Wilhelm

Wolfsheim ~X~ Hungrige Leiche

Quote: “The town and its people want no trouble... please!”

Appearance: An overweight, balding man with grey hair and a thick mustache, Wilhelm is in his early sixties but moves as if he was much older. He is typically dressed in a dirty linen shirt and old leather pants stained a uniform dark brown and an unwashed smell of fear follows him wherever he goes. His most distinguishing features are his jowls and the sad, resigned eyes of a pathetic bulldog. His shoulders are stooped with the weight of his responsibilities and failures.

Behavior:Wilhelm is a good man who genuinely cares about the town, but the werewolves have beaten him into submission. He will do everything he can (in the most respectful way) to ward off the Band’s involvement. Having been around the supernatural the majority of his life, the Avatars’ obvious power causes him great anxiety. Fearful of upsetting the delicate balance of the town, he believes the best course of action is to not rile the Band, but send them on their way as soon as possible. Part of him recognizes the potential aid the Band could offer and he might (through some serious cajoling) be convinced to turn a blind eye to their doings. Wilhelm is a scared and sullen man who is resigned to the status quo, seeing no way out of the situation he and the town are in. Wilhelm must be assured of a positive outcome before he is willing to take a risk.

History: Wilhelm Steiner is the son of a Roman soldier and a Germanic woman. His father deserted his post after witnessing the horror of warfare first-hand and fled to the hidden village of Wolfsheim with his wife and young son. Wilhelm had a sheltered childhood where his cowardly father indoctrinated him with the social mores of his new home, which included the Kindernacht.

Wilhelm married young, having hardly ever left village, and became Bürgermeister in his late twenties after the death of his father. A few years after taking office, Wilhelm was approached by the werewolf followers of Ulrich Schwarzenegger. With knowledge of his father’s past, they strong-armed him into granting them territorial and mining rights to the area in return for the promise to end the goblin’s reign of terror. Wilhelm could only watch as Ulrich’s werewolves wrested control of the entire town and the surrounding area from him over the course of a few months.

Since then, Wilhelm has personally lost two wives and his son to the werewolves. His first wife was killed when Wilhelm refused to accept the werewolves’ version of Kindernacht. His son, Helmut, was chosen and survived the new Kindernacht to become a loyal werewolf follower of Ulrich Schwarzenegger. Helmut devoured Wilhelm’s second wife years later as he was forced to watch. Wilhelm has become a shell of man who daily handles his father’s old crossbow, wondering if he will ever have the courage to use two silver-headed quarrels to end his families’ stain upon the world.

Fate: After Wilhelm's death at the hands of the Goblins, the Werwölfen brought his body to Ulrich Schwarzenegger who reanimated though the dark blessings of the Titans. Through his reanimation, Wilhelm became a Hungrige Leiche (hungry corpse) and those who die from his bite become Hungrige Leiche as well. But Wilhelm, created by dark titanic rites isn't simply a hungry corpse, but a Größere Leiche (greater corpse) in addition to being able to create more hungry corpses, those created by Wilhelm are slaves to his will. Wilhelm is only just beginning to understand this and the other powers granted to him by the dark titanic rite. Unfortunately, Wilhelm was already insane at the time of his death and dark resurrection which makes him unpredictable. As a greater hungry corpse, Wilhelm has many dark powers and access to a larger pool of tainted divinity than his slaves.

Nature: Caretaker. Wilhelm truly wants what’s best for the people of Wolfsheim, even if that means remaining submissive to the werewolves.

Powers: Like all hungry corpses, Wilhelm can consume recently dead or living flesh to regenerate himself from decay and damage. In addition, all those who die after being bitten by him, will return the following night as his undead slaves. Moreover, Wilhelm can consume the brains of people and thus their memories, this power lets him learn new abilities quite cheaply, but adds to his insanity. It is possible that Wilhelm has yet to learn all the hidden gifts that his titanic masters have bequeathed to him.

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