Drexel

Drexel op Hamilton op Oberon

CHARACTER NOT AVAILABLE

Early History: Childhood

Drexel was born during the Time of the Black Road Wars, when his Father, Hamilton op Oberon, was Emperor of Caradala. Drexel's birth went unnoticed by Hamilton who was busy leading the combined armies of 5 kingdoms against the Hordes of Chaos swarming in upon the Black Road. Drexel's mother died during child birth, in the care of a midwife in a low section of a town not too far distant from the battle front, but in an out of the way location. No one knew she was in that little town. No one would have known who she was, except for maybe the Midwife, who never told a soul. And, of course, Hamilton; who never spoke of it to anyone, including Drexel. He was named Drexel by his mother before she died.

When Drexel's mother died, it was only then that the midwife noticed that she had six fingers on her right hand. When she looked to the infant she saw the same physical oddity reflected there, as well as six toes on his right foot. The midwife immediately took the body of the dead mother to the edge of town and buried her in an unmarked grave. Later that night, she took the infant to the towns only Inn and stables owned by a family that was kin to the midwife on her grandmother's side. The Mother of the Family owed a great debt to the Midwife, so she knew the Mother would raise the child right. And she also knew that the Family was unlikely to know the significance of the six digits... at least, she hoped. She had no other choice.

The Mother of the Family had just lost a newborn son to a harsh winter and sudden illness, and was about to lose her eldest son to the War; he was Of Age and decided he wished to become a warrior and a hero. The Midwife came to the Mother in private, after the Common Room had shuttered for the night. She told the Mother of the Stranger who showed up, gave birth, then died. The Midwife reminded her of her Obligation to Kin and of her Personal Debt she still owed. The Mother took in the child without question or hesitation; she was still grieving over the loss of her newborn son and was in need of a surrogate for her motherliness. However, that motherliness didn't last long.

Though they cared for him as they cared for their own, Drexel's adoptive family didn't like him much; he was an outsider, and a mutant; he had six fingers on his right hand and six toes on his right foot. His adoptive family ridiculed him for this, even before he could understand what they were saying; they called him Sei Dita, which literally means Six Digits, or Six Fingers, in the native tongue of Region. It was only when he got into trouble that he knew his name was also Drexel, for they would say: Drexel Sei Dita!!

Drexel was never allowed to call anyone by name, even if he knew it. He was only allowed to say: Nonno (Grandfather), Nonna (Grandmother), Padre (Father), Madre (Mother), Fratello (Brother) and Sorella (Sister). Patrons and Guests were to be called Signore or Signora (Sir or Madam).

Drexel's adoptive family was not overly large, 2 grandparents, 2 parents, 2 brothers and 3 sisters. Every member had one or more jobs around the inn and stables as there was little hired help to be afforded. Grandfather ran the bar and common room, but he was old and drank too much, so was really only good at tending the bar. Grandmother was in charge of running the Inn and dealing with guests. She also supervised the maid staff consisting of her 2 eldest granddaughters and a hired maid who doubled as a serving wench. Father ran the Stables, but also had to stock the bar and clean up the common room every night as Grandfather could not handle these duties any longer. Drexel had two adoptive Brothers, but one he never knew for he had gone off to join the War while Drexel was still an infant. The other Brother was not very smart but fortunately was strong and hearty, so he was given many manual labor tasks such as cleaning out the Stalls, feeding the horses, chopping wood, etc. He would also assist Father with cleaning the common room and restocking the bar. Mother ran the kitchen with the help of two of her daughters, the middle, who also doubled as a maid, and the youngest. The eldest daughter worked as a serving wench as well as a maid.

There were only two hired help at the Inn; a serving wench that also worked as a maid for the inn, in exchange for a room and meals, she lived mostly off of tips. Her name was Lily. The other hired help working at the inn was Bartleby; the Common Room Guard. He made sure nobody got too rowdy, that everybody paid, and that the family was never robbed. He would work from late afternoon till the wee hours of the morning before sunrise. He did not live at the inn.

