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PERSONALITY:
→ Whilst he can be considered an inherently good person, Aleksei is no paragon of virtue. He is ultimately a flawed and troubled individual whose experiences have shaped him. Whilst by day he serves as a precise, accurate, and utterly loyal extension of his nation's hand, standing by Mother Drachma for better or for worse, the moment he punches out, everything starts to unravel. This is where Aleksei's true personality begins to take hold. Operationally, he is fluid, he is conscious, and he is aware; however, when he steps out of the role of Corporal Kasparov and just becomes Aleksei, everything else gets the volume turned down, drastically so. He is ignorant, and by no fault of his own. Blissfully so, and it seems to be a choice -- even if an unconscious one -- but Aleksei loves to numb himself as best he can and just let the world float on by, collected in his eclectic bubble of indifference.

It is, of course, this process of numbing oneself which is of particular significance. Aleksei is self-indulgent, but not through the standard luxuries of champagne and caviar. No, he gets his kicks by being self-destructive. Whilst drugs stay out of the picture for the pure occupational necessity -- though, of course, he has dabbled beforehand -- Aleksei's evening passions oft centre around a bottle of something strong. A daredevil by any other name, his passion for self-destruction rears its head in every aspect of his life except his personal finances, as one would expect from Greed himself. The drink is the most prominent, but the classic model of the aloof alcoholic with the fast car who slowly grinds down through attrition every shot at every relationship he ever would have had.

But Aleksei doesn't do any of this intentionally. Whilst externally his decisions range from good to a little dubious, most who come into contact with him argue that he's a good and loyal person who, whenever he does something one could consider 'wrong', is simply following orders. Everything abhorrent he does, he reminds himself, he does in the line of duty. His recent moral crisis, however, of the past couple of years, has brought him into a habit of thinking more and more about it. How can he strive to be a good man if he does bad things? If he kills on command? If he works only to undermine a nation of others? His moral compass has gone haywire as of late, and the introduction of the morally-contested Philosopher's Stone to his being, unwitting or not, does not help.

There is but one thing that Aleksei's personality holds concrete, however. For as long as he can remember, he's been a hoarder of all things material. His mother called him Magpie as a term of affection for one reason and one alone: Aleksei is greedy. He will negotiate for every last penny he can out of a deal, and the change at his very core of late will only catalyse this. Human Aleksei would have never so much as considered stealing or killing or pillaging to get his material wealth. But now? His fixation with Greed is slowly consuming him, and he can feel the desires lurking in the back of his mind. One can no longer be so sure.

LOVE:
[IT'S IN THE NAME] - One would expect an avatar of avarice, unwilling or not, to have a love for all things material. From banknotes to precious stones, if it's worth anything, he wants it. A bit like a magpie.
[EXPLOSIVE VARIETY] - Aleksei's a soldier, and like any good soldier, he appreciates a fine weapon. Any strong or varied selection of firearms or explosives will get him hard as anything.
[BOOZEHOUND] - Aleksei's job, as much as he loves it, has him working consistently in a high-stress environment. Who wouldn't want a few drinks every now and then?
[NEED FOR SPEED] - Greed's desire for all things material doesn't just stop at wealth, weapons, and drink. A particular niche love of his is classic cars, and though he doesn't own one, he later hopes to retire and set up a restoration business.

HATE:
[THE UNIMAGINABLE] - Aleksei wishes that in his tenure on this Earth, he may never experience the misfortune that some do of being truly impoverished. This is less a prolific manifest hate, but more just a conceptual one, and even then, it's more fearful than ruthless. Aleksei hates poverty.
[INDIFFERENCE OF GOOD MEN] - Aleksei never really sits down to philosophise on the nature of morality. He's pretty sure he's an okay kind of guy, but aside from that, doesn't lend too much thought to it. He does, however, have a special place in his heart to despise not the people who fight for their own ideology, wrong as it may be, but those who simply don't care about the moral quandaries of it all, or, worse, those who profiteer.
[NO HONOUR] - There are those who exist who deserve their wealth. Those who have worked for it. From thief to CEO, from the very bottom rungs of society to its highest and most luxurious echelons, there are those who deserve every penny. It is those who truly don't that Greed, skewed as his judgment may be, despise. Those who have gotten an easy way out. Why? Because, simply enough, he didn't.
[TWO-PINT TOMMY] - More of a real peeve than a full-on hate, Aleksei doesn't get on well with people who can't handle their liquor. No bonus points if they then decide to attempt conversation with him, either.

