The esoteric Sterling Revolt failed almost as soon as it was started. The Black Egrets of nearby New Meridian overran the small but petulant cluster of farming villages, crushing the ringleaders and then extinguishing any fire that remained. One noteworthy thing did result of the Revolt, however; Percival Botley. The cold-eyed man because a vigilante, taking justice into his own hands when the Canopy Kingdom failed to serve the people that it claimed to. Cloaked in black, he sought out and brought unnecessarily merciful ends to the cruel underlings of corrupt officers, executives, and politicians; soon, he targeted the string-pullers themselves. His district was better served for his illegal but morally justified activity, however bloody and unlawful.
Still, Percy deeply regretted what he had done. However just his actions, he had still killed people—which flew in the face of his own moral code and religion, making him a glorified hypocrite. In the early days he had told himself that he was doing what needed to be done, and that nobody else had the courage necessary...but now, the veil grew ever thinner. Percy developed a consuming fear of death and judgment, fearing he'd be sent to hell despite all the good resulting from his vigilante campaigns. Terrified, he sought out what some might term a mad scientist and begged of him a means to cheat death. The man he pleaded with turned a sympathetic ear to his claims; the corrupt officials Percy strove to remove had confiscated his medical degree (For what ultimately proved to be good reasons) and subsequently ruined his life, turning him from an esteemed doctor into a crazed tinkerer. At Percy's behest, the scientist created one of the first synthetic parasites -a clockwork heart which he dubbed Tick Tock- and installed the device in Percy's body. The incredible machine was designed to sustain him from the inside out, replacing Percy's organs from the inside as they failed with clockwork.
At first, it seemed lucrative. Thanks to Tick Tock, Percy redoubled his efforts, finding death would always allude him. Poison was ineffective; being shot a minor inconvenience. Even when Percy was seized by a crooked police squad, tortured, and robbed of his left arm, bronze mechanisms replaced what was lost. Suddenly, no mission was too dangerous and Percy could cast out for the biggest fish to fry. Justice, though, awaited the vigilante too. As time wore on, Percy found himself changing. Tick Tock was malfunctioning. It made more and more errors, failing to keep him healthy. Percy's skin turned pale and bloated, his blood clotted and green, and when his intestines were torn out by a particularly vicious street gang they were replaced were clockwork tentacles tipped with fearsome mechanical maws. All this, however, failed to alarm him. His mind was withering too, leaving only feral, killer instincts where a brilliant psyche had been. And yet, Grumm could not die. He hunts still.