Character History - Ero The Undying

Story by Kaj the Liar on SoFurry

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#1 of Histories

Character history for my immortal moggie, Ero the Undying.


There is not much that can be said with any degree of accuracy about Ero's history and the cat himself is rarely forthcoming in providing any details that aren't at least 7 parts out of 10 gross exaggeration and 2 parts outright lie.

That his lineage is of an extremely varied nature is evident in his mottled fur - assuming that is its true colouring - but exact details of species can only be narrowed down so far as "mostly feline". Ero himself will claim, usually at great length, that there is demon somewhere in his bloodline but whilst this would certainly go some way to explaining his rather chaotic nature there is only Ero's word on the matter.

One could always attempt to track down his relatives but given that Ero is allegedly well over a century in age, has no offspring that he is aware of - or at least none that can be proven to be his - and possesses a reputation that would most likely make any surviving relatives disavow all knowledge of him, this would be somewhat unlikely to bear any fruit.

If one were to trust Ero - something that no sentient creature should ever do - then the cat has travelled to just about every part of the Warmlands, or at least all the parts that have taverns, inns, or alehouses, and a moderately impressive number of other realms and planes too.

He fought in the mighty battle at Ksmri'il Pass (on both sides), was present in many of the major conflicts of the lengthy Pelesian War (and sometimes joined the battlefield ~before~ the fighting was over but usually only by accident) and also spent some considerable time lifting the morale (and jewellery, silverware and coin) of the womenfolk of Taraya whilst all their husbands, fathers and brothers were away at the five-year long siege of Arenthe.

References are made, albeit briefly, to a fur matching Ero's description and modus operandi in a few historical texts and there are even old payroll ledgers for a variety of mercenary companies that feature one of his pseudonyms. Some even feature several of them; showing that even in a time of war Ero was on the make but all combining to support his claims of longevity and military activity.

By all accounts, not least his own, Ero has a very long colourful military record but it pales in comparison to the length and colour of his criminal record. When he has not been campaigning in wars - or at least looting the dead - Ero is most commonly found in a tavern of some description, engaging in drinking bets or arm-wrestling competitions that - due to his physical make-up - he will always win if he wants to, cheating at a wide variety of card games, womanising with a great deal of gusto and enthusiasm, starting fights - intentionally or otherwise - or shacked up in bed with the wife - or daughter, or both - of someone important like the Mayor of the town or the Chief of Police. As a result, Ero's image can be found pasted to many walls and trees in a wide number of areas, usually beneath the word "WANTED" and with a cash reward featured. He also has a tendency towards leaving towns under the cover of darkness and at high-speed, a process that is often expedited by a baying mob of the pitchfork-and-torch variety or the local militia.

When Ero feels the need to actually work, it is generally as a blade-for-hire, most often as a thief or cut-throat but he is still open to the mercenary career-track and has even been known to take legitimate, legal jobs protecting caravans and the like but only when there is no work of a more nefarious nature to be found. Within that quasi-legal employment market Ero has a reputation for being reliable, effective and very reasonably priced - with no fixed abode, no dependents and having had several lifetimes to amass a sizeable personal fortune of ill-gotten gains, Ero has no real need for fresh income and has been known to take jobs on purely for the fun of it and with only a minimal payment necessary.

While it would probably be inaccurate to describe Ero as "evil" it would certainly be fair to say that he is amoral. And depraved, casually sadistic, despicable, utterly without any morally redeeming traits, capricious, fickle and going straight to hell when he dies if there's any justice in the world. Although some might say that if Ero went to hell it would only be because the Devil was retiring and they needed a replacement. Regardless of debates as to whether the cat is malignant or merely self-interested to a point of sociopathy, there are few in the Warmlands who can claim to have corrupted so many innocents or spread so much death, carnage, mayhem and destruction - save perhaps for certain high-ranking politicians and members of clergy.

Despite - or perhaps because - of all this, Ero is almost irrepressibly jolly and cheerful. After all, it's hard to feel down when you're effectively immortal and utterly without any of the usual moral constraints that stop people from doing just whatever they feel like.

He can also be something of a ladies' man, having had more than enough time to become accomplished in the art of being smooth, suave, sophisticated and erudite - or at least the art of appearing so.

It should be noted that despite his prodigious experience on battlefields, in skirmishes, tavern-brawls and numerous run-ins with town militia, Ero is not a fighter of unusual prowess or skill. He freely admits to having had little to no actual training and his general style of fighting revolves more around his preternatural speed, physical strength, vast wealth of knowledge in the art of fighting dirty and his nigh imperviousness to mortal damage. Many a foe has been surprised when, after thoroughly proving to be a greater swordsman by disarming and then running the cat through, the supposedly defeated - and assumably soon-to-be-dead - Ero has then taken the blade that has skewered him, drawn it from his body and used it to swiftly dispatch his utterly bemused and usually horrified adversary. Whilst Ero is - hopefully - not completely impossible to kill, it is safe to say that nobody has thus-far succeeded and there have certainly been some very concerted and determined efforts.

In short, Ero is exactly the sort of person that you would want to be in the company of, so long as you have few or no virtues or morals, a good turn of speed even when drunk - or don't mind spending your nights enjoying the hospitality of the local militia or town guard - are wealthy enough to pay for all the drinks but not so wealthy as to be worth robbing - a very fine line with Ero - and your idea of a good night involves sex, fighting and booze but not necessarily in that order.