Alexander Springspell

Alexander in his Sicarius robes

> "Killing is healthy competition, mercy is disrespectful."
>
> Alexander when talking to Hotran Bronzeblood moments before strangling him.

Alexander is one of the longest living members of the Sicarius and is known throughout the criminal underworld. He is known for brutal precision, his mask and his incredible swordsmanship. The pantomime mask that Alexander wears is widely recognized by the underworld and often feared among both the lowest and highest of society.

### Appearance

He is 6'1, Pale, Dark brown haired, gaunt, athletic build, faintly glowing orange cat-like eyes, strong jaw, fairly average face, clean shaven. A black and white sleeve tattoo of a rose bush runs up his left arm.

The Sicarius’ main colour scheme is Dark blue and black. He wears armoured but light robes. The armoured section of the robes spreads around the edge of the padded chest and shoulder pads, along with armor running along his belt, boots and gauntlets. Most joints are basic cloth. The armour is extremely intricate and well crafted. Located at the middle of the belt is the Sicarius logo, which is a skull with 8 spider legs coming out of it. Additionally, Alex wears a metallic pantomime mask of a man crying with laughter.

He is a trained killer and a hirable assassin by the richest and most powerful in society.

### Personality and alignment

Alex is a soft-spoken, yet energetic man. His brutal efficiency and years of experience has built up a natural respect for his enemies. He knows never to underestimate a target. If he can, he prefers to talk to his targets before killing them. He likes the human aspect of the job and wishes to know that the soul will move on quickly. He deeply supports the cause for life in the Great War while also respecting the process of death believing it to be the only unique experience one can have in a world of traveled roads and lush knowledge.

## Early life

Dewhurst was a village in the East of Grirun, before it was destroyed during the great war, it had lush forest which turned amber during the autumn and the great mountains overlooked the village. It was private and well resourced, people were well-fed and poverty was next-to-nothing.

His father, Harry Springspell and mother, Vidl Springspell, were both taken by the Conqueror Army in the conquest across Grirun.

Upon the disappearance of his parents, he was escorted out of the village by the village-guard, who put him on a carriage with the other children to evacuate them out of the village.  They were taken to the Skinners Orphanage on the far West Side of Grirun, a few miles from Roktorp.

He remained at the Orphanage for 6 years, where he was raised mostly by the staff who came and went due to being volunteers. He made little friends in this time, most kids were traumatized beyond comprehension for their little brains.

Upon the age of 8, hooded men in black robes, engraved with undercommon and other unknown glowing patterns, arrived at the Orphanage. The group of 150 children who were residents at the Orphanage were brought before the hooded men. The staff ordered the children to remain still and in lines. The men handed pouches of gold coins to each of the staff members, who then turned around and left, leaving the remaining children alone with the hooded figures. The men would sit and meditate for 10 minutes before their eyes began to glow a dark-gold. They would move down the lines, each starting at one end then meeting in the middle. Pointing at each child, waiting for a moment, before moving onto the next. 2 out of 150 children were selected.

Alex, and another young boy known as Dimitri were picked and told to pack. The hooded men, who everyone referred to as ‘Collectors’, waited outside the orphanage at a black carriage. Dimitri and Alex climbed aboard the black carriage, pulled by two large black warhorses.

The boys sat in silence as they were being pulled along, the collectors seeming to communicate with hand signs to each other. After two hours, the carriage came to a stop, where the collectors handed down two sacks of food. Bread and cheese were laid out in front of the boys, along with cheap metal cutlery, and they ate. One of the collectors climbed into the carriage from the driver’s seat, dark hood overshadowing any facial features. A ringing built up in the air as a dark red energy began to emanate from his hand, which he waved in front of Dimitri, causing him to collapse, unconscious. Weariness started to overcome Alex as he went into a panic, picking the knife from the food up and ramming it into the chest of the hooded figure. Shocked by this sudden vigour, the collector fell out the door of the carriage, gasping loudly and rolling around on the floor of the wooded area they had stopped in. The other collector dismounted from the front of the carriage swiftly, with an unnatural speed, and as he approached his floored ally, Alex finally lost consciousness, falling into a deep sleep.

The boys awoke in a dark cave, the air above them beaming with the light of green fireflies; the blue flame of torches lining the walls and a strange turquois glow from hanging fungi of the ceiling of the large cavern. Large blue crystals stabbed through both the fungus and the darkness, emitting a radiant blue, enhancing the glow of the fungus. Bits of rope and structures were built around some of the clusters of crystals, which had been mined and cracked. Built into the walls of this large cavern were many structures, seeming to be houses, carved from roughly cut blue-rock bricks, criss-cross window frames sat in holes in the bricks, illuminated by the soft glow of orange flames. The structures spanned the surrounding walls of the cavern, curving around a large pit in the middle of the circular village, at each end of the village, large, rough watch towers sat, with men overlooking the village perched within them. The pit was illuminated by purple light but Alex could not see the contents the hole. Around the hole, a large metal frame was put in place to stop bypassers from falling in, even acting as a form of spectating point to view the contents of the pit. Alex and Dimitri lay at the bottom of the path leading up to the civic structures. A large magical wooden door, reinforced with metallic plate, sat behind Alex, and at the other end of the road, he could see large grand runic stairs leading up another large, detailed and engraved metal door, red runes pulsed on it every few seconds.

