Mattias Ackermann

Name (& pronunciation): Mattias Ackermann (Matt i as Ack er man)
Date of Birth (& age): 6/6/1785 (30ish)
Place of Birth: A space station just outside Imperium space.
Gender: Male
Species/Racial Origin: Kevali/Satare' Hybrid:

The Kevali: A mostly subterranean, completely carnivorous, alien race from a stark and unforgiving desert world.

The Satare' – A warlike and intensely xenophobic race who bear a striking resemblance to Nordic Humans.

Social Class/Community Status: Outcast. General scum.
Language: Satare (the language of his mother's people), Galactic Common, an adapted form of sign used pretty much exclusively by he and his brother and a very small amount of Kevali/Kalvair (the language of his father's people)
Family/Friends/Pets/Etc: Foster Brother Kaylr, twin brother (Web), older sister (Jessana), younger foster brother (Stellan). Friends: Declared Ellie and Shane his BFFS and drinking buddies. Honestly at this point considers the ship mostly family anyway. Lover: Thalia.
Height: 6'4”
Build/weight: Athletic/ ~200lb
Hair:Black, messy... always so messy.
Eyes: Green.
Limb Dexterity: Right

Detailed Physical Description:

Tall and athletic, Matt’s built like a gymnast.

His eyes are a vivid green and slope heavily in his skull, giving him an almost feline appearance. He's supposed to wear corrective lenses, he relies on contact lenses instead. He has a pair of glasses, he just never uses them and has mostly forgotten they exist.

His jet black hair is hacked haphazardly short, some chunks longer than others, particularly around his face. His hair sticks out in random directions and is forever looking messy and unkempt. He makes no effort to style it beyond simply brushing it out of his eyes. It honestly looks like he took to it himself with a pair of blunt gardening shears.

Matt’s complexion is a rich olive brown tone, typical of his mother's race.

Matt's features are sharp and angular with high cheek bones and a somewhat hooked nose. His elongated ears each taper into two distinct points, the first and shorter of the two being some sort of bone-like spike. His upper jaw juts forward noticeably to accommodate a vicious set of teeth.
While he lacks the horns of his father's people, there are residual bumps at his hairline, barely visible unless you're looking for them.
Sharp bony spikes protrude from his elbows and knees, an elongation of the tibia which arches over the knee joint and of the humerus which results in a small spine just above the elbow. This is normal for Kevali and his clothing is cut to accommodate.

Traditionally each Kevali is apprenticed and trained in a particular profession or caste, tattooed with their "Symbols of station" upon the completion of their lessons and subsequent transition into adulthood.
Matt grew up away from the Kevali home-world. As a result, he was never apprenticed, and thus never received the traditional facial tattoos of his father's people.
His face remains unmarked, which by Kevali culture, means Matt is never going to be considered a true adult.
Matt’s never cared much, he argues he’d have had no patience for stuffy apprentice work anyway.

As a Kevali outcast, Matt has a runic symbol branded on the back of his right hand.

In Satare' culture, tattooing is also a very common practice. Unlike the Kevali however, who almost exclusively use facial tattoos, the Satare typically tattoo the chest, shoulders and arms (The wrist in the case of traitors).
Typically, upon reaching the age of 14, each Satare' citizen, regardless of gender, is conscripted into the military for 3 years. Their service history is marked by tattooing, each new addition symbolizing a new rank.

When their time came, Matt and his twin brother both refused to join the army. The idea of fighting didn't sit well with either of them, half alien himself, they couldn't stand the idea of being actively responsible for the death of others simply because they weren't Satare'.
As a conscientious objector Matt was labeled a traitor and coward, marked with a rune meaning "Stranger" or "Outcast" and sent to work in a munitions factory among petty criminals.
He doesn’t really make much of the tattoo, he usually hides it under long sleeves. It’s not that he’s ashamed, he’d just sooner not answer tedious questions about what it means. His time in the munitions factory wasn’t a fun period of his life, it’s something he’d rather not relive. Matt’s never been one to dwell on the past, he has better things to do.

