Hexenhammer

Erich Adler

Born in the mid 15th Century, Erich Adler was one of the period’s most infamous witch-hunters. Raised a devote Catholic, young Erich became a soldier in the service of Church and was even involved in a failed attempt to begin a new crusade. It was during these years he took a young miller’s daughter as a bride. While away on one of his many missions for the church, his wife was taken by outlaws. Hearing of her abduction he rushed home. He slaughtered the bandits but was too late to save his love. Looking around her killers’ lair at the Satanic imagery and pagan trappings the outlaws used to intimidate the populace, his hatred and zealotry grew. Reeling from the loss an unable to fight such foes abroad, he turned his focus towards local concerns and joined the church’s crusade against heresy, magic, and witchcraft. Possessing the blind devotion of a fanatic and the skills of a warrior, he dedicated his life to the extermination of magic in all its forms. Adler viewed the supernatural as a disease; a plague that could only be snuffed out by the elimination of all who carried it in their blood. Unlike some of his more moderate peers, he made no distinctions between white and black magic or active and potential magic skill. All who used magic were the enemy of himself, God, and man… in roughly that order.
Adler’s hate-fueled personal crusade was hell on local herbalists, pagans, and the occasional supernatural creature. However, he lacked the true power to oppose most major magical threats and this resulted in several defeats at the hands of various magicians and monsters. To aid his efforts he founded a covert arm within the Inquisition, the Order of St. Henricus. The order had more success than Adler alone, but as he grew older he realized the forces he so loathed would long outlast his efforts to wipe them out. So, with a hefty dose of hypocrisy and irony, he turned to magic himself.
Capturing and torturing various mystics, Adler learned how to craft a terrible weapon that would give him the power and immortality necessary to continue his mission. Under pain of death and torture for them and their families if they dared refuse his requests or reveal his plans, he directed a team of scholars and craftsmen to construct the weapon using instructions drawn from the tortured lips of magicians and occultists. The result of their indentured labors was the Hexenhammer, the “witch hammer.” The weapon would protect its wielder from magical assault and sustain his existence until all sorcerers, witches, and magicians and their descendants were wiped from the earth. All Adler had to do was take the hammer in his hands and his spirit would be bound and protected by it. Without hesitation, he did so and his fate was sealed.
Erich Adler’s body dropped lifeless to the floor as his soul was drawn into the hammer itself. A stunned blacksmith named Eberhardt was the first to touch the Hexenhammer. In moments, the craftsmen’s soul was forced from his body and Adler’s spirit took over. This began a cycle of death and rebirth, as Adler, now the Hexenhammer, used up one host body after another only to return when the next poor, unknowing soul grasped the Hexenhammer. For centuries the mad spirit in the Hexenhammer has continued his bloody mission, hunting all who would use magic for any ends.

Physical Description

Special abilities

The Hexenhammer itself is a mystic weapon able to deal terrible blows, break through mystic enchantments, and protect its wielder from magical assault. It can even turn such powers back on their users. The hammer is bound to its wielder and cannot easily be taken away. In game terms, the hammer is not Easily Removable despite appearing so; it can be disarmed or otherwise taken away it but can be instantly returned with a free action. In addition to these abilities, it holds the soul of Erich Adler whenever he is not possessing another and anyone touching it during this time risks becoming his new host.
Adler is a skilled warrior, trained interrogator, and fanatically devoted foe of all things magical with centuries of experience. His spirit empowers and augments those he possesses, making them often stronger, faster, and more formidable than they were before. Though he often speaks and dresses like something out of an old period-piece horror film, he is no stranger to modern technology—though he prefers to rely on his skills and his enchanted weapon.

Mental characteristics

Intellectual Characteristics

Hexenhammer was always a fanatic but being bound in a weapon, the sole purpose of which is destroy magic, has only made him worse. He exists only to punish and exterminate mystics and magic-users. He makes no distinctions between good and evil among the mystical community, believing all magic to be sinful and corrupting. Thus he extends his blind hatred to the descendants of such individuals as well and will do anything to save humanity from its influence.
Hexenhammer will do anything to further his goals. He is not above taking hostages, torturing captives, or even killing innocents if it serves his mission. He tells himself he is doing what must be done and that God will forgive his sins and welcome any innocent he must sacrifice along the way; but the reality is he really just doesn’t care about the suffering and pain he causes. He also has no trouble throwing his current host into deadly or even suicidal situations.

Social

Contacts & Relations

The Order of St. Henricus still exists as a heretical cult outcast from the Church. Its’ members all know of Hexenhammer and believe he is a chosen agent of divine retribution. Hexenhammer will also ally himself with the enemies of various mystical heroes even if these are supernatural or magical in origin themselves—justifying this by saying his erstwhile allies will be dealt with at a later date.
Hexenhammer is the sworn enemy of all human mystics, magicians, sorcerers, and supernatural creatures. He also counts anyone descended from such individuals among his foes. This fanatical belief has caused him to run afoul of various mystic heroes such as Earth’s Master Mage, Adrian Eldrich, and the Freedom League's newest member, Seven.