Post by Deraj on Oct 3, 2019 0:24:36 GMT -5
Devon Hawkins
Description
Despite appearing, roughly, in his late 40's or even 50's, Devon Hawkins is quite lean and seems in surprisingly good health from a life spent in constant motion. His mismatched armor, though crude in quality, seems to be held together by copious stitch work and deeply stained with only-the-gods-know-what. Though his usual disposition, at rest, is one of troubled brooding, the woodsman is quite welcoming of the opportunity to be in the company of others even though many seem to detest his presence. Despite his profound rudeness, his obnoxious humor, and his bizarre way of looking at the world, Devon Hawkins has a strong conviction and a deep loyalty to those he considers his peers. In the dark woods, he is sometimes called the Hunter.
History
Devon Hawkins grew up in the city of Jhelom, born to an impoverished and dysfunctional family. His father, an alcoholic, seemed to possess a strong, old-fashioned sense of morality which he ranted about frequently and sought to impart on his son. Being a massive hypocrite, however, he only managed to hold his son to an impossible standard while allowing his own family to languish in poverty and suffer under his abusive hand. His mother, a prostitute, was distant and generally detached. Devon learned how to hold his own in the rough-and-tumble city of Jhelom, enduring the contentious culture of the city and even sometimes thriving in it. Despite his earnest attempts to please his father, he would nevertheless have to endure occasional beatings up until he departed the household once his mother died, a moment for which he blamed himself for being unable to save her.
As he grew into an adult, Devon married twice, first marrying a woman named Tammy. Because they were both highly ill-tempered, the marriage was chaotic and eventually ended when Tammy, unable to stand Devon any longer, tried to killing him by crushing his head between her legs. Devon managed to survive the encounter and the two parted ways, never to cross paths again. Not learning anything from his first marriage, Devon later married another highly ill-tempered woman named Rosanna. The turbulent marriage did not last long before she also tried to kill him, but this time with a knife. Devon once again survived the encounter, but the scuffle left Rosanna dead. Unsure if he would be scrutinized by the authorities over the incident, Devon left Jhelom.
In the years that followed, Devon lived as a drifter, traveling around Britannia and working random jobs for coin that he would immediately spend on excessive consumption of meat, alcohol, and prostitutes, all while continuously sinking further into depression and melancholy. This would all change, however, when on one occasion he found himself in a conversation with a ranger named Abe who had attempted to convince Devon to take up the path of the ranger. Unable to pierce Devon's deep cynicism, however, Abe simply paid Devon to come along as hired help. However, as Devon journeyed with Abe's ranger group, he gradually began to bond with the group until eventually taking up the path in a serious way. For approximately six years, the group traveled together until a violent encounter with cultists of the Broken Ankh left about half of the group dead. Devon and two of his comrades pursued the Healer, who had also survived the encounter, into the otherworldly dark woods, becoming lost within it in their relentless hunt of the Healer.
Many, many years later, Devon Hawkins emerged from the dark woods, spending several years wandering Britannia's wilderness alone and constantly wearing a bizarre deer hood. He also occasionally had conversations with himself, seemingly talking to some unseen person named Edgar. Along the way he befriended two individuals, Siobhan, and much later Silvara Winds. It was not until Silvara found herself in trouble that Devon emerged from his solitary wandering and into the machinations of the various players. Silvara, who had lost her tongue to the lich Jacuyl, was found by the Healer who offered to restore her tongue and, by extension, her ability to speak. Silvara, who was working for Kalaric, the leader of the Guild of Thieves, exchanged places with Devon Hawkins via an agreement between Kalaric and the Healer. For awhile, Devon Hawkins worked for the Guild of Thieves, assisting in their battles and skirmishes against the Rangers of Spiritwood. Eventually, the Rangers of Spiritwood began to fall apart when their leader was killed, and Guy Greywulfe, the Governor of Skara Brae and a cultist, employed Devon as a personal agent. Claiming that Devon was simply his undercover agent in the Guild of Thieves, and not truly a willing criminal, Devon was assigned to oversee the failing Rangers of Spiritwood and later joined the Rangers Guild led by Michael Mitre.
As the Rangers Guild rose to prominence, Devon had in secret continued a task which he had been carrying out on behalf of the Healer even before his appearance in the Guild of Thieves: murdering wandering healers and taking their ears. These ears, along with healer robes, were left with the foreboding book authored by the Healer, warning of "outlanders" and pronouncing their eventual destruction. Devon continued to carry out missions on behalf the Broken Ankh, despite not being a cultist himself, in secret while he supported Mitre in building up the Rangers Guild. However, the Rangers Guild eventually met its own demise - with the deaths of rangers Katalin and Rhys, as well as the killing of the druid Cian Brannoc along with other confrontations, the remnants of the Rangers of Spiritwood reorganized to put a halt to the Rangers Guild. Devon, however, was absent from the fight. After hearing that the Healer had bound his companion Silvara Winds to a demon which eventually resulted in her death by suicide, Devon furiously left the Rangers Guild in their hour of need to hunt down Guy Greywulfe and the Healer. Knowing that Devon was on his trail, Greywulfe fled to Britain, and then to the forest of Samlethe, where he disappeared in the dark wood. However, the Rangers of Spiritwood crossed paths with Devon in Samlethe as they tracked Greywulfe as well. In a final confrontation, Devon Hawkins was brought down and killed.
Present
Recently, with the appearance of time shades of various individuals that had died, one such time shade was none other than Devon Hawkins himself. Appearing first as a younger man from his days as proper ranger, he then later appeared twice with his familiar deer hood, as if out of the wilderness and making strange requests of the Emerald Fist to accompany him on seemingly senseless quests. In his final appearance, the time shade of Devon Hawkins seemed particularly drained and worn down, urging the Emerald Fist to take his advice but, when rejected, seemed bitterly resigned to returning once more to the mysterious dark woods to continue his eternal hunt.