Axel

Axel F, Axel Fehu (Norse rune), Paxton Stenulfr

Jacob Williamson 9802-157
7 CCP

Requires special character approval for: Non-Standard Flaw (Cursed, -1); Cross-Venue Merit (the Knocker Kith Merit, "fix-it"); Two non-standard Rites (Rite of Rune-Carving, Rite of Rune-Casting)

XP: 38 (7 CCP, Acting Ordeal)

Character Sheet:

Get of Fenris, Homid, Theurge, Cliath

Roadie and occasional keyboarder for "Das Uberbitch," Get of Fenris pack and death-metal band.

Rage: 1
Willpower: 2
Gnosis: 3

9 Physical: Athletic, Brawny, Brutal, Dexterous x2, Rugged, Tenacious x2, Vigorous
6 Social: Charismatic, Expressive, Gorgeous, Ingratiating, Intimidating, Persuasive
9 Mental: Alert, Attentive, Clever x2, Cunning, Insightful, Intuitive, Shrewd, Vigilant

Negatives: Bestial, Forgetful, Impatient, Shortsighted, Violent

Abilities:

Brawl x3, Computers x2, Drive x2, Drive: Airplane, Meditation, Melee x3, Occult, Primal-Urge, Repair x4, Science: Electronics x2, Securities
Freebies: Garou Lore x2, Glass Walker Lore x2, Get of Fenris Lore x2, Spirit Lore x2, Performance: Keyboard, Linguistics: German

Influences:

Transportation Influence x3

Backgrounds: Past Lives x3 (strong connection to "Mad Bomber" Garrick Stenulfr Plane-Chucker), Pure Breed x2 (diluted by Glass Walker parentage), Resources, Rites x5, Totem

Renown:

Wisdom
Revered (gained from held, but "lost," Destiny merit)
Sacred (gained from held, but "lost," Destiny merit)

Glory:
Psycho ("throated" a VW minibus when it ran over him as a cub)

Gifts:

Razor Claws, Jam Technology, Spirit Speech

Rites:

Rite of Binding, Rite of Rune-Carving (below), Rite of Spirit Awakening, Rite of Summoning, Rite of the Hunting Grounds, Rite of Rune-Casting (intermediate, below)

Merits:
Fix-It (Knocker Kith Merit, +5), Repair Aptitude +1
Flaws:
Animal Musk -1, Cursed (Gremlin Magnet, below) -1, Overconfident -1, Pack Mentality -2, Mark of the Predator -2

XP Log:

4/9/99: CCP x7: Tenacious x2, Vigorous, Athletic (4 spent)
4/9/00: CCP x7: Persuasive, Gorgeous, Expressive
4/9/00: CCP x7: Vigilant, Clever
4/9/00: Primal Urge, Repair x4, Meditaiton, Occult, Science: Elecronics x2, Security, Computers x2, Drive x2, Brawl +1, Melee +1
4/9/00: Background: Resources, Rites x3, Totem
4/9/00: +1 Willpower to 3, +1 Gnosis

Various Notes:

Equipment: Weapon: Rear axle of a VW van (+2 Traits, -Clumsy)
Sound board and amplifier rig held together with barbed wire, spit, duct tape and bad temper
Tool kit with pliers, wrench, duct tape, wire cutters, and so on

Get of Fenris Flaw: Extreme Territoriality Axel will go ballistic if anybody messes with his stuff. Do NOT touch the sound mixer. Do NOT adjust the mic without his permission. Any Uberbitch fans who attempt to mess with the equipment will get their skull bludgeoned by a 2.5-foot metal shaft ("RESPECT!" bam "THE TERRITORY!!" bam "OF ANOTHER!!!") This is closer to the tabletop version of the flaw--not that people messing with his stuff is necessarily "of the Wyrm," but his repeatedly losing it is an irrational and uncontrollable personality flaw.

Knocker Kith Merit: Fix-It (+5): What Axel lacks in technological sophistication (he’s not a Glass Walker, after all) he makes up for in volume and intimidation. Most broken machines will start working when he glares at them, out of sheer terror. Yes, this is a Fae merit, but "scares machines into working" for a Get of Fenris Techie concept isn’t a breach of mythos.

Most machines can be intimidated into working correctly by your baleful glare. You may make a simple test to force a machine to work, and succeed on a win or tie. If the machine is sentient this becomes a Social Challenge, though you risk no traits.

