The Iron Blaquesmith
From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe
| |
| "This is not my world. This is not my time. But it is now my home." | |
| The Iron Blaquesmith | |
| Player: @Doctor Nihilist | |
| Origin: | Technology |
|---|---|
| Archetype: | Blaster |
| Security Level: | 17 |
| Personal Data | |
| Real Name: | Nicodemus Price |
| Known Aliases: | None |
| Species: | Human (alternate Earth) |
| Age: | 35 (however, born in the 18th century) |
| Height: | 6'3" |
| Weight: | 368 lbs (over 70% of body replaced by steam-era cybernetics) |
| Eye Color: | Blue |
| Hair Color: | Blonde |
| Biographical Data | |
| Nationality: | Welsh |
| Occupation: | Blacksmith (18th century), Soldier (War of Independence) |
| Place of Birth: | Meirionnydd |
| Base of Operations: | Undisclosed |
| Marital Status: | Widower |
| Known Relatives: | None |
| Known Powers | |
| Steamtech augmented human | |
| Known Abilities | |
| blacksmith, expert pistoleer, skilled in designing of steamtech devices | |
| Equipment | |
| Twin Colt Navy Revolvers with specialized ammunition, targeting optics, web grenades, caltrops | |
| D.A.T.A. Field Notes: The steam-powered technology that was used to augment and sustain Price was developed on an alternate Earth during the 18th and 19th centuries, yet has demonstrated remarkably advanced capabilities on par with modern 20th century weaponry and cybernetics. How this is possible is undetermined, as complete study of the technology is limited by the inability to separate it from the Iron Blaquesmith without killing him. | |
Nicodemus Price, a.k.a. The Iron Blaquesmith, is a man from a parallel Earth of the past, a world in which steam technology ushered in an Industrial Age that began in the 18th century. Since finding himself trapped in 21st century Paragon City of our reality, he has done his best to acclimatize, though his antiquated outlooks have occasionally led him to run afoul of modern societal norms (and law enforcement).
Contents |
Personality
The Iron Blaquesmith is often cynical and reserved, feeling distinctly out of place in the 21st century of a world whose history parallels his own until a couple hundred years earlier, at which point the two histories diverged significantly. Although respectful of the laws and norms of this world, he often finds them restrictive and sometimes outlandish.
Although he seldom speaks of his past, it haunts him deeply and he is prone to periods of brooding melancholy. The only thing that allows him to maintain his focus is action, which often leads him to act rashly or impulsively. He is nonetheless very intelligent, and although he is at times cocky and brash, he learns quickly from his impulsive mistakes.
FBSA Psychological Assessment (Classified)
The Iron Blaquesmith has demonstrated occasional tendencies towards recklessness, which may be indicative of deeply suppressed self-destructive impulses. In addition to being displaced in both time and dimensions from his own world, Iron Blaquesmith is known to suffer from the after effects of significant personal trauma, including the death of his wife and the loss of nearly three quarters of his body, which has been replaced with steam technology based cybernetics. Thus far, his behavior has not been deemed a threat to anyone other than himself, however ongoing observation and periodic psychological analysis is recommended.
Powers and Equipment
Steamtech
Much of Price's body has been replaced with steamtech, a form of technology developed in his own timeline that is a curious melding of steam-power with modern and even futuristic designs. His arms, legs and much of his torso are essentially cybernetic in nature, powered by a miniature, high-powered steam engine that serves as both an artificial heart and provides power to the rest of the Iron Blaquesmith's body. Iron Blaquesmith is faster and more durable than an ordinary human being, possessing accelerated reflexes and the ability to leap significant distances. While extremely retrotech in appearance, these steamtech cybernetic enhancements have proven highly durable and function on par with modern cybernetics in most regards.
D.A.T.A. Technical Analysis of Steamtech (Classified)
The Department of Advanced Technology Application has made several attempts, with the assistance (for the most part) of the Iron Blaquesmith to analyze the "steamtech" used in his augmentation and devices. Thus far, D.A.T.A. has had minimal success in replecating the technology, even when attempting to duplicate the exact designs of existing components, which has led to speculation on the exact nature of how the steamtech works, including one theory that the technology is in some way "reality condusive in design", meaning that it works because it was designed and built in his original reality or by the Iron Blaquesmith himself, which somehow enables the technology to utilize the physics of that alternate reality rather than the constraints of this one. This theory has led to further speculation that, by extension, there may be a danger that the steam technology could eventually cease to function after prolonged time in our space/time continuum, and the results of the Iron Blaquesmith being exposed to yet another parallel universe could be highly unpredictable. The imminent concern is that should the Iron Blaquesmith's augmentations ever be damaged beyond his own ability to repair them, or should he be rendered incapable of doing so, it may prove impossible for anyone else other than another being from his original reality to affect repairs.
