As you enter the tavern, you are bombarded by the sound of patrons and bard music, as the tavern is rather lively tonight. As you venture through the crowd of people in search of a free table, you spot a familiar well kept suit and hatted individuel sitting alone on one of the tables.

As you walk over to them, they notice your approach, and raise their mug of ale to greet you.

“Why hello there again my fine friends!. Why, this is the third time in a row that we meet face to face!. I’m usually the one that finds people like you guys first, but nevermind that!. Sooo… Here to hear more tales?” He asks, as he looks at you with a smug grin.

…

“Of Course you are!. Hmm… AH!, i got one. Have you ever heard of the infamous Brook?”

*You shake your heads*

“Really now?. Then buggle up and listen well, because I'm gonna tell you the story of Brook The Ballista Arbalist!. Or at least the parts of the story i’ve gotten my hands on”

---

Way back when, Brook was just a young pup, his life was just wonderful!. He had caring parents, he lived in a nice little village out in the countryside, away from any of the bigger cities that leid here and there. He had friends, which he had lots of fun playing games and pretending. It was all just GREAT!... But you know how the stories I tell goes. Tragedy has to strike.

One day, a group of people, Bandits, came to the little village and demanded that they give them all that they had. The village refused their demand, and threatened them with calling the guards over at one of the bigger villages. The bandits left, but the next day after, they brought the rest of their pals with them, and burned the village to the ground.

While this was happening, Brook's father hid him in a hole in one of their house's walls, and pushed a bookshelf in front of it, and said that he would be back for him. But sadly for Brook, that would be the last thing his father would ever say, because as he grabbed his sword off the table it laid on, and went to the door, the door swung open and the father’s skull was cleaved in two. And Brook saw this through the cracks in the bookcase, as his father’s lifeless body fell to the floor. The bandit that did the bloody deed came in and looked at his handy work, before calling out to his pals to get in there and loot it. After a few minutes had passed, he heard his mother scream, as two of the thugs came into Brook’s view, dragging his mother over to the table and slamming her onto it. And then they began laughing, as they began to rip her clothes off as they were going to have a Grand ‘ol time with her. And under all of this, Brook had to watch it all happen, but he couldn't scream, because then they would find and KILL him. He couldn’t cry, because then they would find and KILL him. So all he could do was watch in silence, as they violated his mother. And when they were done with her, they did the same thing they did to his father.

Now with his life Burned to the ground, his parents Dead, his home Gone. He was LOST…But through the pain and sadness, there was something abrewing. It was the Fires of Vengeances!.

He ended up in an orphanage for a couple of years, before he was old enough to join the army, where he got a better place to live than the crowded orphanage he was put in. He trained hard every day of every week of every month. His strength grew with time(and with the help of one or two lesser potions of strength) until he was able to lift a decent sized table you would see in a bar, with just one hand. But When it came to the way of the sword, that is where it kind of fell off for him, but there was one weapon that he fell in love with, the crossbow. Now when you first look at him, you would think that he’s sort of a brawler, but he's actually pretty handy when it comes to tinkering with things and contraptions, he also knows basic alchemy. But anyways, he used the crossbow for a time, but at a certain point, he found the firepower of the crossbow to be Laking. Then his eyes fell upon the humble Ballista, and he had an idea.

The next couple of weeks, he spent most of his time in the workshop, where by the end of those weeks, he had built himself his own scaled down version of the Ballista. When he took it out on his next mission, he was not disappointed. None of the criminals he and his squad was sent out to deal with, stood a chance against his mighty weapon. Of course there was the problem with the loading time, but he wasn’t really intending on being on the frontline, but rather far away where he could just rip your defense line asunder, or rip your upper half off with a well placed shot.

Now we are getting to the fun part of his arsenal!. You see, he doesn’t only use normal bolts, he also uses some he has made himself, tho he do tend to be stenchy about using them, because they are such a hassel to make.
Said ammo ranges from: Explosive Bolts, for when he wants something to be extra dead. Poison Bolts, If the bolt didn’t kill you, the poison will!. Fire Bolts, Intended for beasts and other creatures that don’t like fire. Cluster Bolts, Special bolts that he shoots high into the air above his targets, before two seconds later, a hail of bolts comes raining down, he commissions these from enchanters and other magic users that know multiplication spells. Gas Bolts, When making contact with anything, it will release, depending on what he has filled it with, a lethal or non-lethal gas that spans an area of about 5-6 meters.
And many many more, but let's get back to Brook.

After a few years, he got kicked out of the military, and was also supposed to be thrown in jail for crimes against the crown… or something like that. See, this is where it gets a bit wonky in the story for how he went from being a guard, to one of the most feared mercenaries of the underworld. But all of these different tales have one thing in common, Brook did SOMETHING that pissed off the crown, so he had to flee to the underworld.

Now that he had become one of the many bastards that live there, he made quite the bloody name for himself, and many titles. The Bloodhound. The Lone Wolf. The Mighty Dog. Or as he calls himself. Brook the Ballista Arballist!. Though with all these titles, one would think that he has high standards and such, but he’s got more of a goon/muscle for hire kinda attitude to him when he's not working, or at least he got so after his whole falling out with the crown and army thing. Again, the details as to why he fell out with them, and why he is who he is now, is still a bit foggy.

Heh, I even heard that he is quite the horny bastard from time to time if you can believe it. No matter if you're a woman or a man, or that in between, give him the bedroom eyes or shake your booty in his direction, and he’ll give you one hell of a night you won’t forget!. Hahaha!.

---

“And that is the story of how Brook came to be. Now, you are probably wondering, “did he ever find the bandits that killed his parents” and the answer to that is sadly no” He says, as he looks down into his empty mug.

“The bastards that did the bloody deed, it was as if they vanished into the blue. But it doesn't really matter anymore. From what I've heard, he’s pretty much dropped the whole vengeance thing all together, why?, my guess is as good as yours my friends” He says, as he signals for one of the barmaids to give him some more ale.

“But anyways…” He says as he looks at you again with a grin “...You wanna hear anything else?”



This was made once again by the phenomenal and awesome  myneonone! Go and give them a look!.