His family accidentally came into the
path of a monstrous Demon. Whilst it's uncertain as to whether Hermes
genuinely can't remember much from that day, or he simply blocked out
the trauma – three things are certain. The Demon killed all of
Hermes' family. It tore off his legs. And it escaped.
Eventually some Government people came
across the gruesome scene. Hermes pleaded with the Government to make
them understand what happened, but this is the Age of Technology. As
much as the Government knows there's a lot of unexplained and magical
things still in the world, they're the first to deny such things. So
rather than believe a terrified boy's story about a Demon, they
decided he must be a cold and calculating killer, and charged him
with the murder of his family – also sentencing him to death.
Thankfully the Government isn't all
bad, and Sir Butchery, one of the President's personal bodyguards,
took pity on Hermes and helped him to escape. He brought him to Dr.
Fayetteville, an old retired pirate. He believed Hermes' story and
built him his mechanical wooden legs. He also agreed to teach the boy
to fight and for the next fifteen years, was his personal trainer.
The training olny came to an end when Dr. Fayetteville died of a
terminal illness. On his death-bed he told Hermes how to find Pyrus,
the original pirate, the person he'd have to seek if he wanted to
become a Pirate Captain. He revealed to him that Pyrus was an ancient
creature – and certainly not to be trusted. He was once a powerful
monster, but he was stripped of his power and imprisoned. He was also
the best source of information on the Demon.
So Hermes sought out Pyrus and was
declared a Pirate Captain. At the same time he dropped the name Steed
in place of Stilt, thinking it was a stupid name for someone with no
real legs. He also asked Pyrus about his Demon and the two came to an
agreement. Whenever Stilt found some item or relic that brought Pyrus
a step closer to being free or returning to his old form, he'd offer
Stilt a hint about his Demon.
By tradition, Stilt was accompanied on
his travels by a long-dead Pirate Captain's ghost, who could offer
advice. This was how Stilt came to befriend Captain Jacob Daniels. It
was also on this day that he met fellow Pirate Captain, Laura
Emmultine. Needless to say, several dates and months later, the two
of them were married.
However when it came to piracy, the two
of them had severe issues. Whilst Laura was happy to go along killing
and robbing, Stilt was decidedly more lawful, declaring that he was
falsely accused of murder and he'd never commit a further crime. But
even more troubling was Laura's obsession with land. She'd grown up
around legends of ancient machines called Terraformers, which could
bring land back to the world. Stilt simply couldn't see the point of
such a thing and eventually it caused so many arguments that the two
decided to get divorced. In fact by the end it was so bad, Laura
wanted to kill Stilt... and still does in fact.
So Stilt was practically alone and no
closer to finding his Demon. It was time to form a crew...
I always think that Stilt is a
remarkably bright and chirpy character, considering his rather grim
past. Then again, they say some people are happier as a reflex of
such things. Maybe it's the fact that Stilt's got a light Scottish
accent. You can never go wrong there.
I like that he's usually very calm and
jokey in the face of some the mad adventures he and his crew end up
in. He's infinitely brave and unwaveringly loyal, doing anything for
his crew. He's also a very smart man, often being the main brain
behind all of their plans.
One of the only problems I sometimes
have when it comes to writing him is remembering that his legs make
him about twelve foot tall, and that can have consequences in
normal-sized rooms!
