Linford Graham

His friends and sons are all very important to him and he will do everything in his power to keep them safe and make sure they are provided with the means they need to explore their powers and reach their full potentials.

Early Life

Linford was born to a large farming family. Unlike the rest of his siblings, he did not help out on the family farm thanks to contracting Lyme disease at a young age and suffering from the chronic effects of it for a large portion of his childhood. Rather than stay upset at his indoor position, he made up his mind to study and research as much as he could and increase his knowledge about construction, cultures, legends, the planet, and everything he could find. The more he read the more curious he became about the world. He didn't want to stay on the farm. He wanted to find out more about the world and see if some of his theories held up to reality.

Once he was ten, his symptoms died down, but an outbreak of scarlet fever swept across the countryside, nearly taking his life and once again keeping him from any physical activities. Books and theories were his main company during this time along with prayers to the gods for his safe recovery. Once he recovered from that illness, he set his mind of strengthening his body and training himself to have a better immune system so he would not need to get trapped indoors again. With his mind made up, he honed his body during his days helping on the farm and his mind when the sun went down.

Early Adulthood

Once he'd saved up enough money, Linford told his family he wanted to see the world and was leaving. They were a bit disappointed that he didn't plan to stay and move into a house in the general area, but, they'd all considered what strange things he'd do to their farming equipment if he stayed. Not to mention it was what he'd always wanted to do, and they figured he was either going to find his place out there or die trying and who were they to stop him.

He traveled around on his own for a while, finding a number of gaps in his education. He did his best to fill them by talking to the people who understood them the best. He spent time with clock makers, masons, businessmen, weavers, forgers, soldiers, and slavers. He formed his opinions on the world as he went as well as a deeper connection with religion as he traveled along with pilgrims and heard their stories and shared some of his own. After a while, he heard rumors about Storm Mountain and set out to get to the bottom of it. He figured it was a good place to research certain theories that required electricity to run, but, it turned out to open up even more opportunities for him than he'd ever expected.

He encountered a strange pillar inside of a cave in the mountains and broke it open after determining that there was some interesting energy contained within. This freed the demon known as Cinema and started the pair on a whirlwind friendship filled with science and discovery. While Linford felt he had to move on and learn new things from new regions, the two remain in contact and have maintained a partnership.

Meeting the Elements

After leaving the mountain, Linford ran into a loud and violent man covered in spikes. The man issued a challenge and Linford was happy to oblige. The two fought until Behemoth, the spiky man, accidentally hit a weak point in the ground and caused it to split beneath them. They fell into the crevasse and had to work together to get out of the predicament. During that time, they talked and discovered a mutual interest in each other. Prior to meeting Behemoth, Linford had not focused much of his thoughts on practical uses for his findings or on weapon modifications. With his new friend in tow, Linford began to put more time into producing physical products. He also pushed himself further than before, challenging himself to make and test new theories in ways he could show Behemoth.

One of the inventions he wanted to create was a boat sturdy enough to hold Behemoth's weight. He and his friend had a lively discussion about if the boat would actually hold his weight and remain safe. In a gamble to prove the security of his boat, Linford set out in the direction of an island a few miles off shore, only to run into a sudden storm. With little sailing or boating knowledge, his boat sank and Linford was stranded at sea surrounded by large waves. As luck had it, a passing fish folk noticed his dire situation and helped him to safety on the island. Linford spent a day on the island, talking to his savior, Leviathan, and telling her about his adventures so far. She seemed intrigued, so he asked if she would like to travel with him and Behemoth. The two did not get along as well as he hoped, but, determined to make this team work as a unit, Linford did his best to smooth tensions and keep Behemoth from trying to fight Leviathan.

While the three of them traveled further together, they saw many strange sights and encountered bizarre groups of humans and people. One of the most intriguing encounters was one with a beautiful green dragonkin who the three ran into in the wilds of Lith. Before either Linford or Leviathan could stop him, Behemoth charged forward with a challenge and was quickly defeated by the dragonkin, Ziz. The three travelers sat down with Ziz after the fight and, after a lot of talking and story telling, Ziz decided to tag along, too.

With three people keeping him company and bouncing ideas back and forth with him, Linford felt more confident about the world and more confident that, if he felt things needed changing, he could take on anything, even social situations.

Conquest

A few years into traveling as a quartet, the group ended up in Crossroads, which marked their fist time in an Acetate run city. It was a major trading port with Navroya and seen as a base for getting resources and slaves from Lith to Acetate. Linford got into a number of disagreements in the city, most of which centered around derogatory comments made about his friends and the slaves in the city. After consulting his friends, he decided that he wasn't fond of this city and couldn't allow it to remain as it was. The old government was overthrown in a quick and violent rebellion where slaves and malcontents rose up with Linford and his friends to paint the streets red with the blood of those who would not give up their Acetate beliefs. Each of his friends put their specialties to good use, destroying a good chunk of the city and killing thousands in building collapses, fires, floods, and assorted acts of violence.