If necessary I’ll pay an extra point or two since I’m importing this merit from another genre, but I’d rather not--I’ve already hurt myself by building this character as a Cliath.

Non-Standard Flaw: Cursed (-1) The downside of his famous ancestry, Axel attracts Gremlins. The mischievous technospirits will generally avoid Axel’s own possessions (he’d kill them and damn the notoriety, and his merit tends to undo the damage they inflict), but if it would be convenient for a machine to break down, an ST can rule that it’s been "gremlinized." The Gremlins don’t do this often, since they’d risk Axel’s entire pack hunting them down, but it happens often enough to keep him on his toes--and generally, it happens when he’s not around to repair what his Jinx has broken.

Non-Standard Basic Mystical Rite: Rune-Carving: This Rite allows a Get of Fenris theurge to carve runes they can later cast. The runes must be carved into the bones of enemies slain in battle (Axel uses car parts…). Once dedicated, the Runes can never be lost.

Non-Standard Intermediate Mystical Rite: Rune-Casting: This is the standard Get of Fenris Divination rite. It allows the Get to cast and interpret the patterns of runes. The ST can be as precise or as vague as necessary, and give hints in as comprehensible as necessary. (Both of these Rites are from the Get Tribebook)

 

 

Terse Character History:

World War II: Famous grandfather Ragabash Garrick Stenulfr Plane-Chucker dies while flying against either Axis or Allies forces, and at one point the Swiss--nobody’s sure what side he was on. Theurges foresee his eventual rebirth.

1975: Wolf Stenulfr, Ahroun, marries Alkeda Sethre, Get kinfolk.

1977: Christopher Spinner, Glass Walker Adren, Doppelgangs as Wolf Stenulfr.

1978: Paxton Stenulfr born. To whom is left as an exercise to the reader. Birth one of great omen. Theurges claim he is a reincarnation of his grandfather.

Early 80’s: The details of Alkeda’s "affair" with a Glass Walker are exposed. She and her son are ejected from the Get tribe, and are adopted by Spinner. Paxton raised by the Glass Walker tribe.

1990: Paxton’s First Change. Kin-Fetch alerts Get of Fenris, who come to claim the cub. Spinner goes into hiding, Alkeda is killed.

1990: Earns name "Axel" and his signature weapon when a VW minivan runs over him and he kills it.

1990: Rite of Passage:

1990-1999: General screwups, his technological jinx, his love of weaver-stuff, his poor breeding and comparatively small size (no Huge Size merit) make him all but a Sept outcast and keep him hovering on the edge of Fostern. Sept theurges decide they were wrong and he never had a Destiny, never mind.

1996-1998: Axel’s packmates killed by Austrian Kindred, the remainder disbands. He drinks himself into a stupor (and is scandalled a couple more times), and leaches off his Kin and relatives for the better part of two years.

2000: Get of Fenris Death Metal band and pack, "Das Uberbitch," moves through town. Stenulfr signs on as roadie and becomes indispensable--he makes twenty repairs in two weeks. Even a pack of fairly thick-headed Get eventually realized Axel’s continued presence was what was causing all of the breakdowns, but by that time it was too dangerous to get rid of him.

 

13 Questions:

  1. What does your character hope to accomplish in the near future; why these particular goals?
  2. Having spent almost 10 years as a Cliath, Axel is looking for a change. He’s recently come to America and thinks it’s a nice way to wipe his slate clean--here he doesn’t have to live under the shadow of his grandfather or under the thumb of the Get Elders of Germay--but he’s ultimately a pack creature and wants to enjoy himself with his new pack, too.

  3. What are your character’s long-term goals?
  4. Reconcile himself to his decades-dead grandfather, or prove that he’s his own person, one or the other. Be the best damn roadie "Uberbitch" has ever had.

  5. What is the real reason your character’s in his or her existing domain.
  6. Axel isn’t really a special character type, he just has a few weird abilities--there’s no secret to his being here or anywhere else. He’s here because his pack’s here. They’re here because their lawyer says they need to lie low for a while.

  7. What gives your character reason to continue living?
  8. Is this a Kindred question? Living creatures live, Garou fight the Wyrm. He’s perfectly happy with his life. Extremely so, since he always gets to do the pack’s repair work, he actually has a pack, and he can use Primal Urge to get laid, entirely guilt-free. Life’s pretty good right now.

