Name: Maximilian Armiger

Nickname: Max, Scourge

Age: 45

Theme Song: See Below

Class: Illustrian (*see background)

Position in Game: Contestant

Character Visual: Jeffrey Dean Morgan

Appearance/Distinguishing Features:
Max's appearance is unlike most in the Trials. Whereas most are young, beautiful and well mannered, Max is older, gray, and very worldly. He's a somewhat tall man, at six feet and one inches, and has an athletic but lean built. Carrying little body fat the man weighs a hundred and eighty one pounds. Max almost always has a beard, which is quite silvered, almost completely, though he does shave it now and then. However, in contrast the hair on his head is still a deep brown, almost black. His eyes are also brown, and expressive.

As to clothing, the man tends towards very functional attire. Durable cloths and leathers paired with heavy grippy boots tend to be his norm. Despite his station he rarely dresses "up", and he has never been photographed in such.

Personality:
Brash. Slightly misogynistic. Angry. Spiteful. Ready for violence. All of these describe Maximilian. However, there is more than this to the man. Though it is true that he survives and thrives on spite, he is not a stupid man. However, he is one to always take things to the next level.

You push, He hits. You hit, He breaks. You break, He kills. Everyone.

This is the man that Max presents to the world. However, buried deep within the tragic and traumatized man is a person who wishes this world was not what it is. A man that has been manufactured and shaped by his environment and the life he has had to lead. And that, in his heart of hearts, did not care one bit for that shaping.

Still, the world is what it is, and though he will try to change it in his own way, he realizes he must live in it. He's a survivor, and a killer.

Because he has to be.

Occupation: Bounty Hunter/Legacy

Special Talents: Max is well educated, and probably could have made something of himself in a variety of fields. However, instead he chose a career path that directly ties into the training and preparation that his family is known for.

He hunts people.

As such, Max is an excellent observer and gatherer of information. An extremely fit and talented free-runner and, well, violent. He excels in killing, be it by blade, firearm, or hand-to-hand. These are skills that Max prides himself on, and in many ways revels in using. His bodily conditioning gives him a very large 'gas tank', and he can operate for extended periods of time without rest.

History:
To understand Max's history, one first must understand the history of the Armiger family. Stretching back centuries, the Armiger family has been one that serves. Originally gaining the names as "arm-bearers", they were a family that literally bore weapons for knights of old as squires, though they always held their own personal armaments to fight with. This held true for many many years of course, until those times were ended. However, the name lived on proudly, if rare.

Once the world began to change, really change, the Armiger name was put to good use once more. Though small in numbers, and thus now among the lowlier populations, they sought to carve their fortunes by relying on the ways of old. However, now, instead of attending to knights they could fend for themselves and raise themselves up. As such, once the Trials started they became what is known as a Legacy Family. Purposefully volunteering whenever able, and training relentlessly between Trials. In this they found a rival in the Family Luca.

Still, the Armiger Family has sent a representative to the Trials at every opportunity. Because of this, they have managed to raise themselves from Ignoble to Prominent and then Illustrian. This rise over the years, for it has not been easy, has allowed them to hone their training to a much higher degree. Now they have access to the medicine and training technology that Illustrians have access to, yet remember their Ignoble roots and forego what they can to temper refinement with brutality.

Because of this dichotomy of thought, being in the Family Armiger is actually quite difficult and not every manages to walk that line. The life of the Illustrian is quite hard to simply shun after all. So there have been many times where one of the Family has decided to put aside the harsh training and live more comfortably. However, upon doing so, they are usually taken in by another Family and forced to relinquish the Armiger name. Only warriors can keep that name.

Because of the Family name and the training it entails, many Armiger's often take up dangerous occupations. Max himself is a good example. And though there is a punishment for fleeing Valport, when one is hired to hunt down wanted criminals, certain exceptions are made.

This is how it goes with training as well, as at a certain point each member of the Armiger Family is tasked with living in the Outlands for a years time. Yet during this time they are to live on their own, seeking no help from those outside the walls. Solitude and harsh living are to remind them not to rely on others, and of the humble beginnings of the Family. Unfortunately, this does not always work out, and this is usually the point where those who wish to remain purely Illustrian let their desires be known. It is also very dangerous and not all manage to live through the ordeal.


For Max, being born into the Family is as described above, and from an early age he has trained to be the best he can be. Illustrian lifestyle gave access to the best doctors to mark progress and assist in remarkable growth through diet, supplements and other boons. However as he grew up, he began to realize the true machinations of the Family.

