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Ludwig

Page history last edited by Hal! 12 years, 11 months ago

Ludwig Wolfmar MacRae Drache


Titles: Chancellor of the Dragon Brethren, Councilor and Marshall of the Wyverns (Gold Dragons)

Past Titles: Adjutant-General of the Black Dragons, Heir to the Landgravate of Wolfmar, Knight of Middenland.

Player: Matt Small

First Appearance: The Labyrinth of Souls

Status: Active.

Birthdate: 8/5/2490 IC (Age 29)

Marital Status: Widower. Was married to Laurea [maiden name?] on 5/17/2509. She was murdered later that same year.

Presently cohabiting with Kreeshana Jewelhand, who has been his lover since 1/28/2519.

Known Offspring: None

Religion: Ulric (devout), and has also developed some reverence for Asuryan.


LudwigMore Pictures

Type Human, male, Merc. General Alignment Good
Description A tall, muscular, red-haired and green-eyed man that has lived a life of warfare. He has a handsome but hardened face and a fierce, bold and stubborn demeanor. Ludwig speaks with a Middenland accent and has a penchant for metaphorical language.
Role Military/political leader

 

Ludwig is the current bearer of Dread-Fang, a basket-hilted cut-and-thrust sword that was once Uhlrik's secondary weapon, bestowed upon him in the ceremony that formally established the Dragon Brethren. The weapon's guard looks like it is made out of bone though it is strong as steel, and the blade is engraved with a multitude of howling skulls - upon the wielder's command, these skulls emit a terrible shrieking sound and surrounds its wielder in an aura of dread. This sword is now an emblem of the Chancellor's office, signifying his relationship as the Great Dragon's right hand and closest advisor (this is not the sword shown in the illustrations above - Ludwig used a regular, nonmagical sword as his primary armament from the time that he gave up his family's ancestral blade until Uhlrik gave Dread-Fang to him).

 

Ludwig definitely shares many of the distinctive traits of his Middenlander and Albionish heritage, with a markedly fiery temper and a stubborn, obstinate will that refuses to bow to anything he feels is unworthy. He will passionately denounce corruption and error, and will just as loudly praise the virtuous and noble. However, Ludwig lacks the hidebound traditionalism of so many Middenlanders, and is a champion of social and technological reform and is a highly refined, open-minded and cultured individual despite being a brutal and fierce warrior. Though he personally prefers to engage in melee combat and to rely on personal valor to win the day in that environment, he is a pragmatic military man who understands that the ways of war are changing and that artillery and firearms are the way of the future.

 

Profile
M Ws Bs S T W I A Dex Ld Int Cl Wp Fel
5
    7
7
                 

 

HtH Weapons Statistics
 Dread-Fang - magic sword HW. Causes Fear 
   
   
   

 

Missile Weapons Statistics
   
   

 

Location Armor Value
 All Full Plate
 All Shield 1
     
     

 

Special Skills  
Languages Reikspiel*, Tar-Elthàrin,
Equipment  

 

EP   Fate  
Psychology & other  

 

History


Origin

As an infant, Ludwig was adopted by his uncle Axe Wolfmar, who raised the boy in Delberz without revealing that he was anything other than the nobleman's son. For most of his life, he was trained and prepared to fight, to lead and to govern, as the heir to the estates and holdings of his adoptive father. Ludwig fought valorously and well in numerous conflicts large and small, including the Imperial Civil War of 2513 on the Ulrican side of that conflict (as a noble Middenlander), and in fact he was present at the historic Battle of Wolfenburg where Sigmar and Ulric miraculously demonstrated that Heinrich Todbringer had their joint approval and should be the next emperor. Ludwig was already a knight of some considerable renown before he ever sought out the Heroes of the Hammer.

 

Wolfmar and MacRae

Ludwig's blood connection to the Wolfmar family is actually through his mother, not his father. Ludwig's actual birth father is the Albionish chieftain Robert MacRae, who met and married his mother in Estalia without the family's initial knowledge or consent. When his mother was brutally murdered and every indication given that the infant boy had died as well, Robert returned to his homeland and eventually became the leader of Clan MacRae.