  9. What are his greatest joys and fears?
  10. Obviously, his pack is extremely important to him. He loves being up to his elbows in grease, and loves being able to help his pack achieve something--preferably at the same time. His greatest fear is disgracing himself in front of his pack, but he’s also afraid of screwing up badly enough to lose all his tribe’s respect--or worse yet, never earn it.

  11. What emotions are the primary drives for your character?
  12. Rage, Pack Mentality, improving his status in the Tribe.

  13. How does your character view the mortal world and its events?
  14. Mortal world’s not terribly relevant to him. He mostly does Garou things. His pack’s façade as a rock band brings him in conflict with the real world, but mostly he does pack stuff, Umbra stuff, or repair work--the club scene and mortal influence swirl just isn’t his game.

  15. What major events shaped your character’s past; what were the pivotal moments?
  16. Why this and a terse history, too? His rejection by his German sept, the slaughter of his pack in Vienna, and his adoption by Das Uberbitch are his most pivotal moments, and the ones he remembers most.

  17. What are your character’s relations with his tribe?
  18. Strained. The American Get don’t know him, and the German Get have decided he’s a lost cause--he has his pack.

  19. How will this character make the game more enjoyable for others?
  20. What will this character add to sanctioned play?
  21. In this character’s case these are basically the same question. I’m a damn good role-player and can pour a huge amount of energy into a strong character. The concept’s unusual--there aren’t that many technoshamanistic Get of Fenris out there. However, this isn’t a non-standard character type, which should offset the "I’m So Special" factor. I will leave this one at "fun and unusual concept, and people enjoy role-playing with me."

  22. Why do you want to play this concept in particular?
  23. Because it’s either this or the Silver Fang with True Faith: Jahweh? I like unusual concepts. This is a fun character.

  24. How will you be like a character in the play of your character?

This is more appropriate to unusual Bete’ or rare Kindred bloodlines, where a non-standard character shapes the mood of a Chronicle. I will endeavor to help the Storytellers refine the mythos of the game, and I’ve always happily put my character’s interests on the backburner to help "plot."

Yes, I agree that playing a non-standard character is a privilege, not a right, and one that can be denied or revoked merely because of game-balance or overabundance (I can’t imagine there being an overabundance of Get with the Knocker merit…) and may be revoked if I as a player abuse this privilege. I have the right to ask and receive reasons of denial or revoking of this character.

 

Extended Character Stuff:

Description: Axel stands about six feet tall, almost a foot shorter than an average member of his tribe, and his brown hair and slightly mottled pelt (he’s got a series of faint stripes down his ribs and patterns like tears in the gray-brown fur of his face--Glass Walker markings) mark him as being of mixed blood. He smells musky, like an animal, in all his forms--given his cover as a roadie in a German death metal band nobody really notices, since his jacket could probably walk by itself anyhow. He dresses messily (German military field jacket, torn jeans and an "Uberbitch" T-Shirt). Since he’s rarely on stage, he doesn’t need to dress for show.

Personality:

By Get of Fenris standards, Axel’s easy-going. Anybody who leaves his stff alone can stay on his good side, and anyone who gives him something to patch back together can make a friend. He doesn’t deal well with the pack’s submissive personality, a metis with more issues than fingers--if he doesn’t respect someone they’re pretty much useless to him. Axel’s lost without his pack, though, and if he’s stranded with none of the other pack members, that metis will be his best friend…until he gets back with the rest of the wolves.

Extended History:

A couple of notes: Axel had the Merit: Destiny in his past. He was destined to bring some kind of peace between the Get and Walkers of Germany, and was supposed to be a reincarnation of his famous grandfather. However, the spirits and Garou and Axel himself have all said "ah, nevermind" on the whole Destiny thing since Axel’s technology drive is an embarrassment to the tribe and it’s seriously doubtful that Axel’s famous grandfather, Garrick Stenulfr, is actually related to Axel except in some strange spiritual sense. The Get have had a little trouble with the whole "ancestry" thing, since his biological father was possibly a doppelganged Glass Walker--nobody wants to admit that a Walker bred with a Get kinfolk, particularly since Paxton’s alleged father, Wolf Stenulfr, is a powerful and egotistical Ahroun. The stories range from his mother intentionally being unfaithful, to his mother being a Glass Walker kin that Wolf dallied with, and nobody’s actually sure--or nobody will willingly talk about it. Whatever happened, it obviously couldn’t have been Wolf’s fault. The whole thing is kind of embarrassing. My history occasionally changes because of this.

