Hugh Richards
Slabra of the Bone Fortress
Redcap Wilder
Chainsaw Fists Corby
Description
Mortal Seeming: ~Deliverance incarnate: Hugh Richards appears to be a young Caucasian man from the backwoods, complete with a permanent tint to his skin. The dark-haired (sometimes styled...mullets rule!), half-shaven fellow wears jeans and overalls grimy with today's labor. He's broad-shouldered and proud of his impressive musculature, typically boasted by the lack of a shirt under his overalls. Big and black Wolverine boots tread across the ground. A distant expression occupies his face, as if he were busy soaking up imagined tremors in the ground from his steps. A few silver or gold rings are slid onto the fingers of his meaty fists. That glitter is marred by the grease perpetually under his fingernails. A single stud pokes through Hugh's left ear. An old trucker's baseball cap, dirty and grease-spattered, lazes on his skull. Bleary brown eyes sweep lazily over the scene but don't seem to take in much, as if he were drunk or drugged. When Hugh opts to liven his rough features, it's little more than a mean grimace. Attitude much!~
OOC: Appearance 2
Fae Mien: ~The first thing one views are those teeth. Hugh's terrifying mouth are two rows of flat and yellowed teeth, constantly gnashing. With his lips turned back into a voracious and ghoulish smile, that dentistry is regularly evident. Bloodshot eyes appear far more focused and malicious than they do in his human seeming. Muddy brown hair drapes a bit longer than his mortal form, too, but it's even more ragged and greasy-looking. Furthermore, his sunbaked flesh pales to a sick gray and seems to toughen up like dried meat. His nose seems sunken and skeletal but that's not even the worse feature of the Redcap. Whereas some of his Kith drive screws and other "hardcore" piercings into their flesh, Hugh sports nothing but nails. Several black and crooked nails are hammered into his body, sporadically spiking out of arms and legs. His voile darkens his appearance as well. Appropriately, Hugh prefers to wear all black. Padded slacks with a scale design and heavy black ironshod boots cover his lower body. The footwear seems to be screwed into his legs by the bolts on the outsides of his calves. The Redcap dons no shirt but instead a leather girdle strapped over his impressive, muscled torso. A steel breastplate is strapped over his chest, the plate bare save a faded engraving of crossbones. Gray and taut his flesh may be, but it's strong and tested as well. Half-concealed by padded overcoat, a wide sheath is strapped on his left hip, the hilt of a sword jutting out. And of course, where would a Redcap be without his cap? Atop his head rests an old-fashioned and crumpled golf cap, black with crimson lining. No doubt it often spills over with other red colors…~
OOC: Appearance 2
"I don't remember. Look, I don't fuckin' remember!"
"Bite your head off?! I ain't bit your head off yet!"
History
ADHD
Centropolis was always a fine little city, but its rural outskirts could be like any other town in America: host to farmers, ranchers, retirees, and rednecks. The latter, of course, tended to dwell in infamous tin can trailers. Hugh's family, the Clintocks, was one such illustrious unit. But as "low class" as his family was, at least his parents wanted the best for their children…all seven of them.
Hugh was a hard case from his start back in '84 though. He was a tough baby to raise. When he was old enough to socialize, the boy proved to be a constant bully to his siblings, friends, and schoolmates. He was diagnosed early on with ADHD (Attention Deficit & Hyperactivity Disorder). Hugh's behavior worsened as he grew into adolescence. His teachers didn't want to give up on the boy though. Because when he actually applied himself to his academics, he could score half-decent grades. Hugh wasn't stupid. He just wasn't interested in cerebral labor.
When his activities began to endanger others, however, there wasn't much more the school system could do. He was frequently hitting and bludgeoning classmates with his fists or blunt instruments (books, locker doors, lunch trays). And he punished himself worse. Razor cuts on his arms demonstrated the injury he was inflicting upon his own body. Some thought it was home problems. Either way, despite the repugnance his parents held towards the resolution, Hugh was placed in the residential psychological treatment, Hautlin Homes. But over the years of his puberty, no amount of counseling or psychotropic drugs helped. They even heaped experimental medicine on the youth but it didn't do anything but make him a little zoned out sometimes. It also altered his metabolism, disabling him from consuming any sorts of high sources of stimulant drugs (including coffee and some soft drinks). His parents gave up hope as the treatment drained their insurance; they had other children's welfare to see to, too.