Due to it's integral nature in sustaining the Iron Blaquesmith's life, thorough examination of the primary systems is impossible without killing the subject.
Price's weapons of choice are a pair of Navy Colt Revolver's, which he obtained during the 19th century on his own world. These pistols have been well maintained, but are typical in design to the Navy Colt revolvers used during the Civil War. Iron Blaquesmith uses them in conjunction with specially designed ammunition, however, that includes cryonic bullets, incendiary ammo, and chemical rounds. Between his skill as a pistoleer and the enhanced reflex and optics afforded him by his steamtech augmentation, the Iron Blaquesmith is a deadly gunslinger by any standards.
Gadgets
Originally a blackmsith by trade, Price's knowledge of steamtech from his own reality has allowed him to apply his skills in the construction of numerous devices, ranging from simple designs such as caltrops to more advanced technology such as explosives and drones. Although the gadgets he designs tend to be antiquated in appearance, they (like the man himself) are highly effective despite appearances.
History
Nicodemus Price, blacksmith (circa. 18th century, parallel Earth)
Nicodemus Price was a blacksmith, born in the early 18th century in Meirionnydd, Wales, but on a parallel version of Earth. The young Price was a skilled craftsman, and although he was neither prosperous nor famous, his abilities as a smith did garner him some respect and recognition in the lands near to his home. He was married to a young school teacher named Sara, and the two were very much in love, but Sara became stricken with a strange illness that none of the local physicians or healers could cure, or even properly identify. Desperate to save his beloved Sara, Nicodemus went in search of someone who possessed the knowledge of how to cure her.
Mortimer Faust, doctor and inventor
It was at this time that Nicodemus encountered a mysterious inventor and scientiest calling himself Dr. Mortimer Faust. Faust listened with interest to the plight of the young blacksmith, seeming sympathetic to Sara's illness, and after hearing Price's story, Faust proposed a radical means of finding a possible cure. According to Faust, he had been working on a design for a machine which he claimed would allow a man to travel through time, or possibly even to other worlds, but while he possessed the scientific genius to devise such a device, Faust was not qualified to build it solely by himself. With the help of a skilled craftsman like Nicodemus Price, however, Dr. Faust was convinced he would be able to complete his machine, which they could then use to travel to the future, perhaps to a time when science and medicine had discovered a cure for Sara's ailment.
Price scoffed at Faust's claim, believing the man to be either mad or else toying with the young blacksmith's hardship. He walked away from the doctor and his outlandish claims and returned hom to Meirionnydd. When he arrived, he learned to his sorrow that Sara's illness had taken a turn for the worse just shortly before Price returned home, and his beloved wife's health was declining rapidly. As the illness progressed, Sara's suffering was unbearable for Nicodemus to witness, and at times she seemed deranged with fever and from the pain, often sitting upright, eyes wide, screaming in horror of mad visions of demonic infernos and terrible darkness sweeping the world, shrouding it in a perpetual fog. Nicodemus' heart nearly broken, he found himself desperate, and returned to seek out Mortimer Faust in the wild hope that the mad doctor's machine could actually do what he claimed.
The Time Device (A Deal With the Devil)
Mortimer Faust proved surprisingly easy to find again, and commiserated over Sara's further decline. With the desperate young blacksmith's assistance, Faust began construction of the machine. As the two worked together, Nicodemus began to grow suspicious and fearful of his employer. Faust seemed beyond mad, there was something sinister in his eyes occasionally as he watched Price build and assemble the machine for him, a growing eagerness that made Nicodemus uneasy. Nonetheless, Faust's device was his last hope of saving his beloved Sara, so Nicodemus worked on until finally the device was nearly complete.
As Nicodemus completed the final component of the device, Faust came to take possession of the finished work, but something about the man caused Nicodemus to pause. Gloating, Faust revealed his true purpose in having Price build the device was so that Faust could use it to travel to the future to steal technology and scientific discoveries, returning to the 18th century so that he could use them to make himself the most powerful man in the world. It was at this time that Faust revealed that he was behind Sara's mysterious illness, having caused it in order to coerce Nicodemus into working for him, because Faust had learned through certain pacts with demonic forces that only Nicodemus Price could make the device work.
