Chains

**Chains**, formerly know as Uther Wainwright, is an infamous bank robber and the partner in crime/subordinate of Peggy Skelfrey. He was formerly a competitor in the High Midnight Tournament.

## Appearance:

Chains is a tall, well built humanoid with faded, grey skin. He has no hair underneath his large brown hat and his eyes are a dull orange. Beneath his metal muzzle he possesses two large tusks from the (unwilling) consumption of unrefined nightmare fuel.

Chains's outfit consists of a large brown cowboy hat, a large, ripped leather jacket, an orange, metallic muzzle and green, torn trousers. He also dons a large chain around his neck, with several shackles wrapped around his wrists and ankles.

Before his descent into the creature that is now known as Chains, Uther was a fairly tall man, standing a couple of heads above most other men of his time period. He had slightly sun tanned skin and had very little hair, with the notable exception being his thinning sideburns and goatee. He simply wore a tan tunic and the same green pants he now wears as Chains, although not as damaged.

## Personality:

Chains is a very quiet fellow, choosing not to speak at all.

## History:

Chains was once an Anglo-Saxon man called Uther Wainwright. He lived on the coast of current day Yorkshire with his wife Ástríð. The two were well known as petty thieves and bandits in the local area and were treated with disdain by most. They were, however, devout christians and would regularly attend church, much to the dismay of other townsfolk. One day after Uther and Ástríð had attended church, they began to plot to raid a food supplier on their way home but they were interrupted by a screaming man who warned of the approach of Berserkers. Amidst the confusion, Ástríð was taken by the Berserkers to be used as a human sacrifice in one of their most dangerous rituals. Uther, determined to save his wife, gave chase, knocking aside and wounding several townspeople who were in his way. Uther was followed by a nun who pleaded with him to stop his endeavour as it would only end in his own death, however, Uther ignored the woman and continued after the Berserkers into the nearby forest. Ástríð would call out to Uther throught the mists, telling him to forget about her and save himself, nevertheless, he continued after the Berserker group. After several minutes of running and getting lost in the forest, Uther finally happened upon the Berserker's impromptu lair and burst his way inside. He looked on in horror as there were no Berserkers in the room, but his wife's carcass, half eaten on a sacrificial altar. Uther flew into a fit of rage and sadness as the horde of Berserkers closed in upon him. Uther, however quickly dispatched many of the unarmed berserkers in a very painful manner. One Berserker wielding an axe managed to slash Uther's back, tearing his tunic and leaving a huge, gaping wound on his back. The other Berserkers managed to push him back into their lair where after a long scuffle, one Berserker accidentally knocks over a goblet of archaic, unrefined Nightmare Fuel into the wound on Uther's back. Uther, under the influence of the Nightmare Fuel, killed the remaining Berserkers and stumbled out into the forest where the nun who had previously followed him was waiting. The nun, worried for Uther's safety, checked him for injuries, but Uther overcome with the power of the Nightmare Fuel, only uttering a single word over and over again, "Eaten", turned his attention to the nun and quickly killed her, eating her in the process. Uther had now become nothing but a mindless beast and wandered off into the forests.

The Nightmare Fuel had changed Uther in many ways, He was now incredibly tall, his skin had been bleached a grey colour, his eyes which were once a dull blue now blazed a fierce yellow-orange with no pupils, and two tusks had begun to form on the sides of his mouth. His life had also been drastically increased, making him essentially ageless.

After several hundred years, Uther, having kept a semblance of sapience, had set up a small camp in the woods where he would drag his roadside victims to be consumed. The King of England at this time, tired of hearing his subjects complain about people going missing at the roadside, sent a squadron of his knights to subdue the beast and bring it to him, these knights were headed by Gawain, the future bodyguard of Baron McThrill. Gawain's men had tracked Uther down and managed to perform a sneak attack on him, knocking him out, allowing them to shackle him and chain him to a post. Uther, however, quickly came to and broke free of the bonds that held him, retaining only the shackles on his wrists and ankles and the large chain wrapped around his upper body. Gawain, not wanting to let his prey escape, burst forth from his carriage and engaged the now "Jack-in-Irons" in combat. After landing many blows to Chains, Gawain, expecting the near-mindless beast to submit, was taken aback when the creature ran and literally melted into the fog. Gawain returned to the king humiliated while tales of the Jack-in-Irons spread all across Yorkshire and the North of England.

Another several hundred years later, Uther, continuing to kill and eat people on the roadside, encountered a young woman one night by the name of Peggy Skelfrey. Uther hesitated to kill the unfazed Peggy as she bore a striking resemblance to his long dead wife, which awoke something deep within Uther's psyche. Finally conscious for the first time since the Viking age, Uther tried to say his late wife's name but couldn't manage to parse the word. Dumbfounded, Uther followed Peggy home, much to Peggy's ire, her attitude quickly changed, however, when she realized that Uther would do anything she told him to, save for speaking.