Erde Verbrannt

= "Bombs aren’t fair to a swordsman, that's the whole point!” =
== Erde Verbrannt ==
Erde Verbrannt is a merc for hire with a very fun loving personality, and explosive surprises. Born into a family of a corrupt father, he chose to ditch his heritage of bureaucracy and embraced a life of crime. He eventually raided a settlement with a bunch of raiders and other mercenaries for a job set by a client (Kuraiōji) to secure a "Prostor Elf with Abnormal Eyes" as the main objective. The raid turned out to be a bust, which left Verbrannt with no equipment, a few escape tools, and the recipe for Dynamite, but lacking any more explosive charges. While returning to a spot to recuperate and to find out how to get his money back, he spotted a plume of smoke from a campfire, thinking it was easy prey for more money, he created a dynamite stick without explosive charges, essentially making it a false bomb. 
However, what he had happened upon was the Tide Striders, a mercenary group formed by Keil L. Danillan that only consisted of 3 members of the time. He announced himself and threatened the Striders with the fake bomb, forcing their hand to let him in the group for material and jobs, in exchange for his help with any future troubles. After negotiations, he threw the false bomb into the fireplace for show and to shatter egos, as well as being a display of his cunning. Having joined the Striders, he earned a title from a chess piece, henceforth being known as "The Queen", for his frightening agility and disruptive capability. 
== Early Life Events ==
=== Ciao! ===
Erde was born high in the mountains of Interra Gloria to a rough start in the game of life. His mother was nowhere to be seen, only his walking filth of a father. Any flora that Erde had set his eyes upon as food would already be upon his father’s plate, and the few berries that sat on his would be his only thanks. The stench of alcohol flowed through the air, or whatever air there was, even being so high above the clouds it was suffocating to be so humiliated, not even acknowledged by his lone parent. 
So, if the world decided he would be under his people and their statuses, what more than to embrace it, to seek out the professionals earning so much through their own handiwork, not tearing the works of those below you from their hands for your own credit. The roles would be reversed, taking up work, he acknowledged himself as mercenary for hire, reaching the low of criminality, yet in his eyes, having more guts to soar higher than his greedy father ever could.
It was laughable, a herbivorous species that never evolved for combat as a mercenary, even the underground societies cast him as beneath them, rendering him forgotten once more. He had to carve a niche, some infamy, and found explosives as the most hilariously powerful asset to his lack of expertise. Who cares about the honor among thieves when a duel is pointless compared to controlling a whole room with a measly few grams of explosive. With this, working from rock bottom, the only way was to go up, small jobs going to a few notable ones. However, the more honorable lot of the lowest of the low hated his technique, the lack of subtlety, the lunacy of using explosives as general purpose, and the worst part, that more often than not, it worked. Even as clients tried to backstab Erde, usually, it took just one escape route and a few more bombs than necessary, to leave with payment, and a body count. Even still, the title bestowed upon him during his early days makes it seem like he was the traitor, how typical.
“Renegade? Oh you mean my title, not the one I was anticipating but it’s better than nothing.You couldn’t possibly have believed I didn’t have a plan for you letting me work for free then discarding me, did you? Heh, let me tell you something about ‘Renegades’ then..The only thing that you gotta know… Is that I forgot the rest, Ciao!”
It was only then that the now noticeable sounds of matchsticks and lit dynamite created something truly deafening, overlapping the silence, tomahawks pierced the necks and wood behind missed targets as words pierced the minds of his once client. The door kicked open, enough time for an ender pearl to streak through the air as he would’ve to a safe distance, leaving behind an lounge devoid of life and smoking like a bonfire. 
“Eugh, that could’ve gone better.. Might as well blow his safe open as a payday, I’m outta here.”
== Recent Life Events ==
=== Why The Desert? ===
Three people sat in a moderately lit room, two serving the same man, only for their sake, not his, but their patience was running out, Erde and a partnering merc that he didn’t know or care of were standing in a room with a darker, and crankier figure.
“Buddy, pal, you’re being picky here, I’ve given you at least four elves that look important enough for you. These guys come and go like frags but even I know they have a limit to how many people they can field..”
