Apollo

Basic Information

Name: Apollo
AKA: The Spectre
Age: 37
Type: Dragon-Blooded Exalt
Player: NPC
Aspect: Air
Concept: Member of the Hallowed Order of the Grass Spiders
Motivation: Become the greatest thief that no one has ever heard of.
Political Affiliation: The Hallowed Order of the Grass Spiders
Anima: (Almost never seen, most Grass Spider's haven't seen his totemic anima.) Apollo's essence manifests itself in gray and white hues that radiate from his body at lower levels trailing into a flowing cape and hood when it becomes a full aura. When his anima turns totemic the white and gray essence around his body scales back and begins to form a ghost army surrounding himself as well as the general area he is occupying. The ghost army becomes increasingly less transparent until it appears he really is surrounded by a maddening horde of the undead.
Likes: Invisibility, Theft, Heists, Eavesdropping, Smoking, Philosophy.
Dislikes: Physical Combat, Sunlight, Large Animals, Being in the Spotlight.

Background

Apollo is the Grass Spider's foremost expert in stealth and thievery, most notably in high end heists and extreme spy missions. Apollo works mostly on missions that involve stealth and thievery, preferring to avoid missions involving direct combat. Considering the number of missions younger members of the organization are typically involved in, Apollo proudly boasts the lowest kill percentage of any member of the organization.

Apollo's love of thievery stems from his days as a child, Apollo was born on the streets of The Imperial Capital as an unclaimed orphan and was forced to fend for himself. In his battle to survive in the forgotten underbelly of Creation's capital Apollo became a low level pick pocket, thriving off the heavy change purses of the Princes of Creation. However, it was only a matter of time before he stole from the wrong person, even despite is considerable skill a particularly astute Dragon-Blood caught him. Luckily for Apollo he was not given a terribly harsh punishment and instead of losing his hand, or even his life, he was sent off the Blessed Isle to a prison in the coast of the south.

Apollo's life in prison is thought to have originated his proficiency in stealth as well as his dislike of both sunlight and physical violence. But for all the negatives of being a young child in the harsh life of prison it taught him many life lessons that would contribute to his skill as a member of The Grass Spiders. Apollo likely would have spent his entire life buried away, forgotten about in that prison if one event hadn't changed his life entirely. As he was coming into his own in the prison during a prison riot, that he claims he had nothing to do with, he suddenly exalted while trying to discretely escape. The exaltation was a curse and a blessing, the show of exaltation ruined his attempts to escape, but Dragon-Bloods do not stay imprisoned for long.

Shortly after being confined during the prison riot Apollo was contacted by The All Seeing Eye while being kept in a special part of the prison that could contain his considerable power. The All Seeing Eye worked out a deal with Apollo that would give him his freedom in exchange for a short period of service where Apollo would work as an undercover in the prison for them. The Eye was particularly interested in the deals of a gang lord who was already held within the prison, however he seemed to still be working as the boss of his gang despite their best efforts to stop communication. Of course they could have had him killed, but that sort of reaction tends to bring an equally violent reaction from the leaderless gang. Apollo would help put a stop to the gang lord's operation in exchange for freedom. The process took Apollo almost a year to complete, he had very little understanding of his newfound powers and was limited in the ability to use them to his advantage. Infiltrating the gang proved difficult, instead Apollo did what he did best and spied on the leader and his followers from a hidden distance. The method required great patience, however it paid off in the end and Apollo was able to deliver on his end of the bargain.

Convinced that the prison could not hold the skilled dragon-blooded spy and unsure if they wanted to dispose of such a potentially useful contact The Eye decided to honor their end of the contract and released Apollo with a standing offer to work for them in the future. Apollo then found himself in the bustling southern metropolis of Chiaroscuro with no money or contacts, but a newfound wealth of ability to acquire whatever resources he desired. Suddenly he was one of the Prince's that he had spent most of his life resenting and stealing from, he fell back into his old habits of pick pocketing and minor theft, but he found the thrill and excitement lacking and the wealth it provided was hardly worthwhile. Though he was without direction, a man of such skill does not easily go unnoticed in city such as Chiaroscuro, soon enough The Guild took notice and instead of attempting to stop him, they recruited him.

Working for The Guild proved to be exactly what Apollo enjoyed, he was able to stay completely out of politics and the forefront of what was going on and instead simply enjoy the brilliance of his own work. The Guild had long been victims of countless thefts and heists, they were attempting to strike back by hiring the very thieves that had once stolen from them. Apollo was almost surely the most talented of these counter-thieves and specialized not only in preventing theft from occurring but at stealing back the major targets of heists. It was only a matter of time before his counter-thievery came into contact with The Grass Spiders.

More to come soon....