Garrick Stenulfr Plane-Chucker, Rotagar of the Fenrir, flew in World War II. Depending on who you ask he flew for the Axis or Allied powers, and the fact that he dropped more planes of…someone or another’s enemy than any other Get involved in the war is public record--Garrick and the platoon of bound Luffe Gremlins he traveled with, and his heavily warded Stuka Staffel, were enough to strike fear into the hearts of Nazi, American, British and even Swiss forces. The rumors that he was actually a Homid Red Talon trying to fulfill a personal Impergium on airforce pilots were only rumors. Garrick met an untimely end when dark forces conspired to blot out some of the pictographs on his plane, destroying his Wards and giving his Gremlins free reign. On the other hand, the explosion was a death he would have been proud of.

When his grandchild Paxton Stenulfr was born to the changing blood, all the auguries pointed to the child being born to a great Destiny, the reincarnation of his famous grandfather. He never lived up to that promise, and would ultimately disgrace the tribe by running with a pack of Glass Walkers. More on that later.

Born: August, 1978, under the Theurge moon. His mother was Get Kinfolk, Alkeda Sethre, and was appropriately chastised for not delivering the child under a more noble moon--but the rune-castings of his birth said he was destined for the greatness of his grandsire. Perhaps his father, the Ahroun Wolf Stenulfr, would bring the cub more glory. (Paxton’s sire is more likely a Glass Walker Ragabash using the Doppelganger gift. Alke saw through the disguise right away when her husband acted almost gentlemanly--but this twist of birth explains why he doesn’t have the traditional Get Purebreed x5 and Huge Size…)

Alke’s infidelity was eventually exposed (well, Wolf figured out what was up, and Alke, being both female and Kinfolk, was blamed). In righteous anger Wolf kicked Alke and Paxton out of the family unit. They moved to Berlin. The Theurges of Wolf’s sept pointed out that the pup had the promise of his Destiny to live up to. Wolf ignored them.

Alke and her son were eventually adopted by a sept of Berlin Glass Walkers--probably Pax’s father’s work. Alke married into the tribe.

By the time he was eight, Paxton had seen his first spirit--a Gremlin. The creature followed him to school and destroyed several pieces of educational equipment. All the destruction was blamed on the child (he’d already had a history of trouble, since he’d broken lots of bones--none of them his--particularly when anybody messed with his toys or school supplies). He couldn’t convince his mother he’d seen it. She was a materialist, even if she was Kinfolk--the real world was too much as it was. Paxton’s family moved him to a private tutor--the GW den mother, even though he hadn’t "changed" yet. The tutor had a mild anarchistic streak, and most of Paxton’s education was devoted to time wasted in philosophical arguments. He hated it. He’s hated arguing politics ever since.

The gremlins followed him through the years, until his first change when he beat the ephemera out of the irritating spirits. Not like grandfather in that respect. The gremlins were completely surprised by this, since up to this point they’d thought they were dealing with old Plane-Chucker.

His first change hit him when he was 12, very young. His dad--his probable biological GW father, Christopher Spinner--took him driving. This might have worked, except that both of them had entirely overblown perceptions of their own abilities and tried to take Paxton on the Autobhan. The gremlins struck, and the car sped out of control. Spinner’s Gifts kept the car on the road, but its body was wrecked when the car collided with the sideguards on the Autobahn bridge. In the stress of the moment--and having actually seen the gremlins tearing out the car’s workings--Paxton changed. The sudden Crinos in the road didn’t help matters, and there were several other wrecks inspired by the Delirium. Paxton finished the job the spirits did to his father’s car in his frenzy to get rid of the spirits only he could see. Dad had seen the First Change before, and just stood back in the hopes that the young Get-Glass Walker wouldn’t turn his attentions toward his father.

That night, Christopher took his new-changed son to his Sept. The next day, the Get of Fenris attacked to claim Paxton as their own cub--the Baptism of Flame held true. Christopher went into hiding and Alke died during the attack--she wasn’t Get of Fenris Kinfolk, she wasn’t important to the tribe.