Drexel learned much about cooking, horses and people while living and working at the inn. He grew tall and strong quickly. By the age of 3 he was over 3 feet tall and was given chores of washing dishes and helping with washing the laundry. At the age of 4 he was just shy of 4 feet tall and strong for his age; his chores now included more cleaning and chopping of wood. By age 6 he was over four and a half feet tall and thick, but not fat; he began cleaning out stalls and learning about horse care. By age 8 he was over 5 feet tall, stocky and could nearly outwork his Bother and Father. By age 10 he performed more work than his Brother and Father combined and, if he so chose, he could have beaten his Brother senseless; a young man who was also tall and thick and quite strong. While performing all of his duties all of those years, he was exposed to the Guests of the Inn and Patrons of the Common Room; he listened... for Drexel was not only tall, strong and hearty, he was also smart. He learned how people are; how they treat one another. Both in the eyes of the public, and in private. He listened to all their stories and boasts and opinions and facts, rumors and actual information from places beyond this little Villa. He learned at an early age about the War against the 'demonic creatures'.

By age 12 he was pushing six feet tall. One early morning, before dawn, as Bartleby was leaving for the night, an intruder startled him and a fight broke out. Bartleby was injured, and so was the intruder, but Bartleby was hurt the worst. Drexel had heard the commotion and came rushing in just in time to save Bartleby's life, as the intruder was about to deliver a lethal blow. Drexel rush the man with little thought and simply plowed into him and shoved him to the ground, then dropped upon him and beat him nearly to death with his fists. Bartleby stopped him at the last minute, got to his feet, the finished off the intruder with his blade. He told Drexel to got get cleaned up and not to tell anyone he was involved. And in reward for his help, Bartleby promised to teach Drexel how to fight, with and without weapons... once he healed up. And he kept his promise.

At age 15, nearly full grown in height at six feet four inches, and thickly muscled but still bulking up, the War came to that little Villa. A small contingent of Demons had broken off from the main group closer to the Black Road in order to destroy the Villa and farmlands around it; one of the places like it remaining this close to the Black Road. By the time the Armies arrived, lead by Emperor Hamilton, it was already too late. The Villa was nearly destroyed, the farmlands and crops burnt to the ground, and as the superior troops of the Afkir Academy dispatched the remaining Chaos Warriors, it was discovered that only one person was left alive from the Villa. Hamilton saw Drexel covered in blood and ichor, bodies of humans and demons alike littered the ground around him. His arms hung loosely at his sides, a pair of bloody wood axes still clutched in his hands. Hamilton dismounted and approached the boy on foot. As he was about to speak, Hamilton noticed the extra digit on Drexel's right hand, and immediately knew who he was.

"I am Lord Marshall Hamilton. What is your name, boy?" Hamilton asked.

"Drexel Sei Dita, Signore." The boy replied, his voice as shaky at his wounded body.

"You have shown great courage and strength in Defending your Town against the Hordes of Chaos, Drexel. However, your town has been razed, and your crops burnt to the ground. You are the only survivor. My Sargeant will take you to our camp where you will be cleaned up, receive medical attention, and food. After you have had time to heal we will speak again. At that time you will be given the option to become my squire and learn how to fight, or you may go your own way."

Drexel nods, then nearly collapsed. He was helped onto a saddled horse then taken to Hamilton's camp.

Middle History: The Black Road Wars

After only a few days in the camp's infirmary, Drexel was fully healed and on his feet and asking to see the Lord Marshall; yet another indicator to Hamilton of the boy's lineage.

5 years as a squire. Mostly squire duties, hand-to-hand combat training, armed and unarmed, and eventually horsemanship and mounted combat training. Drexel never even saw combat, let alone participated in it, instead spending all of his time in camp. Drexel didn't know that Hamilton was the emperor, and he thought the term Lord Marshall was just a fancy title for a general. Drexel could tell by the way people treated him that he was privileged, however he never abused that privilege and did his best to earn the respect of those he trained with and worked beside.

Current History: A Shadow Walk Away

Running Sheet Drexel