Ludwig - Neu Germany

[Ludwig]

Character's Name: Ludwig
Character's Age: Looks about 21-22
Gender: Male
Desired Faction: Nominally a European Protector, though he doesn't use their gear and strikes out on his own far more often.

Character Description:

Ludwig is a tall man in his early 20s, his build on the stocky side, still well fit even though the living conditions have started to take his toll on him. He has short blonde hair, worn brushed back and messy thanks to the scarcity of hair gel now. His eyes are blue, and his skin is peach, though a bit tanned now thanks to all the time he spends outdoors.


Outfit/Weapons:
These days, Ludwig still wears the German military uniform from WW3... but considering the harsh reality of the world, his uniform is inevitably torn, patched up, dirty, and generally just in need of a good sewing needle. The jacket of it is left open, showing the leather chestplate he wears underneath, which is also starting to fall into disrepair. He never goes anywhere without sturdy boots or leather gloves, both also scuffed and dusty. Ludwig still wears the Iron Cross around his neck, though by now it's lost its luster.

He carries an assault rifle as his main weapon, slung over a shoulder in easy reach. While he wears a large, framed backpack, he rarely keeps much in it except what he needs for the bare necessities of survival - a little food, a little water, a small toolkit, and some bandages.


Personality:
During WW3, Ludwig was still as strict and uptight as ever. Duty to his country, doing his work in a timely manner, making sure everyone stayed on schedule and didn't trip over their own shoelaces... he's extremely focused on those things, and most people probably consider him a little scary thanks to it. Ludwig just doesn't relate well with people on anything but a mildly friendly or strictly professional level, which left him with few friends and a tendency to get easily flustered or aggravated while trying to deal with his own feelings.

In the years after, Ludwig grew to become even more protective, and also more ruthless. The most important thing to him now is making sure his people survive this disaster, and to that end he works hard to do his part in providing what food, supplies, materials, and safety he can. Neu Germany right now is only a collection of allied settlements with no real leader other than the various mayors, and he knows that this is a very delicate period now for rebuilding. On the other hand, Ludwig would also not blink an eye at killing raiders, slavers, or mutants (except perhaps for some brief regret at having to put down rabid dogs). Anyone trying to disturb what fragile peace is left deserves the punishment they get, in his opinion, and the raiders and slavers in particular have already given up their right to be shown any mercy.

As much as he does, though, he's only one man, even if he is a nation at the same time. There's still an incredible amount of work to do for Neu Germany, and it keeps him busy. It also keeps him lonely, but that's something he can't spare the time for right now.


Strengths:
Ludwig's military skills serve him well in the wastes. While the survival skills he's learned are arguably the most important, his weapons training means that he won't easily be caught defenseless. He knows how to use a variety of weapons, though he's the most skilled with firearms and is a pretty good shot.

He's also able to do basic repairs on guns and other machinery. While he's not all that good at it, he can still fix an item up well enough for it to be used a while longer, presuming he has the correct parts and tools to do it. His patch-up jobs would be much better if done by a professional, but he's still learning.


Weaknesses:
Being fiercely protective of what's left of the German people is not particularly a good thing. Ludwig has developed numerous self-destructive behaviors over it - he prefers to hunt and scavenge alone, will go without food or water, suffer radiation poisoning, and will otherwise willingly walk into danger all because he can withstand much more than a normal human could. He pushes himself too hard, and as a result he's malnourished more often than not. It makes him weaker than he looks, and an intelligent enemy could take great advantage of it.

Striking at the people he cares about (his citizens and whatever friends he has left) are also a great way to either get back at Ludwig or get him royally pissed off. Unless it's entirely unfeasible, he would seek revenge... but that would also leave him less able to support his people while he's doing it. Either way, as single-minded as he can be, it's not too hard to distract him if you know what buttons to push.


History:
The German people weren't as prepared for the bombs as they should have been. What was left of the population that hadn't died during the war crammed themselves into what few fallout shelters had been made, the rest left to perish. Ludwig ended up in one of the largest shelters on German soil, which also ended up full past capacity. There were deaths from the very beginning, a few murders that were swiftly punished, though the population leveled itself out again after some of the elderly inhabitants passed away.