“How hard is it for you to seek a Prostor elf?!” His uncooperative client was unfathomably impatient and just as equal parts vague. No fun, he has tried everything, searched everywhere, and even tempered his explosive tendencies for something as important as single target capture, especially with pay like this, but even then it would be a much more pleasant experience to just quit hearing this.. thing’s voice.
“Those were prostor elves, elves that we had to threaten to not speak about our little dinner table date because if they disappeared that would get us in trouble. I only have so many ender pearls, jury’s still up about the bombs though.”
“Do you still not understan-!” The door to their room burst open, one of Erde’s exhausted assigned goons was there before them, masked and panting, they announced their presence with the opening of the door. 
“BOSS!”
The client scowled, what a bothersome interruption.
“This had better be important, Renegade.”
“Shush tall dark and brooding, Silver, talk.” Erde’s right hand began to talk, clearly exhausted from having traveled a long journey.
“We found.. hah.. a prostor elf heading towards a heavily guarded settlement, they’re in the desert still roaming on a camel, by the time we reach them they’ll probably be inside.”
How annoying, a potential target and they’ll already be protected. This job was gonna take up more effort than anticipated. 
“Rally up the men, let’s move, might as well have some fun while we’re at it.”
=== Scorched Earth ===
Every explosive counts, anything Erde had at his disposal was being brought along, this job would run his resources dry, but the payout would be sweet and worth the trouble. It was getting dark, and the elf was getting tired, and unbelievably close to the village. 
“This desert is hell, Ninell, take your boys and post up on the left side of the village, I’ll be on the right and tell your joke of an assistant to stop blowing that horn, that's gonna get us caught, honor be damned, if he does don’t expect to see him again.” The merc groups split paths, a force too unorganized to be considered proper, mercenaries leading groups of simple minded bandits. It’s a shame really, if it wasn’t this heavily guarded maybe it could’ve been the foundation for something, welp, won’t have to worry about it again anyway, just have to worry about the stupidity of inexperienced crew.
The mercenaries took up post, setting up attack formations and plans of their own, until the worst sound that could have possibly sounded in that very moment, filled the air with its bellowing cry.
“That glory seeking son of a bitch. That bastard better live so that I can kill him myself.” Erde hadn’t been this furious in a while, the noise had sounded from their partner’s underling, only seeking the thrill of battle and spoils, the honorable way.
“Boss, what does that mean?” His second in command frantically asked, they were audibly distraught, had they been spotted? Were they about to be under fire? His questions would be answered unbelievably quickly.
Erde raised his voice tremendously, as if he already wasn’t loud enough. “It means one of their boys just revealed our whole plan by blowing that horn! I was supposed to blow up those walls before anyone even got there!” Village bells now filled the air with their warnings, as well as the distant cries of their comrades on the other side of the village, no turning back now.
The lines erupted with the barking of orders, Erde yelled with composed fury but decided the lead position was too risky even for him. Instead, the pawns went first, hurling themselves upon the well disciplined guards, slaughtering themselves by the dozen before the order was given to halt, Erde rushed the well formed line just within throwing distance under cover of the ranged bandits. A magnificent display of deadly shrapnel and shockwaves lit up the desert sands like fireworks in the air, guards fell to the floor, missing limbs, incapacitated or both. Easy prey for whoever wanted it. Rookies broke rank, the smart and experienced fell back into the village, the roles were reversed on his end, the lawful are at the mercy of the lawless, and they were piercing into the village like phantoms upon an insomniac.
He was inside the village now, leading a handpicked crew of lesser mercenaries; they made a bound for the house they saw the merchant enter and blew down the hastily barricaded door with ease. They laid their eyes upon the worst thing they could have seen upon that moment, a prostor elf, with nothing special besides his riches upfront.
“Silver, check his eyes! We didn’t come here just for us to leave empty handed!” Erde grew as impatient as his client while he kept watch, with only his throwing knives to use upon armored opponents, good thing he saved his pearls for stuff like these. 