The bodies of the slain leaders were strung up on the walls and on poles in the harbor as a warning to all who tried to step in after the bloody affair. Linford gathered his trusted friends and decided that they would assume power and rebuild the city using their ideals and beliefs. He declared all slaves free and renamed the city Trifold in honor of his friends, without whom he could not have taken over the city.

Rebuilding the City

Years of planning and work went into the city renovations. During this time, Linford made contact with the surrounding cities and towns and established himself as more than a barbaric usurper in a number of cases. He turned his attention to fortifying his city and making it into the strange creation of metal, steam, and stone it is today. He spent a lot of time talking to the builders and makers in the city during this period, getting to know them. He made sure his friends were involved in the process as well. He wanted everyone to feel involved and understand what was going on so that none of them would need to be caught off guard or feel disconnected from the city.

Settling Down

After the city was secure and everyone settled into their respective positions, Linford returned to work on his theories and experiments. He accumulated as many books from across the world as possible, donating a number of them to the new public library. As his friends had children and he grew used to seeing their kids around the palace, he considered the idea of having some of his own. Before he could worry too much about his lack of romantic or sexual attraction to anyone, a solution presented itself in the form of a strange shop in town. He met the proprietor and had a few words about his past before giving him permission to keep his child-making shop in the city as long as he let Linford watch the process and see how it worked.The process proved to be informative and interesting and left Linford with three babies and a new future of raising them ahead of him.

Abilities and Powers

Physical Abilities

Linford has trained himself to be reasonably strong and durable, but his real strengths lie in the physical modifications he's performed on his own body. He's redesigned himself to be stronger, sturdier, faster. He essentially made himself into a horrifying combination of science and organics. The rate at which he modified himself and his incorporation of magic and enchantments into his studies led to nearly ideal integration. His main goals for this were to see if he could do it, and to be able to keep up with his friends.

Weapon Proficiency

Linford has trained hard to be competent with most weapons. His youth provides him with a solid favoritism for found equipment such as axes, pitchforks, and hoes, but he is useful with other blades and puncturing weapons. He's slow with guns, preferring to take his time to line up shots, and thus stays away from them in serious situations. His reinforced physical strength is his other central weapon. He is not afraid to collect a few injuries while wadding close enough to grab someone or punch them.

Relationships

Family

• Demir - One of his three precious sons. He knows that Demir has a clever mind and has worked hard to encourage him to test out his ideas and explore his curiosities while still discussing them with the rest of the family. He considers his conversations about hypothetical situations with Demir very precious and has shared a number of theories he has with the boy. Still, he knows that responsibility and consequence are essential for every child to learn about, so he has a habit of going over resource budgets with Demir and has challenged him to do more with less supplies or cheaper ones in the past.

• Halvard - One of his three precious sons. Halvard is bright and full of both strength and energy. He's usually the boy Linford seeks out if he's feeling burnt out and needs to remind himself of his inner passion for the world. He likes to hear what adventures Halvard has had in the city and the people he's met. He trusts him with the inner workings of the city and knows that this kid will work hard. He likes going on walks through the city with Halvard and offering up their help to some of the craftsmen if they seem to have their plates full.

• Ysolt - One of his three precious sons. Ysolt is his most timid child, but is also the best at managing people. Linford is immensely proud of him for taking the time to learn about how the city works and how to deal with others. He knows that organizing people to work together in an efficient way is hard, and it takes a careful balance of listening, helping, and force to make sure things don't go awry. He makes sure to take Ysolt with him when he visits the important people around town so that Ysolt can get good practice and meet the people who have a lot of influence in the city. He also makes sure they spend time around the average citizens as well.

Friends / Acquaintances

• Atherson - While he respects the work Atherson does and views him as a brilliant mind and strong person, Linford is careful to always exercise a bit of caution around the businessman. Despite this, visits the shop every now and then.

  • Behemoth - One of his most dear friends. He admires Behemoth's energy and determination to always press forward. He doesn't let anything stop him and is someone Linford considers an unstoppable force when it comes to getting something done. He always tries hard and aims for progress while not letting his work consume him. He's strong, and always has Linford's back, even when they disagree on matters. He is a true friend and Linford knows he is lucky to know him and have him as a companion.He's the loudest around Behemoth.

  • Cinema - A demon and one of the first true friends he made during his adventure out into the world. Linford respects the demon's curiosity and enjoys the collaborative projects they work on together.

  • Leviathan - He looks up to how direct Levi is and how she maintains a fair and even temper in most situations. He likes how practical she is and how she holds herself to the same standards she holds others. She doesn't try to excuse herself or take an easy road and she's always there to talk about problems and just converse with, which he likes. He's intrigued by her keeping her family isolated on an island as opposed to bringing them into the city, but, he also knows she is a person of the sea. She's the one he's the quietest around.

  • Ziz - A very smart and strong person who Linford likes spending time with. He talks about his kids and what they've been up to when he gets time alone with Ziz, and asks how the twins are getting along. His friendship with Ziz opened up a whole new range of ideas and thoughts, since he'd never considered anything sky-based before.