Friendly Ramsey (Fre-end-ly Ram-see)
I was told to live more than four thousand cycles ago...which is a funny thing to tell a man who's little more than a corpse. But I've held onto that and it's kept me going in dark times.
Before the Dying Days
Born in the United States, he was twelve years old at the onset of the Civil War. Despite the war, his life progressed fairly normally since his family remained outside of any effects of the war thanks to his father's position as a chemist. He went to school and became a chemist himself but ended up fleeing in disgrace before he graduated after he accidentally injured a friend in an explosion. After he left, he wandered for several years until - at the age of twenty-four - he fell in with a group of people who were killing monsters in the South. Offering up his skills at making explosives for them, Ramsey spent three years traveling with them until one unfortunate day when the entire group was killed by one of the monsters they were chasing.The Dying Days
The only problem after that event was that Ramsey woke up after he died, discovering that he was missing his right hand from the wrist down. He lingered around the bodies for two days, hoping someone else would wake up, before he finally staggered away and wandered for an unknown period of time. It was during this time that he blacked out and when he woke up, he was chained up in a shack in the middle of nowhere with a very annoyed old woman smacking him about the head with a gnarled wooden cane. The old woman was a mageborn of minor power, more a simple hedge witch than any actual sort of high-powered magic user, but she knew enough to teach him what he was now. He learned quickly that certain herbs could hide the stench of his body but alcohol worked best (though it did make him smell like a drunk). Agnes also taught him that because of what he was there were certain elements of Power that he now had, including an ability to take ownership of bones and make them his own. Through this ability he regained the use of his missing hand, which the old woman called his mors signum or death mark as it was the only physical damage to his body. The second downside of his life that Agnes taught him was that he had to consume meat every few days, otherwise he would have a similar blackout experience as he had had before. Blackouts which turned him into the most common representation of a zombie known in Earth media: a shambling corpse with a thirst for flesh. Ramsey stayed with Agnes for two years before the old woman died. Her final words for him ("Done taught you all I could. Keep them eyes open and do what you think is right. And live, boy.") were said with a withered hand resting on his forehead, her other hand clasped between his own.After Dying on Terra
For all of the years he has existed since that day, Ramsey has worked to do as Agnes bid him with her final words. He has held a variety of broad positions over the years and worked in the background of innumerable projects at this point in his life while taking credit for none of them, least someone take notice of him. When the ships were organized to leave the Earth for the stars, he decided to go with them. From what he could tell from his own calculations and the calculations of others, the planet was spiraling all too quickly towards a decline due to rapid industrialization and resource mismanagement. His final act on the planet was to travel to the one plot of land he owned that he never sold to fund his travel, hidden in a Louisiana swamp where the ruins of a crumbling wood and stone shack were long gone but an ancient tombstone of rough stone remained: a memorial he built to Agnes. With his goodbyes said, he boarded his ship without looking back.Dying in Space
During his years in space, Ramsey has continued to hold many positions. He was one of the minds who helped construct the engines that eventually went into the HAEM systems (which makes him now one of the only living people who fully know how the engines truly function and can repair them) and also worked on the development of the modern FTL drive. Since the collapse of what is now known as the Old World, he's mostly wandered around the galaxy holding down random jobs and periodically changing his identity with the help of a personal AI program named Janus that a mageborn coworker wrote for him several hundred cycles before. One of the few things that has concerned him over the years is the slow seeming breakdown of his own body. When he first rose from the dead, he looked exactly as he had minus the missing hand, but in the years since, the skin on his face and body has become gaunt and tight on his body no matter how much he consumes to keep his sanity (he performed a test for if the amount made a difference to no effect). There are also parts of his body where the skin has gaped open, revealing the mostly dried-out meat and bone underneath. Also concerningly, he has lost more of his right arm over the years, the missing hand eventually leading to a missing forearm, and now sits at a missing forearm along with the elbow and part of the upper arm. Thankfully he can "keep" bones for much longer than he once did and does not have to worry about replacing them for a least a few hundred years (instead of the days he had to replace them in the early days).Physical Description
General Physical Condition
On the surface Ramsey appears to be a skinny, wiry man with gaunt facial features and too wide eyes. Underneath, however, his skin is far too tight across his body and shows his bones. It also gaps open in spots to reveal dried meat and the bone underneath.
Body Features
Besides the gaping holes in his skin, one of the prime features of Ramsey's body is his right arm. Few ever see his body outside of his exo-suit and he typically keeps a glove on his right hand.
Those that are aware know that he is missing his right arm from just above the elbow down. Previously he was only missing his hand on that side but the long years and cycles have worn away at his body. Thankfully, he has the ability to replace it so long as he has the proper parts.
