Anton Helviet

Numerous Edenian Children

*"Evil? Ha! Evil is just a word the weak wail at the strong, as we open their throats, their coffers, and the legs of their women."*

*-Akros the Gaul*

Anton Helviet, known commonly as the Gaul and born as Akros, is an ancient Edenian warlord. He is one of the few Edenians who is not a member of the Children of Adam, as he left after he briefly joined in the third century BC, finding their policies of civility and noninterference in mortal affairs to be distasteful. Throughout his twenty eight centuries of life, he has proved a blight upon the world, warring and plundering wherever he goes for nothing but the thrill of it. His numerous atrocities have garnered him many foes, most of which he has outlasted thanks to the immortality and antimagic powers granted by his Edenian heritage.

## Biography

### Early Life

Anton Helviet was born as Akros in southeastern France, the modern day commune of Virv, some eight and a half centuries before the birth of Christ. He was part of an early Celtic tribe, the descendants of which would one day become known by the Romans as the Helvetii. As a boy, Akros was a loud, lusty lad, hale and hearty from birth. So healthy was he as an infant, in fact, that the usual tradition of waiting for children to survive until the age of two before naming them was discounted, and he earned his name at the age of seven months. As he grew, he quickly proved to be a wild, rambunctious child, often getting into fights, which he usually won thanks to his size and ferocity. Oftentimes, these fights were prompted by him defending his older sister Dalla, the prettiest girl in their village, from the unwanted attentions of the other local boys.

#### First Kill

When Akros was twelve, he encountered a boy from another village in his family hut, who had snuck in to steal off sister Dalla, as per the tradition the local tribes observed when it came to finding wives. Akros, who arrived just in time to see the older boy knock his sister unconscious with a club, retaliated by drawing his knife and stabbing him to death. Akros's father, Hoag, was immensely proud at his son's deed, and as Akros had marked himself as an adult by taking his first life, the tribe celebrated his manhood.

#### Chieftain

By the time Akros turned seventeen, he was a veteran of numerous skirmishes against other villages. His vigor and ferocity had served him well, with years of sparring with the men of his village and slaying the tribe's foes having turned him into a peerless warrior. As a result, Akros figured it was time for the tribe to have new leadership. He challenged the current chieftain, slew him and single combat, and thereafter claimed both his wife and two daughters as prizes, ravaging them all the same night. His sister Dalla was appalled at his behavior, which drove a rift between them.

#### Conquests

After becoming chief of his village, Akros spent the next few years leading his people in a campaign of conquest and plunder across the nearby lands, conquering village after village. In addition to being an unstoppable warrior, Akros also proved a charismatic leader and a superb tactician, and one by one, his holdings grew. Eventually, however, even his unstoppable advance was brought to an end, when he and his men attacked a village guarded by werewolves. Akros himself was torn apart moments after his attack began, with the trauma inflicted upon him unlocking his Edenian powers.

### Initial Immortality

After experiencing his first death, Akros awoke floating in a river, completely healed of all injury. Without any other explanation, he concluded that the spirits of his ancestors had immortalized him for the purpose of continuing to defend and lead their tribe. As such, he rushed back to his home village, and was appalled to find his home, which had grown into a prosperous town as the capitol of his small empire, razed to the ground and its people slaughtered. His father had been ripped in two, and his mother, by the look of what he saw, had been raped to death. Of his sister, their was no sign. Despondent, he knelt in prayer to his ancestors for over four hours. As it happened, the full moon which had helped drive the werewolves to such barbarity rose again that night, meaning that the veil between worlds was thin. He was visited by the spirits that evening, and they told him of silver, the blood of the moon, and how it could wound and slay them. The spirit of Akros's great-grandfather, a smith by the name of Varmyr, forged him a mighty silver blade from the essence of the Ether, fueled by Akros's own fury and desire for vengeance. Taking it in hand, Akros set out alone, to avenge his murdered village and if she lived, save his sister.

#### Attempted Vengeance

Akros returned to the village where he had first encountered the werecreatures, his blade, Moonreaper, in his hand. He was noticed almost immediately, though he did manage to kill one as it transformed, before being dismembered for the second time. Upon witnessing his recovery, the werewolves brought them to their clan leader and shaman, who, thinking him to be possessed by some sort of vengeful spirit, attempted to drive the spirit away. When that failed, it was decided that his traits should be passed on to the clan by breeding him with their women. As such, he was claimed by the clan's greatest female warrior, Gerta, as breeding stock. After a few days of captivity, he came into contact with his sister, who had been claimed as a prize by the clan's leader, Farkhan. Unlike Akros, she derived no pleasure from the couplings with the one who had taken her. This lead to Akros attempting to escape and slay him, only to be easily subdued by Gerta.

#### Unexpected Love

Despite his status as a brood stallion, Akros eventually found himself eventually beginning to warm to Gerta. For the first time, he had met a woman who could match his strength and ferocity, and in this case, exceed it. Against his better instincts, Akros found himself falling for her, and she, impressed amused by his boisterous nature and bawdy humor in such circumstances, fell for him as well. Dalla's relationship did not fair so well. Farkhan beat her often and was rough when he took her. Several times, Akros tried to kill him, resulting in his own dismemberment when Farkhan retaliated. Eventually, Farkhan grew so annoyed that he told Akros for every irritating attempt he made on him, his sister would suffer for it. Akros then ceased his fruitless attacks, his only comfort being that Farkhan had taken several other concubines as his clan retaliated against Akros's domain for daring to assault them, which would lessen Farkhan's predations upon Dalla.