No Service
So when Hugh turned 18, he just signed himself out of residential treatment. Of course, it was against his psychiatrists' advice. But they couldn't legally hold him there. At least Hugh learned something useful while there. "Life skills" classes included workshop and there Hugh showed some skills with carpentry. So Hugh started to work as a freelance carpenter. He bought a crummy little hut on the outskirts of Centropolis, far from his family's trailer home.
Despite the warnings of increases in personal emotional problems, Hugh tried to live a "normal life". That only seemed to make things worse. He began to have nightmares. A recurrent theme involved a dark forest in which a terrible monster was charging through, crashing through. Hugh never felt like the beast was chasing him but he was for some reason also there in the woods, running away. If that wasn't bad enough, Hugh would wake up from these dreams, covered in a bit of his own blood from gnawing and scratching at his own arms.
But Hugh kept working. The nightmares got him so on edge that people who hired him found him surly, acerbic, and plain mean. One customer threatened to call the cops after Hugh kicked the yappy little dog for which he was building a doghouse. Finally, one day Hugh just snapped. A customer ranted and raved about what a piss poor job the young man did, Hugh flew into a rage. But he didn't beat the man to death. No. He opened his mouth wide and bit the man's head clean off. Literally. Blood gushed everywhere and, in a panic, Hugh split.
Still the cops chased and caught the psychotic young man. He refused to tell anyone where he "stashed" the poor suburbanite's head. He was clearly a nutcase and that was how his court-appointed lawyers were able to get him off on an insanity plea. He was sentenced to a state asylum. However, Hugh didn't stay long. He didn't manipulate his way out of the system like other psychos might have. Oh, no, no. In his thorazine-ridden rages, Hugh ate his way out. He chewed through his restraints and even the padded walls. His dark new appetite enabled him to escape the asylum grounds, where a motorcyclist was conveniently waiting to pick him up.
New Life
Granted, Hugh was a little suspicious about the motorcyclist's motives, but it was his only promise of escape. It was from this biker gang leader that Hugh learned just what he really was, why he was able to eat anything. There was far more to it than his dark appetite, of course. He realized why he looked so differently (and that the sword at his side was quite functional, at least to other fae). Hugh learned all there was to learn about being a Redcap among the Kithain of Concordia. His cruel teacher, who went by the name of Benny Jarz, wasn't so cruel as to leave Hugh in a confused state of Dream Dance. He helped the wilder get through the Chrysalis with the sort of compassion that involved a lot of body-piercing and tattooing as proof of rite of passage and reward for picking things up.
To demonstrate that Hugh was really ready to start a new life, he had to find a way to get the system to expunge his criminal records. He was a homicidal maniac and an escaped lunatic. He'd never get anywhere in life if the cops were constantly on the hunt. So Hugh made a few inquiries, acquainted (and browbeat into cooperation) a computer nerd, and formed a plan. He sneaked (and chomped, with even more confidence) back into the asylum, obtaining all his records. He destroyed the physical evidence while the hacker deleted his computer files. Liberation!
Benny threw Hugh an informal Saining celebration, which ended up just being a binge party. Hugh chose a new name, simply changing his surname to Richards. He received his mentor's gang tattoo as reward, although Hugh later sliced that skin off himself. He didn't want to be affiliated with Benny's gang or any corby of other Redcaps or anyone else. His Saining was the last most other fae saw of Hugh Richards.
Hermit Hugh
The new Redcap just went right back to a life on his own. He returned to his crummy little hut and searched for carpentry work again, albeit he advertised on a much smaller scale. He stayed at home most of the time, wandering into the nearby woods or fields to interact only with chimerae. And it often wasn't pleasant interaction. Hugh ignored most such creatures, but the monsters that trolled through his homestead tasted his blade.
