Markus Schriber, Landsknecht

- Experienced Commander: You are Feldwebel Markus Schriber, and your own men know you to be a good and strong leader. Today however, you had to take command not of your own men but of a gang of looting Germans, and you managed to turn them into an inspired band of fellow warriors. You gain the inspire courage ability of the bard: with a standard action to say some inspiring words and instructions, you can give all those around you, including yourself, a +1 morale bonus on attacks and damage rolls and on saves vs fear effects. This ability lasts as long as you concentrate on it (a standard action per round) plus 3 rounds, and can be used once per day.
- Respected Commander: the legacy of your deeds are beginning to be heard and talked about among your own men and even those in other regiments. Having made an adequate line against the monks at the monastery, or right now having established your own elite team from a group of the 'walking dead', your reputation as a good commander begins to grow and it makes you an even better commander. Your Inspire Courage ability can now be used 2/day and you get a +2 instead of a +1 bonus.
- Resilient: After suffering wounds from a battle with Swiss, getting caught in an explosion, and crashing in an airship all in a single day, Markus proved that he is tougher and more resilient than even he believed. Further, after all that damage the Imperial soldier never stopped moving, tending to wounded and enacting a plan to capture several of Rome's survivors. And rarely did the man ever catch a breath. Enduring such trials have paid off: Markus's healing rate is doubled. (2/day or 4/day with complete rest)
- Natural Arquebusier: Even Werner did not manage to shoot as many of the Ottoman agents during the fight on the fields, despite darkness and the fact that you've never before wielded such a complex weapon. You gain weapon proficiency with the musket/arquebus, and can ignore concealment when firing any ranged weapon.

Markus was destined for the army at a young age. Since birth, really. The third son of a printer, there wasn't much for young Markus - after all, his oldest brother would inherit the business, the next oldest would be sent off to the clergy for schooling, and that left Markus with nothing.

Stories circulated in those days, stories about young men that would take their younger brothers out hunting, and by pure accident, their younger siblings would wind up dead. 'A boar killed him' they'd say, and who could argue? Perhaps they were just rumors, but Markus noticed the way his older brothers eyed him as he grew older, closer to coming of age. He was tall, and strong, too. He would clearly outmatch them in a couple years at most.

So Markus ran to the army. It wasn't an unusual thing to do - boys in his town had done it before, and he heard stories of glory and adventure sweeping across the land. He wasn't sure it was all he'd heard, but since the alternative might be death anyway, he decided to join. When the next group of Landsknechts, the solider-mercenaries of the Empire, passed within a few miles of his town, he rushed off to sign up.

Markus took to the military easily. It was really just like life in a moving town, complete with blacksmiths, cobblers, and even entire families. Add in weapons and armor on every person and there really wasn't a whole lot of difference. Markus would watch the weaponsmiths with awe, and listen to the older men talk of previous battles and nobles, teaching him in a way about the whole of Europe. That much territory had been incomprehensible to Markus before he joined, but after a campaign or two, he began to wisen.

Markus even married a woman, Wilhelmina (Mina), while in the military. She was young - no maiden, certainly, but he got along well enough with her, and had been friends with her husband before he'd been killed in battle. Markus had only one child with her (a daughter, Sophie) before, after a mere handful of years, she died of illness. Times were difficult with a daughter and no woman to care for her, but the military community helped out.

The Italian Campaign changed many things for Markus. First, he found himself promoted in one of the early battles, elevated to Feldwebel on account of his actions in the middle of battle, shouting out commands when his former superior fell to an arquebus.

Later, at Pavia, Markus was among the first into the city. It was a chaotic mess of looting and pillaging (as the army had a habit of doing to conquered towns), but Markus, an officer now, kept his wits about him. He caught a pair of men intent on raping a young Italian woman, and succeeded in stopping them (by claiming the woman himself). Never a big fan of the tendency certain soldiers had for abusing women, Markus made the woman his wife - she didn't have much of a choice in the matter, but it was the safest thing for her. Besides, Markus needed a woman to take care of his child. In time, the pair grew fond of each other, and they simply didn't talk about how they met.

And now Markus finds himself on the road to Rome. He's no Catholic, but there still seems to be something sanctimonious about defiling the holy city. After all, it wasn't even a city they'd planned on attacking in the first place. Like many of the other officers, it was all Markus could do to keep the men under control. They would mutiny if not allowed to loot the holy city and fill their coffers with its bounty. And perhaps, by directing their wrath, he would be able to minimize the collateral damage...

People:
Anna - Markus's Italian wife
Sophie - Markus's daughter