#### Birth of the Monster

Akros did find joy in the lover that had been forced upon him, and was elated when the shaman announced that Gerta was pregnant with his child. The clan celebrated, as Akros did, but the weight of Dalla's predicament still hung heavy on his shoulders. Unable to bear the pain Akros was caused by his sister's suffering, Gerta made a challenge to Farkhan for leadership, so that she might order him to cease his brutal actions. Akros was not informed, until she publicly made her challenge, and he was barred from interference. The fight did not go well. Though heavily wounded, Farkhan tore Gerta's throat out, killing her and the child growing inside her. After his wounds had healed, Farkhan punished Akros for the wounds he had suffered, thinking it had been at his behest he had been challenged. He enacted retribution by raping Dalla before her brother's eyes, his lackeys holding the struggling Edenian down, before transforming his teeth and ripping her throat out. In rage and grief, Akros let out a cry to his ancestors once again. Though the moon was new, the sheer force of his anguish allowed a rift in the Ether to form, and the wrath of his ancestors was called down on the village, fire raining from the sky to engulf it all. Akros himself was immolated, but thanks to the gift of his blood, he survived. With all that had been taken from him, his heart hardened. He swore that never again would he hold such attachment to anyone, even his own blood. Rage and murder were all that was left to him, so rage and murder he would spread wherever he went.

### The Children of Adam and Punic Wars

#### First Punic War and Recruitment

During the First Punic War, Akros had enlisted to fight alongside the Carthaginians. Akros eventually came to captain his own ship, and rumors of the immortal Carthaginian captain began to spread. After the war's end in 241 BC, Akros participated in the subsequent Mercenary War, where he and many other veterans launched a mutiny over a wage dispute. He was discovered by Damekos, an Edenian member of the Children of Adam, in 239 BC. Damekos explained who he was, and invited Akros to journey with him to the Children's High Sanctuary in Athens. Curious about meeting more people like him, Akros accepted, journeying to Athens and later becoming a member of the Children himself.

#### Second Punic War and Banishment

When the Second Punic War came about, Akros had grown bored of living among the Children of Adam. His thirst for battle drove him to travel from Athens and once more join the armies of Carthage, fighting under the legendary general Hannibal Barca. His prowess as a warrior saw him climb up several ranks until he had a small command of his own. After the Battle of Cannae in 216 BC, Akros was delighted to discover that one of the enemy Roman commanders, one Dominicus Julius Vitellus, who had been slain during the battle, rose again as an Edenian. Akros made sport out of forcing the Roman to fight him over and over again, repeatedly cutting him down and allowing his healing abilities to raise him back to life. This continued for weeks, until Damekos, who had been sent to find Akros after his abrupt departure, finally succeeded in tracking him down. After learning the brutality that Akros had inflicted upon a fellow Edenian, Damekos demanded that be Vitellus released, and that they would all return to Athens, where Akros would be judged by the Conclave for his actions. Akros refused, prompting a duel between them, which ended in Akros's defeat. Still, the soldiers who fought with Akros came to his aid, forcing the other Edenians to cut their way out of the camp. Akros did not give pursuit, contemptuously, calling after them that he was done with the feeble ways of the Children. Some years later, Damekos returned, bearing the news that Akros had been expelled from the Children, and that any further trouble on his part would warrant a reprisal.

### First Century BC

During the early first century BC, Akros, now an elder Edenian going by the name Antiorix of the Alps, began ravaging his way across the Roman Republic, participating in rebellions and slowing Roman conquests. Moving all across Europe, he led whatever warriors he could the Romans, both human and vampiric undead, slaying many servants of the Cainite Triumvirate.

#### Second Battle with the Trojan

By 58 BC, Antiorix had taken leadership of the Helvetii Tribe, and was battling against the forces of Gaius Julius Caesar in his Gallic Wars. An unstoppable champion for the Helvetii, Antiorix ensured that the battle of Bibracte dragged on well into the night. Unfortunately, this allowed Caesar the opportunity to deploy his most deadly weapon, granted to him by the Triumvirate of Rome: Damianos of Troy. This was the second time Antiorix had encountered the elder vampire, and the two once more engaged in a ferocious battle, which ended after Antiorix's taunt about Achilles sent Damianos into a rage, and the Gaul was brutally torn apart. Thereafter, he was bound and successfully transported to Rome by Caesar's men, using advice they had received from Damianos, so serve as entertainment for the citizens of Rome, both living and dead.

## Physical Appearance

A huge, powerful man, Anton stands at six feet and eight inches in height, and is muscled like a maiden's fantasy. Appearing to be a man in his late twenties, his hair is thick and jet black, and he usually wears it long, varying the style, being fond in the modern day of a slick black ponytail. Anton usually cultivates a full beard, changing its style often. He is also possessed of the standard superb features of an Edenian, with deep blue eyes that are always filled with a violent gleam.

## Personality

For many centuries, Anton has been a brute of a man. He relishes violence of all forms, taking thrill in the act of killing and relishing the invincibility his immortality grants him against wounds. As a result, Anton is swaggering, provocative, and arrogant, loving to provoke those around him into combat. He is, however, intelligent and fiercely charismatic, possessed of a powerful presence that sways lesser men to his will.