 

Meanwhile, Ludwig was left in the hands of the Wolfmars...

 

Joining the Heroes

In IC 2518, Ludwig decided to seek out the Heroes of the Hammer and answer their call to join the Black Dragons in a (well-paid) crusade across the seas to battle the heinous Dark Elves. He knew their legend well, and had been a witness to their prowess at Wolfenburg, even having met them in passing on more than one occasion. When he learned that they had returned from across the sea seeking warriors, he leapt to join them.

 

Ludwig was late in receiving this news, however, and did not arrive in Altdorf until after the Black Dragons had already departed. He set off to Marienburg in hopes that they might have stopped there for a time, or failing that to seek passage that he might sail to them across the great seas.

 

Fighting in their crusade against the Dark Elves would serve multiple goals, not only winning both he and his family honor and glory, but also hopefully deepening the Wolfmar family's trading ties and expanding their contacts with Sea Elven merchants. The Wolfmars have a considerable investment in trade both with the aloof Wood Elves but with Marienburg-based Sea Elves as well. the family has profited greatly from these associations, and Ludwig held the Elf race in a mix of esteem and awe.

 

The Rise of the Dragon Brethren

 

Current Status

Nowadays, Ludwig is essentially the main character in the ongoing story of the Dragon Brethren, and was in many ways the architect of the transition between Black Dragons and Dragon Brethren. He is certainly one of the most forward-looking and ambitious thinkers among the upper ranks of their military establishment, and he remains loyal to Uhlrik and his vision for the future; Ludwig intends to build that future (and make a place for himself in it) with his bare hands if he must. In Uhlrik's absence on a quest to the madness of the North, Ludwig is the acting commander-in-chief of the Dragon Brethren.

 


Tropes

For tropes associated with the rest of the campaign, see the Tropes page.

 

Badass Boast - He delivered the following extremely succinct yet effective example on behalf of Uhlrik: "That one!" When Uhlrik landed immediately afterward on Albrecht's back, Albrecht followed up Ludwig's lead with a boast of his own: "Any who wish to die may face my Lord Gunderit!" When a hardcore general AND a dragon warn you not to mess with somebody, you listen. So did the Albionish.

Badass Normal - Ludwig is literally the only one of the major player characters that doesn't have any paranormal abilities at all. He's still totally worthy to stand among them.

Be Yourself - this was one of the roots of his conflict with Axe.

Bishonen - Even though he was always a toned and fighting-fit warrior with plenty of muscle, when he first appeared Ludwig made a point of maintaining a long, lean physique and tried to be as close as he could manage to elf standards of male attractiveness... so he was a fit, strong and tough bishie. This changed after he went through a bit of an identity crisis and gave up his romantic notions of elven superiority. After that, he put himself through a grueling physical regimen partially as therapy and partially to pack on a lot more muscle mass so he wouldn't look so elfy anymore.

Can't Argue With Elves/Screw You Elves - Zigzagged a bit. Initially, Ludwig had a serious thing for elves, totally buying in to the idea that they are a superior species and holding their culture and society in tremendous admiration and esteem. This came about partially because of his family having made a point of carefully (the only way to do so) cultivating successful trade ties with both the Sea Elves and the Wood Elves (in fact, sometimes acting as something of a go-between). Then he got to deal with High Elves on a regular basis (and got to see the misbehavior of several, notably Cassandra) and his views... became more nuanced. He hasn't come to hate them and still considers their society to be worth protecting but he has called a couple of them out. Not to be confused with his relationship with the Dark Elf Kreeshana.

Cincinnatus - Ludwig plans to be one of these, running the Dragon Brethren while Uhlrik is off on a secret quest and looking forward to relinquishing the job when the big guy comes back.

Cool Sword - Ludwig started out with one of these. Bonus points for it being not only powerfully magical but an Ancestral Weapon. Later on, Uhlrik gave him Dread-Fang by way of a partially-subverted act of Passing the Torch (how subverted? Uhlrik wasn't retiring, he was setting Ludwig up to lead in his place partially so that Uhlrik could depart on his next epic quest).

