Post by Alex on Jan 10, 2008 23:38:22 GMT
Name: Alex Rutherford
Nicknames: The name 'Alex' is pretty much already a nickname considering his birth name was Edgar Alexander, but he doesn't mind if it's shortened further to 'Al'. Due to the way he was raised and his subsequent nautical career he would also answer to 'Rutherford' although nobody has called him that in centuries, and will also answer to 'Commodore', but again, nobody calls him that for obvious reasons. There are also more than a few nicknames floating around that make reference to his height (or lack thereof), which he also doesn't really mind.
Race: Werewolf; bitten
Occupation: Pack member
Gender: Male
Skin Color: Caucasian
Age: 523; looks in his 30s
Clothing: Alex always seems to make an effort with his appearance even though he normally just dosses around the hotel, preferring to wear either a button-down shirt or a t-shirt with a pair of smart trousers, over which he'll wear a jacket to go with them. He's starting to edge out of the smart, refined clothing and into more casual stuff, and upon discovering jeans he's found quite a liking to them, though he still prefers to look smart. He's also a fan of hats, fedoras, to be precise, and will sometimes wear them when the mood strikes. Most of the time when Alex buys clothes they need to be altered; trousers need to get shortened, jackets need to get tucked in, that sort of thing. He's put up with it for enough years not to get irritated by it, as it has not become just another routine he goes through.
Height: 5' 5"
Weight: 153lb
Tattoos: None
Piercings: None
Jewellery: Alex keeps a golden pocket watch on his person at all times, but other than that and the odd tie pin or set of cufflinks doesn't tend to wear any jewellery, as such. He owns a white-gold necklace of an anchor which he received as a gift from Annemarie.
Alex's pocketwatch
Necklace from Annemarie
Body Modifications: A scar from when he was turned, scars across his body from when from when the HMS Galatea was demolished and also various scars from when vampires chased him for sport, slashing at him with silver knives.
Alex's werewolf form
Wolf Form
Build: Much like his human self, his wolf form is pretty short and although pretty stocky he is still in proportion to his height which means he's actually still pretty small looking. He is capable of bipedal movement and can move crouched down but finds it much easier and more comfortable to stay on two legs rather than 4. His size and stature does, however, make it easier for him to dart around to evade capture.
Height: Biped - 7'0"; quadruped - 3'9"
Weight: 252lb
Hair: His hair is long and soft and covers his entire body, though it's longer around his head, making him look as if he has a mane that runs down his back to where other wolves may have a tail. It is mostly a greyish brown, darker on his ears and his hands, though there are areas around his head and on the 'mane' where he has patches of lighter brown, including a mask-like marking around his eyes.
Eyes: Green with yellow flecks
Defining Marks: Alex's ears are quite odd; they are long and thin, with tufts of hair on the tips that make them look almost like they were cut off. He also doesn't have a tail, and has opposable thumbs.
Pack
Pack: Rayne
Position: Member
Territory: Rayne's side of town
Hair
Length: An inch or two.
Style: The longer it grows, the curlier it gets, so Alex prefers to keep it short. Samson did suggest that he grow it out to see if it turns into a natural afro but the thought really didn't appeal to him so he keeps it to about an inch or two in length so that is stays a little curly but isn't enough for Samson to style it.
Color: Brown
Facial Hair
Length: Because of the strict regime of the Navy he was always expected to be clean-shaven and although he still tends to keep to a lot of his habits picked up during that time there are times when he just can't be bothered, and keeps his stubble for a day or two before the need to shave nags at him.
Style: If any, just stubble.
Eyes
Color: Blue
Oddities: Like most of his kind his eyes will change to their lupine colour when he feels intense emotions, such as anger or distress, or when he's teasing, amused or just being playful.
Personality: Alex is a sweet, kind and charming man who tends not to let very much aggravate him, especially jabs about being as short as he is; hey, he's had more than a few years of it and it's not something he can do something about, so he may as well laugh along. Above all else he always tried to be polite to everyone he meets, and gives anyone the benefit of the doubt before they give him reason to think otherwise; he has learned from past experiences that judging one upon the bare facts without knowing them is a very big mistake, and one that he doesn't intend to repeat after having met, disliked, got to know then grown to love Deacon and Annemarie. That's not to say he would trust anyone and everyone until they did something to break said trust, he would just make a point of keeping an open mind about a person.
He's perfectly comfortable in admitting his own mistakes or downfalls and has no problem with apologising to someone should he realise that he was in the wrong. When the situation calls for it he thinks things through in a clear, methodical manner, taking things in a strategic, step-by-step manner as his training in the navy taught him to do during missions especially when he was commanding his fleet. Alex isn't a particular fan of jumping in feet first without first testing a situation to see if this is really the best route to go so that they can prepare for anything that might be lurking around the corner. Surprises aren't really on his list of things that he loves.
Even though he's experienced many different cultures and learned different languages as he went he still finds it hard to understand the basic American slang, which often causes much hilarity among his more clued in pack members. He tries to learn but he just takes it far too literally, not really understanding that sometimes the words are meant to imply something else; he would take "I'd hit that" to mean that the person would actually physically hit the other person.