“What the hell do you expect from a prostor?! Yellowish.. Argh I'm not good with colors, it just looks like a sad shade of gold!” His second in command Silver was yelling obscenities at the elf asking questions, the forces outside when a lone elf was making his way through the greed filled bandits towards their location at alarming speeds, with that confidence,
Erde wasn’t going to take any chances. 	“Silver, the rest of you,” Erde said, tossing each of his crew an ender pearl, “you know how to use an ender pearl?” The room filled with a unanimous agreement, clearly startled by the unusual haste of their part time boss. “Good, hand me the score and aim for the way we came, this raid is a bust.” With that, final sentence of defeat, Erde grabbed the merchant by the neck and teleported out of the building and eventually was able to hastily move out of danger with a second bout of ender pearls, and the spare that his crew brought with them. Disgraceful, he would have to return to his client with the wrong guy, again. 
A familiar voice filled the air once they reached the rendezvous point, a voice Erde was accustomed to, and a voice he was so desperately hoping to hear up until that point. 
“Commander! What do you think of the horn eh, very intimidating yes?” The deafening bellow of the war horn sounded again for show, as the second commander’s filth of a right hand boasted upon the blood on his hands.
“Check it out, these riches! I even took some from that house you left out, you didn’t even-” The voice was cut short, the tomahawk that glided through his throat was not of anyone else but the commander he was boasting to. He was left to struggle on the floor, gasping for air that wouldn’t come to him, gargling on blood he wouldn’t have minded to see on himself just a few hours prior.
Erde speaks up to what he now viewed as nothing more than a disposable detriment. “Let me tell you something, I don’t really care for honor among thieves.” He effortlessly twirls the throwing axe that had just killed a man that he was just fighting with, each mercenary that wanted to act was at too much of a loss for words upon the imposing figure of the giant Windwalker, flaunting its wingspan. 
“You cost me dozens of men, all of my dynamite, and the target wasn’t even the right one. As such, I’ll be promptly taking this,” He said, grabbing the bag of goods for himself, “as reparations for your disobedience, Ciao!”
…
“What? I thought I was called the Renegade, why is this surprising to all of you?”
== Present Life ==
=== Rising Tide ===
“Tsk, I didn’t even get the pay equivalent to all the effort I went through, and he just vanished like that, admirable, but that's my bit..” Erde was quite upset with the result, now he likely had someone from that village on his tail, and his employer refuses to work with him until he finds the prostor, just great. At least he got the goods that he yanked off Ninell’s right hand, maybe he could make enough money to buy more explosives, but as of now, he had to make a failsafe, a convincing, but ultimately false bomb. The shell would be there, but the insides are completely dud and false, it wasn’t hard to find a creeper but it w0uld take too many close counters just to beat one to death with barely anything to work with.
“Hah! Maybe I should make more of these ersatz bombs, I wonder if there's anything else I can use these for.” He took a glance at the surroundings to make sure no monsters would catch him working on his pathetic invention, when a plume of smoke was the first thing to catch his eye. Interesting, civilizations are far from these dense forests, even some tribes didn’t venture this deep into the woods.
“Heh, guess I’ll be using this thing earlier than I thought,” he said with smug, “Adventurers don’t have anything besides ropes n’ picks, this’ll be fun.”
The Windwalker climbed the highest tree he could find, and began to soar towards the campfire, trying to not make too much noise as to alert his prey early. However upon reaching closer, he found that these were a peculiar bunch, the camp was very proper, almost like they were permanent stayers if not for the tents, but most of all, they were well armed, and had some sort of golem or machine, it didn’t matter. How funny, his chances would be none if he didn’t have his little lie with him.
“Mercenaries.. tsk, perhaps I’ll join them, maybe I can get them to make the bombs for me before liberating some earnings as share,” Erde sighed in contempt, knowing full well this could go absolutely horribly, ender pearls would hardly do as much good in a forest unless he’d toss one up a high tree, “Let’s get this over with, ya damn fool.”
He climbs up the highest tree in the area, and promptly perches himself on it, giving him a clear line of sight of the campers, and announces his presence without a care. “Hellooo lawless, lawful, scum of the earth,  whatever you are, hahaha! What’s the vibe today!”
=== Wayward ===
One of them shouted, already drawing his weapon.“Who the fuck’s there?! Don’t tell me I have to deal with another moron.” Good, he knows who to stay away from the most.
“Feisty, aren’t you?” Erde said mockingly, “Don’t worry I won’t bite, I just want a little something from the lot of you.” He said, now dropping from his vantage point with confidence that would make anyone doubt their actions. 
