Lord Indicoff Alcott of Crecht
The Legendary Lord of House Alcott, greatest hero of the Iron Empire and legend of the Hunter Clans
Lord Indicoff Alcott, of Crecht (a.k.a. The Count of Crecht)
Damn the powder, and Damn the bloodsuckers! You do as you're told, Sacrament Commander, or you'll face the blaster's knot! I want everyone out of that powdermine immediately - any man who falls in that mine scrounging for wealth before it blows damns his family to a century of shame! I said move! On the double! I'll dive in there and drag them out if I have to, damn the regulations! The Iron Emperor can bluster all he wants - I won't burn my men for the sake of a damned spreadsheet!
Physical Description
General Physical Condition
Lord Indicoff is overall quite healthy; however, as is the case with many who inhabit the Black Desert for extended periods of time, he has developed a mild case of Powdervein - an illness of varying severity that is marked by the presence of Blackpowder from the Black Desert seeping into one's body(Or veins, in the case of Powdervein). While he is otherwise in the tail end of the prime of his life, Lord Indicoff's case of Powdervein so far as only turned some of his veins around his left arm, neck, and head black as well as stained his left eye's cornea and pupil black as pitch which he typically hides with a monocle.
Otherwise, thanks to regular physical exercise and assistance from his suit of Blackpowder Armor, Lord Indicoff is still a formidable man with a formidable presence.
Body Features
Lord Indicoff keeps himself in fantastic physical shape, and his body is appropriately built - bulky and wide-shouldered, he is a muscular man who has a wide and imposing presence often likened to "a steel wall" whose muscles often seem to be bursting out of whatever article of clothing he wears. Though his body has wrinkled with age somewhat he has kept himself in fantastic physical shape thanks to a lifetime of exercise, hard physical labor and constant combat.
Facial Features
Though his face is marred by the case of Powdervein which has turned his left eye black and some of the veins on his neck and face black as well, Lord Indicoff's face is a thing of smog-blasted ruggedness - though he was quite handsome in his youth, years of work and combat beneath the smog-choked skies of the Iron Empire has gnarled his face such that it is now a weathered, rugged roadmap of scars and smudges that tell the tale of decades of life lived in service to The Iron Empire and to Tavross, The Iron Emperor.
Physical quirks
His blackened eye and veins around his head and neck are one of his most identifiable physical quirks, alongside his injured jaw that gives him his unique cadence of slurred speech. Otherwise, his enormous physical bulk makes him quite noticable.
Special abilities
Despite his considerable physical prowess and powerful protective gear and armaments, Lord Indicoff is at his core a human with no special abilities.
Apparel & Accessories
Lord Indicoff is almost never seen outside his custom-built suit of Blackpowder Armor built for him for his years of meritorious service to the Inquisitorius of Tavross, The Iron Emperor - a suit of steel and steam powered by Blackpowder and Steam that functions as a massively powerful suit of armor that augments his physical prowess to heightened levels. Alongside this suit of armor, he carries a suite of protective barriers and warding trinkets and items to help protect his person - and of course, on the rare occasions that he steps out of his armor, his expertly tailored formal suit that he wears under his armor at all times.
Specialized Equipment
Boasting an enormous variety of specialized arms and armor from his time in the Inquisitorius of Tavross, The Iron Emperor, Lord Indicoff wields an enormous prototype weapon dubbed "The Thumper" - a weapon that never saw mass production that was initially designed to fire shotgun slugs from a revolver-esque cylinder, combining the firepower of a shotgun with the rate of fire and reload speed of a revolver.
Aside from this, he wears a comprehensive Steelsuit powered by Steam and Blackpowder that is among the finest made for any member of the Inquisitorius, designed to protect against the worst wild magic storms and physical attacks that the world can throw at him.
Mental characteristics
Personal history
Born to his father Lord Mylir Alcott during one of his father's rare lucid moments of good health, Indicoff grew up in the then-struggling and minor house of Alcott as the Heir-Apparent to the throne of a house that was on the cusp of achieving greatness - though his father had been dispatched on a hunt across the ocean on a mission widely considered a suicide run, not only did his father return but he returned with stories, riches beyond imagining, and tales of fighting alongside mighty warriors to take down a God-Vampire inside his own time-locked castle. Growing up surrounded by countless fans and admirers of his celebrity father, it was the job of Young Alcott to take all that his father had returned with on his expedition across the seas and see it properly used when his father passed away due to complications from a disease he caught while on his adventure overseas - growing up, he put his father's resources to use in the best ways, and grew house Alcott into the veritable powerhouse it is today; taking his fathers stories of far-off lands of wonder to heart and refusing to abandon his morality or childlike wonderment even as he grew up into adulthood.
