Tommy Saint

One of the most infamous and notorious mercenaries of the modern age. Tommy Saint is renowned for his exploits all across Aneos as one of the finest, and deadliest gunhands to walk this world.

Appearance:
Tall, grizzled, gray-haired, and in many ways, grandfatherly - that is, if your grandfather was a mercenary gunman with a mechanical left arm. Such is Thomas Sawyer Hutchinson, better known as "Tommy Saint": a renowned hired gun most easily identified by his withered old looks, his taste for all things proper, and his left arm made of brass and steel.

Whether he's in leisure or dead center of a shootout, Saint is sure to keep looking sharp in every occasion: always dressed in his best suits and vests, dark-tinted spectacles over his eyes, his beard and mustache groomed, and his gray hair slicked back (often accompanied with a top hat to hide his receding hairline). He typically wears a long dark overcoat to complete his primmed appearance, but is willing to 'dress down' and toss it aside as not to hinder his movement in a gunfight. And while Saint typically keeps his mechanical left arm concealed, especially from his enemies, but won't hesitate to tear his suit's sleeve from the cuff to unveil his augments - if absolutely necessary.

Personality:
Along with his long-standing reputation as a top dollar mercenary throughout Aneos, Tommy Saint has always been known as a man of strange motives. For decades, Saint has allied himself with hundreds of clients willing to pay his outrageous asking price; everyone from ragtag skyrate crews wanting to settle a petty dispute to an egomaniacal emperor bent on world domination. The clients may change from time to time, but what remains constant is Saint's unwavering loyalty to his buyers and the pleasure he takes in whatever job he's paid to do. Some could argue Saint's simply in it for the money, but considering he's played as a henchman for countless years with enough riches to last for several lifetimes, it's clear that he's after something more.

For man that's been a lone wolf since the days of his youth, Saint is surprisingly amiable towards all sorts of strangers. He's charming without being cocky; takes his craft seriously yet takes every chance to smell the roses. He carries himself with an air of refinement with an appreciation for finer things; a quality of his that shows in his speech, his dress, but especially the way Saint handles what would otherwise be an 'ugly' line of work. And though his clients may be unsavory, Saint is never one to resort to trickery or deceit - not even in his violent trade, but won't hesitate to shoot someone straight through the heart on account of their own lack of class and composure.

Marksman
Anyone who holds a gun can claim to be an expert shooter, but few can say their gun has kept them alive in a lawless land for over fifty years. Even fewer can say their marksman skills are worth 20,000 Tales. Whether you're up against a whole skyrate or a seven nation army, Tommy Saint is the man you ask by name and pay for when you absolutely need to have them all gunned down.

Saint's first, tried and true weapon of choice is his semi-automatic ivory pocket pistol, Hero's Welcome, aptly named after the numerous aspiring 'heroes' Saint dispatched with it – all the optimistic fools desperate to claim the title as the man (or woman) who killed Tommy Saint. And while Saint is no longer as quick with his 'good' hand, nor is he the crack shot from his younger days, he's still deadly precise with his favorite pistol within the range of fifty feet - able to track a moving target without even looking their way.

Saint's second weapon, despite being concealed when not in use, is his most powerful and most notable weapon of all. It's also the weapon that earned Saint his moniker of “Machine Gun” since the day it was conceived: Saint's left arm, known to him as The Original, is a piece of Thaummatech created by Saint that continuously evolved over the course of forty years.

When Saint lost his left arm at the age of 32, he designed and crafted a mechanical one to replace it, and though he simply wanted to replace what was lost, what Saint gained in return was incomparable. What began as an arm forged from brass and steel transformed into a fluid device of total destruction; a weapon of form, function, and finesse. Saint grew to have a gun for an arm, breaking the divides between man, machine, and weapon.

In the present, The Original commonly takes the form a black and gold, delicately engraved, triple-barreled rotary machine gun that extends from an assemblage of working gears and sprockets otherwise known as Tommy Saint's left arm. However, as Saint's duties as a renowned mercenary has taken him all across Upper and Lower Aneos, across multiple sources of condensed magical energies, The Original has since evolved into a literal weapon of infinite potential. The magical energy held within Saint's Thaummatech arm has allowed its metal to transmogrify completely - from the inside, the outside, even its ammunition - allowing Saint's arm to take the form of any firearm, whenever he wants and whatever he needs most.

In addition to a full auto machine gun, The Original has also taken the form of (but not limited to): a shrapnel gun, a shotgun, a flamethrower, an icethrower, a grenade launcher, a missile launcher, a grapple gun, a magic cannon, a tractor beam, and a precision laser cutter.

Thaummatech Engineering
As proven by The Original, Saint is seen as skilled of an engineer as he is a gunman. Unlike his skills as a gunman, however, craftsmanship is a skill of Saint's that isn't for trade.

Cabbage Farming
Saint never bothers to tell, but only because everyone else is too afraid to ask.

Background:
Wherever there's war, disorder, or someone that just needs killing, Tommy Saint is sure to be there offering his service to the highest bidder.

Starting at the age of 20, Saint first offered his skills as “Tommy the Gun”, a young gunman hired by local crooks and skyrates, promising he could put their stubbornest rivals down for good. He never asked for much starting off, but a small taste of blood money left Saint wanting more - especially when you're a talented killer in a broad, lawless land.

At the age of 32, Saint was offered his first big 'purchase' to act as the right hand man of Sherman Grado, the last surviving member of the Grado Royal Family, who plotted to usurp the sky kingdom of Acacia by invading the castle, occupying the land with his armies, and holding its princess hostage. However, Grado's regime eventually fell along with Grado himself by the hands of an Acacian freedom fighter, Alfred Geare, who would not only go on to be the first and only to best Tommy Saint in battle but also caused the mercenary to lose his left arm.

Saint went silent for the next four years, thought to have vanished from the Aneos underworld, thought to have passed his days as a mercenary, only to resurface as a man who changed for the worst. Known as the “Machine Gun” for his new Thaummatech gun-arm attachment, Saint went on a long spree of odd, yet high-profile criminal jobs, raising his infamy all across Aneos.

However, the more success Saint would find through his ventures and his ever-evolving Thaummatech arm, the price for his services grew higher and higher to ludicrous amounts. Only the wealthiest and most corrupt of lord and skyrates could afford the renowned mercenary's service, and while they would always get what they'd pay for and more, Saint's appearances in times of chaos grew less frequent with each passing decade. Up until the Old Dog was thought to have called it quits; that he grew bored of his busy life of crime and finally retired.

But little does the world know, that for the right price, the Old Dog willing to take one more job.

Miscellaneous:
- Saint actually finds his moniker of 'Old Dog' endearing rather than demeaning.

- Though he prefers to work alone and has for the past 52 years, rumors have circulated that Tommy Saint recently took interest in a young protege.

- Though the family name was lost over the years, Tommy Saint is the descendant of Silas Saintsbury, the first Grand Commander of the Golden Hand from 200 years ago.

- Contrary to some rumors, Alfred Geare never cut off Tommy Saint's left arm in their duel despite Geare being an expert swordsman. Saint's left arm was actually blown off when Saint detonated a bomb strapped to his body in a last-ditch effort to stop Geare and the Acacian Princess during their escape.

- In spite of his love and appreciation for the finer things in life, Tommy Saint's favorite food is pickled cabbage - a taste he acquired from Saint's unspoken (and likely impoverished) days of his youth. He grows, shreds, jars, and pickles his own cabbage using his own perfected recipe, and the taste is said to be so sour it could turn The Void itself inside out. Perhaps it's his secret to staying young.