Birdwatcher

## Overview

Andrew Bryn Vethos is the currently reigning Underboss of the Indianohio Zone. A secretive individual that hides his physical appearance away and spends much of his time in seclusion, he posesses extensive mechanical augmentations as well as the innate ability to communicate with and command birds of almost any species. His cloak and mask are precautions to hide his strange appearance; missing patches of skin revealing bronze structures underneath, artificial eyes, and at least a dozen sharp implements stabbed into his body haphazardly, all self-inflicted, including a pair of scissors, medium-length kitchen knives and a fencing rapier.

## History

### Childhood

Andrew Bryn Vethos was born in Delaware, Ohio in April 13th, 1994, the only child to the millionaire couple and coal industry giants Alexander and Catherine. Raised exclusively by the estate's caretaker, Andrew was left alone for large portions of time during the day, and from an early age proved to be a kind, albeit quirky eccentric young boy. Quickly found solace in the World Wide Web. Raised and pampered with homeschooling, stereotypical rich-kid hobbies such as fencing and tennis and hardly any real supervision or friends, his first true passion manifested as a love and fascination for nature, particularly birds and plants. This love blossomed into environmental consciousness and an ardent belief in the dangers of climate change. Once he was regularly internet-chatting with other environmental protesters, he learned the damaging nature of his father's empire and silently vowed to dismantle and re-purpose it once he was of age, keeping his interests a secret from even his own parents and caretaker.

### Transformation/Trauma/Victory Day

Andrew had been secretly preparing a coming-out day for several months. On that day he would confront is father, explain how he felt about inheriting the coal empire, his plans for it once he was of age and his father stepped down, and how he would change it into an industry pioneering in the field of clean energy and sustainable conservation. If his father disowned him and struck him from will and inheritance, so be it. His parents had never shown an interest in him before, so he would not be heartbroken if he was dismissed angrily. The day finally came, but before he could approach his father in his study, Andrew's caretaker stopped him in the hall and informed him excitedly that there was something he wished to show him in the greenhouse, and that it was a gift that he had been working on for "a while".

Once Andrew had followed him into the greenhouse he was immediately roughhoused and dragged into a secret underground room below the estate, where he was pulled into a chamber resembling an operation room and cuffed and strapped to the table, all while held at gunpoint. The caretaker explained to the terrified teenager that he was an eco-terrorist that held nothing but loathing for Andrew and his father. He had inserted himself into the family, plotting to demolish the entire estate and kill the family while revealing himself as a villain named Evolution, a demented developer of pseudo-technological magic that would improve mankind and push it away from energy crisis and wars fought over resources. Having been gagged and immobilized on the operating table, Andrew could not explain that he too was opposed to his father, and Evolution merely ignored his pleading looks and tears. It was time to begin the operation. Evolution explained that he intended to experiment on Andrew, keeping him alive and conscious for the entire ordeal, and present the resulting monstrosity to his parents, whom he would then execute.

Evolution proceeded, over the course of several hours, to slowly carve Andrew open and stuff writhing, semi-alive machines into him that actively prevented him from bleeding out and replacing vital structures with slithering, living bronze, utilizing several chemicals and injecting them to keep him awake. The agonizing process was accompanied by a soft, plinking music box playing a single somber tune nonstop; either to maximize the horror inflicted, or simply because the deranged man delighted in it is not certain, nor did it really matter.

As a final act of sadism and spite, Evolution jammed the music box into Andrew's body before letting the machinery patch him back up. The device was integrated into the strange robotics so that it would permanently play, a surprise that Evolution took with further delight. He then left Andrew, shivering and broken, to go upstairs and bring his parents to the greenhouse basement.

Escorted with a gun to his mother's head, Alexander and Catherine were pulled into the room where they retched and recoiled at the sight of the thing that their son had become. Evolution grinned from ear to ear while issuing a challenge:

*"If you can kill him in under a half hour, I'll spare the both of you."*

Andrew watched through tears, horrified as his parents' expressions went through several stages of revulsion, fear, and then grim acceptance. They were going to take Evolution up on his offer if it meant that they could walk free.

The next half hour was a messy one. The Vethos couple used whatever they could find; gardening shears, spades, even a pair of pruning scissors stashed in a drawer, which Andrew's own mother drove into his semi-mechanical gut. But the augmentations had taken hold, and Andrew's unnatural durability and longevity prevented him from death, while all he could do was struggle, bite into the gag and listen to the haunting sound of the music box inside him.

When the thirty minutes were up and Andrew was not dead, Evolution made good on his bargain and executed his parents with a single bullet each, even as they pleaded for more time. For a few moments there was silence, save for the music box, Andrew's muffled crying and the labored, ecstatic breathing of Evolution. At some point Andrew's vision went yellow.

The next few minutes of his memory are blurred. The next moment he could recall was him, standing over the entrails of Evolution and his parents in the ruined torture chamber underneath his estate, staring at his bloodstained metal nails and hearing that awful music box inside him, maddeningly, unendingly, unenduringly.

In a crazed state he stabbed himself with the sharp instruments lying around in an attempt to end his life or the music, whichever would stop first. Eventually, impaling the scissors that his mother had previously stabbed him with near his heart caused the music to slow down and fade, blessing him with silence.

### Rise to Villainy

As it turns out, Evolution had abmitiously been planning to take over the entire state of Ohio in a display of power after his stunt. Obviously that was no longer happening, but his large network of conspirators and accomplices were still on standby. It was an astoundingly simple matter of tracking them and enacting revenge on the entire organization, until he realized that their cowardice and willingness to serve him. Thus, Andrew had singlehandidly dethroned and inherited an empire, just not the one he expected.

### Age of Villainy

Today the Birdwatcher keeps watch over the Indianohio Zone of the Great Lakes Territory, conducting operations with a methodical, dissatisfied grace. Residing often in his old family's mansion and roving the territory to keep the farms operational, he supplies the Great Lakes region with much of its food since the zone contains primarily arable land, once the towns were demolished. Surrounded by dead civilization, Andrew reigns.

## Powers and Abilities

* **Synthetic Avian Physiology / Mutation:** large portions of Andrew's body have been modified and replaced by a unique parasitic form of prosthesis, warping his body into something resembling a cyborg bird-human hybrid. These modifications, the product of an amalgamation of technology and malignant magic, were used to create a hostile technovirus that ravages the body in order to replace it with something far superior. As a result his remaining organic tissues are incredibly durable, exhibit abnormally high strength, resilience, agility and speed. All internal organs have been replaced. Other replacements include completely artificial eyes, sharpened bronze nails, and most of all large mechanical wings embedded in the small of his back, incapable of actual flight. He is a one-man platoon of localized carnage if he needs to be, shrugging off physical blows and leaping around the battleground.
* **Communication with Birds:** Capable of speaking to and commanding small flocks of birds of almost any species.  A flock of birds, most commonly crows and ravens but including hawks and owls, always seems to be accompanying him, and he takes much more comfort in them than in the company of other people. These birds can easily be directed and instructed to perform simple tasks, such as spying, or perhaps slowly tearing people apart. It is unclear if his modifications are the result of his modifications.
* **Fencing:** Among the countless weapons stuck in his body, a fencing rapier is always at the ready, prepared to be wrenched out of the wound on his left thigh.