Player:
Steg/Stephen
Appearance:
Ash looks generally not out-of-the-ordinary. Big like a bouncer, but not unnaturally large, his ethnic phenotype resembles an everyday Akorosian with some Iruvian ancestry. However, anyone who looks closely at his face may suspect that he's actually once of those weirdo Tycherosi because the irises of his eyes are black like his pupils, except for a thin rim of reddish gold ringing the pupil–iris boundary, with similarly-colored wavy lines radiating out of the ring further into the iris. It looks for anything like a child's stick-figure drawing of the Sun before it was shattered. His skin is an olive/tan color, and his hair is reddish-black. He has a long goatee, but no hair further up on his head. He wears simple rough laborer's clothes – boots, pants, tunic, etc, and always gives the impression that he's cold; not because he shivers or complains about the temperature, but because in almost all situations, he's wearing just one more layer (or just slightly warmer garments) than everyone else. He also has bands around his wrists, ankles, and throat, that look like solid leather, but under careful inspection there are very thin slits in the leather filled with some metal substance, forming magical runes.
Biography:
About a thousand years ago, even before the cataclysm, the fire/smoke demon Ashë-ngo-Dhurx /ašeŋoðurks/ entered into a risky bargain with the sorcerer Namlas the Nameless that ended up with him bound into a human form and bound in servitude. Over the centuries, Ash has been passed from master to master (whether through gift, commerce, inheritance, theft, murder, or confiscation) as his demonic powers and identity slowly atrophied. At this point, he is left with only a certain degree of super-strength and super-speed – useful for functioning as a "cutter" – but is completely cut off from the ghost realm and the manipulation of magical energy or effects.
Ash's last master was Chael, an easygoing and friendly but vicious thug and gang member. His crewmates were uncomfortable having a demon around (even a mostly powerless one), and forced Chael to choose between them and his demon servant. Chael chose to sell Ash off to his tavernkeeper friend Esme, who was happy to have an "employee" she could trust and rely on because he's magically bound to obey her. Not long afterwards, the physicker Sawtooth kidnapped/stole Ash in order to try and dissect him to understand what makes demons tick, but Esme's friends the Grip crew recovered/rescued him. In gratitude, Esme told the Grip that they could borrow Ash whenever they needed him for a score or another reason. They also thought it was a waste of talent that Esme has a demon servant but she just uses him to schlep cases up from the basement.
Vice:
As a fire/smoke demon bound into a human form and disconnected from his elemental being, Ash's vice is focussed around trying to connect to his demonic identity through direct physical confrontation with the elements he represents. Most of the time, this takes the form of smoking a pipe (his only personal possession that he actually owns and he cares about deeply is a carven pipe he uses to inhale the burning particulates of whatever substance comes to hand – narcotics, incense plants, or even just charcoal when there are no other options). When that isn't enough, he engages in painful activities like firewalking, getting too close to campfires, playing with hot melted wax, and being burned and branded on his body.