Das Eiche
Silvester Das Eiche Colman
Physical Description
Identifying Characteristics
Scarring along his ribs.
Really, really, buff.
Mental characteristics
Personal history
Silvester Colman was born in a small village high the Spinal Mountains. Always a small child, he was bullied constantly. Bigger children would pick him up and see how far they could throw him. At the age of fifteen, he left the village. He wandered for a while, until the army came looking for recruits. This was the moment that changed his life.
In the army, Colman started working out for the first time. He loved everything about it. The burning, the taste of sweat, the strength. To add, to it he hit a growth spurt, grew half a foot in a month. For the first time in his life, he felt confident. Invincible.
His first battle disabused him of that notion. His squadron, armed with claymores and battle axes, ran headlong into the latest invention from Inkazimulo. The cannonball blew a ragged hole in three men ahead of him before it reached him. The Almighty had greater plans for him though and the shot only grazed him, tearing flesh from his ribs. He lay there, in mortal pain, surrounded by the dead and dying for a full day. When the medics finally found him, infection had set in.
He was months recovering. The army dismissed him. He started to lose mass. Times were tough all around that year, and there was no work for a crippled soldier. His wound stank. At some point, he can't remember when, he took to the bottle.
At this, he somehow managed to stumble into a church. He told the pastor he was going to kill himself and needed last rights. The woman took pity on him. She got him sober, cleaned up, found a doctor for his wound. When she learned he couldn't read, she taught him, using Die Worter, the church's holy book. He started working out again and his confidence came flooding back. Soon, Colman was initiated as a pastor in his own right.
But time went on, and Colman kept reading the book he noticed something. The Almighty never actually said any of it. What's good, whats evil, all of it came from self proclaimed prophets, nothing from the lips of The Almighty himself. Furthermore, the book was a mess of contradictions and hypocrisies. He counted at least ninety-five, wrote them down and sent the list to the archbishop. When he received no response, he started reading translations of other scriptures. The truth had to be in one of them. But they were just as contradictory and hypocritical. The only thing they seemed to agree on, was that The Almighty created everything. With a special focus on humanity.
Colman meditated on this. The Almighty did nothing but create. He spent a lot of time on making humans. Colman thought back to how unhappy he had been when he was scrawny. How amazing he felt when he worked out and built muscle. How much it felt like a blessing... That was it. Create yourself, as He created you. Colman went back to the doctor who had healed his side wound. He convinced him, and the two set out do The Almighty's work.
Combining the scientific method with religious fervor, Colman grew. And so did his following. His list made the rounds and his "create yourself" creed made sense to a lot of people. His research was uncovering a fairly strict training regimen, scaring some people off, but the results were impossible to argue with. That wasn't enough for some people. Their religion needed a moral backing. So Colman combed the scriptures again and boiled it down to three things. Be Kind, Improve Yourself, and Do Not Kill. With these three simple commandments, Colman had a church. The people started calling him Das Eiche, The Oak, a tree known for strength and wisdom. And he grew.
All the while he kept his congregation on the move. One for exercise, carrying the Hueso Iron from place to place is an excellent full body workout, but also because he feared reprisal from the church. He had openly defied them, called their teachings wrong. Somebody was going to drop the heretic hammer on him. But it never came. His little fringe movement somehow slid beneath notice during his lifetime. And eventually Das Eiche would put down roots right in the town where his life had been turned around. More foundries were built, and the church grew. And so did his message.
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