[D.A.T.A. File Note 1471-5: Based on this detail from Price's personal history, it is possible that the seemingly inexplicable functional nature of the Iron Blaquesmith's steamtechnology in not related to his dimension of origin, but is the result of some inate ability of Nicodemus Price himself that gives him the ability to somehow make the technology perform as it does. If this theory is true, it may reveal some latent super ability that is not technological in origin itself. Recommend consultation with G.I.F.T. to explore the possible ramifications of this theory.]
The Demon's Price
Horrified and enraged that he had been tricked and used in such a fashion, and driven nearly mad by the realization that Faust was responsible for Sara's dreadful affliction, Nicodemus attacked Faust. The younger man discovered to his chagrin that Mortimer Faust was far stronger than he appeared to be-in fact, the demonic doctor possessed seemingly supernatural physical prowess. With his bare hands, Faust crippled and maimed Nicodemus, tearing off both of the young blacksmith's arms with his bare hands. Standing over his mangled, dying for, Faust mocked Nicodemus with the knowledge that his beloved Sara would die a slow and horrible death, and that with the device he had helped craft Faust would travel to the future and return with the means to reforge the world in his own image. The manical madman kept Nicodemus' arms, claiming they were a "souvenir" and that he knew an individual who could make use of the limbs of a skilled blacksmith.
[F.B.S.A. File Note 2614-4: Although the likelihood of discovering a useful connection is very slim, Faust's purported statement regarding "an individual who could make use of the limbs of a skilled blacksmith" carries with it a disturbing echo of Paragon City's infamous Dr. Vahzilok. Although the events described in this dossier transpired in a parallel version of the world, it is possible that there was, or is, in that world, an alternate version of Vahzilok, or some similar, fiendish being. This dossier should be given top level classification, as this information would no doubt attract the interest of Dr. Vahzilok if it were to become known to him. The situation could prove exceedingly dangerous if a connection were to exist or to develop between Mortimer Faust and Vahzilok.]
As Nicodemus felt his life ebbing away, Faust reached down and tore the heart right out of the young man's chest, leaving him to die. Darkness swept over Nicodemus, and his last vision was of Faust taking up the completed device and holding it over his head before vanishing in a swirling vortex of energy that engulfed both men.
The Iron Blaquesmith and the Age of Steam
Nicodemus did not die, awakening in shock to find himself sealed inside a strange metal "coffin". Fighting his way free of the steel coffin, he found himself changed. Much of his body, including his severed arms, had been replaced with parts made of crafted iron and powered by steam, including a new "heart" and "lungs" that now worked as a miniaturized steam pump that allowed him to use the "steamtech" replacements. Stunned and confused, Nicodemus stumbled out of the strange chamber in which he had awoken, and into a world that had been altered every bit as much as he himself had.
The skies above were filled with black, greasy smoke, and strange floating airships drifted on the winds. Strange horseless carriages powered by steam engines trundled along the streets of a strange city, the likes of which Nicodemus had never seen before. He would soon learn that while he "slept", encased in the strange metal chamber that had somehow sustained his life, nearly a hundred years had passed, and now it was the 19th century. More horrifying was the discovery that this "Age of Steam" had been brought about by a reputedly brilliant scientist who had ushered in a new era for the world, starting in London, England, the city in which Nicodemus had awakened. That same scientist now ruled much of the world with an iron fist, wielding terrible weapons of steam and metal that he used to ruthlessly crush all opposition. That scientist was none other than Mortimer Faust, the very man who had struck down Nicodemus and left him for dead - and had clearly then gone on to fulfill his mad scheme, altering the history of the world forever.
A search of the hidden laboratory revealed almost nothing, save for a sealed letter addressed to him, which revealed that a man calling himself Hiram Smythe was responsible for Nicodemus' survival. Smythe wrote that it was also he who had encased Nicodemus in what he called a "cryogenic chamber" in order to suspend his aging until a time when it was safe for him to rise again-a time when he would be able to face Mortimer Faust and put an end to the mad doctor's machinations. Smythe's letter revealed that it was he who had designed the time travel device, the plans for which had been then stolen by Faust. The fate of Smythe was not made clear from the letter, but Nicodemus could only surmise that the man had created another time device of his own, otherwise how could he have known when Faust would return so that he could arrange for Nicodemus to be awoken? Unfortunately, two things were clear: Hyram Smythe was nowhere to be found, and Nicodemus had awakened to late, for now Faust was firmly entrenched in a world of his own shaping, a world in which he was the most powerful man alive.