In a way, it's quite an achievement to be disowned by BOTH your parent's people.

Typical Clothing/Equipment:Matt opts for comfortable clothing that’s easy to move in. He wears cargo pants, loose fitting shorts and such along with brightly coloured shirts and long sleeved tees underneath.

Personality/Attitude:Matt seems unable to take anything completely seriously, least that’s the image he’s happy to project. Truthfully, he’s a deeply caring person and fiercely protective of those he loves. Much like the water elemental within him, Matt’s calm surface hides a dangerous undercurrent. Push him too far and he WILL snap. He can be frighteningly cold and vicious, and if he feels remorse for anything he does, he certainly doesn’t act it.

On the whole though, Matt comes across as a rather immature man-child who lives for the moment and never thinks of the consequences. He drinks far too much and usually ends up in some kind of trouble as a result.
He doesn't seem to feel much in the way of shame for his actions, he'll quite happily laugh at his own expense.

Matt is outwardly irresponsible, hopelessly optimistic and infectiously enthusiastic. He can be rather exhausting company.

Matt’s an extrovert, loud and friendly he’s usually eager to engage in conversation and never seems to sit still. He has far too much energy, and very little control over his impulses. He seems to have serious trouble saying "no" to things.

He's terrible at keeping his own secrets, but is very good at keeping secrets for others. He argues there's no real point being secretive when you have a brother who can read your mind and another who can read your feelings and see the future. This does however mean he can be a little bit too open, he doesn't seem to have a filter on what is and isn't appropriate to talk about.

Matt’s greatest obvious flaw is his unrestrained kleptomania. He can’t help himself, small items that aren’t nailed down he will just pick up and pocket without even realising he’s doing it. On a more conscious level, he revels in a good challenge, he’s the sort of person who would try to steal a large photocopier from the 47th floor of an office block purely for the thrill of it.

He loves kids, he's a big kid himself after all. He'll do just about anything to keep them safe from harm.

On a deeper level, Matt has an overactive sense of responsibility for others. He doesn't really care about himself so much but he will ALWAYS be there for anyone who needs him. His irresponsible act is just that, an act, a way to cut loose and relax a little even if it's just for a while.
At the end of the day he's always a shoulder to cry on, someone to rant at, a friend to just hug you and tell you it'll all be okay. He's a natural caregiver, he honestly likes feeling needed and helping people through rough times.
Matt's always been the guy holding his messed up family together. He really struggles to let go of that responsibility and can't help but feel a little abandoned when people don't need him anymore. He NEEDS to feel needed, and soothing broken people is about all he really knows how to do. He's had an awful lot of experience.

Skills/Talents:

He loves the cold, he absolutely HATES the heat. His water elemental craves contact with water and ice, so he's extremely happy in the snow and miserable in hot dry climates. He still feels the cold and has to wrap up warm, but he doesn't seem to feel it quite as acutely as say, a human might.

Elemental affinity – Water – A natural ability among the sister races (Kevali and the Kalvair), their very souls entwined with a barely sentient elemental spirit. Like the western zodiac or the eastern blood types, certain personality types are associated with each element. Water elementals are traditionally considered to be changeable and temperamental.
This elemental also grants Matt a degree of control over water. He can breathe underwater, can call water from the earth and can manipulate ice. He can freeze water, or melt it with a touch. Of course it all takes a great deal of concentration, something Matt isn’t exactly big on. He’s never had much discipline with his elemental abilities so has never quite learned exactly what his limitations are.


Slowed metabolism – Matt doesn’t get hungry too often, but he has a bit of an appetite for terrible processed food. Awful meat is just SO tasty.

Space Shaping - A form of innate teleportation. He steps backward into nothingness, least that's how it appears. The Sister Races have the uncanny ability to "fold space" around themselves. Matt can only shape space between places he has physically been, closing his eyes, focusing on the place in question and taking a single step. It's an exhausting talent, but useful in a pinch. How far he can really go well, he's never really thought to find out.

