AE-G5; "Aegis"'s page

AE-G5, or "Aegis" as he prefers to be called, is a tall and well-muscled android. He stands a few inches taller than most humans and is of average weight; his white hair--about shoulder length--hangs loosely about his neck and face. His eyes are a vibrant metallic purple, and feel far more ancient and world-weary that the body that houses them or the soul that resides within it. His skin is tanned, with an intricate web of nanite circuitry--matching his eyes in color--scrawled upon the surface of his body, running in thin strands across everything but his face. On the inside of one arm Aegis sports his original designation, AE-G5, carved in eloquently written Androffan. While utterly synthetic, Aegis's body appears taught and well-muscled, and also sports a long scar from the bridge of his nose that travels down beneath his eye to the side of his neck; while Aegis has no memory of how his body acquired the scar, he believes it to be a remnant of a killing blow that struck down one of the previous inhabitants of his body. Otherwise, the android's body is perfectly clear of any blemishes or marks, and his artificial skin seems to hum with energy that gives those who touch him a sensation similar to static.

Aegis's clothing is a set of simple charcoal-colored robes, with a raised black collar and shoulder pads outlined in faded gold stitching. The sleeves end above the elbow, leaving some of his bicep and forearm exposed before reaching his black leather gauntlets. At his waist, Aegis wears a wrapped red sash held in place by a large metallic holy symbol of Arqueros, the empyreal lord of of watchfulness and protection. The robe hangs long in the front with a single tail in the back, and he wears heavy beige pants made for easy survival in the wilderness. Strapped to his thigh is the sheath for his long hunting knife, a simple weapon he scavenged not long after awaking. His clothes, which he awoke wearing, have a place at his belt for the scabbard of a blade; however, Aegis has never found one that felt right on his hip or in his hand, and as such carries the dagger instead. His boots are the same sturdy black leather as his gauntlet, and his backpack holds his spellbook--an ancient-looking tome bound with purple leather and plated with gold--along with what worldly possessions he doesn't keep in the saddlebags of Jinx, his horse.

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While bright and typically compassionate, Aegis is horrible with other people. He understands theoretically how to communicate his intentions and speak with others, but most of his experience is secondhand; he often comes across as someone who has only watched others carry on a conversation and never done it himself, or as if he's only read about people talking in books. He comes across as stilted and often has trouble conveying subtleties in his words, meaning many statements are blatantly obvious and sometimes seem overly harsh. Still, despite his blunt personality, Aegis does his best to make actions speak louder than words when he can; he seems overly willing to help others when its within his abilities (and sometimes when it isn't), and has an almost overpowering desire to protect others when threatened. This desire is only second to his pull to find whatever called him to Nirmathas; he tells few people of his dreams of The Voice that speaks to him, for fear of being outcast. The dreams usually remain the same, but occasionally snippets of former lives intrude upon them or come to him while awake. When this happens, he does his best to ignore them, but as they become more frequent they do become a small source of worry for him.

Coughing and sputtering as he awoke within the ancient pod deep beneath the surface of Numeria, AE-G5 fought against his panic at being sealed within the mechanical contraption. He shoved the door open and stumbled out into the Darklands with the dim light of his circuitry tattoos casting shadows upon the rocks. At his feet, AE=G5 found a set of old robes and an empty scabbard, along with a backpack and a truly ancient looking tome. Gathering his belongings, the newly-born android set out away from his pod in a random direction, only knowing somehow that there was another world above all the stone and rock overhead. When he finally emerged--luckily without any contact from the less friendly creatures of the Darklands--he was blinded and disoriented by the blasted heat in the desert of Numeria. He wandered for days before coming across a lone Kellid wanderer. Tired and seeking respite from his travels, AE-G5 was horrified when the men sought to kill him instead. Activating power he wasn't aware he even had, AE-G5 dropped the man to the ground with a burst of lightning from his fingertips. Panicking but in need of something to defend himself with, AE-G5 stole some of the man's supplies as well as his hunting knife, but left him enough to survive. As his new food supplies ran low, AE-G5 finally came across a small town and, by bargaining some of the trinkets he'd found on the Kellid warrior, managed to secure a room in an inn for the night.

Finally succumbing to sleep, AE-G5 for the first time realized that he hadn't been wandering aimlessly. Awakening from his slumber, all he remembered was an image of a far-off land and a strange voice calling him there. He saw images of beings who looked like him and acted like him, and saw someone who he knew was in his body but was not him. Disturbed by these images, AE-G5 pondered on them for some time. He was, however, eventually interrupted by the arrival of representatives of the Technic League, who having heard of a rogue android came to investigate. Killing one of their number and fleeing the city, AE-G5 continued until he passed the borders of Numeria and began to flee south. He moved quickly through Ustalav and eventually arrived in Lastwall, and for a time found solace there as a soldier. While awkward and unable to connect with the other warriors, he proved decent enough at following orders. Here he learned his penchant--perhaps even compulsion--to protect his allies as he fought, pulling them from harm's way or blocking a foe's blade with his dagger, and eventually was given the nickname Aegis by some of the other soldiers. It was during his time here he learned of the empyreal lord Arqueros and become one of his followers.

However, the pull to travel still farther south eventually led him to leave and continue to journey. Eventually ending up in Nirmathas, Aegis ended up being roped into dealing with hobgoblin issues in exchange for being welcomed into and tolerated by the community he found. He still feels the pull of whatever brought him to this place, but he knows it's weaker now, and he can only imagine that means he's quite close to finding whatever it is.