Nicodemus would battle Faust and his agents many times in the coming years, often causing great disruptions in the mad doctor's plans, but never able to get to the doctor himself. Nicodemus Price served as a soldier in the American army, fighting against the forces of Mortimer Faust in a struggle for America's Independence, and it was during that war that Price finally had his opportunity - a dangerous mission deep into the heart of London, to assassinate Mortimer Faust and end his reign of terror forever, before Faust could complete his latest war machine, a giant automaton that Faust referred to as a "clockwork juggernaut".
[D.A.T.A. File Note 1987-4: It is interesting and disturbing to note the mention of something called a "clockwork" in the Iron Blaquesmith's world of origin. Descriptions given by Nicodemus Price would seem to indicate that Faust's juggernaut was similar in design and shared many aspects to the Clockwork known as "Babbage". This is one of many instances where a parallel Earth has displayed certain identical points with our own world, despite considerable divergence in their respective histories. The Iron Blaquesmith recently encountered Babbage and confirmed that there was a disturbing similarity between it and Faust's automaton, but was quick to point out that his very presence in our timeline/world is proof that Faust's device is capable of travelling across time continuums, not simply backwards and forwards. It is possible that Mortimer Faust obtained the design based on Clockwork from our reality, which makes for the alarming possibility that Iron Blaquesmith's concern that the mad doctor may indeed be at large here.]
The Final (?) Confrontation
Iron Blaquesmith made his way into Faust's inner sanctum in the heart of London, England, and there the two men would have their most epic confrontation ever. Faust's superhuman strength and many minions were pitted against the full, steamtech augmented abilities of the Iron Blaquesmith, but for all his courage and determination, Nicodemus found himself once again overmatched by his archnemesis. Faust gained the upper hand once again, and severely injured the Iron Blaquesmith, but before he finished off his long-time foe, the demonic doctor paused to gloat over his ultimate victory. "I have destroyed the woman you loved, I have destroyed the world and remade it in my image, and now, old enemy, I shall at last destroy YOU!"
Knowing he had time and strength left for only one, final assault, The Iron Blaquesmith took up both of his pistols and dove forward, emptying every round of ammunition he had - not into Mortimer Faust, but into the time travel device. Having helped build the machine, Nicodemus knew where to fire, and he knew what would likely happen when he did. He was not disappointed, and the time device exploded in a titanic blast that encompassed Iron Blaquesmith, Mortimer Faust, and a significant portion of the manman's sanctum. The self-proclaimed ruler of the Era of Steam was overthrown at last, though at the price of the life of one of the world's most legendary heroes.
The Man of Future's Past
Though he was declared dead in his own world, the Iron Blaquesmith's destiny had apparently not yet been fulfilled. He once again found himself awakening from apparent death in a time and world that were not his own, only this time he found himself in the world of the 21st century, but not the 21st century of the world to which he was born. This world had never heard of Mortimer Faust, there had never been an "Era of Steam" the likes of which Iron Blaquesmith had lived through, but this new world in which he found himself had seen it's share of trials and tribulations. Nicodemus eventually made his way to Paragon City, where he encountered a number of allies, and many new adversaries. He had hoped to find a means of returning to his own world, but thus far has not been able to do so. Nicodemus is also reluctant to leave too quickly, fearing that the same rip in time and space that hurled him into this new world may have also done so to Mortimer Faust, and the demonic madman may be alive and at large even now.
Since awakening in this new world, the Iron Blaquesmith has joined an organization known as the Nocturne Division, a group with clandestine undertones that appears to have adopted a mandate of helping the people of Paragon City under its current structure. Rumours, however, have placed the Iron Blaquesmith in a number of occurances of a rather suspicious nature, including several run-ins with Longbow and their allies. Although it has thus far been impossible to confirm the Blaquesmith's involvement in any of these instances, there are those who have taken to watching him, concerned that his maverick attitude and "Old West" way of doing things may cause him to cross the line too far one day, bringing him into conflict with both his allies and the authorities of Paragon City.