Bottomless pockets – Matt has found a way to extend his space shaping ability to allow him to effectively “store” items in the between place. This means he can pull items from apparent thin air, but he doesn’t have much control over what he grabs. He can’t see what’s in this pocket dimension, he just has to rely on touch to grope around and grab something and pull it into the here and now. It's mostly full of pens, paperclips and receipts.

Freerunning – Matt’s lived a great deal of his life on the run, he’s become very good at scaling walls and leaping large gaps. He actually rather enjoys the freedom of it all, even when not pursued by the authorities.

Piano - Matt can play the piano, actually rather well. He can also sing... and dance.

Magic tricks/juggling etc - Matt's very very good with his hands, his talent for slight of hand and obfuscation means he's actually very good at small magic tricks. He also can juggle.

Weaknesses:

Dulled senses – Particularly his sense of taste. Kevali have a fairly similar hearing range to humans but limited senses of taste and smell. Matt inherited this along with his mother's terrible eyesight. He's longsighted.

Photosensitive – Matt has spent the majority of his life above ground and in sunlight, but he does find bright sunshine pretty painful on his eyes.

Limited colour perception - While Matt isn't completely colour-blind his colour perception is muted enough to be problematic.  

Terrible eyesight - While Matt does wear contact lenses, his eyesight still isn't brilliant. Without his lenses he's practically blind up close. He's longsighted, meaning he can see things in the distance fine but anything close up is rather blurry and difficult to see. Finding an optometrist while traveling the galaxy isn't always easy though, so Matt's terrible at keeping his prescription up to date. As a result, his very close vision isn't great and he does most things by reflex or muscle memory rather than because he can see what he's doing.

Lactose/gluten intolerant - Like most of his father's race, Matt has trouble digesting anything that isn't meat and like most hybrids, he's prone to stomach problems.

Kleptomania – Matt’s an unrepentant kleptomaniac.

Hand/eye coordination - Matt can juggle, he can dance, but he CANNOT throw. He's just absolutely rubbish at anything that involves aiming. He can't shoot straight, he can't throw, he's not even very good at games like Snooker/Pool. This may be related to how terrible his eyesight it.

Fears: Losing the people he loves. Confinement.

Hobbies/Interests: Drinking games. Gambling (He's TERRIBLE at gambling, as in, he has zero skill or luck but tries anyway), playing piano (yeah... what?)

Philosophy of Life: Live for the here and now, don't dwell on the past and don't concern yourself with the future.

Attitude Toward Death: His own mortality, well, it's awfully inconvenient. Those he cares about? He doesn't like to think about it, they're not ALLOWED to die, they're supposed to live forever damnit.

Religion/Beliefs: Matt has a weird relationship with religion. On one hand, he's well aware the Kevali gods exist, though he's not convinced they're actually GODS. They're powerful though, very very powerful and it's probably best not to annoy them.
He's really not overly fond of Fate though, Fate is a jerk. Fate has caused unbelievable pain to his family and having watched his brother endure the agony of Fate's “gift” of prophesy, he's fairly certain these gods are all sociopaths who get off on mortal pain or something.
He'd rather not worship entities who don't actually care about him and want to use him just for their own sick entertainment. No thanks, they can sod right off. Yeah he'll acknowledge they exist, but he's not going to grovel or pray to them, what's the point?

Fetishes/Strange Behaviors: Matt constantly fidgets, never seems to quite sit still and has astounding slight of hand abilities. He'll swipe your wallet without even realizing he's done it. Suffice to say, it gets him in a lot of trouble a lot of the time.

Most Instructive/Painful/Memorable Experience: Oh there's a lot. His parents died when he was only young, he and his siblings were raised by a somewhat eccentric hermit woman who lived in a gated compound in the middle of the woods with her two children. Three more strange little hybrids fitted right into that messed up family. She died when Matt was around 13, she died trying to save her older son who then spent the next month or two fluctuating between screaming violent rage and incoherent fever dream. They had to lock him in the basement every night to stop him strangling them all or gouging their eyes out or something.
Matt's older sister detached from all this and threw herself into “collecting firewood/hunting” anything to be out of the house while the youngest brother who'd always been a bit weird had to be discouraged from simply shooting his brother in the head to shut him up. Meanwhile Matt's twin was having regular painful fits, and who was left to mop the brows of his sick brothers? To clean up the blood and the vomit and make sure neither of them died?
Responsibility sucks, and this is probably why Matt shuns it so fiercely as an adult.

