Kogan
IGN: Kogan Alpsalm
Race: Talos
Age: 37
Gender: Male
Job: Mercenary, primarily. I want to apply to be the leader of the Black Water Mafia, and it would make some sense if the leader of a crime syndicate had some more management skills than efficiency and endurance.
Proficiencies: Efficiency (Merc.) - A, Guns - A, Combat - B, Knowledge (Gen.) - B, Charisma (Dip.) - B, Endurance - C
Character Personality: Kogan, in current day, is man who expects results. The kind of man who is all about the business, and has no problem taking drastic measures to get the job done. He is rather loyal to those who take his side, and somewhat cruel to those against him. Though he sometimes jumps to actions, he knows when it's best to take a step back to think things through, and can formulate plans for the sake of efficiency. He is quite greedy, being a Talos, and because of such treats the members of the mafia with high regards, until the slip up.
Backstory: Kogan began his life in tragic times, as with many other people of the surrounding area. Loeviek, a city of scams. A city where the coinage flows in mass quantities, where the blood hits the pavement. There isn't a thing that Talos wouldn't do for a bit of the good life, and it was plain to see in such an enviroment. In all of his infantile years, Kogan was not sheltered in the least. Even from his bed from the corner in the room, he still observed the happenings of Loevik through the windows, and through the events that happened right in his very own home.
Kogan's father, Leonid Alpsalm, was an influential figure in his life, and is likely one of the reasons that Kogan Alpsalm is the man that we've come to know today. Leonid valued his son... at approximately 60-70 gold pieces, dependent on the buyer. Though it may seem a shallow notion, Leonid Alpsalm was a lover of money, and 60-70 gold was a lot of love in one entity. He exposed his son to the currency of Falendoor at a young age, quite often, to the point where Kogan's eyes seem to reflect gold in the light.
Leonid also exposed his son to his business; the dirty work of the Black Water Mafia. Kogan's father was an expert at he did; extorting select individuals of Loevik through various means.There were nights where Kogan could not sleep, constantly harassed by the yelps and screams of the basement. People would go down clean, and come up bloody. His father, after dismissing his subjects, would sit at the bed-side, bloodied, drenched in sweat, and speak to young Kogan about his business. Dismissing the guilt within himself, and allowing him to sleep comfortably. Little did Leonid know, Kogan could comprehend his ramblings of Black Water, to a degree. Kogan did not ask questions, as he knew by this point in time, it was his father's job to ask the questions. From these days onward, a seed within him began to grow larger by the day...
When Kogan entered his adolesent age, he openly showed interest in his father's job. After much controversy, Black Water allowed Kogan to enter the ranks as a street thief at the age of 15. However, Kogan did not fare well in these endeavors, and was often kept in an overnight cell, and condemned to multiple hours of community service. Fed up with his constant failure, he demanded to work with his father. With his inherited vocal charm, Leonid allowed Kogan to assist in the act of extortion.
Kogan continued this for many years. His father had died of natural causes in this time frame. Leonid's death sparked something in Kogan, a sense of competition, a sense of urgency. Kogan was now alone, unofficially involved in the dirtiest work of the Black Water Mafia. In the distress left in the recent events, Kogan turned to the Black Water Mafia, to join as a fully fledged member, and to continue his father's work.
Kogan, as predicted, ended up joining the Mafia, as the leader of Black Water had feeling that the child of Leonid must have some knack at being a mafia worker. Though when Kogan joined and finally got to see the full picture of the mafia, he realized it was on the brink of collaspe. The leader had grown into a fat and lazy slug, barely capable of moving out of his so called throne. The extortionists that had gone forth to replace his father were more brute than brain, as they simply would crush their opponet into a pulp instead of doing any sort of interrogation. Even the regular members of the Mafia were a disgrace is Kogan's opinion. None there had any sort of specialties, they were just... basic. Kogan had thought a mafia of such would only bring in members that really held a strong will and either great strength or masterful intelligence. Kogan knew something had to be changed.
Kogan sat back watching the mafia at first though, not in any way attepting to fix what seemed so wrong with the group. Yet he was formulating a plan, as he knew that if the state of the mafia kept up like this, not only would they start to lose the business his father worked for, but also their discovery could be coming shortly after failure. Finally, he had a plan mind, and he felt it to be a flawless option. He got to work. One by one Kogan targeted members of the mafia so that he could have a brief "chat" with them. These chats could go either way, Kogan would normally explain his idea and slowly convince the other member to join with his cause. If things went awry, then Kogan would simply use brute force to convince them, and if that failed then he saw no other choice but to rid them from the Mafia, as they were the ones bringing it down.
For the next year (or few, depending on the size) Kogan honed his charisma, and exercised his father's set of skills, until he finally had nearly every mafia member on his side. He knew it was time to step up the game, and to start replacing the officers, the enforcers, and the pushers with himself and some of his best recruits. Though it would take less time than phase 1, he knew it would invlolve more blood. Once more, Kogan began targeting each of the Mafia officials, using the same tactic he did with other members... Yet this time it wasn't just him there. Kogan had 4 of his mafia members there to back him up as he attempted to get the official to join them, and for each one that said no... He was disposed of. Kogan had learned at this point that the only way to save the work his father did was to either watch people join, or take them out of the picture.
Though it still took decent time to do this, Kogan had sucessfully got himself and many of his associates up to the near top of the chain. Kogan knew at this point he only needed to wait to get any higher, as he knew killing anyone else would draw great attention to himself. After the next couple of years, he worked hard in the mafia and eventually became the leader's right hand man. The leader saw Kogan working hard, harder than some others, but the leader didn't know that was his biggest mistake. He was simply a part of the plan, a ring about Kogan's finger. After a year of being the leaders right hand man, and gaining nearly all his trust, Kogan knew it was time to push his agenda to the finish line. The next day, Kogan assembled his group, which at this point had risen to prestigious ranks, with the exception of few, and some new recruits that had come in.
Kogan went forth with his mafia group, and challenged the present leader for claiming of leadership. The leader looked upon what he thought had been his loyal mafia, and now saw it turned against him. Once loyal dogs tamed to a different cause. Kogan said once more to the leader, "Step down from leadership, 'boss', these bullets aren't for you...". The leader slowly bowed his head, and announced his resignation from his position. Kogan then approached the chair the sluggish leader sat upon, and toppled it. With the leader struggling to stand under his own weight, Kogan went forth to announce his next agenda...
"My fellow partners in crime! As most of you already know, I had planned --- no, WE have been planning this for quite a sum of time. To the rest of you on the fence... I have but two options for you. Accept me as your leader, let me devise the plan from here on out, or we will simply have to, say, violently rupture that brain of yours with small bits of lead. For secrecy, of course." Kogan grinned down upon the mafia, his eyes glinting gold in the dim room. He watched as people who were not part of the previous plans quickly shuffle over to join the ranks with his already chosen men. Kogan had now taken over the entire mafia group, and he was ready to make some major changes so that it could be brought back to glory.