Name: Abraham Ashwood

Race:  Splice (Gamma Type)

Animal Type: Bull

Age: 18

Gender: Male

Sexuality: Unknown

Eye color: Brown

Hair Color: Black

Physical Description: As one would expect from one spliced from a large and powerful animal, Abraham is a towering, powerfully built young man. He stands at 7'1" and his body is one that speaks of unyielding strength, his shoulders and chest broad and his entire form etched with thick, solid muscle. His hide is thick and covered in short coarse black hair as one would find on a regular bull, the hair glossy and somewhat rough to the touch in its natural state. That black hair grows a bit shaggy and mane like at his head and neck, falling down  along the back of his neck and usually falling forward over his eyes (which has him constantly brushing his bangs aside or tossing his head to get the hair out of his view).

Being a Gamma Splice, he is more animal in appearance than human. He is bipedal and, despite the comparison to a Minotaur that some might find easy to make, has human like limbs including feet instead of hooves, but is more bull than man after that. His head looks much like a bull's save with perhaps a more human like mouth and less of a protrusion in his mouth and somewhat flat nose and it sits atop a thick and powerful neck and shoulders. He possesses horns that grow out from the side of his head, each thick ivory protrusion measuring nine inches from his temple to the pointed tip (which makes it a chore to navigate through narrow hallways and doorways). Large ears flop on either side of his head where human ears would be and often flap and twitch on their own in almost idle fashion. As does the long slender tail that grows out from the base of his back and ends in a tuft of black fur. While he does not have hooves, his finger and toe nails are thick and black like hooves would be.

He dresses much like the country boy he was "raised" as, sticking with jeans and work boots along with t-shirts worn under thick cotton work shirts. His is a simple style, meant more for functionality than fashion and it suits him just fine.

Personality: Abraham is about as bright and cheerful as they come, always with a wide smile on his face for anybody he encounters. He is well-mannered and friendly, always willing to lend a helping hand to somebody in need if he can. He is an honest and upright young man, seeming every bit the good-natured country boy he is. This, however, makes him somewhat naive as he is trusting to an almost dangerous degree, choosing to believe and have faith in people and willing to forgive quite a lot before he even starts to suspect a person might not have good intentions after all.

Despite his large and imposing appearance, Abraham is as gentle as they come. He abhors violence and wouldn't hurt a fly (though he sometimes can't stop his tail from slapping at them if they buzz around him). The story of Ferdinand the Bull comes to mind when looking at Abraham, the young splice rather existing in peace with others than find a reason to fight or hurt others. He is a gentle giant, to be sure.

Having been raised by a farmer and worked on a farm for much of his life, Abe also appreciates the value of good, honest labor. His build makes him excel at that, obviously, but he also finds deep satisfaction and fulfillment in working with his hands to build or fix things. Just as he'd rather avoid violence and breaking things, he embraces the idea of creating and repairing that which has been broken with everything he has. He believes it is more noble a pursuit to create than to destroy...though he wouldn't be able to say that he believes that in nearly as eloquent a fashion


Bio/History: In a world where one could potentially genetically engineer the perfect crop or livestock, there is little need for the old style of farms and ranches. The days of family owned farms that had been worked by one's father, their father's father, their father's father's father and so on and so forth are all but lost with larger corporately owned farms and ranches with genetically perfected crops able to be harvested readily by automated (or spliced) workers. But, as always is the case, there are exceptions to every rule.

The exception in this case was Nathaniel Ashwood, a man who had been a farmer his whole life, just as his father had been, his grandfather had been and so on and so forth. His land wasn't great in size, but it was still fertile and he cared for it greatly. His crops and livestock mostly went to private consumers, mostly hipsters and health freaks who embraced the idea of "naturally grown" food instead of those crafted by science. Still, what he didn't sell, he kept to feed his family and that was good enough for him.