During his earlier years Alex spent every waking hour studying and aiming for a position in the Navy so the concept of "fun" is still rather alien to him. Well, more the concept of doing something bizarre and totally uncharacteristic for fun; he 'has fun' reading books and practising his languages and playing his instruments, isn't really one to do something just because it sounds fun, or just for the sake of it. Expressing this opinion led to Samson throwing an inflatable guitar at him, telling him to just play it for fun each morning. There's no point, it's just for fun. He still doesn't get it, but 'plays' anyway.
He still blames himself for losing Deacon and Annemarie and feels deeply ashamed for not having the strength or courage to overcome his fear of swimming to aid them; they were basically what he considered to be family, and he all but abandoned them because he was too scared to move. He's determined to overcome this fear one day, and also to never let it keep him from doing what he knows in his heart is the right thing to do, so that he doesn't ever let his pack mates down as he let his old friends down.
Just as he was prepared to give his life for King and country when he was sailing under the flag of the Royal Navy he is prepared to give his life for his pack mates and do anything he can to help protect them, probably more vehemently because the pack is like family to him.
Weaknesses: Alex has, naturally, inherited the main weakness that comes with being a werewolf; the intense aversion to silver - brief physical contact with the element causes burns to the skin but prolonged exposure would cause intense nausea and sickness, poisoning him until it eventually kills him.
Though Alex wouldn't admit this to very many people, if anybody at all, he still suffers from the occasional night terror, mostly flashbacks from the night his ship was sank where he relives the moment where he very nearly died. As hard as he tries he can't get that image out of his head of the bodies lying motionless on the water, scattered like the fragments of wood all around them. He would prefer that people didn't know about it mainly because he didn't want people to pity him for it, what with the good old British stiff upper lip and all, but also because he doesn't really know how to explain it to anyone enough to ask for help. 'My ship blew up' doesn't really seem appropriate enough to describe the graveness of the situation. Any night terror always brings on a migraine the following day, and on those days he feels very anti-social, wanting to just curl up and sleep for the day.
He also has an intense fear of swimming, again, likely stemming from his experiences aboard the Galatea. He's okay (just about) on ships if he can't see the water but will suffer sea-sickness terribly, and would also be pretty scared of bathtubs. He can deal with showers, though.
Strangely, he has somewhat of a dislike for pigeons; it's not a full blown phobia or anything, he just... doesn't like them, and flinches if he sees one and will walk very quickly in the opposite direction should one flap its wings anywhere near him. It's a bizarrely random fear but one that tends to get the better of him if he's out and about.
Abilities: Alex gets to enjoy all of the advantages that come with his lycanthropy; enhanced strength, speed and agility, heightened senses, incredibly fast healing and the ability to leap great distances without really breaking a sweat. Due to his age he is able to control his wolf over the lunar cycle, having overcome the inability to stop his change long ago. Even with his enhanced strength he doesn't really hold that much power, so hand-to-hand combat isn't particularly his strong point although in the past he has been able to protect himself well enough. However, he is a dab hand with a sword and is a pretty good shot with a gun so would be able to hold his own in a fight should the need arise, with either a bladed weapon or a gun.
Mostly due to his travels with Deacon and Annemarie, Alex found himself having to learn the native tongue of whatever country they were stopping in because the two older wolves wouldn't always be around for him to call on in times of translation problems. He makes a point of reading at least one book written in a foreign language per week as way of practise, so that he doesn't find himself forgetting any of the vocabulary. Among the languages he's fluent in are French, German, Italian, Russian and Spanish. He attempted to learn Gaelic too, but unfortunately didn't have the time to keep that up.
When he was still human he learned to play the clarinet and has continued to practise over the course of his many years, as well as taking up the guitar so he could go busking to get some extra money. Recently he's also taken up the bagpipes at Samson and Guinevere's suggestions... though he's still pretty bad at it.
Weapons: Two swords he owned during his days as Commodore which were actually presented to him at a formal ceremony, and a Glock 19 that he got not too long after emigrating to the US.
Alex's swords; the left from his father and the right from his 'promotion'.
Prized Possessions: His most prized possession is the large, antique wooden chest, not because of what it is but because of what he keeps inside it; everything he could find from his supposed death he kept in that box, along with fragments of the ship that washed up alongside him. Through piracy Deacon managed to 'obtain' some more documents and priceless objects (such as his nautical compass, which had apparently been kept as some sort of tribute to his ship and the fallen sailors... Alex kind of felt bad for having it), though Alex made a point of never asking how he managed to do so. Inside the chest he also keeps the necklace he got from Annemarie when he's not wearing it. Other prized items include a not-so-accurate naval officer's uniform which was forced upon him by Guinevere, and an inflatable guitar that he received from Samson with instructions to 'practise' each morning, which he does, dutifully. Finally, his clarinet, which he managed to get back from his home when he returned after his supposed death, breaking into his own home, something that embarrassed him greatly.
Alex's trunk
Alex's nautical compass
Alex's inflatable guitar
Home(s): At the Four Seasons with the rest of the pack.
Continued below...