There was the usual whirlwind "training" all cubs received--since Paxton was obviously a Garou of Destiny, he was pushed into the Rite of Passage more rapidly than any other cub would have been. In fact, it was only about three weeks until he earned his first Glory trait, "psycho," which was enough for them to send Paxton on his Rite (the story of the Glory trait: the Den Mother let the cub return to the city for a day, and almost as soon as he crossed the city border he was hit by a VW minivan. Not only did he survive, he tore the underside of the van apart and claimed his signature weapon and his name from it). The Get let him keep his axle on his Rite of Passage. They were Overconfident, too. A few Fostern got their jaws broken when the Sept attacked him and the other cubs on the Rite. That may have saved his life--the Sept got a little confused when he changed sides and attacked one of the other cubs--a hapless Rotagar pupwho tried to take Paxton’s axle to protect himself. It didn’t work. Never pick on the small, highly posessive one.

Skip ahead a bit, to Axel’s litany of screwups. There actually was a time where he was trying to fulfil his destiny of unifying with his grandfather (there was something else in the Auguries about Axel’s birth bringing peace between the German Get and Glass Walkers, but most of the theurges ignored this particular prophecy--they focused mainly on the story that Axel would be a reincarnation of his glorious granddad. He learned to fly a plane, quite badly--he hasn’t tried to fly since he got his license, it’s probly expired. The next person to use that plane died in a quite respectable fireball. When he was seventeen the Get of Germany stopped granting him Renown--some of the Elders had an Intolerance to high-end weavertech, and Axel made them itch. Besides, he was a male Theurge, a runt and possibly a half-breed besides, since he was born when his inglorious father sullied himself with a Glass Walker kinfolk--all black marks on the Get runeboard. The occasional Renown he picked up was scandalled away from him almost as quickly. The German Glass Walkers learned pretty quick that he was a Jinx, and refused him admittance to their septs (on the grounds that he was Get of Fenris and they were at war…)

Axel eventually ran with a mixed pack of Gnawers and Walkers. They took a gamble on him, since Axel was one of the longest-running Cliath they’d met, but they needed a good head-basher. He stayed with them for about two years, mopping up residual wyrm-taint in Austria. During a "social" sort of pack mission, the Garou attended a formal ball, crashing the party (but in style--the Bone Gnawers took a little scrubbing down, and Axel still smelled strange even after a bath or three, but at least they dressed well). One of the "guests" turned out to be a Leech, and the pack Ahroun handled the situation badly, attacking the Kindred. The bloody rout that followed left three of the seven-member pack, damaged the Veil (more scandal for Axel, it’s predestined) and was a real horrible screwup. Never take an Ahroun to a party. Weirdly, the really dangerous member of the pack was outside helping a valet attendant repair a breakdown. In 1998 the pack broke apart and Axel had a total nervous breakdown--he invested too much of himself in the pack to dal with the split. Axel spent the next year leeching off other Garou and his Kinfolk, and getting mind-numbingly drunk.

In early 2000 the German death-metla band Das Uberbitch had a problem--they killed their roadie. Ooops. The Glass Walker lawyer they’d somehow wrangled into staying with the pack covered things, as long as they would leave the country as soon as that particular tour ended. They were playing in Essen for two more days, without any stage hand, so they put up a badly-written notice that they were looking for a new roadie and equipment wrangler (damn, third one this year…) When the band’s manager turned up the next morning, there were no hopefuls waiting for him--only a solitary man holding a heavy steel club. Axel was given the position, and he rapidly proved his worth as a mechanic over the next few weeks. After a few months they figured out that most of the equipment malfunctions and breakdowns were due entirely to Axel’s presence, but by that time he’d made himself indispensable--the one time they tried to fire him the group’s van broke down.

As things stand now: Das Uberbitch can’t function without Axel. This is true on a literal level. Most of the electrical equipment is so badly damaged it’s only Axel’s bad temper holding it together. The pack’s Glass Walker is the only one actually mad about this, since he can’t fire Axel without paying for replacement equipment and probably a new van. Since Axel moves most of the equipment himself (he’s "marked" most of it) and seems content to set up the stage by himself, it’s work the band doesn’t have to do. The only person he occasionally lets help him is the pack metis, who Axel’s slowly coming to think of as his little brother--this isn’t a good thing for the metis, since Get affection isn’t exactly tender.