost captured by bandits and in running from them into the depths of the black forest was struck by an arrow through the back of his knee. Luckily, the wound just missed everything important and slipped perfectly through the joint. Running through the pain with the help of adrenaline he hid deep in the forest. Once sure he was safe, he began removing the arrow. Pushing it through the tightened muscle until the iron head made it all the way through, then snapping the remaining of the back of the arrow off, and in one go ripping it from his leg. His howls of pain echoing amongst the trees. As the pain subsided once again with the help of adrenaline and other neuro-chemicals to numb the feeling, he worked quickly, grabbing a handful of sphagnum moss and putting it on both sides of the wound before wrapping it. It wasn't until far further in his future that he would come to find, this move is what saved his life as sphagnum moss contains a rather large quantity of iodine naturally, which helped keep his wound clean and free from infection.
He spent what felt like weeks within the near lightless woods, traveling through and stopping regularly to set up camp to tend his wound. By the time he reached the opposing side, his wound was nearly healed, though he would carry the limp it gave him throughout his life.
Albel never stopped moving until reaching the largest city he had ever seen, a port at the northern edge of Germanic lands. He found work quickly, however the pay for someone of his age and level of skill at these jobs never warranted much. He made just enough to eat at least every day, though he would often deprive himself to help others who could not work for a meal. He would eat every other day, and feed those who were hungry on the days he didn't eat. Though he would work every day, doing anything ranging from a courier to smithing. Though he could eat, he could not afford lodging and would often take refuge in small storage areas of those he worked for. It was during these years he met the man whom would become his mentor and foster a love of science and discovering the truths of the world.
Johannes Faustus, a formerly renown alchemist, now disgraced and living in poverty was one of the men Albel had been feeding. Faustus watched the young man for some time before approaching him, and orating at length his accomplishments and failures and wanting to take Albel as his final apprentice. Though homeless, and poor, he still retained all the knowledge he had accumulated over his years...and a single tome, his journal on alchemy. The Grimoire: Verum libro adumbratus (Book of Shaded Truths). A book, handwritten by Faustus and coded to ensure secrecy from all those not instructed in the methods in which to read it. It is from this book on the mastery of alchemy that Albel learned, and this man who taught him. It was a short apprenticeship though, as Albel learned quickly, Faustus taught him everything he had learned on the art before passing away. Faustus was drawn to Albel because of his empathy. Even when he barely had more than those he slept next to on the streets, he still used some to help others. Faustus believed alchemy was for the people, and that it should be used as such and by those who felt the same. Once Faustus passed away, Albel took his name to ensure that his legacy would live on within him and promised to use his knowledge for the pursuit of perfection and to help the world, Albel was aged 18 by this time. Faustus was not buried, but instead cremated upon a funerary pyre and cast to the wind so his body would nourish the plants that fed the people.
First memorizing the Faustian Grimoire in its entirety, he burned the book soon after so it could not be used by those who would wish to profit from its knowledge. Unlike his mentor, Albel did not write anything down aside from shorthand notations occasionally. Working tirelessly in order to create alchemical remedies for various things from farming to medicine his renown grew quickly. Refusing to work for anyone in the aristocracy, he sold his works for little more than cost of materials and gave them away freely to those who could not afford his price in exchange for work. Eventually coming to own a small apothecary in which he worked on his experiments and treated the sick. Though he lacked any formal schooling he was looked upon as educated and often approached by other alchemists much his senior for tips and inquiries. By the time Albel was in his mid-twenties he came upon his most miraculous formula to date...at least the first step to perfection. It was the Elixir of Life. Testing first on small animals where it seemed to have no effect, then eventually moving to human testing – on himself.
Drinking down the potion his heart began to ache, his veins felt as they were filled by the flames of Hades. His vision blurred and everything turned to black as he fell unconscious. He remained in his dormant state for near a week before awakening, he felt groggy and a bit light headed, but that eventually cleared up. He wasn't sure if the potion had worked, or if he had narrowly escaped poisoning himself....
[The background is not finished, however I think I'll start his posts as a flashback or daydreaming about his past]
Talents and Skills: Thinking outside the box in terms of alchemy. Diagramming a problem that needs to be fixed and coming up with possible solutions to try. Medical knowledge. Sturdy body. Survival skills. Has a light Germanic accent that he tries to hide, but at times it slips.
Research: Incomplete elixir of life. Medicinal research, Agriculture research.
Hobbies: Free Doctor in the slums. Wandering throughout the city. Has recently taken to wandering outside the walls of the city for new materials to study.
Likes: Tea. CATS. Helping the less fortunate. Classical music and opera (will often listen to it while in his lab)
Dislikes: Coffee. RATS (will go on rants about the vile little beasties and how they're the transmitters of disease and calamity). Those who hold wealth but do nothing with it to help others.