All the while, Hugh's hatred deepened. The 'Cap wasn't sure what or who he hated, but he only had himself to take it out on most of the time. While some Redcaps decoratively screwed bolts into their body and other painful-seeming modifications, Hugh took a much simpler and unaesthetic route. He simply drove chimerical nails into his arms and legs. Whenever he felt like hurting something that bled and nothing was around, Hugh drove another nail into his flesh. The count was up to 24 last he counted. Still, Hugh's anger and bloodthirsty nature was slowly allowing for a mite of curiosity. The Redcap began to wonder if he was all alone out there, if all the other fae simply forgot about his existence. Hugh Richards decided to find out for himself.
Remembrance
Hugh's memories of the past and of the Dreaming are scant. They come only when he's utterly and completely relaxed. A beer isn't enough; he has to be good and drunk. Orgasmic ecstasy works, too, although that often wasn't an option for the homely Redcap until a recent, uhhhh, breakthrough. The glimpses that Hugh gets of the Dreaming bring to mind something of a "steampunk" world. He remembers living in a forest with trees that dwarf the redwood forests, but there was great Nocker-built industry going on not far off. He was a lumberjack that helped harvest the trees, and occasionally had to chase off some of the massive beasts that threatened his home and business.
Chimera
Saw-Toothed Sword
Level: 4
Origin: Hugh's sword has been with him since long before the Shattering and perhaps before the Sundering. He vaguely recalls taking his hand-saw back in the Dreaming and turning it into a sword to fight against the prowling monsters that inhabited the woods. He calls it Bruno.
Description: This weapon weighs ten pounds and it's as long as a great sword. The long blade, edged on only one side, is crafted of a dark iron or nickel alloy. Leather wraps mark the hilt. Saw-like teeth niche most of the edged side of the blade, the tips stained black. The tip of the saw-like blade is sharp, good for thrusting. There is no guard above the hilt and the weapon is otherwise undecorated.
Effects: This toothed blade is terrifying enough in the hands of this psychotic Redcap. But worse, upon activation, the teeth of the blade begin to thrash back and forth, mimicking a primitive chainsaw of sorts. This effect is based on * Legerdemain (Gimmix) cantrip.
Glamour Costs: Sword: 1; #1: 0
Activation: To activate the weapon's spell, Hugh must lick his tongue across the "teeth" of the blade. This can inflict a chimerical wound if he's not careful.
Leather Armor
Level: 2
Origin: This suit of armor was crafted for Hugh some years before the Shattering. In the Dark Ages, Hugh worked for an Ailil lord, and his lord made sure the Redcap had some protection.
Description: This leather armor is "black as his bones". The suit involves a pair of heavy, extra-soled boots and a duster that slides down to the bottoms of his calves. Padding envelopes his legs and torso, complete with a steel cuirass slipped under the chest padding of the armor. The mail has a scale design for both décor and utility.
Effects: Stop bones from breaking when Trolls slug him.
Glamour Costs: Leather: 0; #1: 0
Activation: Don't bother taking it off.
Bunk Styles
Style: Tricks & Treats
Examples: Chug a brewskie, harvest organs, laugh in your enemy’s face, wear a blindfold
Significant Other
Hugh met this gorgeous Sidhe, Squirette Shawn Odlai ni Fiona, in 2006. Their meeting was accidental. She was attacked by a rabid chimera in Hugh's neck of the woods. The Redcap helped dispatch the beast, then decided to take pity on the beautiful Sidhe. He nursed her back to health that night. Then he got her drunk and high and horny. Heh. A 'Cap's gotta get laid somehow. Lucky him, Shawn digs it. She is more than willing to keep this psycho around, and Hugh will stick around, provided she doesn't try to leash him like a dog! Naturally, there hasn't been a breath of marriage. Love, pah!
Shawn
Weakness
Sanguimaniac
Occasionally, Hugh is a confused, disoriented, self-loathing jerk. But most of the time, he's a bloodthirsty psycho. The quality of his tenacity is easily overshadowed by his marauding voraciousness and brutality. He's extra-Unseelie.
Likelihood of Corruption
High.
Hugh lives life with too much viciousness. The only thing that might save him from being a completely evil bastard is slipping into Bedlam. Then he'd just be a raving lunatic, which isn't much better, but amoral is...a little better...than immoral.
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