Difference between revisions of "Walter Köhler"
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Gretchen was always an eccentric, energetic child with a stubborn streak. She grew up in a mining town in northern Germany. The area over the past century or so always had the occasional wildfire or mining accident. But the money was good and work was steady so people stayed. | Gretchen was always an eccentric, energetic child with a stubborn streak. She grew up in a mining town in northern Germany. The area over the past century or so always had the occasional wildfire or mining accident. But the money was good and work was steady so people stayed. | ||
Revision as of 02:16, 13 February 2022
Fake Backstory:
Walter is an German immigrant, excited to explore the west away from the cities of the east.
He is the oldest son out of 3 siblings, 2 younger sisters named Gretl (5 years younger) and Sophia (8 years younger). His family moved to Appalachia from Germany in 1865. He gets money sent to him from his family on the regular when he telegrams back to his family to tell them he's in a new town.
His experience in mad science is all trial and error, freelancing in pest control and being a hired gun is how he makes his own side money. He also helps with miners.
Gretchen was always an eccentric, energetic child with a stubborn streak. She grew up in a mining town in northern Germany. The area over the past century or so always had the occasional wildfire or mining accident. But the money was good and work was steady so people stayed.
Her parents were old fashioned and were not too keen on their daughter’s unorthodox actions.She was an odd child. Preferring to play with more dangerous things (like fire and tools) rather than play with other kids. Gretchen constantly talked about a boy named "Walter" that no one else seemed to see. She always talked about him and went out to play with him. Her parents however thought this was odd behavior. When she was around the age of 8 or so she started setting small piles of grass and trash on fire. It was harmless at first, albeit a bit irritating. But over a period of time Gretchen eventually set fire to a shed owned by a neighbor with the help of a barrel of gunpowder that she had somehow managed to get the shed despite it being almost as big as her. Her constant mentioning of him drove her mother to stating that "She wouldn't hear any more about this boy!" and "She wouldn't allow her wild imagination to ruin the family." She obliged until a week later, late at night she heard a tapping on her window
It was Walter. He lead her to the mines where majority of the men of the town worked Gretchen was hesitant saying that she wasn't supposed to be here as this was where the miners worked. But through some teasing Walter persuaded her to open a wooden crate packed with straw, inside was what looked like red candles.
The next thing her parents knew was that the forest was on fire and the mine was nearly destroyed They had been awoken by the firelight in the distance that seemed to glow supernaturally bright. They ran toward the flames, as Gretchen was not in her room. She was found by her parents, laughing and dancing in the fire light. They grabbed her and spirited her away back to their home, making Gretchen swear to never ever tell anyone what happened.
When she was around the age of 16, her parents were trying subtly to discourage her from her interests in engineering in addition to her more destructive tendencies. How Gretchen was currently would not interest in any man in asking for her hand in marriage. And as the only child of her parents, it caused even more stress and put more pressure on the girl. All of this would cause both her and her parents to butt heads multiple times, the arguments getting worse each time.
Eventually, a bit after she had turned 18 (Year 1865), one day after she had come home. Her parents presented her with an ultimatum. Gretchen wasn’t planning on staying in her home town nor her home country anyway. She wanted a fresh new start and that opportunity lie in the currently warring United States. Gretchen traveled over to the United States alongside a fellow German with whom she shared the cost of travel. When the ship landed in Baltimore, United States during immigration she decided to renounce her former last name and took upon the insult she had been called growing up. After getting approval to enter the country, Gretchen wandered around for about a year, (1867) taking a couple odd jobs to get by until her wandering lead her to a mining company near Appalachia.
Their usage of dynamite and explosives appealed to her and she took up working for them for several years over time learning enough English to speak conversationally. Working with explosives with neglect for ear protection would eventually affect her hearing to the point that someone would need to either be close to her or raise their voice in order for them to be heard.
Eventually hearing of the discovery of ghost rock and its scientific properties, Gretchen gained an intense interest in the newly found ore. To her delight, in the process of mining they had found bits and chunks of the stuff. Gretchen took bits of Ghost Rock and tinkered with the stuff in her free time. Through trial and error she eventually created an early model of her multilauncher. Her excitement over the power of ghost rock drove her to leave the mining company she had worked for and started a quest towards the Maze. Gretchen worked for the occasional demolition crew in her wanderings. After 3 years she eventually came to the Midwest, the openness of the land being perfect for testing of her explosive creations.
Gretchen entered the Sioux Nation with the same idea as other prospectors, to her hands on some ghost rock. But in her greed, wandered off and out of the boundaries. She got found out by a scouting party and they attempted to capture her so she could be sentenced to death. But she never went anywhere without her prototype weapon. So to defend herself, Gretchen managed to kill a few of the scouts while unknowingly leaving some alive as she ran and eventually leaving the Sioux Nation and entering the part of Nebraska that was not part of Sioux Nation.
Gretchen was conscripted into the Grand Island Chapter of the Twilight Legion in 1879 and served with others of the chapter for a year and some months before beginning to grow bored and antsy from what she felt was a lack of scientific progress with her work. She ghosted the Legion somewhat, going off and doing her own things but coming back for occasional missions if she felt like it. But she quickly got a job at Hellstromme Industries, specifically in their weapons and ammunition department. She was very good at her work, excitedly producing more effective bombs and firearms that were tested in the field.
However, she eventually felt she could make more money selling her designs on her own rather than through Hellstromme Industries' connections. She just needed to find a good place to start her weapons shop. Leaving Hellstromme Industries (1883), Gretchen traveled from Salt Lake City, not really wanting to stay in Deseret and eventually found herself coming up on Brimstone.