Dark & Troubled Past - His is a fairly standard issue (more convoluted than some, though arguably less convoluted than the gunderit siblings') but nonetheless painful example. He married Laurea, and then she was brutally murdered by parties still unknown. Unfortunately, fridge-stuffing runs in his family because his birth mother got the same treatment at some point after she married Robert MacRae - her brother (Ludwig's uncle Axe) capitalized on this and hid baby Ludwig, convincing his father that the baby had died too, sending him off to seek the killers and eventually go off home to Albion so he could raise Ludwig himself and get rid of Robert. another thing that Ludwig shares with his father: neither one of them have ever been able to solve their wives' murders to allow for a proper Roaring Rampage of Revenge.

Death By Origin Story - Both Ludwig's wife and baby were murdered prior to his entering play. This mostly appears to have happened to a) give him something to angst about and spoil his later romantic endeavors and b) explain why a handsome and wealthy nobleman is single and thus able to have those romantic endeavors. Interestingly, he has mostly given up on finding out who killed her and why.

Estrogen Brigade Bait - This guy fits a lot of the criteria for this, both in his early bishie period and his later beefcake period.

Fatal Attractor - Ludwig is this. His potential partners ended up (often very quickly) being deemed unsuitable matches (or just didn't work out) for a whole variety of reasons. In order: his wife's death by backstory, turned out to be a villainess, already taken (and crazy as a loon, to boot), too kinky/slutty/one-handed, too devoted to her duties, slightly too young (also a friend's grown daughter), coming along at the wrong time and finally... too related. He finally hooked up with the kinky girl after a long time as just friends.

Girl Of The Week - Ludwig has had a very frustrating love life, and potential partners have come and gone sometimes in the blink of an eye, and for an assortment of reasons.

Glory Seeker - While Ludwig is and actively seeks to legitimately be a hero and to do altruistic deeds, he also is a firm believer that true heroes do deserve to be recognized, and he admits that he wants to receive glory for his own heroic acts. Of note, however, is the fact that he's also eager to see that other men get the honor and glory that he feels they deserve, for instance his insistence on honors being piled on Uhlrik and Albrecht. Note that in this late medieval/renaissance era setting, this is all generally considered a good thing.

The Good Chancellor - Ludwig works hard at this one. As Uhlrik's Number Two, his current title in the Dragon Brethren is even Chancellor!

Good Old Fisticuffs - Ludwig is proficient at down-and-dirty brawling, and on at least one occasion he sheathed his sword during a raging battle so he could deliver a righteous beatdown to a Chaos Sorcerer this way and take the villain alive for questioning.

The Hero - of current characters, he's the one that most clearly matches this trope.

Heroes Prefer Swords - The classic arming-sword is his weapon of choice, and he usually (but not always) fights using the classic sword-and-board combo.

Humans Are Warriors - This is part of Ludwig's thinking on why he and the Dragon Brethren can bring down Naggaroth while the Asur have been unable to do so for thousands of years. Also part of why he decided to buff up in his rejection of his previous admiration for Asur culture.

Incest Is Relative -  Ludwig managed to avert a Brother Sister Incest situation via suspicions that he was encountering this trope, and squick at the idea (and hoping fervently that they were not related) led to his positively identifying his real father. Fortunately for the gene pool but unfortunately for those who'd been enjoying the ship tease thus far, yes she was his sister and that was that.

Jumped at the Call - Ludwig had spent a fair chunk of his lifetime perfecting the noble arts of war and knighthood while looking for something truly meaningful to pursue so that he could delve into that rather than obsessing over the dead wife he'd never found a way to avenge. When he learned that the Black Dragons (led by the greatest heroes of their time) were headed for an overseas crusade, he dropped everything to find and join them. Unfortunately, he got there late and they were already overseas when he got to the meeting place. So he traveled to Marienburg to commission a ship so that he could join them... and ran into Gaynor's minions, who obligingly gated him into the same Hell-Realm that the heroes were fighting their way through.