“Who the hell do you think you are? Stay back unless you’re itching for a fight.” The man shouted again, now identifiable as a Knull Elf, curious, they don’t live in forests.
Another one spoke up, challenging his very presence. “For an ambush this is stupid, you’re one against three and I doubt you can even harm botboy over here.” He was unarmed, a beautiful weakness, but he had his way with words, the negotiator made his appearance, and he just revealed their last wildcard.
That left just the bot, who was very obviously their meatshield, or just a shield, he lacked the meat to qualify for that, so now, it was time to play the cards and control the board.
Erde let a small chuckle escape his breath. “Heh, well I suppose that would be the case,” Quickly pulling out his ersatz dynamite for all eyes to see, as well as a lit match, “if of course you wanted to leave your scattered limbs a monument instead of usable appendages, nice try though!” Erde twirled the stick of dynamite like it was nothing but a toy, circling the group like a predator, and he was herbivorous, thrilling! The group erupted, and the roles were reversed with but one twist, the crescendo of this show is coming.
“Is that a bomb?!” The machine said, moving into a defensive position to their negotiator, it was clear, he was protecting the leader, it was time to learn more.
“No it’s a crayon- OF COURSE IT’S A FUCKING BOMB JACK!” The mood was dire, and they were spreading out, time to set the rules straight.
“Ah ah ah, stay in formation, I’ve still got more things to throw, sharper than this fella here, but it’ll do for single targets, any questions? Any volunteers?” 
…
“Obedient, good! Now, mind telling me who you guys are? Obviously not adventurers, too well armed for that, except for you, uhh,” He motioned to the head of the group, the empty handed one, odd one for.. Is that an elf? “Elf? You’re an elf right? You’re good at hiding it but nobody else hides their ears like that, you almost had me there my friend!”
The so-called “elf” began to wager this bomb threat on the words from his mouth. "’Elf’, ‘Pirate’, ‘Decapitator’ I've gone by many names, but if I'm good at hiding my ears to almost trick you, can you imagine what else I'm hiding?" The elf says, reaching for the inside of his coat. “What the fuck are you doing?! Do you want us to die?!” Said their Knull warrior, good, crowd mentality still works even with the scum of the earth, he had been checked for a moment, but the board remains his.
Erde thanked his mask for helping him hide his expressions, he was almost had, his bluff nearly called, and his plan nearly broken, but he had to continue the game. “Oohoohoo, you do have some bite! Tell you what, why don’t I light this and then some until you stop making threats, mkay? As I was saying, I’m here to cut you guys a deal.” He said, pointing his dynamite to the group. “You tell me what exactly you fools are called, and I’ll decide if it’s worth my time to, well, integrate myself into your merry band as long as you can provide me with more stuff like this boomstick!” He relaxed his body language, now opening his arms like he had no fear of attack, tauntingly.
“You want to fucking do what?! You’re threatening us with a bomb and you want to join us?! Fat-'' The Knull elf stopped in his tracks, now realizing why the threat was made in the first place. “So that’s your fucking game huh, fine, you two idiots, what’s your take, I say we don’t take chances with that shitty explosive.” Erde waited, now tossing the explosive repeatedly like preparing to throw for a sadistic game of catch
"You know, we can use an extra arm, or rather wing in your case in our group here, we're trying to get out of this damn forest and an explosive and a big guy like you could help, but it doesn't seem like you're not carrying a weapon, a large guy like you surely wouldn't use a small sword or dagger, you wouldn't even be able to hold, let alone wield it." 
Erde could barely hide his joy, barely tempering his taunting anymore, he continued his survey. “Sharp eyes! If those even qualify as eyes, a bit lacking in the brain department though, throwables are meant to be concealed, surely you know that,” He mocked, now pointing the matchstick at the bolt bucket. “Machine, your thoughts? Don’t fry your circuits thinking about it.” 
It spoke in a voice, almost human-like with emotion. “I would say let him, I’ll supervise his screw loose if he does anything, just like Keil. Let’s see if you’re anything useful, if not, you’re out.” 
“Hahahaha! Sweet!” He blew out the matchstick and walked past his now loosely knit friends and sat on a log they had designated as seats, “Let’s do introductions, I’m Erde Verbrannt, mercenary for hire looking for a crew.” He glanced at everyone else, still on edge and high alert. “What? Sit with me, that was my last match, trust!” 