Excelling in many areas, Max became well known and earned a coveted spot as a Bounty Hunter, taking specialized jobs that the Vanguard cannot for a variety of reasons, usually excuses. This allowed him to, at times, travel outside of Valport and into the Outlands. These treks were not often, but enough.

In the prime of his young adulthood Maximilian was finally called to the Trials. To say that they were arduous might be an understatement, and they tested him in ways that physically he was prepared for, but emotionally and mentally he struggled with. Luckily he had some good allies and made it through. Not unscathed, but he made it through. His times in the Trials are not something he talks about. Whether this is a matter or pride, or trauma, or something else entirely is unknown.

After a time Max became a proud uncle (the first time of many). His brother Roman had a son named Kalum. Though Max never found a wife, he was godfather to his nephew and was appointed to oversee his training. Kal followed in his footsteps and the two became close. Roman was killed in the Trials while Kal was doing his solitude in the Outlands. However tragedy struck twice when Kal was slain by a roving gang of outlaws and raiders. Kal's mother, who had now lost both a husband and a son, and had married into the Family, left and went back to her own to perhaps start over. This left Max with his grief, and after seeing to his brother, he traveled to the Outlands to seek out revenge for his nephew.

Over the next nine months Max tracked down every member of that group and killed them. Every. One. Men, women and children alike. It was during this time that he earned the nickname of "Scourge". It was one he embraced, and was whispered about among the slavers and criminals in the Outlands, not knowing that the Bounty Hunter Max and Scourge were the same person.

This all weighs heavily on a man who is reserved with his emotions. Though he has other nieces and nephews upon which to dote, Kal was the first and that weighs a ton. Did he not train him well enough? Over and over in his mind he tries to think of where he failed the boy.


Family:
Demetrius and Ophelia Armiger - Parents
Roman Armiger - Brother (deceased)
-Kal Armiger - Nephew (deceased)
Dottie Armiger (Porter) - Sister
-Whit Armiger - Nephew
-Finn Armiger - Nephew
Percy Armiger - Brother
-Lillian Armiger - Niece
-Bastien Armiger - Nephew
Lance Armiger - Brother
-Izzy and Jake Armiger (twins) - Newphews


Likes and Dislikes:
L: Anger, Revenge, Music, Food, Women, Guns
D: Bullies, Liars... (see first song in playlist [everyone!!]), Wet Clothes, Apathy

Worst Fears:
1. Dying and leaving behind a life that meant absolutely nothing. To this end, dying without a wife and child rates high on that scale.

2. Utter helplessness. He's experienced this a bit with both his brother in the Trials and his nephew, but even these pale in comparison to what his mind can conjure.

Additional Information:
As a veteran and survivior of the Trials, Max knows how they can mess with you. Though his personal troubles in that last intervening years have been difficult, he hopes that the mental and emotional fortitude he has developed add to his arsenal of skills.

---

The whole situation was out of the ordinary. Maximilian was too old, right? He'd already survived one Trial. What made him think he could survive two? It was unprecedented. Ludicrous. Inconceivable! At least that was what that one guy in that one old movie said.

The commentators talked about him. He could see it. He knew it. Talk about how he managed to even have his name in the pool. What did it mean? He ignored the cameras and sliced the apple with his knife, eating thin slices slowly as he simply sat and waited. His beard was longer than normal, and he was wearing a pair of dark-rimmed glasses. He only needed them to read very fine print. His eyesight was perfect really... but one couldn't put it past the "old man" to use them as a ploy.

It was a huge affair of course, and the reading of names, which could be done in a few scant minutes, they dragged into hours. Calling names, collecting people, on-camera interviews, speculations. Not to mention the side hustles outside of the hullabaloo. Betting and such. Just more proof the entire system was rotten to the core.

So, when his name was called, Max simply sighed, wiped his knife blade on his jeans and folded it before putting it in his pocket. The cameras were already there and of course he was approached by an interviewer.

"Mr. Armiger! Your family is very well known in these Trials. In fact in the last Trials your brother was ki..."

A withering look from Max sent the man into silence, that throat going suddenly dry.

In a much smaller voice the man asked, "Is there anything you'd like the people to know, as a previous survivor?" The man had backed up half a step, perhaps not even aware, wanting distance between himself and the man still seated so nonchalantly in the chair.

Max took his time, pushing his glasses up onto his forehead before looking at the camera with a sardonic smile. With the smallest but loudest of gestures he let the world know just what he thought.

Having expected such a thing from the man, the broadcast managed to pixelate the worst of it, but it was clear what had transpired and the camera quickly panned back to the commentator, who was a bit shaken.

"And, and there you have it folks! A man of few words, who we know so well! Maximilian Armiger!"