Ludwig || Germany [Complete!]

[Ludwig]

[: A N G E L :]



:basic:

Name: Ludwig Beilschmidt
Nation: Germany
Physical Age: 21, or at least early 20's
Appearance: (At least one paragraph)

Ludwig is a tall (5' 10" or so), muscular angel with an impressive wingspan. His wings extend heightwise (vertically) from near the top of his head to about an inch above his ankles, and there are two "layers" of feathers. The first one extends about a third of the way down the wing, while the second one goes the rest of the way down.

His eyes are a very bright, almost icy-looking blue, with a piercing gaze. His hair is short and blond (a more "yellowy" blond, to be specific) and his bangs are often slicked back to keep them out of the way (sometimes with "magic," sometimes with actual gel). To see him with his bangs down is a very, very rare sight indeed. He doesn't like how they get in the way and thinks he looks too "young" with them down, which would keep others from taking them seriously.

While attending to business in heaven, he wears the standard-regulation angelic robes that are color-coded per virtue. His robes are predominantly a pale, almost silvery blue (for diligence, his primary virtue) with a thin orange lining (for his tertiary virtue, temperance) and an indigo sash (for his secondary virtue, chastity). On the other hand, while on earth, he typically wears a business suit. Occasionally he will wear square-framed glasses just to enhance the look, but not so often. However, there have been isolated whispers of him appearing in Eden's more recreational areas in significantly more casual clothes: a black tank top and olive/army green pants.

[Side note: when picturing Ludwig's wings, think Metatron's wings from the Shin Megami Tensei series.]

:special:

Class: Archangel
Virtues: Diligence, Chastity, Temperance

Ludwig's powers work through what can best be described as "subtle influence." When he activates his powers, the air in the room feels "different" somehow. It might seem clearer or less noisy. In any case, affected humans may feel an urge to "go out and do something," or just a general sense of renewed motivation to get the day's tasks done and push aside possible distraction. It's especially potent in areas where there's technically "supposed" to be work getting done, such as the library (it seems like even the groups of normally chatty teens working on school projects will hush up and get down to brass tacks when Ludwig is around, though whether that's because of the divine influence or the looks Ludwig gives them is another matter entirely).

:advanced:

Personality: (At least 2 Paragraphs)

Ludwig is a stern, serious angel. "Severe" would be a good word for him. As might be expected from an angel with diligence as his primary virtue, he is thoroughly devoted to his work as a divine agent and his to duty to God, and he never leaves a day's task abandoned or shoddily done. He holds himself to high standards of productivity and focus, and he holds others to those standards as well. Similarly, he holds a powerful disdain for those that doesn't take their work seriously, though there are relatively few of those types amongst angels. He considers an orderly, organized, productive world an ideal one, and when he's amongst humans on earth, he strives to influence them towards that goal.

He can't stand chaos and unnecessary disorder, and he loves his stable routines, schedules, and procedures (and hates sudden changes to those perfect schedules). As Ludwig sees it, chaos is one the ultimate enemies of his productive ideal, and it must be squelched to keep the world running smoothly. Chaotic and unfocused people who disrupt the flow of an environment irk him greatly, and if someone is messing around and disturbing what would otherwise be a peaceful working environment (or a good place for cultivating one's virtues/inner strength), he'll go out of his way to rein them in and get them under control. The slothful and the wasteful are often his primary targets when choosing individual humans to focus on, for those sins obstruct both the personal progress that can repel demons and the general progress that can bring about a more virtuous world.

His desire for order even extends to his living space, which is marvelously organized and clean thanks to some not-so-buried neat freak tendencies. An organized space is "zen" for him.

Sex is something that simply never enters his mind, unless it's because he's derogating someone else (most likely a human, though he does it more in a "please don't talk about that in public" kind of way) for bringing it up ("again!"), hence his virtue of chastity. As he sees it, he simply has far too many better and more important things to do to allow such a thing to take up his time. It might simply be one of those things that's "a bigger deal" on earth than in Heaven, but since he has to overhear such tripe from passing humans, it affects him too.

For Ludwig, temperance is moderation, not total abstinence. While he doesn't treat himself often, he knows that he needs to take a day off occasionally to avoid overworking himself. While he's more likely to accidentally exhaust himself in human form, it can happen to angels as well, and so a day of rest is an important one to have. Of course, it's not as though he works 24 hours a day; he has established working hours for himself, so he has a little time at night to kick back and relax in heaven before he has to sleep, even if a particularly difficult case calls for him to work late.

