Maximus Album
Nathan's apprentice, a member of the Freedom Fighters and a former member of the Army of Ragash.
Appearance
Max is the shortest member of the Freedom Fighters, just slightly below average height and of medium build. His muscle mass, though slight is still extremely well developed, sleek, defined and toned. Indeed, many times a foe has underestimated his immense strength as a result, only to be in for a rude awakening upon discovering that there is almost no fat on his frame.
Underneath his clothes, Max's body is absolutely covered in scars, both faded and recent because of his life as a warrior and fighting style.
He has shoulder length, shaggy black hair and dark brown eyes, though in combat he wears it in a slick ponytail. Some consider him to be handsome in a boyish way. Occasionally, he keeps a well trimmed mustache and beard, though he prefers to go clean-shaven whenever possible.
Most of the time he wears very simple clothes consisting of a black tunic, matching trousers and boots, allowing only the slightest bit of vanity in the form of earrings and a silver chain necklace with a tear shaped pendant.
In battle, he wears a dark blue tunic laced with metal couture of gilded steel with matching, pointed boots and corinthian helmet.
Weapon
Daybreak is the name of Max's spear, though it would be more accurate to say it resembles a pole-axe. Keen-edged and made from the same gilded steel as his armor, Daybreak is able to cut through flesh and thin metals with ease, especially when wielded by one of his strength.
Skills and Abilities
Max is Nathan's left hand man and his apprentice. Although not quite as formidable as his mentor, he is rightly regarded as a close second and is still a well trained, experienced warrior. Uniquely among his brothers, he has no real magical powers of his own, no special abilities or attributes that mark him as anything other than human, except for prodigious, indeed immense strength.
Spear Mastery: Max's primary weapon is a long, gilded spear that he wields with surprising proficiency despite its unwieldy appearance. Trained by Ragash's military, Max has learned to skillfully switch between using brute strength and finesse in combat, further learning the arts of brawling, wrestling and footwork from his mentor, Nathan. That said, Max mostly prefers to leap directly into the thick of the fighting where he can fully make use of his great strength. Nathan believes that with time and experience, if Max could learn to greater use of skill, distribution of weight and leverage, he would become an even better fighter than him.
Master Combatant: Trained by Nathan, Max is a skilled boxer and a superb wrestler able to best even his mentor in a practice match. His style is brutal, hard-hitting and meant to take full advantage of his physical power. He typically relies on grabs, chokeholds and quick strikes to defeat opposition. Against more durable adversaries, he relies on wrestling moves such as suplexes, chokeslams, powerbombs, piledrivers, knee strikes, elbow strikes, spear-tackles, bodyslams, body splashes, clotheslines and hip tosses.
Peak Human Condition: From an early age, Max displayed his capabilities as an excellent athlete. His physical strength in particular is noted as being well above average, even surpassing Nathan in this regard. His stamina and durability likewise are prodigious, making him the ideal "tank" of the group. Equipped with his armored suit makes him even more formidable, able to withstand punishing attacks that would leave other men crippled by pain.
Furthermore, Max's healing is noted as being unusually strong for a human, able to bounce back from injuries in less time than many of his brothers. On one noted occasion, he was even able to endure having his left shoulder dislocated with only mild discomfort and was back in action in a month, whereas normally it takes most about 12 weeks to recover from, even then having a limit to the strain he could exert, while Max displays no such limits.
Indomitable Willpower: Determined and dedicated to anything he has set his mind to, Max has displayed great willpower and psychological fortitude, able to fight for survival despite the odds and has endured many hardships, physical and mental that would break lesser men. In particular, he displays a high degree of pain tolerance and resistance to it. Case in point, he has accompanied his mentor through dozens of conflicts, yet has never once wavered or hesitated to aid him, even if it meant personal injury or the very likely possibility of death.
Weaknesses
Although formidable, Max does have a few glaring weaknesses that he admits he has yet to overcome.
Speed: Although he is by no means slow, Max's movement speed and agility is rather lacking, especially compared to his brothers. He is capable of running at a brisk jog and can jump short distances, but an opponent faster or more agile than he can find he is easily outmaneuvered.
Lack of Defense: Because he prefers offense, taking a page from his mentor, Max relies on his vast durability to withstand attacks. This in turn has meant he has little in the way of defense and can take many injuries in combat. He has stated that if he were to take too much damage, he would surely die.
Ranged Attacks: Because he is a purely melee combatant with no real magical power, Max has a great difficulty in countering opponents that make use of ranged attacks. He is at his best when the fight gets "up close and personal" in his own words.
Stubbornness: Max's own determination can itself be a weakness. In essence, he has a sort of tunnel vision that makes it difficult for him to see the bigger picture. During one of their practice matches, Nathan noted that his apprentice was so singlemindedly dedicated to winning the fight he lost sight of the fact it was supposed to be a training exercise. In essence, once Max has set his mind to a goal, it is next to impossible to dissuade him.
Personality
Bright, sunny and optimistic are the best words to describe this warrior. Max is a cheerful, friendly man that makes friends easily and always tries to look at the better side of any situation. That is to say he is far from blindly optimistic, he simply chooses to face every day with a smile and a quip, preferring not to dwell on the hardships of life. Because Max strives to emulate his mentor, he has taken up the belief in the Celestialist religion, though to a lesser extent than Nathan.
Unlike his mentor, who has chosen the god of war as his patron deity, Max prefers a far more generalized approach, preferring to give homage to all the gods rather than a single one, though he does tend to favor the dogma of Drakon, the Dragon God.
Rather than attempting to master magic (which he never had an aptitude for anyway) or attempting to wage some righteous crusade, Max's goal is the pursuit of martial perfection. This is not to say he is a follower of Nykios like his master, but rather he believes that improving his combat skills are for a singular purpose: That being to eventually slay a Greater Dragon in single combat, believing that doing so will attract the attention of the gods to Arethil once more. If he can do so, he believes, he shall join them in waging war against the Dark Ones.
Other than this, Max is unfailingly loyal and polite to his friends, whom he views as his family - as he was an orphan, he views Nathan as his father-figure and mentor, being the most ready to defer to his judgment. In turn, Nathan views Max as dependable, brave and the physical powerhouse of the group.
Max has a good relationship with Gale - regarding him as his closest friend, both among the Watchers and in general. The two of them often have friendly competitions and try to best the other in contests of strength and skill. Win or lose, Max enjoys competing for the sake of it and even applauds his friend whenever he is bested by the Fairy Knight.
Though they rarely interact as much as the others, Max holds a great amount of respect for the Morn twins. Arthur he holds in great regard; recognizing his authority as the second-in-command of the team and thinking of him as its greatest tactician. As well, he appreciates how Arthur recognizes his abilities beyond his brawn, acknowledging his skill as a wrestler and training partner.
Elias, Max regards as a kindred spirit for their similar world views - though he is sometimes annoyed by his womanizing ways, he recognizes it's all in good fun. Further, Max appreciates how close to animals Elias is and the two of them enjoy spending time caring for the horses in the stables.
Max also has a close bond with his horse, Duke, whom he has cared for since he was a colt. The two share a unique bond - with Max preferring to ride the horse rather than travel by airship or by portals.
Also of note, Max hates slavers and considers chattel slavery to be an abhorrent, vile institution. He often urges his mentor to take up arms against the practice - arguing the group should live up to their name and fight for the freedom of others, no matter their race. Often, Nathan has to remind Max to respect other cultures and that they cannot take the law into their own hands, no matter their personal misgivings. That said, Nathan does agree with Max's thinking, but does not condone vigilantism. Even so, the two remain on positive terms despite this.