Ludwig Beilschmidt [Complete!]

Name: Ludwig Beilschmidt
Age: 21
Gender: Male
Quarter: Southeast Quarter
Job: Weaponsmith/engineer
God(s): Wodan, a Teutonic god of wisdom, war, and the sky.
Gift: Ludwig is psychometric: by touching an object, he can learn its history, information like its owners, its uses, its surroundings or settings, and occasionally, its creation. The power does not work on people, and usually has a limited scope of reference. It takes a great deal of focus and concentration for Ludwig to see beyond fifty years into the existence of an item. Incredibly enough, he can even see a little bit into the object's immediate future, but this is even more taxing than looking far into the past, and Ludwig cannot use it with great focus or for a length of time without suffering physical and mental harm.

Personality: Ludwig is quite a serious person, and seldom takes anything lightly, no matter the importance. Whether it be work, chores, or play, he puts a great amount of focus into the action at hand, and always gives his utmost effort. He is also a firm believer in the creed "If you want something done right, you've got to do it yourself"; while Ludwig will occasionally seek out assistance for problems completely out of his league, more frequently he will turn to experiments, his own ideas, or even instruction manuals to try and figure out an answer. Because he dislikes relying on the help of others, Ludwig unfortunately ends up overworking himself at times, and gets stressed as a result.

He is also very strict about the way he runs his life, which can be somewhat intimidating. Ludwig follows rules absolutely, even when they might be illogical, and he takes it upon himself to chastise people who don't (even though this isn't his job). Everything, from his appearance to his house to his daily schedule, is organized and tidy, and any sudden changes tend to throw him off, although he's learning to roll with these better. Because of his rigid lifestyle and his usually serious demeanor, he's earned a bit of a reputation as a stick-in-the-mud (to put it politely).

Due to his love of reading books, a natural curiosity, and his God-granted power, Ludwig is quite smart. He picks up new skills easily and will often study something until he's certain he understands it. He's well-versed in matters of science and technology, especially when it comes to engineering or building things. He's also quite a reasonable person: Ludwig will always think with his head first, his instincts second, and his emotions last. Because of this, he's quite grounded in reality, and can think clearly even in times of crisis.

Unfortunately, his natural talents for the physical world don't seem to extend to people. While Ludwig's certainly able to read the atmosphere, he always speaks his mind, and seldom likes to waste time with idle chatter if something has to be done. Believe it or not, he's also a little bit shy, and tends to fight off embarrassment or nerves by putting on a serious, even angry face. When it comes to making friends or other relationships, he's pretty naive, and usually turns to books for advice, with varying results.

Despite the inflexible and serious demeanor Ludwig usually sports, he's not a mean person at all. He's got a soft spot for things weaker than him - especially animals - and is incredibly patient when it comes to giving people second, third, fourth, etc chances. While he does have a temper, it's difficult to make him truly angry, and compared to his braggart older brother, Ludwig is decently humble: while he'll be a leader, he dislikes the spotlight. He wouldn't hesitate to help someone truly in need, and tends not to think about what he wants a lot. This can wear him down and make him upset on occasion, but in true Ludwig fashion, he'll keep his wits about him and continue working hard.

Appearance: Ludwig is tall, with a muscular build that comes from daily exercise. Almost always, his short blond hair will be combed back away from his forehead, giving him a somewhat severe appearance when combined with his sharp blue eyes. Ludwig's appearance is always tidy, although he prefers neutral and plainer clothes; his everyday outfit consists of a long-sleeved shirt (sometimes with the sleeves rolled up), and a pair of dark trousers and suspenders. He wears high boots frequently, as he finds them comfortable and convenient. Due to his pale complexion, Ludwig usually won't go outside without wearing a green cap to protect his face.