## The Sicarius

The Sicarius’ headquarters is known as **‘The Black Tower’**, and is located deep in the underdark behind a very large magical steel and wood door. Its of circular shape and has a large staircase that leads up to the black tower itself, otherwise known as The Monolith. A soft buzzing of weave energy can be heard all around the cavern, shadows will often move by themselves as well as sometimes mist descending upon the area, this comes and goes.

It was here they first met **Irune Enro**, or as they would come to know him, Uncle. Irune was a young elf upon meeting Alexander, barely over 180. Uncle trained the recruits and acted as a father figure for the Sicarius (Guild), he acted as a kind but harsh guide, training Alex and Dimitri as a duo, as they were the youngest and freshest blood. Its here when Dimitri Vinkov and Alexander Springspell became close brothers, as they spent the first 2 years of the program together.

The maternal figure of the Sicarius was **Sionia Wynfell**, she was the head of the ‘family’ and head of all business relations, handing out the assignments and managing the money, as well as the arrests on the rare occasion a member got arrested. She was a young-ish Elf back then, but is now a much older elf, She is currently 524. She arose to become the new leadership of the guild upon the arrest of the Hexblade himself in 1271 AW, since then she has been far more open to what is known as ‘monolithic experimentation’.

Alex fell into the assassins training and indoctrination very quickly, hating his previous life and accepting the new one with open arms. Him and Dimitri were given a shared bunk in one of the barracks, where they received hot food as well as hot drink and a generally better quality of life. Both he and Dimitri were concerned with what Uncle was describing as their ‘final test’ once the boys turned 18.

Groups of guild members are divided into sections called ‘Families’ and their co-workers become their ‘siblings’, 8 per family. They share residency and training together as well as anything else that happens within the guild and its headquarters.

### The Family

Alex has 7 living siblings as of 1575 AW:

* **Harvey Windfall**, Elf, 450, older brother, very close with him as he has spent centuries alongside him in the guild. Harvey is often considered the heart of the family, very light hearted and extremely skilled with a polearm. (Guild Rank: Veteran)

* **Elana Adlen**, Dhampir, 326, 3 year older sister, was apart of Monolithic Trials, one of the 3 Dhampirs in the guild. Is extremely competitive and creative when it comes to kills, once killed a man by superheating soup before he consumed it. (Guild rank: Soldier)

* **Dimitri Vinkov**, Dhampir, 323, Equal Brother, was apart of the monolithic trials, one of the 3 Dhampirs in the guild. Alex’s closest brother, extremely talented with spellcasting and prefers a spell to a blade, he often sits on the fence when it comes to the guild discussions, in his age hes found that the guild is becoming more and more immoral, more about money and less about family. (Guild rank: Soldier)

* **Verdin Genro**, Druegar (Werewolf), 230, young brother, was apart of what was considered ‘The Trial Of The Moon’, hes used as the muscle and is the least-subtle of the family. Verdin is a spiteful man with utter hatred in his heart and a distinct lack of mercy or empathy. He was turned into a lycanthrope and taught to control it during The Trial Of The Moon, which he volunteered for. Most of the family is not fond of him but he is necessary, and they have been around each other for centuries. He is often only wheeled out when the guild needs a loud distraction or a bit of muscle, he is extremely lethal and efficient with his claws and Warhammer. (Guild Rank: Enforcer)

* **Schuggers (Schuggs) Silverslite**, Deep Gnome, 98, Younger Brother, Ex-Warcleric of Aziel, dedicated doctor to the guild, once regenerated Alexanders hand after a mission gone wrong in Oteon. They are relatively close, but Schuggs tends to stay quite distant from the members.(Guild Rank: Support)

* **Proteus (???)**, Reborn, 342?, Massive 8ft tall, previous goliath, Very quiet, very reserved, seems very confused, very efficient somehow, extremely strong. Prefers to get kills with his hands. No-ones really sure who he was or what he was, he was a corpse that was taken from a morgue and attached to The Black Tower, causing him to become a Reborn. (Guild Rank: Enforcer)

* **Franklin 'Silver-tongue' Whitely**, Gnome, 34, Eloquence Bard, Loud, flamboyant, Newest member of the family, Once killed a political leader in Usloya by attracting a Large Purple Worm to a festival, possibly the most chaotic member. (Guild Rank: Initiate).