Large Ham - Ludwig is most definitely one of these, partially due to his hot blooded nature, and partially because he loves making dramatic speeches at the drop of a hat ("THE WAGES OF SIN IS THROUGH BATTLE!"). He's also delivered more than one impressive Incoming Ham over the years, such as the Badass Boast listed above. Even though the Warhammer World is largely a world of ham, Ludwig is the best example among the principal protagonists (followed by Cassandra and Uhlrik).

Luke I Am Your Father - the second character in the campaign to have one of these. After he learned that his real last name was MacRae rather than Wolfmar (his mother rather than father having been a member of the Wolfmar family), his very first dread was that he would discover that Daffydd (Gaynor's right hand man, and whom Ludwig had already helped kill) the only MacRae who had shown up in game up to that point, was his father. Fortunately, when Ludwig went off to met the leadership of Clan MacRae and investigate his own heritage, he eventually added the late Chaos Warrior's brother Robert to his list of suspects. When Ludwig realized that he was starting to fall for Robert's Daughter Claire, he decided that he had to find out for sure and asked the man outright if he had ever known his mother, and was simultaneously relieved and frustrated to finally meet his dad. At least Robert was a nice chap instead of a villain like Uhlrik's dad...

Luckily My Shield Will Protect Me - His preference for fighting with a one-handed arming-sword lends itself well to using one of these, and he's the only group member whose usual fighting style permits one anyway.

No guy Wants To Be Chased - This was part of the reason that he didn't hook up with Kreeshana a long time before he did. She had to stop chasing him first... well, partially. She had to cut back on the whole "raging slut" thing in general was really more like it. He felt that she showed a lack of respect for herself and the seriousness with which he viewed sexual intimacy, and that was a major turn-off for him.

Raised By Uncle - Ludwig's uncle Axe (and his aunt too, of course) raised him, but they didn't tell him about his dead mother or missing father until well into his adulthood, when Axe and Ludwig started seriously butting heads.

Red Headed Hero - yup, he's a Fiery Redhead too.

Romance Sidequest - Ludwig has been involved in several of these, and most of them didn't end the way one would expect for a Player Character in an RPG.  See Fatal Attractor, above.

Stranger In A Familiar Land - Ludwig returned to his ancestral estates after he had been off questing and fighting, and while he was going through a bit of an identity crisis. His father was unsympathetic to his plight and their conflicts led up to the revelation that Axe was an adoptive father and was actually his uncle by blood instead. This conflict led to Axe disowning Ludwig, and Ludwig choosing to return the awesome magical sword and armor that were the ancestral arms of his family.

Temporary Substitute - This is an interesting one, really. When Uhlrik was missing and imprisoned in the Labyrinth of Souls. Ludwig was introduced to the party to a) allow a new player into the game and b) help fill in the Scrapper DPS role that Uhlrik occupied in the party while he was out since neither Cassandra nor Derelek were right for the job. Once Uhlrik was back, it wasn't as much of a problem as one would expect - Uhlrik was in process of mutating into The Big Good anyway, leaving room for Ludwig to be his Number Two. There are a number of similarities in their skillsets and personalities, but also plenty of differences.

Training From Hell - Ludwig was already really tough. Then he put himself through this and progressed far indeed - while he's still not as tough as Uhlrik, he's hard enough to give him a decent fight - without being a quasi-messianic supernaturally empowered walking meatgrinder. We played it through complete with a training montage scene.

The Unchosen One - Ludwig's not a prophesied hero or supernaturally empowered messiah-figure (unlike his friend Uhlrik). He is, however, a man who consciously stepped up and stood shoulder to shoulder with the giants of his age - as their peer and even, if events continue as they appear to be going - their successor.

Well Done Son Guy - Axe, his (adoptive) father was this to Ludwig, but he was unwilling to let Ludwig walk in his own paths and find his own way (rather wanting Ludwig to walk in his own footsteps), and eventually Ludwig had a falling out with him over this.

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