The group sat down the farthest from Erde, or as he would come to know them, by their respective names, Alvar Nerinan the Knull Elf, Keil L. Danillan as the Prostor Elf, and Jack Gunslow as the.. Machine of sorts. Together, they called themselves the Tide Striders, an odd name for men in the forest but what can you do, he wasn’t the leader.
“Tide Striders? Interesting choice.” He pulled out the dynamite again, “Let’s celebrate your new member then yeah? Stand back from the fireplace, and enjoy the fireworks inside!” Verbrannt threw the bomb all of a sudden into the fireplace, causing the other members to duck and cover behind the closest obstacle or tree, while he stood there, seemingly oblivious to what he just caused. Seconds passed, and the crew began to hear no explosion among the eerie silence, only the sounds of Verbrannt.. silently laughing? And it wasn’t long before he couldn't contain his own mirth, and started howling with laughter.
Suddenly worried for the safety of a potential asset, Alvar yelled in a bout of desperation, a desperation for only his personal safety. “What the fuck are you laughing about?! Get to cover!” However, it wouldn’t be long until the concern turned to disdain once more.
The Windwalker’s wings were tensing from his laughter, no longer able to keep it in. “I don’t fuckin believe this! You didn’t actually think that was a real bomb did you?! Hahaha!” He said, stretching his wings, barely able to keep composure from his own joke. He took a deep breath, relaxed his wings, and calmed himself. 
“Anyway, I’ve got a debt to settle with an old friend, cucked me out of my payments and refuses to work until I catch somebody. They told me something about looking them in the eye, as if that’ll help me find the correct target right?” Erde sighed again, sounding more disappointed than his last. “But now, with you guys with me, I feel like I'm getting closer!”
“As if it’s right in front of me!”
== Skills and Abilities ==
* Explosive Proficiency
* Escape Artist
* Mild Alchemy
* Archery
== Personality and Quotes ==
“Honor doesn't save a dead man.”
“Nobody really talks about me, I guess it’s an honor thing, how dumb.”
“Me? Bad at fighting? Obviously! Bombs aren’t fair to a swordsman, that's the whole point!”
“It’s boutta blow!”
"Can't these doors be a little bit more considerate to Windwalkers?"
Erde Verbrannt is a very playful yet mocking being, having too much confidence in his ability to escape scenarios without dying. He prefers to plan first, knowing every bit of information before going in to maximize the results, taunting to reveal weakness, extra information, and personal pleasure. However, he does not take kindly to someone else taunting, especially when said person’s plan has yet to be put in motion, seeing it as giving away information for free, an easy take out, and overwhelmingly annoying arrogance. Erde has a very loose sense of loyalty, if any at all, only keeping people around if they entertain him or are of use to him, it is just a matter if his interests are provided. 
He developed a curiosity for experimentation due to explosives, as such, he has some average alchemy skills that has come to use from time to time. All in all, he is arrogant, smug, with a hint of disloyalty, playfulness, and lunacy.
== Fun Facts! ==
* Verbrannt wears a mask to better hide his facial expressions to be better at lying.
* He disdains the Renegade title, much preferring the Queen title given to him by the Tide Striders, symbolizing his importance, the chess piece, and his capability to them.
* Upon meeting the Tide Striders, he made the long term investment in letting them provide for his bombs for different, more plentiful jobs they can take, instead of taking Keil to check if he was the target he was after.
* Any situation that Verbrannt doesn’t favor or has a lack of information on will immediately cause him to retreat.
* Verbrannt likes the company of Jack Gunslow for the arrangement of sounds he can make, as well as being the least hostile of the Tide Striders to him.
* Unlike many other mercenaries, Verbrannt doesn’t drink, as he views it as a vulnerability.
* Outsmarting Verbrannt gains you respect, especially if it’s with words.
* Keil L. Danillan both frustrates and amuses him due to the unpredictability of his speech and mannerisms.
*Though Verbrannt prefers The Queen title over his previous Renegade, after a certain amount of time, it began to bother him without any satisfactory explanation for it.
*Verbrannt dislikes politicians and rulers, viewing most of them as cowards if they do not personally do work.