Even when his mother was manipulated by the enemies of his house into giving him up to the Inquisitorius before she passed, he emerged from his mandatory years of service a lauded veteran of the Empire whose deeds accomplished in the name of the Iron Emperor made him all but politically invincible; a man so widely beloved that any who had wished to move against him or had hoped he would die during his service to the Inquisitorius would find it impossible to do so without fantastically good plotting and reasoning.
Now, having carved house Alcott into a powerhouse of warrior-culture, martial mastery, and raw militant discipline over the course of nearly three decades, he stands poised as the single most popular Lord of the Hunter Clans in living memory whose armies rival that of even the Iron Emperor's in strength - even after the collapse of the Cindergarde powdermine under his command that earned him a harsh punishment from the crown and the exile of his house to more distant lands to oversee as punishment, he remains one of the brightest heroes of the Iron Empire(One of the extremely select few to complete four consecutive tours of service in the Inquisitorius's high-mortality rate Blacksquads) and a shining example of the Empire, even as enemies from within and without seek to undo him.
Sexuality
Heterosexual
Education
Lord Indicoff was given the finest upbringing possible at the time by his father, Lord Mylir, whose expedition across the seas allowed him to return with not only the fame to give his son the best upbringing possible in a prestigious university in the far-off land of Ruati(In the finest tutor halls of the Ruatiwanga Sultunate), but the resources to give his son the most valuable education of all - tales of the world and the education of a well-traveled man of the world who taught his son not only of the rest of the world of Ea, but of the teachings of those far-off lands that the Iron Empire themselves would not wish learned.
Employment
Though born to the prestigious House Alcott, Lord Indicoff was signed away by his mother to the Inquisitorius of Tavross, The Iron Emperor, where he served for many years in a variety of roles until returning to role his house after a legendary service record to the Empire.
Accomplishments & Achievements
Uncovered and eradicated a Vampire Cult in the bowels of the Hive City of Damnadon, and personally executed the Dread Vampire who ruled it.
Infiltrated the Town of Crecht after it had been overrun by the forces of the Vrykus Throne and cleansed the town - allowing it to be repopulated and renamed.
Personally slew one of the God-Vampires of the Vrykus Throne, earning him the rare title of "Steelborn".
UNKNOWN.(Most records of his accomplishments during his time in the service of the Inquisitorius are highly sensitive and classified by Tavross, The Iron Emperor)
Failures & Embarrassments
Failed to prevent the collapse of the Cindergarde Powdermine, losing the Iron Empire one of the precious few "stable" powdermines.
Intellectual Characteristics
A politically savvy man who knows how to apply pressure where it is needed, Lord Indicoff is a man who nonetheless laments and despises the need for such actions and angrily curses at the nature of the Lords of the hunter Clans who treat him as an ally only when convenient for them. He is a cunning and tactical leader who easily commands the respect of those he meets, and while capable of complex political maneuvering and frequently does so, values "heart" and "soul" more than efficiency.
Morality & Philosophy
The core of Lord Indicoff's morality is the simple fact that he has as moral compass - a thing which many of the Lords of the Hunter Clans mostly or wholly lack in favor of neurotic patriotism that prefers "sacrifice for the greater good of humanity" over caring for any one people or group of peoples. He is a kind, wise, and just man who makes a point to do right by those under his command and refuses to send them off on meaningless deaths or enact pointless cruelties - preferring rule by respect and example rather than out of fear or zealous patriotism, knowing full well that for humanity to prosper fear will not win every heart, nor will "the greater good".
A solid and stoic man who places great emphasis on martial philosophy, warrior discipline, and enjoyment and merriment, his morality and philosophy make him a clear and blatant target for both internal strife within the Iron Empire and for the enemies of the empire and the servants of Kali, The Broodqueen, all who seek to destroy him or see him ruined for one reason or another.
Personality Characteristics
Motivation
Lord Indicoff's motivation is largely unique amongst the higher-ranking nobles of the Hunter Clans of Numiastra such that it seems almost entirely driven by living beings, the safety of himself and his house, and the prosperity of not just himself and his family, but each and every man under his command - knowing each of their names personally and being motivated not just by inhuman greed or monstrous patriotism as others who are willing to burn any number of lives in the boilers of the Empire to keep it afloat, but by real and grounded care for those around him.
And in the lands of the Iron Empire, such purity of motivation is rare - even rarer to last so long into adulthood, when the creeping smog of the Iron Empire's factories and the blackening touch of its patriotism so often turns such purity as black as pitch, leaving only monstrous, all-consuming heartlessness in its wake.
Savvies & Ineptitudes
A man of many talents, Lord Indicoff is skilled in a great number of things ranging from political statescraft, public speaking, tracking, hunting, gunmanship, commanding armies, empathy, games of strategy and chance, maintaining his own gear, repairing mechanical devices, to even his most notable skill - seeing and persuading the hearts of men.