Life continued on, with Ludwig working under the elected mayors of the shelter. Not all was peaceful, but his people soon got more used to living in the fallout shelter... except for a faction that believed they had to go back to the surface, to see how bad the damage was and to reunite with anyone that might have remained up there. Of course, the other residents thought they were completely crazy, and were unwilling to open up the shelter just to let them go. The difference in opinion soon escalated into arguments and fights, until finally, the group was allowed to leave after only fifty years of living in the shelter. Ludwig decided to go with them, wanting to see for himself what had become of Germany's lands.

The answer was not pleasant. Having been sealed outside of the shelter, permanently, the group was forced to scavenge and fight their way through the wastes. About half of them died during the trip, and more would have died if Ludwig hadn't taken it upon himself to test the food and water they found, and to take point whenever they encountered hostile creatures or mutants. They finally found settlements, made contact with other people living on the surface, until their journey lead them to the city of Big Rock.

Though that was where their group dispersed, Ludwig kept himself busy. At first, he helped to scavenge supplies for the growing population of Big Rock, and also to hunt down dangerous creatures that were approaching too close to the city. He eventually moved on, wandering between settlements, until he happened upon the European Protector's Station. He agreed all too readily with their mission of restoring order to the chaotic lands, and became a member, allowed to act on his own though he never bothered to rise above being a basic officer.

It's now been fifty years since he's lived on the surface again, and Ludwig has been doing much of what he always has been - hunting creatures, giving out the supplies he finds to whoever needs it, and trying to make contact with what settlements or countries still exist. He has yet to go very far outside of former Germany's borders, mostly out of the fear that something else might happen while he's gone.


Additional Information:
Ludwig moves around so often that even Germans have a hard time finding him. However, while not a lot of people remember that Ludwig is their country, they generally recognize that he's a Very Important Person. At least a handful of people in each German settlement know his name, and might be able to point someone in the right direction for finding him.

Without a real leader for Neu Germany yet, Ludwig has more freedom, though he occasionally helps out the mayors of the settlements that have banded together. As good as he is at paperwork, usually the help he gives has nothing to do with it at all.

He doesn't have a permanent home, but he does keep a base of sorts in a basement in former Berlin. It's mostly a place to store extra supplies and to sleep, when he's in the area.


RP Sample:
By his best guess, the building had used to be on office. It still stood, five stories tall, though the roof was gone and all of the glass in the windows had long since been broken. That no gangs had claimed it yet was a pleasant surprise, for the taller buildings were more easily defensible thanks to all the possible look-out spots and the limited points of entry. Though the lower floors had been picked clean, the top two floors hadn't been, rotten desks and rusted computers still arranged in neat rows. Some of the office chairs had been plastic and were thus still serviceable, or would be if someone reupholstered them. Ludwig would have to tell someone in the closest town, and see if it could be of use to them.

He made camp on a section of the top floor that was sheltered by two crumbling walls, a good protection from the wind that would also leave him out of sight. If anyone saw the smoke from the fire he started, with the remnants of the old desks, well... in a lonely place like this, Ludwig would hear them before they got too close. Even that wouldn't be likely for long; the sun was setting, and darkness was quickly falling, which would soon leave the smoke nearly impossible to see.

After a short meal of meat jerky and water, Ludwig wrapped his blanket around himself and stared at the fire, wondering what had gone wrong.

Germany hadn't had nuclear weapons. The USA, no longer interested in sharing, had pulled them out about halfway into the war. So they hadn't had enough time to build them, though he wouldn't have denied that they tried. To this day, he didn't know how many countries had fired their missiles, much less who had done it first.

It had still ended the same way. They had nearly destroyed the world over their petty squabbles. Ludwig deeply regretted it now, though there was no way to change it now. He should have regretted it <i>during</i> the war, when it would have counted. Maybe then they would all be better off, maybe then he would know what had happened to...

Ludwig bit his tongue, trying to remind himself that it was also too late for regrets. It almost worked. The brief pain distracted him, and he took a small sip of water to soothe his tongue, before settling back against the wall behind him.

It was uncomfortable, but he was warm enough, and he had learned to be able to sleep nearly anywhere. Soon, Ludwig had dozed off, the fire slowly burning itself to embers as he slept.

[Feliciano Vargas]

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh...... I love you....

*BIG OL STAMP OF APPROVAL!*

welcome to the wastes Germany! Italy will be searching for you~