Alder

Alder is a character played by Shanghai.

Appearance
Alder is an anthropomorphic lion with a wine-red mane and bright green eyes. He is stoutly built, of average height but broad with both muscle and fat. He has a lion's tail which reaches down past his knees.

Alder wears only a pair of white briefs, one of the very few personal articles that remained with him when he regained consciousness in the world of Sockscraft 2. When in battle, he wears a single shoulder brace and wields an axe that seems to suck light from the air, appearing unnaturally dark.

Bio
Alder appeared in the world of Sockscraft 2 in the wilds just outside of North Station. Just prior to waking up there, he had been sailing a sloop near the edges of his own world, Teora, looking for someone. A wall of mist enveloped him, followed by an "indescribable" sound. After he regained consciousness, he found that he had nothing left but his axe and (mercifully) his underwear.

Having previously conquered his home world of Teora and ruled over it with violence, he set forth into Sockscraft 2 with confidence. However, it quickly became apparent to him that the metaphysics of this world were vastly different from those of the one he'd conquered, and its residents had strange and frightening powers that he did not understand. Most notably, while people typically respawn in Sockscraft 2, all death was permanent in Teora.

Due to this fear of the world, he became a recluse and largely remained in his volcanic home. However, his desire to return to Teora eventually drove him to seek out others with knowledge of travel between worlds, and he became friendly with numerous residents of the world. He continues to search for the person he was after before he arrived here, as well as a way back home.

Personality
Alder is inquisitive, decisive, and dogmatic. He rose to power through violence, but maintained it through politicking and seeking out advice from the right sources. Thus he is generally pleasant and kind to others, careful about not making enemies where he doesn't need to. He is in his 50s and takes a long perspective on most things, and can sometimes come off as very tired. However, his quickness to draw his axe and make snap judgements about who may be a danger still lurk in his mind, causing him to snap into a confrontational posture when threatened.

Trivia

 * Alder was the first character on the server to use the Customizable Player Models (CPM) mod
 * The world of Teora, where Alder comes from, is meant to resemble a fantasy-themed permadeath PVP server. This is why Alder did not understand respawning and does not struggle with attacking other players.
 * Alder is Shanghai's fursona, with this particular character model and skin predating Sockscraft. His backstory as a villain on the server was chosen because it fit the cool volcano castle that Shanghai wanted to build.