Caspe Walker

Caspe Walker is a supporting character in the first installment, and one of the main characters of the second and third installments of the As The Last Leaf Falls series. He is a noble-turned-mercenary who travels with his adopted sister Charlotte Walker. Along their travels, they uncover a series of events that would change the face of Gaia forever.

Background
Born as the son and a potential heir to the noble house of Walker, Caspe grew up in the lap of luxury, along with all the headaches and responsibilities that came with it. Being the bored, carefree individual that he was, Caspe hated his overly complicated lifestyle, often sneaking off from his duties to hang out with the family servants and guards. A life of adventures in the countryside, sparring, and the occassional drinking spree earned the young noble quite an amount of gossip from his peers, a fact he did not care for. For Caspe, he was born into the wrong life, however priveleged it was.

The crossroads of his life came when he discovered a couple of strangers- a mother and her daughter- on their lands one day. Suspecting them of stealing from the fields, Caspe brought them to the Lord Walker. When they found out that they were indeed doing so out of necessity, the family head showed an unexpected leniency to them, asking them to work instead as Caspe's personal help. When asked about this, he taught Caspe a lesson he would carry for the rest of his life:

"Right and wrong is not what's always important. A noble should know what it is he should really protect, no matter what others say."

Caspe, who was a bit embarrassed from the head's kindness, and the two who were thankful for being given a second chance, happily accepted the terms. What started as an awkward relationship between the three eventually grew into a close bond, with Caspe treating the two as though part of the family, and vice versa.

The other heirs, however, who only saw that a layabout noble such as Caspe was gaining favor with the Lord Walker, protested against the unfair treatment. Unfortunately for them, they were met only with a silent, disappointed look from the head. Backed into a corner, knowing that harshly treating Caspe would get them nowhere, the jealous nobles changed their target, and plotted for a way to get rid of the two freeloaders from their household.

After a string of thefts inside the household, a bought-off servant claimed seeing the daughter, Charlotte, with several of the missing items on occassion. While doubtful of the claims, the Lord Walker could not ignore the other heirs in fear of being accused of favoritism. He secretly ordered an investigation, putting the girl and her mother on observation.

One of the heirs called for everyone at the main hall after several days, dragging a downcast Charlotte by the arm as she was holding a trinket with Caspe's name engraved on it. Despite the accusations and shouts directed at her, the young servant kept her silence, further leading everyone to believe that she was indeed the culprit.

It was later that day that Caspe came home, and witnessed the two at the house's doorstep with their belongings scattered on the ground. Rushing to their side, the other heirs gave him the trinket, telling him that he was only being tricked by his servants. To their surprise, Caspe did not even look at them, but went over to their side, shouting at the furious nobles that he had never owned such a thing. Replying that he always had a soft spot for the "lower class" and was not answering honestly, the other heirs pleaded for the head to make a decision.

Caspe, however, did not wait for anything; his name and reputation meant nothing to him, but the two's future depended on their jobs. It sickened him to think he even shared the same name as his peers. He declared his intent to leave the house, taking the two with him to a life of wandering.

It was a rough and tragic start, as a harsh winter that year took the mother's life. Resolving to take care of Charlotte, Caspe started doing odd jobs and grunt work, a vastly different experience from the noble life. Despite this difficulty, however, the two eventually managed to make a name for themselves all over the Old World as mercenaries and peacekeepers. It was around this time that they recieved an invite to Neuer Welt, to investigate a mysterious spree of deaths that have occured there.

Personality
Easy-going, daft, and a little clumsy- Caspe doesn't exactly give a good picture of a hero at first glance. A simple individual, he generally hates having to think too much, preferring a direct approach to things more than anything. Because of his simplicity, however, Caspe can be considered the most courageous character in the series. Whether it may be a product of his nobility or simply a lack of self-concern, he has stood up time and time again to foes that most men would consider monstrous, as seen with his fights against opponents like Windrell and the avatar of Creation.

Despite his aversion to brainstorming, Caspe is a highly intuitive person, having on more than one occasion sensed lies or other people's troubles by only his "gut feel", to which he puts great stock into. Caspe is also very trusting of the people he considers good people, and would protect them even to the point that all evidence points against them. This strong-willed nature of his, added by what is often described as an "air of sincerity" he always carried, garnered him the friendship of most of the characters in the series.

Also of note is Caspe's great love of alcohol, as it is hinted that he can drink every character in the series under the table, human or no. While this merits as a wonder in itself, this habit usually places him in many awkward situations like fistfights among countless others. This often results with Charlotte (and in the later stories, Akasha) having to beat him back to his senses, for comedic effect.

Powers and Abilities
While a normal human, Caspe is an exceptionally strong individual, able to manhandle several men in barfights and withstanding attacks from opponents vastly more powerful than himself. Despite being a seasoned mercenary, he does not have any sort of formal training, relying instead on raw strength and experience in battle. Caspe also has displayed keen instincts in dangerous situations, as he has been seen unconsciously moving out of harm's way in several instances.

His weapon, which he simply calls as the Sleeping Sword, is his greatest asset in battle. Rather than a sword, it appears as a greatsword-shaped object with its "blade" covered in bandages. The hilt has a length of chain attached at the end which he sometimes employs for mid-range attacks. Caspe often uses the sword as a shield as much as a weapon; it is hinted to be virtually indestructible, as it has withstood attacks even from abilities like Akasha's concept destruction. Its true abilities remain unknown, even to Caspe himself. He stated in one instance to have occasionally felt the sword "borrowing" his thoughts, possibly indicating that the sword's properties depended on the owner. A future appearance of a weapon with similar properties to the Sleeping Sword in Scarlett Voyage seems to verify this claim.

The sword's true nature has been speculated in the second and third installments. The entity of Loch Codlach, from which Caspe initially recieved the weapon from, has stated that the sword did not belong to it, but rather was "lying around" when it first resided there. Granted that the entity can be considered one of the oldest creatures in the series, this may indicate that the sword is at least as old as Gaia. This claim is furthered in the third installment, where Deus comments upon seeing the sword, stating that it is something of his that was already gone, possibly hinting that it predates even the universe itself.