Rocksalt

Rocksalt is the leader of the Junkyard. While in truth the Council has all power Rocksalt deals with every issue upfront and brings anything to the Council's attention that he deems is worthy of their time. He is always at the Junkyard lumbering either in the Upper or Lower Tier keeping an eye on both his people as the visitors around.

Description
On a first meeting and at a glance Rocksalt seems impossibly intimidating having little features that would reveal a rather kind and understanding personality underneath.

A  very active life both before and after the Exodus has given Rocksalt a rather impressive physique. He lacks the defined muscles usually seen on athletic people as his muscles come from hard labour and toil rather than routine and specialized exercises. Adding to that his diet, mainly consisting out of potatoes and pork, he has developed a good layer of fat over his muscles. He stands further out since he is a ginger with incredibly pale skin that is entirely white during long seasons of little sun but gains a large amount of freckles once exposed. His bright orange hair is usually kept in a mixture of a mohawk and a military haircut. He has a short but bushy beard further adding to an imposing appearance.

His truly outstanding aspects are not his bulk nor his bright red hair but his alterations to his person. Being a Junker they have access to technology granting them bionic limbs and features. He has a bionic arm fastened just below his amputated left arm. He had wanted a regular bionic limb placed on the remains of his arm but due to the injury being from even before the Exodus and his body rejecting the implant at that place he could not be granted a full functioning bionic limb. In it's place he has a smaller and simpler bionic fastened just below having two fingers and a thumb. It has very low dexterity but can complete average day tasks such as picking up, pushing aside, pointing or other actions requiring low amounts of finesse.

Personality
Rocksalt's appearance entirely contradicts his person. He is a kind, understanding and gentle man who does not rule his faction with an iron fist but rather with suggestions and a friendly hand on the shoulder. He believes that the people can lead themselves in their daily lives and that at times only a nudge in the correct way is needed to keep a community happy. He stands entirely to the disposal of the people but it his own or visitors. At times Rocksalt is a bit overpowering as a person, his overly jolly nature draining for some people while uplifting for others. He is loud and has booted his knowledge of an 'inner voice' entirely out of the window.

Rocksalt is a man who can endure a lot be it physically or mentally, he has lived a life where this was needed in order to survive. Endurance and a buttload of luck ensured that he still stands today. From a young age Rocksalt had been enticed by animals of all sorts, especially the odd looking ones. The ugly ones, the defunct ones. A trait that has given him much grief in the years after the exodus. With entirely new species or rather sentient orbs of magic taken form he has, on several occasions, attempted to adopt one of the unfortunate looking creatures with varying levels of success.

But do not mistake him for a fool. For all his generosity and camaraderie he takes offense to people who abuse this. It takes a lot for him to get mad but when he does there are consequences to be paid and he will personally see to it that they are. While overall his knowledge is low average to average his tactical wisdom is not to be taken lightly. He does not hold grudges for extending periods of time. If people have been punished accordingly or seen the error of their mistakes he is always read to grant another chance and begin anew with a clean slate.

History
Pre-Exodus there is little information Rocksalt is willing to give out. He is visibly not proud of most of it and prefers to keep it in the past. One of the sure ways to make him standoffish is to continue to probe about it. What is known by most Junkers is that his past got him a jail sentence. The reason and duration are not known to anyone but the other inmates who were released out of the jail when Meredith freed them.

The years after his release and the beginning of the Junkers, who were then Raiders were dark times for him, again things he doesn't like to talk about. He was effective in those years and as good as merciless. People readily crowned him their leader. He had the charisma, he knew what he was doing and he kept everyone safe and in line. He was different in that time. While not necessarily cold-hearted or merciless he was less jovial and less filled with the joys of life.

The Carnage took a lot out of him, seeing all his closest friends die gruesome deaths and having to lead few survivors, too few, back to their camp did a number on him. He lived with the guilt, he realized what he had done or what he had tried to do.

It was Meredith who finally told him to put himself back out there and be the leader of the Junkers once more. He now takes the job far less seriously and knows that the Council are decent judges of characters, better than him anyway.

Trivia

 * He will always tell a different story when people ask him how he lost his arm.
 * The '?'-tattoo on his left arm only ensure he can continue to tell stories.
 * Has (un)successfully adopted a reptile-gooselike creature as a pet. In truth it was attracted by the free and easy meals Rocksalt kept giving it an now sees the obnoxious cooing sounds as the dinner bell.
 * In festive times he allows the Junker kids to dress him up in coloured LED-lights.