Additionally, Although not family, Alex befriended a elf known as **Dereck Vonderheim** while he was on a mission in Oteon. Dereck is a privateer but well versed with contacts and local gangs. He uses a sending stone to communicate and get information off him.

### Teenage Years

His teens, alongside Dimitri, were mainly spent training up within The Black Tower for the final test. The final test is the ability to use every variant of weapons and mundane items to kill a man from 100ft. Two humanoid vampire spawn, kept in a cell within the pit, were used as the training dummies and used in the final test. Once you complete this test, you advance beyond the rank of Recruit and become an Initiate to the guild. Alex and Dimitri would spend days using different weapons in the training pit, which is in the centre of The Black Tower, in preparation. Once they had completed the test, they would be assigned a family residence and no longer reside within the Recruit Barracks. Alex and Dimitri both passed the test at the age of 18, although Alex performed better than Dimitri. Once they had passed, they were given the option between becoming a caster or a weapons expert. Dimitri was more gifted in casting and ultimately became a caster, where-as Alex became a weapons expert.

Alex and Dimitri were granted a 'dark blade' each after the pass of the test, which every member of the guild is given upon joining. This is a weapon that has spent days being attached the 'The Black Tower' itself and is infused with its dark energies. The weapon forms a bond with its wielder.

### The Sunforger

Irune Enro (Uncle) gifted The Sunforger to Alex as a congratulations for his first kill and completed contract, 2 years after he passed his final test. Uncle told Alex that he had stolen the sword from a colony of Fire Giants. The Sunforger was the first gift Alex had ever received and was very much excited to try it out, although it caused conflict with Dimitri and other members of the guild as they believed favouritism had taken place. It is something Dimitri still brings up to this day.

## Adult Years And The Trials

When Alex turned 24, the Hexblade himself had been caught and sent to Coldmaw, which ultimately shook the guild massively. People began to panic and members started to worry about the future of the organization. They had not gained an elite following in the 200 years they had been operating, only ever being offered small time contracts and often town or village lords as targets, however the Hexblade had pulled off the impossible. High King Hillingham had been murdered. Word quickly spread through the underworld and before The Sicarius knew it, the Black Tower was being hunted by both the law and criminals alike. The notoriety this assassination brought immediately overwhelmed the guild, who were not acquainted which such high priority and important targets. The leader who took over, Sionia Wynfall, was under immense pressure and had to make rapid and experimental change. She believed that their weapons were no longer enough, and that their bodies ultimately needed to become weapons. So she opened sign ups for people who wanted to experiment with cellular exposure to The Black Tower monolith itself, the source of their power. Ontop of this, she also wanted to experiment with other forms of transformations, in an attempt to turn more individuals into weapons, so she began The Monolithic Trials, the Trials Of The Moon, The Trials Of Power and The Trials Of The Night. The guild now was 40 members strong.

**The Monolithic Trials:** 6 Individuals signed up to The Monolithic Trials. This trial was a trial of willpower and constitution. The subject is attached to The Black Tower itself, fully nude, via metallic adamantine clamps. The subject is then left, tied to the tower, having the dark energy coursing through them for 2-3 weeks without food or water. The finish date is unsure as transformation times were inconsistent. Dimitri transformed within the middle of the second week, Elana towards the end of the second week, and Alex at the end of the third. The other 3 subjects died, their bodies fell weak and began to shrivel up. The results were quite remarkable, average lower body temperature, vampiric teeth and claws, severe and constant anaemia, no need for subjects to depend on oxygen and no cellular degeneration. After more weeks, more results were observed. The subjects had developed an enhanced speed and reflex, as well as electrostatic adherence, their bodies generated and stored strong static charges, allowing them to ‘stick’ to surfaces from any appendage.

**The Trials Of The Moon:** 2 Individuals signed up to The Trials Of The Moon, Verdin and Maura Alenkov. These trials consisted of paying for a werewolf, who had mastered their abilities, to turn these 2 individuals into Lycanthropes. Once turned, they would then be moved to a secure cell where they would spend many weeks transforming again and again, as well as being taught by this werewolf, in an attempt to master the transformation.

**The Trials Of Power:** 5 individuals signed up for The Trials Of Power. This was similar to the Monolithic trials, but was more popular due to the higher survival rate and how much easier it was on the body. This trial involved consistent, but limited, amounts of direct exposure to the energies of 'The Black Tower'. 6 subjects signed up, however 1 died. Resulting in 5 true successes. The results of these trials were similar to The Monolithic Trials. Subjects were granted; increased amounts of darkvision, and even darkvision if they didnt possess it previously, a natural attraction to the dark, a lack of blinking, icy cold skin, a slowed heart-rate, lack of bleeding even when badly injured and an increased endurance to death. Additionally all subjects that survived who were not previously magical had their spark awoken, and subjects that were magical gained even more power, forming a bond with a creature made of seemingly pure darkness, being able to teleport between places of darkness, and the ability to transform into a shadow themselves. The results of this trial were colloquially known as 'Shadow Sorcerers'.

