Thomas Sterling

The current Leader of the Tool Toul To, as well as Pledge King of the Ring Road. He is the 2nd ever Pledge King, having inherited the title and leadership from the founder of Tool Toul To himself, and for that reason, it has since been decided that Tool Toul To will always be lead by the Pledge King/Queen. Having been in his position for so very long, Thomas has met many Riders and almost all Tuners that have ever crossed the world of ATs, along with people that don't fit in either of those categories. He makes a point of meeting Riders in person when they are ranked high enough, and he also makes a point of taking in new Tuners under the Tool Toul To wing, to further their growth. He also mentored Spencer LaCroix for quite some time.

In his old age, he longs for retirement but is unwilling to simply abandon the Tool Toul To without a clear successor to take over. At first it appeared as if Spencer was to succeed in the position, but years ago the young Tuner committed a serious offense that nearly got him banned from the Tool Toul To, and even though he has since regained most of his status within the team and earned the forgiveness of his fellow Tuners, Thomas has deemed that Spencer can never lead the Tool Toul To and never inherit the Pledge Regalia. Because of this, one of Spencer's more promising students was taken under Thomas' wing as a potential successor, but recently Thomas has decided that this new student lacks the leadership skills required to lead a team such as the Tool Toul To, the largest and most powerful team in all of the world. In light of that, Thomas now looks for fresh blood in hopes that one of them might be a worthy successor, so that he might take his well earned retirement.

Link Tuning isn't the only thing that he seeks retirement from, being a member of the Stegeda City Council, having been invited to join due to his massive influence.

## Appearance

Thomas Sterling is a very old-fashioned kind of guy, always dressed in classical looking suits of high caliber materials, belonging to a man of wealth, but those same suits appear subtle, proper of a man who does not wish to flaunt that wealth.

His eyes aren't what they used to be, so he uses glasses to read only, though seems just fine to perform any other activity without them, even Tuning which he performs efficiently even with his eyes fully closed, at whatever speed his aging hands allow for.

## Personality

A wise yet modest, even humble old gentleman. Thomas is a self-made man, any success he has in his old age was no doubt obtained through a lifetime of hard work and thus he perfectly understands its value, something he always strives to pass onto his students in the Tool Toul To.

It is very difficult to offend him, taking even rude commentary as childish play which he is all too happy to just chuckle at, being quite the good sport. Being very experienced at life in general, it seems he used to be a rowdy boy back in his youth, but has since left those ways behind him, long ago.

Despite his gentle and easygoing sides, he is disciplined and strict when it comes to the rules of the Tool Toul To, which have been passed down and instilled into him by his mentor, the previous Pledge King and founder of the Tool Toul To.

He is not vain, never once has he dyed his hair nor tried to hide any signs of his age from showing, one might even say he does it with grace.

## Trivia

* As he tends to work from the shadows of Tool Toul To and never seeks to claim fame nor prestige for himself, regular individuals see him as a random old man, never realizing just how powerful and influential he is. Only the truly skilled riders, along with the majority of decent Tuners, know him for who he really is.