ALIGNMENT:
→ Chaotic Good

STRENGTHS:
[MILITARY CHAMELEON] - Rigorous training and nearly a decade of experience has tempered Aleksei into the learned FSB agent he is today. Whether it's out-and-out anti-terrorism work, counter-intelligence, recon, or infiltration, he'll do it, and, nine times out of ten, pull it off with aplomb, and get results.
[VERSATILE TRAINING] - Alongside rigorous firearms training, Aleksei's a dab hand with a knife, and is, as with all Drachman special forces, well-versed in the art of Systema, the signature martial art of a long-since disbanded arm of the military.
[THE INTUITION OF TERROR] - After working in this specific field for so long, with a counter-terrorism specialty, Corporal Kasparov has done more than just kill and maim his adversaries. No; enough time dealing with them has granted him limited insight into the mind of the insurgent. Versed in terrorist and guerilla tactics, he can often predict the patterns and movements of adversaries in a number of different situations, be they urban, vehicular, or over more varied terrain.
[NO KILL LIKE OVERKILL] - At his disposal, Aleksei has a series of conventional ballistic firearms which are, together, suited to almost any situation one could conceive of -- and they all fit handily on his person. Versatility and variability are key to his line of work, and Aleksei is on top form with both of them.
[SCARLET CORE] - As a homunculus, a Philosopher's Stone sits embedded at the very core of Aleksei's being. Though is unaware of it as of yet, alongside granting him the signature Ultimate Shield of the Greed of old, Aleksei also possesses a massively accelerated healing factor, increased strength and speed, and cannot be killed conventionally, instead possessing a certain amount of "lives" that must be shaved through before he will die. These will start at 20, be counted here, and will increase by 5 passively every 30 posts as the Stone becomes more resilient. When the counter reaches 0, Aleksei will die permanently, and his Stone will shatter.


WEAKNESSES:
[IGNORANCE IS BLISS] - For a supposed counter-terrorist agent, Aleksei is almost unimaginably imperceptive and, consequently, ignorant. He will often not recognise people he knows as he passes them in the street, and can tend just to block out things he doesn't see with focus and clarity. This of course is why he still doesn't know that he's a homunculus.
[DRAGONHOARD] - Threaten any aspect of his material gains or property -- the hoarder that he is -- and Aleksei will go batshit crazy and lose all direction. Whether this is good or bad all depends on the situation, but it'll get him to see red, either way.
[AT BOTH ENDS] - Aleksei's work is physically tenuous. He sleeps an average of four hours a night, even when he's not on-duty. He drinks most evenings and trains intensely most mornings. As much as he tells himself he's feeling fine -- and as much as the Philosopher's Stone he unwittingly bears within him will keep him healthy -- he's still burning the candle at both ends, and it takes its toll. The fatigue and the sleep deprivation inevitably soon lead to stress.
[UNSTABLE CRUX] - Aleksei was not informed about the changes his body would undergo when he unwittingly took the Philosopher's Stone into his body, nor has he fully realised the extent of its presence or ability. Essentially, its use is, for the moment, tethered to Aleksei's emotional state. Intense rage and the release of adrenaline into his bloodstream will provoke his flesh to harden, whereas sadness, bleak clarity, and moments of depression will cause his flesh to soften and begin to flake off through simple movement and upon touch -- exceptionally painfully so at that.