Strengths:
--Perseverance: Ludwig is a hard and dedicated worker; he'll try again as often as he needs to in order to achieve something.
--Physical Strength: All of that exercise has made Ludwig not only strong, but tough. It takes a lot of force to knock him down and keep him there.
--Reason: Ludwig thinks with his brain, not with his emotions. He's cool-headed, rational, and realistic at all times.
--Organization: When it comes to keeping things tidy and in proper order, Ludwig is the undisputed master.
--Clever: It may not be his most obvious trait, but Ludwig's good at working out new solutions on his own; he will only turn to books when he's absolutely out of ideas.
--Cooking: This may not be his job, but Ludwig's an excellent cook. His specialty are cakes.
--Kindness: Despite the lack of a smile on his face, Ludwig would never refuse help to someone who needed it, and is surprisingly forgiving with certain people.
Weaknesses:
--Strict: Ludwig is hard on other people at times, but he's hardest on himself, and this is damaging.
--Pessimism: While he might insist he's just being realistic, there's no denying that Ludwig can be awfully negative about certain things.
--Expression: He seems to have put up a wall between his emotions and his face, and seldom shows anything besides stoicism or irritation to others.
--Isolation: Having relied on himself for most of his life, Ludwig shuts other people out, and has few good friends, though he would never admit to being lonely.
--Naivete: Ludwig has learned a lot over the years, but there are plenty of things he doesn't yet understand - and he hates to admit that.
--Temper: Although he is quite patient, when he does lose his temper, he's merciless with his anger.
--Self-doubt: True, Ludwig is a determined person, but he's also a pessimist. He's not a risk-taker, and he doesn't shoot higher than what he believes he can realistically achieve.

Likes:
--Animals: He's fond of all animals, but likes dogs the best.
--Reading: Perhaps surprisingly, Ludwig enjoys fictional stories quite a lot, although he'll read anything.
--The outdoors: On days with good weather, he can usually be found outside. Nature is very peaceful and beautiful.
--Exercise: It feels good, and it keeps one healthy.
--Cooking: As long as everything gets cleaned up afterwards, Ludwig enjoys to make all kinds of food.
--Beer: He doesn't drink it too frequently, but he enjoys it nonetheless.
--Cleanliness: It's so much easier to keep track of everything when the world isn't messy.
--Fixing things: There's hardly a more satisfying feeling to know that you've put something right.

Dislikes:
--Noise: Not music, per-say, but needless, stupid cacophonies.
--Being teased: Ludwig can't take a joke, especially about himself.
--Crybabies: Unless you've got a serious injury, there's no need to cause such a fuss.
--Braggarts: Although his elder brother is an exception... usually.
--Ignorance: There's no excuse for not knowing some things.
--Stress: He already has enough to deal with, without the added hassle of this.
--Thunderstorms: He was afraid of them as a child, and still doesn't like them much.
--Hypocrisy: People who can't take a step back to see the illogic in their beliefs bother Ludwig.

Quirks:
--He blushes very, very easily - sometimes even at times when he's not honestly embarrassed or angry.
--Ludwig is not at all a touchy-feely person; he get incredibly uncomfortable if his personal space is invaded, and avoids hugs or other gestures from all but the people he is closest to.
--Whenever he gets particularly stressed or frustrated, he combs and re-combs his hair with his fingers, which usually just makes it messy.
--He doesn't need them, but he'll occasionally wear glasses, perhaps to make his appearance more intellectual-looking.
--Despite his relative inexperience with relationships, Ludwig apparently has a rather dirty mind.

Phobias:
--Being helpless: Ludwig hates to think that problems might exist that are completely out of his control.
--Loss of his loved ones: Because he is close to so few people, Ludwig dreads what might happen if one of those people should die.
--Romantic love: In most of the books Ludwig has read, love apparently renders someone completely helpless in relation to someone else; in accordance with his fear of helplessness, that is terrifying.
--Nightmares: For someone as realistic as Ludwig, this might seem strange, but truthfully, he has some bad ones, and dreads getting them.


History:
Born six years after his elder brother Gilbert, Ludwig was the "normal" child his parents had been waiting for. Although they weren't rich by any means, Ludwig's mother and father provided him with plenty of gifts and attention, and Ludwig was a generally happy child. However, in his innocence he couldn't understand why his older brother was being neglected compared to him, and having developed an early and unusually keen understanding of right and wrong, Ludwig started to follow Gilbert everywhere. At first, he received some rebuffs, but undiscouraged, kept this behavior up; eventually, his brother warmed up to him, and Ludwig earned his first friend.