**The Trials Of The Night:** 3 Individuals signed up to The Trials Of The Night, Lucien Van Kerxon, Draven Borgiv and Velika Opal. This was a far harder task and trial to have completed, because the guild would need a fully fledged vampire in an attempt to create more of them. The Sicarius worked closely with the vampire guild and a group of Adventurers to locate and contain a vampire, using sunlight and other methods to contain and transport it. Once contained, they would bleed the vampire, store its blood, then let it starve. Then they’d put Lucien in first, the vampire would uncontrollably attack and feed off of him, turning him into a vampire spawn, then they’d feed the blood of the vampire back to him, converting him to a fully fledged creature of the night. This was originally successful on Lucien, making him the first success of the trial. However, Draven and Velika were torn apart by the vampire upon entering the cell and simply died. The guild then destroyed the vampire by exposing him to sunlight in his cage. Lucien was given the nickname ‘The Stalker’ and was given the unique faction rank ‘Hunter’. He is the most expensive assassin to hire, and is extremely efficient and brutal, however he only operates in the night.

## The Personality Shift

In his younger years when he was new to the assassins guild of the Sicarius, Alex would often take any contract, no matter the target or ethical ramifications. One target and the consequences changed that for him. The Assassination of Father Bradley Stirwin. Bradley Stirwin was a small time village Life priest in Iberra; Lostspire, who had allowed a teenage boy to take refuge in his church to escape from a gang the boy had stolen from. The gang put a hit on the priest in an attempt to draw the boy out of the village. Without knowing too many details of the contract, Alex accepted it. He snuck into the church via the belltower, effortlessly climbing it and sneaking inside. Before the priest could even notice him, he had formed a heavy crossbow in his hands, firing a bolt straight through the back of the priest’s head. Blood splattered the stage and the pews, covering the young boys face.  The boy erupted into tears, sprinting out of the church. It was here that Alex had his first ever revelation, at the age of 140. He realized he was not a good person, and that the guild itself was morally very grey. At this point he decided to investigate his contracts further and no longer take contracts that would harm innocents.

Once the boy had fled the village, the amateur gang had been waiting for him on the outside and kidnapped him to reclaim what they stole. Alex, looking to atone for his previous action, tailed the gang and their kidnapped child. He stalked in the treeline, as they passed down about 3km of path, coming to a large abandoned bakery, which had more of the gang waiting outside. They took the boy inside, leaving 4 guards on the outside. Alex then quickly and in an almost-machine like fashion, dispatched of the guards, leaving no time for them to alert the residence of the building.

Alex climbed the wall of the bakery and entered through the second window, using his magic to take on the face of one of the men he murdered outside. They had tied the boy to a chair, and were beginning to beat him. Alex dropped down from the rafters of the building, effortlessly cutting through the amateur fighters with his darkened longsword. The leader had backed off into a corner of the bakery. Alex picked up a rusty old whisk off of the floor, and threw it at the leader, the hilt of the whisk piercing his chest. The leader slowly slid to the floor, back to the now-blood-smeared wall. Alex untied the boy, who quickly sprinted out of the building. He checked in the old massive bakery oven that resided in the centre of the room, and realizing that it still had some coal in it, he started to scatter it across the floor. The leader still coughing and squirming in the corner, as Alex stood in the doorway. He threw his sword at the oven and quickly sprinted away. The sword exploded in a wonderful amalgamation of sparks, orange ribbons of magic and fire. The building exploded in flame, remaining windows shattering and smoke quickly rising. Alex, summoning back his sword, disappeared into the low-light of dusk.

## Notable Assassinations

Alex has killed many people over his 323 years of being alive, however these are the most notable:

* **Hotran Bronzeblood** – High Ranking Dwarven soldier, Choked to death with the hilt of his hammer while on a recon mission in Grirun (1278 AW)

* **Max Macey** – Poster boy for recruitment in the City Of Life – Head bashed in with his own shield– Shield was stolen and is now hung on the wall of Alex’s residency in The Black Tower. (1298 AW)

* **Adrian Vindae**– Crime boss dealing with slave trades and trafficking, residing in a large mansion on the edge of a small village up north. – Poisoned in his sleep inside Vindae Manor. (1340 AW)

* **Alison Merriweather** – One Of The Mayors of the TriTowns, had offered weapons and magical knowledge to the Conquerors Army, Shot with a crossbow bolt through her window (1360 AW)