This is probably going to be my only character to start off with but I might create a second if I feel like I have enough time because it's always betetr to add a character than take a character away.
Name - Alexandros (Ἀλέξανδρος) "The Herald"
Nationality - Greek
Age - 23 years
Height - 1.78m approx. 5ft 10 inches
Hair Colour - Whitish Blonde
Eye Colour - Light Grey
Class- Shadow Operative
Visual Reference-
They say faith is simply blind trust, but what if your faith was the only thing you had ever known? How far would you go defend the only thing you ever knew in life?
Alexandros was born to a lowly prostitute who had no clue who Alex's father was but nevertheless, she gave up her 4 month old child to her strangest client for €50. This client wasn't interested in her specialties but rather asked her questions about her religious beliefs and at the end of the session, he grabbed her left breast and looked into her eyes. He pulled away moments later saying "I was mistaken; the father was the one." Alexandros was ushered away to Nepal; there he grew up learning about this fanatical religion whose followers were referred to as the "Vassals of the Light" and they claimed that everyone else's mind was shrouded by darkness. Despite the outrageous circumstances, Alexandros believed every word that came from Sun's mouth, the leader of the cult, and went on to initiate others into the religion.
During his time with the Vassals, Alex was trained in firearms (mostly handguns since they couldn't get much better weaponry) and was quite profficient. It was decided that he was going to start his career as a fighter for the cult when he turned 16 however, the Light had better plans with him.
At 15, it came to the time where Alexandros had to prove himself to the Light to see if he was worthy. He was to be locked in an empty cave with some dry wood on the floor. Once he entered, he would have to light a fire with his faith. As soon as he entered, he noticed that the wood instantaneously started burning . After an hour had passed with Alexandros still in the well-lit cave, the rock covering the cave was heaved away and there he saw every one of the 324 followers on their knees, proclaiming him "The Herald" who would bring Light to every corner of the world. He stood proud and his face met Sun's who gave him a small nod. He didn't have to say any words to accept this title; his face told it all.
The cult took it as a sign that the time had come for them to break off into different parts of the world and preach their religion. Many of the older cult followers were opposed to this heavily and called Alexandros the "False Shepherd" who would lead the Vassals into darkness and death. They then left the cult, almost halving the cult's followers, and the "Vassals of the Light" fell into hard times. Their military force was reduced down to 14 young men, each armed with a single handgun; their food supplies shortened to the point where some followers killed themselves to avoid suffering and Alexandros could not control his people so they were left to do what they pleased.
The final blow came from the Nepalese military when Alexandros was approaching his 18th birthday. They swarmed the huts in which the cult lived and massacred any man who fought back and took the rest as prisoners. The cult's fighters went down in mere seconds and Alexandros was held at gunpoint, undefended, in front of the rest of the followers; he was told that they and he would live if he abandon their religion. Alexandros stood up from his meager throne and said "We have led sinful lives. There is no Light. We have been rescued." His eyes immediately went to Sun who defiantly rose up in the crowd and said "They were right; you are no Herald." In the next few seconds, Sun's body was defiled with gunfire from all directions and his corpse left as a warning.
Broken, Faithless and Destroyed, the followers were segregated into different camps with some kids as young as 8 years old left without their mother. Their plan for Alexandros was quite different; they took him to Kathmandu where he was detained for 2 weeks before being introduced to around 150 of the cult's former followers who had told the military about the Vassals and where they were. Overcome with emotion, he barked at them "They killed Sun." The leader of the former followers responded with "I never liked him anyw
ay." He punched Alexandros in the stomach to put him on the ground and spat on his head.
The darkness started to chip away at the former leader, weakening his faith and his resolve. He went days without food in his stomach, searching for something to fill the void in his life; everything he once knew, driven into the ground because he was too proud to step down as leader, too stupid to understand the choices he made but, he was also too young to throw his life away.
Conveniently on Alexandros' 18th birthday, he received a vision from what he thought to be the Light. He remembered it exactly:
He was kneeling beside all of the faces he remembered, even the deserters, but they were kneeling in front of an empty chair. Soon, a figure began to materialise in the chair; it was humanoid in shape but about 3 metres tall when sitting and its face was a complete dark abyss.
Alexandros managed to force out the words "Who are you?"
The voice of the figure boomed throughout the room "I am your precious Light. You sinners have brought shame upon me so I must sit in this chair while darkness envelopes the minds of everyone living and dead."
"I...I can still help, I...uh, I still believe"
The room was quiet for what seemed to be days in Alexandros' mind but finally the figure replied "Prove it."
When Alex woke up, he was greeted by a slender woman with a certain hardness about her, a few years older than him, in navy blue. Once he managed to recover, he caught a glimpse of the woman's badge on her left breast which read "XSDF". He managed spurt out the words "Where am I?"
The woman replied "You're lucky we found you. We found you drenched in your own sweat and about to die."
"But where am I?"
"You're at a secure location; we'll get you back to Kathmandu as soon as possible"
Alex quickly replied "Wait...I can work for you, whatever it is your company does."
"We don't just hire random soldiers we find on the street."
Alex realised his chance and took it. He went down on his knees and pleaded "Please...I have nowhere to go...I...I...I can shoot a gun."
The woman accepted the challenge and placed an empty can 100 yards away "Prove it"
Alexandros got handed the handgun and he quietly whispered "Light, give me strength" and he shot the can right in the middle.
"Alright, you can come to the recruitment camp and if they think you're good enough we'll take you." The woman had an impressed expression.
Without saying a word, Alex nodded and he knew his journey as the Herald has just begun.