More recently, was forced to watch his lover tortured and murdered repeatedly.

Sexual Preference/Experience/Values: Bi. Matt doesn't seem to have any real gender preference, though he tends to be attracted to strong willed, slightly moody/antisocial people. Go figure. He also seems to NEED to feel needed, as a result, he gravitates toward damaged broken sorts. / Currently in a serious relationship with Thalia.

Education/Special Training: Though Matt has no formal education, he is literate and has attended what he refers to as “the school of life”. What precisely this taught him beyond sleight of hand is anyone’s guess.
His foster mother DID try to teach all the kids basic herbology and survival skills, Matt can probably still remember how to make a shelter, set a fire and bait a hook but it's been a very long time since he's HAD to.

Place/Type of Residence: Drifter
Occupation: Janitor and general odd jobs. Unofficial "ship's Councillor" and bartender.
Place of Work: Vestia
Work-related Skills: General pickpocket, larceny and thieving skills... and the gift of a gab. He can talk the ear off anything. Cleaning blood off stuff, mopping, clearing dirt traps/filters etc etc. Lectures/Everything is gonna be okay speeches.
Past Occupations: He worked in a munitions factory in his teens, it sucked. He's worked as a thief and fence previously too.
Memberships:




Notes:

- Upon leaving the munitions factory at around 17, Matt and his twin traveled around the empire a little, trying to find somewhere they could fit in. When Web decided to return to the Kevali homeworld and take up his birthright, Matt went with him. When the Kevali kicked him out, he wasn't hugely disappointed, he hated it there. He drifted around for several years, begging, stealing, doing what he had to do to make ends meet. When Kay expressed dissatisfaction with his life/work situation, Matt suggested he come join him on his galactic tour. They've been traveling together ever since.

- Matt has a chip in his collar/shoulder like all inhabitants of the Reich. His birth certificate was registered off world, and outside the Imperium which is very unusual. His mother was a xeno-biologist named Ilhana Ackermann, his father is listed simply as "Khalbin, Alien."
His ethnicity is listed as "Satare/Kevali"

His military record lists him as a conscientious objector and his punishment as "Penal servitude - 2 years - completed - 1802"

His medical records from the age of 15 (when he was sent to the munitions factory) are also included. Blood type, handedness, any known medical conditions.
He's listed as having "Hypermetropia", hereditary long sightedness. His prescription is included for corrective lenses. It's massively out of date.
He's also registered as colourblind. (though he does have limited colour perception).

- Matt's father was actually "Ishvara" (Lord) of the Sister Races, his twin brother now carries the title. Matt's currently the next in line, though he really would sooner NOT ever take up that responsibility thanks. This does however mean that technically speaking, Matt is nobility.

Tattoo on his left wrist. Ktar, the runic symbol of traitors. This is the tattoo given to Matt and his twin for daring to refuse military service. It brands them for life as being conscientious objectors, the lowest of the low in Imperium society, they are cowards, traitors to the empire, absolute scum. Actually getting far in life branded in such a way within the Imperium is not easy. As soon as anyone sees it they can refuse to serve you, kick you out, generally treat you like crap. The stigma of this symbol makes it a powerful punishment, forever marking you as a social pariah.
Matt's not ashamed of it in the least though, he refused to fight for legitimate reasons and he doesn't regret that decision at all. To him, this tattoo is a symbol of defiance, not cowardice.



Brand on right hand. This brand is the symbol of the outcast, A Kevali punishment usually reserved for political enemies and revolutionaries. Matt's rather proud of being branded a revolutionary, he thinks it's funny.
It means he's banned from returning to the Kevali home world, if he does they may very well kill him. Least that's the threat. He's pretty certain they won't purely because of who his brother is. It's counterproductive to try to kill your ruler's brother right? And Web would never let them hurt him.