As strong and as skilled as he is, Lord Indicoff's central ineptitudes lie within his morality - he is unwilling to hold his tongue against what he percieves as gross injustice or misuse of power for long, and refuses to truly accept the Iron Empire's traditional views of efficiency and placing numbers and percentages above the lives of those who die to achieve them. While other lands would see these as skills themselves, these are perhaps the most despised ineptitudes of all in the lands of Numiastra.
Likes & Dislikes
Likes: His House's Ancestral Lands, His Daughter, His Wife, Martial Discipline, Martial Prowess, Spending time in his workshop, Being away from the complicated scheming of the Hunter Clan Lords, Spending time with his family, Seeing the Iron Empire Prosper, Hunting and Tracking Wild Game, Spending time on Nature Walks, ???
Dislikes: The Cruel and Heartless, Placing Efficiency above people, Tavross, The Iron Emperor, Those who pretend at friendship but don't have the backbone to stand together with another when the time comes, The Vrykus Throne, Kali, The Broodqueen, "The Greater Good", ???
Virtues & Personality perks
Lord Indicoff's most powerful virtue is that of his unbending moral code in the face of the so-frequently soulcrushing political landscape of The Iron Empire beneath Tavross, The Iron Emperor - in the face of it all, he stands as a man who is well-liked and cherished by his fellow landed nobles of the Hunter Clans even though his outspoken criticism of the Empire's existing systems earns him the fearful recognition of those very same nobles who keep their distance from him lest they be earmarked as his "supporters" by his enemies.
Loyal and Moral to a fault, Lord Indicoff is a man who places infinitely more value on people and living beings far more than he does on material, riches, and resources - an extremely rare mindset in the lands of Numiastra and ESPECIALLY in the lands of The Iron Empire, where the most common path to ascension is sacrificing one's subordinates for the greater good. He has personally earned the respect of one of the Elves of the Traitor's Wood(A feat typically assumed impossible by one loyal to Tavross, The Iron Emperor), and his interpersonal skills and unbending moral code let him show love and care to even the most twisted, blackened heart in the world - and most impressive he keeps all these virtues even as he stands as one of the finest fighters in all the Empire, whose personal inventions and armaments have let him rise to the ranks of legend even as his detractors grow at an equal rate to his supporters.
Altogether, is a man whose warrior-mystique has permeated his entire house - whose staunch values of martial discipline and combat prowess combined with his unflinching morals have elevated his previously minor house into a house so powerful that even the mightiest Lords of the Hunter Clans fear and respect him in equal measure as a man who commands an army of such unfathomable power yet commands such unflinching, bottomless love and loyalty from those very same troops.
Vices & Personality flaws
For all his virtues, Lord Indicoff's greatest flaws exist in the shadows of those very virtues - widely lauded as trusting, that very trust is one of his greatest flaws; making him a man who sometimes has a difficult time seeing past the loyalty he commands and fathoming that one so close him could possibly still be his enemy. Beyond this trust, he is known to possess no vices(A rarity among Nobles of the Empire), but otherwise his flaws stem from his time in the Inquisitorious of Tavross, The Iron Emperor - a man without compromise nor retreat, he will pursue a target like a bloodhound or a vulture circling a wounded beast once he senses weakness, and contrary to what many believe of him he has the capacity for great heartlessness when the need arises; though he attempts to keep his former Inquisitorious Training in check where possible.
Personality Quirks
As a habit from his time serving in the Inquisitorious of Tavross, The Iron Emperor, he is loathe to remove his armor or weaponry even in familial affairs as the Iron Inquisitors are given specialized training that trains them to function in their armor as if it were their very own skin even as bulky and steam-driven as it is. This quirk, however, makes him very hard to catch unawares with his guard down.
Hygiene
As a noble of the Iron Empire's Hunter Clans, Lord Indicoff keeps himself to a certain level of Hygiene but does not obsess over it overmuch as he is, at his core, a warrior and a general rather than a fastidious politician.
Social
Reign
Lord Indicoff has led the noble house of Alcott for the better part of 27 years, ever since the day of his 19th birthday where he inherited the throne from his father Mylir after his father's unfortunate accident that caused his demise - and ever since it has been a meteoric rise to fame and popularity in the Hunter Clans such that many have assumed that it is somewhat inevitable that he will lay a challenge to Tavross, The Iron Emperor himself - a notion that speaks volumes of how well-liked the Lord is amongst his peers in the Hunter Clans and how much political and military power he truly wields.