Facial Features
Gaunt cheeks, too wide eyes, and odd cuts over his mouth are the prime features of Ramsey's face. He also has an old scar through his left eyebrow, the still somewhat shininess of it giving away that it was from a burn scar.
Many describe his face as "skeletal" and "disturbing".
Identifying Characteristics
Being a walking corpse and having a mostly skeletal right arm.
Physical quirks
Having had a stutter since he was a child that he never grew out of nor managed to teach himself to cease, he will still talk as such. Though it occurs less than it once did in normal situations, he will still stutter more in stressful situations.
Apparel & Accessories
Ramsey rarely changes out of his exo-suit when around others, preferring to keep it as a barrier between him and them. He also wears a pair of goggles with odd greenish-yellow lenses and metal frames that bear the antique patina of age; the leather of these goggles, at least, is newer as it has to be continuously replaced.
Specialized Equipment
He carries an old pre-Collapse energy pistol that was his weapon of choice while serving in the Covert Company (it has six notches on its barrel that mark how many people it killed during its service) and usually keep several vials of different concotions on his person. Ramsey is also skilled at making explosives and generally carries several of his own making for 'just in case' situations.
His odd goggles are also some kind of specialized equipment but most don't know what kind. Usually he finds no reason to put them on, although he does remember to put them on when he's working with things that spark fire and someone is nearby. The goggles themselves are a relic from Old Terra and created through his work and that of a mageborn, giving him the ability to see things that are Other when he puts them on.
Mental characteristics
Education
In the time of his natural lifespan, Ramsey was well educated. First taught in the family home, then in public school before going to Illinois College at the insistence of his father. The intent was for him to learn the same art of chemistry as his father but all went awry when a friend was gravely injured in an explosion. Rather than stay and face the consequences, Ramsey fled, leaving both his schooling and his family behind.
Since becoming immortal to a point, he has greatly expanded his education. At this point he has multiple degrees in chemistry and science (several in schools that no longer exist) and has also attended the Schola Valvulae at least twice (once pre-Collapse, once post-Collapse) and the Schola Vasorum once (post-Collapse) on Lirrbebhionn.
Employment
Over the years Ramsey has done and been a multitude of things, from monster hunter to chemist. Currently, he has been working for Barshenko-Hyland Defense since 3418 AFT | 188 ATC under various psuedonyms on paper but every President and CEO of the company has been aware of his unnatural state of being.
Previously, he worked with Milnic Industrial Corporation until 1351 AFT and helped with analysing Dynamesium. He also, briefly, worked for The Core Senate as a member of the Covert Company under an assumed name during the Great Collapse. So far as official records are concerned, his pseudonym at this time died on Erihe Gadus planting the bombs that decimated their major city (he did die during the mission, just not permanently).
Accomplishments & Achievements
- Multiple degrees and qualifications
- Helping analyse Dynamesium
- Helped construct HAEM engines
- Serving in the Covert Company
- Helped develop post-Collapse FTL drive
Failures & Embarrassments
- Accidentally injuring his friend in an explosion
- Joining monster hunters
- Dying
- Death of civilians during his service in the Covert Company
Mental Trauma
Dying tends to be a traumatic experience and Ramsey has died...a lot...since his initial death in 1876 AET. He isn't a fan of dying but will step in and make the sacrifice if he has to.
Normally his mental trauma isn't obvious but sometimes it does show, usually in finding him staring blankly at nothing, body still as a corpse.
He also has the trauma of his body slowly decaying away with no real way to stop it.
Morality & Philosophy
Despite being a walking corpse for some four thousand cycles, Ramsey still values life and does his best to protect it. He tries to view his existence as something of a protector for those who aren't cursed with a brand of immortality. While he does try to preserve life, he also sees that there are times where it must be sacrificed, such as during his service with the Covert Company.
Relationships
Credits: Character images were created in HeroForge. Character banner was created in Canva with images generated using Artbreeder.
Occupation
Researcher for Barshenko-Hyland Defense
Species
Professions
Age
4,655 Cycles
Date of Birth
March 3, 1849 AET
Date of Death
November 14, 1876 AET
Circumstances of Death
Killed by a monster - a ghost possessing some poor soul.
Birthplace
Chicago, IL
Place of Death
Unknown, MS
Spouses
Siblings
Children
Pronouns
He/Him
Gender
Male
Presentation
Masculine
Eyes
Gray and a little too wide
Hair
Short, spiky black hair
Skin Tone/Pigmentation
Pallid and drawn too tightly against his bones
Height
1.75 meters
Weight
120 lbs
Belief/Deity
Previously Christian, now Atheist
Aligned Organization