But it wasn't, it seemed, good enough for his sons, Caleb (who preferred to be called Cal), Joseph, Peter and Adam. Though they helped on the farm when they were younger, they all grew up and none wanted to carry on the family business. The world was moving on, they said, and their father should move on with it. But their father, already sixty and a widower by the time Adam, the youngest, left home, was set in his ways. He wasn't going to give up the farm his family had sunk their life into. Not now that it was apparently all he had left.

So he tried to keep it running alone, but even he knew he couldn't do everything on his own. Which led to Abraham being purchased. While Nathaniel had been resistant to being one of those types who got splice help, he knew that one splice could do the work of many humans if put to it. And he needed that amount of help, he knew, and so he had begrudgingly found the bull splice, newly created and artificially aged to eight years old. Even at eight, Abraham was already as tall as a human twice that age and Nathaniel, after some thought, took the young splice as his.

He gave him the name Abraham and put him to work. Abraham, young and impressionable, took to the work easily and happily. Happily because, despite his sometimes gruff exterior, Nathaniel was not an unkind man. He was a good and honest worker and had also been a caring father to the sons who had all but abandoned him. And, as time passed and Abraham grew under Nathaniel's care, the young splice became more like a surrogate son than unpaid help to the old farmer. As such, Abe was treated well and, perhaps, even loved by the human who watched over him and it was a happy life for the pair as they cared for the farm that had belonged to the Ashwood family for generations.

But nothing lasts forever and, six months ago, Nathaniel, now seventy, had a heart attack while working the fields and died in Abraham's arms. The young splice had been inconsolable, even as events started to transpire around him at seemingly breakneck speed. A funeral, a burial and Nathaniel's true sons coming to try and get their piece of what Nathaniel had left. They had no intention of keeping the farm going, after all, and Abraham, being a splice, had no legal claim to it even if it had been Nathaniel's wish for him to keep the family farm alive.

So the farm was sold as, in his will, he left the land and the farm to his human sons. Abe might have found himself in much the same situation, sold to some underground fighting ring with the money from the transaction lining the younger Ashwoods' pockets, but Nathaniel had left instructions about that in his will too. It seemed he had perhaps known this day would come and had planned for it. Abraham never knew when or how his "pa" (as he called Nathaniel) had made the arrangements, but the old farmer had apparently gotten in touch with people from Sanctuary Cove and made it clear that, in the event of his death, Abraham was to be sent there so he could live a peaceful and happy life among his own kind and humans alike.

In addition to this, Nathaniel had left Abraham one last thing: his name. Ashwood. Abraham Ashwood was how he had been called in the will and, though it was more symbolic than legal, it was something that Abe took to heart and that touched him more deeply than any other inheritance could. And so it was with that modest yet invaluable inheritance that Abraham found himself en route to Sanctuary Cove where he could, hopefully, make a new happy life for himself, as the man who he could only think of as father wished.

If a Splice, how does this character react to other Splices?: Having no reason to distrust other splices, Abe is as friendly and open as could be with them. He's all smiles and neighborly gestures and conversation unless they prove themselves unworthy of such friendliness. Which few ever do to a forgiving and gentle soul like Abe.

If a Splice, how does this character react to humans?: Pretty much the same way he reacts to splices, really. To him, people are people and, unless they do something to hurt him, he doesn't see any reason to treat them in any fashion but a kind and friendly one.

Anything else we should know about your character?: Abe is a very skilled handyman, having been the one to repair anything broken down on the farm. Whether it was a tractor engine that needed fixing, a fence that needed mending or a henhouse that needed building, he was the one to do it. As such, he has a knack for fixing and building things, though there are obviously some things beyond his understanding as he has lived on a farm all his life. Still, he is a quick study in that respect and always willing to learn!

Also, strangely enough, Abraham is a rather talented singer. Back on the farm, when the work was done, his pa would bring out his old guitar and strum out a few tunes while Abe would accompany with his rich, strong bass voice (as he found himself unable to play the guitar himself without breaking the strings with his much larger hands and harder nails). As of now, he really only knows old country songs and standards as Nathaniel wasn't much for anything else, but, as with most everything else, Abe is enthusiastic about learning more.