Contacts & Relations
Lord Indicoff is without exaggeration one of the most notable members of The Iron Emperor's Hunter Clans, though he is one of the most polarizing - many see him as a popular member of the Landed Elite whose moral code and upstanding code of ethics make him a potent challenger of The Iron Emperor and his policies...though just as many are loathe to truly support him for fear of being marked as a "supporter" by the The Iron Emperor's Death Commandos.
As such, while Lord Indicoff can be said to have a great many contacts, relations, and affiliations among The Iron Empire, he must carefully navigate among these contact to find the ones who are truly trustworthy to his cause. Perhaps the only and most notable of his relations outside of his immediate family that he can trust is his chief warmaster, Rhadamanthos - a lithe Elven man widely lauded as the finest duelist in the entire Iron Empire who holds loyalty to the Lord Indicoff alone.
Family Ties
The only family Lord Indicoff has that yet lives is his wife and daughter - his father, despite his heroism after a successful hunter expedition that took him to a far-distant continent to a time-locked castle of Vampires that brought back the then-small time family unsurpassed riches and fame, took-ill from complications from a disease caught on that journey and died when Indicoff was only 20 years old. His mother died shortly thereafter of a broken heart, leaving him alone in the world until he eventually married the mysterious Lady Melisanda and found himself a wife.
Recently, he and his wife have given birth to a beautiful(If strange) daughter that they cherish as their family's greatest treasure.
Religious Views
Lord Indicoff is, if the rumors are to be believed, a public believer in the ways of Tavross, The Iron Emperor - though he is bold enough to publically announce his displeasure or disagreement with his God and Emperor's policies when he sees issue with them, which is an unusually bold and noble strategy that typically does not end well for those who make a habit of such things in the history of The Iron Empire.
Social Aptitude
The Lord Indicoff's greatest weapon is said to be his social aptitude - capable of changing the minds of even his most fervent detractors in especially short order. His social aptitude is drawn from his character, and his incredible ability to sway the hearts and minds of men with his genuine care for their wellbeing and willingness to fight and bleed alongside them to lead them to victory or to save their lives - a trait which is so rare as to be myth in the lands of Numiastra. Harsh and no-nonsense but at the same time staunchly supportive of his subordinates and men, he is perhaps the most socially gifted man in the entire Iron Empire.
Mannerisms
The Lord Indicoff's mannerisms are best described as "powerful and to the point" - he wastes no time with fluff or side-talking and prefers to be direct and truthful wherever possible, supposedly disliking the complicated political machinations of the Hunter Clans and deriding it as a hideous blot upon The Iron Empire.
Speech
Lord Indicoff's speech is notoriously somewhat slurred thanks to a wound he sustained to his lower jaw years ago that has only been exacerbated by his recent case of Powdervein - giving him a unique drawling cadence and slurring means of speech.
Wealth & Financial state
Though the wealth of the house of Alcott was notable and immense(though not as infinite as others among the Hunter Clans), it was recently reduced to a fraction of its former glory after the punishment handed down to the house by The Iron Emperor for the Lord Indicoff's failure to safeguard the Cindergarde mine - an incident which polarized him in the eyes of his peers after he prioritized the workers of the mine more than extracting its wealth or preserving it in some manner to allow for future mining and potential unearthing.
Now, having been forced to move his house from their ancestral lands to a land outside the factory-city of Cindergarde in the Black Desert, the Lord and his house have been slowly building up their wealth in their new homelands.
Alignment
Lawful Neutral
Current Status
Just moved his entire house and operations to the Black Desert outside Cindergarde as punishment for losing the Cindergarde powdermine to sabotage.
Honorary & Occupational Titles
The Count of Crecht, The Lord Alcott, Hero of Iron's Edge, The Hunter of a Hundred Fathoms, The Answerer, Indicoff the Steelborn, The Traveler
Age
46
Circumstances of Birth
Born to his father, Lord Mylir Alcott, as his firstborn and eldest son.
Birthplace
Born at his family's original estate outside the Blasterbark Wood.
Children
Current Residence
His new estate in the sands outside Cindergarde.
Pronouns
He/Him
Sex
Male
Gender
Man
Presentation
Masculine
Eyes
Naturally Bright Cerulean. A case of Powdervein has slowly turned his left eye black as pitch.
Hair
Short, Oily, Straight, and Black
Skin Tone/Pigmentation
Liver-spotted and Powder-stained, but Naturally Tan-White
Height
6'2 (1.88m)
Quotes & Catchphrases
Damn their 'greater good' and damn these blasted Hunter Clans...cowards who cheer me on when it suits them, yet flee behind the Emperor's skirt when the throne cracks down on me and my house, fearful of being outed for showing a shred of decency to another. What has this empire become, that morality is worth its weight in gold? Is burning our very humanity truly the cost of salvation?
Belief/Deity
Comments