Or only friend, rather: despite how hard his parents worked to spoil him, Ludwig was a quiet, undemanding, and serious child, one who preferred reading books to playing with others outside. When Gilbert left to train as a guard, Ludwig was heartbroken; however, after a week of sulking, he started to write letters to his brother as a way of keeping in touch. Regrettably, he had to keep these a secret; with Gilbert gone, the Beilschmidts focused all of their attention on their younger son instead, determined for him to have a better future than just that of a guard.

Rules were quickly put in place and Ludwig was encouraged to spend his time studying and completing his homework. This strict regimen didn't help the boy make any more friends, although his natural intellectual gifts helped him advance quickly through school. Ludwig gained a keen interest for the way things worked; benefitted by his God-given gift, he could pick up tools and instantly learn how to use them. Armed with all kinds of new knowledge, Ludwig spent a lot of free time building or creating new things - sometimes with a purpose, sometimes without. While his parents weren't entirely pleased with this vein of interest, Ludwig's abilities won them over, and he was able to get an apprenticeship at a weapons-maker's shop. There, he had ready access to tools and materials to experiment with, and when he reached the proper age, Ludwig opened a shop of his own.

Business has been good, and Ludwig's original creations have been lauded as well, which encourages him to keep working harder and thinking of new things that people might need. But due to his strict upbringing, he's still quite isolated from people; the only person he has regular contact with outside of customers is his brother (he tries to avoid his overbearing family if he can). Ludwig isn't at all happy that Gilbert is involved with the underworld, and although he'd take that secret to the grave, recently, he's been trying to convince his brother to get out before he gets in trouble.

RP Sample:
The day had dawned cool and clear, and as he usually did, Ludwig had woken with the sun to get an early start. After his jog around the neighborhood (that always tended to garner a few curious stares, despite the fact that he'd stopped to explain his reasons several times), he returned to his apartment to cook himself a quick breakfast and to get cleaned up. It was a fairly modest existence, and in some ways Ludwig felt a little grateful not to have many friends in the city; his apartment was far too tiny to invite guests over. But word of his business had been slowly spreading around the area, and if things stayed that way, he'd be able to afford a nicer place soon.

By the time Ludwig had cleaned up and started walking to work, the city had finally begun to really wake up: shopkeepers were opening the shutters of their stores, businessmen toting briefcases hurried past him, and above, the first airships had started to cross the sky. It felt good to be part of something busy, and Ludwig opened his own business in a good mood. It proved to be a lucky break, as he'd been working nonstop since that point.

Currently, he was lying under the chassis of a steam-powered car, a fine piece of machinery that its owner had over-used and worn down exceptionally quickly. Ludwig honestly couldn't blame the man - if he'd owned something that nice, he'd probably drive it everywhere too, but it wasn't entirely pleasant to have chunks of dirt and rock falling all over him as he took all of the components apart.

"Where exactly was he driving this thing," Ludwig muttered quietly to himself, wiping some sweat from his forehead and setting yet another filthy conduit aside to be cleaned and fixed up. At the very least, Ludwig reassured himself, this job would mean more business; anyone who could afford such a nice car obviously had connections. So of course, he wanted to do the best and most thorough job that he could - as if he didn't already work that way, but this time, he'd take extra care just to make sure. The clanking and noises from under the machine kept Ludwig from hearing the bell attached to the customer door of his shop ringing, and he didn't realize anyone had actually arrived until the guest spoke.

"Guten tag! I'm looking for Ludwig!"

"Ahh- just a moment!" Ludwig called back, extricating himself from under the car and dusting his clothes off, before heading towards the front of the shop to greet the man. "What can I--" Despite the years that had passed, it took Ludwig no time at all to recognize who had arrived: those red eyes were unmistakable, even now.

Out Of Character
Name: El
Age: 23
Contact: I'm on at odd hours, so I would say PMs are your best bet for now!
Anything else?: I... I have to pick a favorite? Tough one! I've got to say I've always been a fan of Hades, even though he was kind of a jerk at times (kidnapping people and all).