Every once in a while, there will be a day on Ludwig's calendar that is circled to mark it as being a complete day off, with no obligations to work to keep people in line. On these special days, he can be found lounging around in the park (or sometimes the library), often with a good book (sometimes scripture, sometimes a regular old "human book" that's caught his eye). He might even get a drink or two on these days (he has developed a slight fondness for the taste of beer), though of course he drinks responsibly and never goes over his limits.

Indeed, underneath his harsh, "GET-BACK-TO-WORK" exterior, Ludwig does have a few soft spots. He has a bit of a weakness for well-mannered, curious children with great potential. They remind him a bit of himself as a young angel, and so he is significantly less gruff around them (especially if they have the discipline to not fidget around in church). He also has a fondness for dogs, particularly big ones (the small ones are a bit too yappy for his taste, but there's a few little dogs on his like list). Lastly, he is rather grateful when someone cares enough to tell him to stop pushing himself so hard without actively being a nuisance while he's working. While he might not actually take their advice, he greatly appreciates their concern. Basically, it's little acts of kindness that can get him to be a bit friendlier/more relaxed around a person.

History: (At least 2 Paragraphs)

When Ludwig was a young angel, his days were filled with watching his elder brother, the seraph Gilbert, attend to his duties. Seeing his big brother in position at the throne of God Himself, singing His praises and extolling the heavenly virtues with that miraculous voice, Ludwig couldn't help but watch in pure awe. He always aspired to be as powerful and, most importantly, as virtuous as Gilbert was, so that someday he too would be worthy of a place by God's side. From his "childhood" onward, he strove to meet his lofty goals, following Gilbert's example the whole way.

A great amount of time passed where life was as simple as becoming a good angel, just like the brother he loved and admired with all his heart (or at least the parts not explicitly reserved for God). Ludwig's downy wings molted and eventually grew into the magnificent form seen today. Things began to change in heaven and needle at the perfect order and routine that Ludwig's life had settled into. Whispers of discontent began to circle through the air, and the thought of any angel having a problem with the way heaven was run appalled Ludwig. Such dissent was, to him, inconceivable!

He knew that the chief gripe of some of the angels was that God favored the newly-born humans more than them, while others had their own peculiar ulterior motives that stirred such grumbling, but he couldn't understand any of it. Angels were God's servants, those designated to carry out His will, even if it favored those strange, arbitrary creatures called humans. He was the supreme authority, and Ludwig would not disobey Him. Ludwig's disciplined imperviousness to the mumbling around him gave him an odd sense of pride (pride, of course, that he made sure to keep in check, lest he be tempted towards an unsavory slippery slope).

When the tensions in heaven reached a climax and veritably exploded into the Battle of Heaven, Ludwig jumped at the call for warriors for the angels. He took up his spear, ready to do battle in the name of righteousness. Banishing the fallen became his sworn duty. Sinners had no business in heaven. He couldn't fathom why they had done it (surely their reasons were petty in nature), but these angels had renounced God, and so they didn't deserve to even set foot in heaven. He was more than willing to dole out punishment in the name of his divine master. However, during the battle he noticed a peculiar absence: his brother was nowhere to be found. While most of the Seraphs weren't exactly front-line material (their songs served a supportive purpose for the angels, and so protecting them would be a priority), it seemed strange that Gilbert would be completely absent from such a pivotal battle. Had the fallen angels tempted him to their side?

Ludwig would see Gilbert again, but not till some time after the Battle of Heaven. All attempts to drag an answer out of Gilbert regarding where he was during such an important time were futile; Ludwig could never get a straight answer out of him. To frustrate Ludwig even more, Gilbert's intermittent absences kept occurring and in fact increased in frequency. Something was luring Gilbert out of heaven, and it infuriated Ludwig that he couldn't find out what.

Soon Ludwig noticed bizarre changes in Gilbert when he was present to sing at God's throne. It was subtle differences at first- a crack in his voice here, a botched note there, even a dropped word sometimes- but eventually, Ludwig had to strain to hear Gilbert's voice in the heavenly choir. This turn of events only vexed Ludwig further, and he became even more determined to solve the mystery.

One day, Ludwig was finally able to follow Gilbert out on one of his "excursions." Although he was caught in the act at the very last moment, he got to see just who Gilbert had been with during the Battle of Heaven and his subsequent disappearances: an apparently normal woman that immediately made Ludwig think "filthy harlot" for a reason he couldn't quite identify. Immediately, he knew that he did not like her. Something just radiated "not right" from every inch of her being. She smiled at him, sure, but something about it seemed almost smug, taunting.

