Ian Als Heim

Ian Als Heim (イアン・アルス・ハイム) is a game original character that appeared in Mass for the Dead.

Appearance
A middle-aged man with short wavy platinum blonde hair.

Personality
Ian holds a great deal of confidence from Captain of the 1st Division. In the past, he believed in the Slane Theocracy's human supremacy ideology, but the state of the world after the Catastrophe changed his world view. Since then Ian continues to seek out which missions he should fulfill. A gregarious character he is easiest to get along and holds a lot of respect from his men and allies.

Background
A Commander of the 1st Division in the Sunlight Scripture. Since the establishment of the Tripartite Alliance Ian finds that his nation now must cooperate with people who's faith and racial background go in conflict with his doctrine.

Ian was assigned a mission by Nigun Grid Luin to lead a mission of the Sunlight Scripture by transporting relief supplies from the Theocracy to the damaged city of E-Rantel. Noting the locals' apparent distrust of the priests of the Theocracy, he stated it was to be expected. While his men feel they are not given their due, Ian is more diplomatic and understanding. Upon seeing a half-elf child, Ian is more surprised than disgusted. He tried to set an example for his subordinates and tries to be friendly. The boy's elven mother soon comes and is apprehensive towards Ian and his men. Ian seeing her injured son offers to help heal him but as he reaches she scream at him to stay away, but he heals the boy nonetheless. While the boy is healed, the mother is still suspicious and quickly takes her child away from the scene. He is disappointed by the reaction, but keeps up a positive face to his men, but to his surprise the half-elf boy comes back and personally thanks him and asks to know a little more of his faith.

Mass for the Dead Arc
Ian later goes to the Carne Village where he manages to find the survivors of a Chaos Beast attack. His team also meet the Swords of Darkness, who agree to travel with the survivors to E-Rantel, leaving him with the protagonist, Nabe and Slimeko. Though he is distrusting of the group, overtime he comes to trust them. When Aura Bella Fiora and Mare Bello Fiore join the group to explore the depths of the Great Forest of Tob to locate the reason why the monsters are flooding out, he was willing to work with them despite the Theocracy's creed of human superiority. As a gesture of trust, he eventually reveals his face and properly introduces himself. While traveling into the forest, he bonds with the protagonist's group, especially with the elves. After experiencing some battles with undead, he explains the Theocracy's prejudice towards non-humans. While he believes in the creed, he makes it absolutely clear he is not blinded by hate and only does so for humanity's benefit.

When a massive horde of spiders were fleeing from a wave of Chaos Beasts, he fought alongside protagonist and helped slay the leader of the monsters. He took the opportunity to express his interests in the protagonist's origin and believed that they were from a distant country sent to learn more about the Cracks. While he did not wish to be confirmed he understood the secrecy as he and his Scripture operated under certain circumstances.

When the Crack was located, the phenomena began to release miasma, that threatened to poison them. Ian ordered a complete retreat. However to add more woes more Chaos Beasts were spawned from the Crack. To buy some time for his men, he stood alone with his summon and fought the monsters. He was nearly killed until he was saved by Leinas Rockbruise, who been sent by the Baharuth Empire to investigate the area for a Crack.

After the mission, he guides the protagonist and Slimeko to the city of E-Rantel where they meet Saint Clementine. Despite knowing her truth origins, the priest refrains from any harsh action as it would look bad for the Theocracy. He then excuses himself to make his report to Nigun Grid Luin.

At the time of the summit of the three nations of the Tripartite Alliance, Ian and his forces are handling he monster subjugation around the city. Ian believes that he monsters wouldn't dare think of invading the meeting place of all three nations since it gathered the forces of the entire alliance. However his superior not taking the chance ordered all forces to be on high alert. Nigun's intuition proved to be wise as a horde of Chaos Beasts began to invade from the north. The front line's defenses despite their readiness were broken through. To buy some time to warn E-Rantel, Ian and Leinas stayed behind to fight the beasts. He, Leinas and their forces were defeated by the appearance of a powerful Chaos Beast that could used Martial Arts. Ian and the other would have been killed had it not been for the intervention of the protagonist.

Later after surviving his ordeal, Ian was seen at the new front line of the city's defense conducting drills. He along Nigun were met with surprise when Nimble Arc Dale Anoch brought additional forces from the Empire to supplement the city's forces. However the way in which it was conducted meant that the Empire was subverting the three nations' military presences in the city. Realizing this could change the balance of power, Nigun ordered Ian to report it to the higher-ups.

Abilities and Powers
Ian can at least use the 3rd tier magic of the faith system.

Active

 * Summon Angel 3rd Tier: Summons an Archangel Flame.

Nigun Grid Luin
Nigun is Ian's direct superior, the two appear to have a cordial relationship. While Ian respects Nigun, he understands that there things the two see differently in their faith. Nigun expressed concern for his subordinate being sent to E-Rantel amongst heathens, but while he thinks Ian has not fully embraced the faith of his Scripture, he was confident Ian would succeed and perhaps open a new frontier for their faith.

Leinas Rockbruise
Ian made an acquaintance with the knight fending off corrupted demi-humans and came to respect her skills.

Saint Clementine
Ian is aware of Clementine's past and is disgusted with her as a traitor. He finds it ironic that she had become a saint, and wonders if she has an ulterior motive. However, since she is a well known public figure in E-Rantel, there is very little he can do without making a diplomatic incident.

Trivia

 * Ian is the third new character from the game Mass for the Dead. He was added as a limited-time character on March 31, 2019.