He wouldn't be able to put his finger on what precisely was wrong until he awoke a few days later to news that his brother was now barred from heaven. According to the messenger, he had been seduced by a demon (so he had been tempted during the Battle of Heaven after all!), succumbed to temptation, and performed sinful acts while on earth. Such conduct was, of course, not permissible for an angel and certainly not for a Seraph, hence the banishment. Naturally, the banishment meant that Gilbert could now be counted amongst the demons.

However, the messenger also informed Ludwig that he was being promoted to the rank of Archangel for his valorous service in the Battle of Heaven and his commitment to the ways of God, heaven, and virtue. When it became clear that the demons' new battle plan was to fight for possession of God's beloved humans instead of a direct war on the angels, Ludwig was more than eager to perform his new duty of using his power to influence the humans towards a virtuous path and to protect them from the demons' foul whispers. He swore that he would perform his sacred mission and fight the sins and demons that had taken his brother so long ago.

To this day, he remains steadfast in leading humans towards virtuous lives and frustrating the efforts of the demons. The battle for the souls of the humans of Eden is not one that he will give up without a fight, for such an epicenter of demonic activity must be stopped before its baleful influence extends elsewhere.

[Side note: All the backstory stuff involving Gilbert was discussed with the player beforehand.]

RP Sample: (At least 150 Words)

This damned casino.

That's what Ludwig thought to himself as he stared at The Devil's Parlour from the sidewalk across the street. It was aptly-named in a variety of ways. For one, it was indeed a haven of demons; he could detect them as they moved amongst the various kinds of sinners looking to indulge their vices. He would feel a distinct unpleasant prickling that made his skin crawl. Oh, how he hated that skin-crawling feeling. He was pretty sure that the demons could detect him, too, especially when his ire made his divine aura crank itself up just a bit higher than it should have been. They'd probably get worried for a few moments before they realized, "Oh, it's just that blockhead angel who keeps giving us dirty looks again; go about your business." Such impudence!

When Ludwig called the casino "damned," he meant it. While there might surely be a small smattering of otherwise virtuous, hard-working men and women just looking to blow off some steam, there was an alarmingly high ratio of the depraved to the normal, so to speak. The ones shirking work to gamble and carouse irked him the worst. If he had his way, "something" would happen to shut down the casino and people would would at least replace the casino with a more benign timesink in their routines. How could people skip church for this?

It would be even better if they were actually doing something productive in that newly-opened space in their schedules, but one could only ask so much of humans. If they stayed out of trouble for the most part, that would be fine until Ludwig could give them the extra push they needed. Failing that, well, there were some legitimate circumstances where a person could acceptably get away with resting instead of working. Ludwig knew better than to push an exhausted human past their limits; at that point, it would be best if a gentler angel gave them succor until they were ready to live and work normally once again.

While Ludwig had been caught in his divine judgment-laced reverie, a woman in provocative dress had exited the casino and was standing in front of the entrance, staring at him. Ludwig felt his skin crawl once again, and that jarred him back into the moment. "Are you just gonna stand there growing mold, or are you gonna come on in, handsome?" the bewitching demonness said coyly, adding a flirtatious wink for extra spice. What nerve!

Ludwig could feel himself tense up as his hands clenched into fists. "I think I'll pass... harlot." The final incendiary epithet had simply slipped out. Admittedly, he was prone to somewhat knee-jerk reactions when demons tried to tempt him, however seriously so. Again, what nerve! Who did they think they were, taunting an angel like that?

"Fine. Your loss, hon." The demon sauntered back into the casino, a sway to her hips as she walked.

Once she was gone, Ludwig finally relaxed and took a deep breath. It was much easier to keep a cool head when one's flesh wasn't prickling and crawling like it was going to just leap straight off the bones. He flexed his fingers to loosen them from being balled up into fists, then turned and left the scene himself to eventually return to heaven. For now, it would be best if he called it a night and got some rest before trying to turn the humans to the light once more.

:ooc information:

Name: Sami/Sami-Fire
Age: 18
Time Zone (GMT +/-): It's Central Standard Time, so it might be GMT +5... or +6... I think it's only +5 because of Daylight Savings Time, though.
Contact Information: (Optional) MSN: samifire@hotmail.com
Skype: Sami-Fire (Name comes up as Ludwig Beilschmidt)

[Erik]

ACCEPTED!