Figured I might as well put it up, see if there are any comments. Still polishing the personality, always bad at describing that. History is obviously a work in progress, trying to get him from point A to learning magic from an expert. I'm thinking a carnival.
Beyonds questions or suggestions, should anyone have some, I also wanted to put powers out there for Imenak to look at. Hope I was getting across what I meant too, mostly worked off Fellguarde's description of sympathetic magic and went from there. The general idea though is while that's his main skill, he can also perform other kinds of magic if the situation calls. Within reason, of course.
And writing sample, have to pick something good. I'll have to go through RPs I've been in this week.
Name: Tomislaw Aeolus Brandt Waechter
aka Thomas the Majestic
aka Tommy
Age: 25
Gender: Male
Appearance: A man of many countries, Tommy’s complexion is a dull tan, and his features for those that care come from ancestors of many European countries. Roughly common height at 5’ 8”, he maintains only an average physique, mostly lean muscle. It’s mostly toned from practical effort and diet traveling a dangerous world, more than any effort on his part. He manages to keep his hair relatively under control given a lack of barbers, it being cut to stay just above the neck. It’s typically just a bit messy, and naturally is a dark brown although current it displays fading signs of having been dyed black. His eyes are a bright green, attached to a face that’s moderately handsome and a large smile.
His preferred manner of dress tends towards the eccentric. He usually sticks to a plain white button up undershirt, with a fancy dark blue vest sporting three shined silver buttons and two large pockets. The vest, like most of his clothing, is in surprisingly good condition given the circumstances. For performances he has a decently kept black suit coat, and when he travels he sticks to a dull grey trench coat. His pants are loose and black travel pants, study enough to wear around, and a color that hides most stains so as to be suitable for show. He lost his dress shows some time ago while fleeing, and so he sticks to dark traveling boots. Tommy has a top hat in good condition, with a dark blue band around it. Around his waist is a rather large black belt with a belt buckle, tarnished silver with weird etchings in dark blue. Hidden pockets are sewn into it, and a holster is attached to the back of it. Tommy always keeps a revolver in it for self-defense. Rather useless against Sentinels of course, but valuable if he runs into trouble with people or mutants. While traveling, he carries a rather large backpack, stuffed to the brim with what he needs to survive, but also loaded with scavenged goods. It especially holds large numbers of random trinkets and bits.
Personality: Tommy comes off as surprising upbeat, despite circumstances. His clothing mirrors his attitude: even with everything going on, he maintains a level of charm and mystery, and a throwback to better days. This isn’t to say he’s constantly happy, as he faces his own bouts of sour mood and depressing days. He’s a bit of an actor and something of a liar at times, and he’ll continue a façade of happiness to cheer up an audience. Indeed, he’s often a different man while onstage, slipping into his persona. Normally he’ll speak rather plainly, but while on stage he prefers to deliver his phrases with no small bit of flair. While he’s not unused to tricking others for his own gain, it’s a trait he’s tempered recently. It’s one thing to fleece a man of some cash in good times, quite another to deprive folks of supplies in these harsh days. A dedicated young man (mostly dedicated to his own survival), he prides himself on his ability to step back and figured out a solid solution to the issue at hand.
History: A rather odd fellow himself, Tommy came from an unusual family to say the least. His parentage includes blood from at least a dozen European countries, and his name clearly marked parents who knew that and enjoyed it. Tommy doesn’t remember them well: his family left this world when he was young. With all his immediate family either dead or too far away to take him, he fell into an orphanage.
Perhaps it was fate, or perhaps simply a part of life. He could have been adopted by a normal family, been part of a normal life. A standard education, school friends, maybe be considering college when the apocalypse came around. The man who adopted him had seemed kind enough, if a little overbearing. A widower, well off financially, looking for a child. It was just over a week Tommy lived with him, his last taste of a "normal" life. But such was not to be. Tommy found himself in the clutches of a small but rather psychotic cult, led by his new "father." A gathering of rich men delving into dark arts, he probably would have ended there, if it wasn't for the man he later grew to know as teacher and master. Tommy remembers little of that night, partly from his age, partly because he prefers not to. Whatever happened, their schemes were over with, and that magician who intervened, perhaps seeing something in Tommy or simply out of pity, took him in. The man was a magician, and part of a traveling troupe. Happy just to have something of a family now, he quickly slipped into a life with the group. He was home schooled, and while he learned the basics one might find in any school, much of his learning was of an occult type. Beyond daily studies in old tomes and the principles of magic, the others in the carnival taught him their various talents, which he took to with a natural talent and eagerness. Tommy made his keep helping out with various acts and odd jobs, and when he grew older he even went onstage with his teacher, taking on the simple stage name of Thomas the Majestic. As a father figure, the man who had saved him was always somewhat cold and distant, seemingly from a past best left alone. Still, the magician kept Tommy on the straight and narrow as far as magic went, and he grew to care for him. The status quo was shattered close to Tommy's 18th birthday, when his master went out one day, leaving only an ominous statement as to why, and never returned. While he had no facts to back it up, Tommy knew that he was dead.
With his master dead and desiring to go out into the world and make a new home for himself, Tommy took up traveling just as the war started. Hiding the texts that had been left behind in safe places, He went place to place, taking odd jobs and small shows where he could, and pulled off a few cons when he couldn't. It wasn't much of a life, and he always meant to resume his magical studies, but then it didn't last long. Not a month after the war started, and Tommy took to hiding in the shadows of civilization hoping it would all blow over. Before anyone knew it Sentinels ruled North America, and society started to fall away. With already a few tricks to avoiding attention, Tommy's main defense against capture was to keep moving. As shops and homes were deserted, he took up scavenging as a way of life, trading what he didn't need to refugees and resistances. Before long he even had routes, crisscrossing states as he took goods here and there for little more than baubles or other wares. Seeing a, to him, obvious need, he also did shows when he could, some larger than others. Wherever Thomas the Majestic went, he strove to distract people from the world for a day, and he tried to spread his fame while doing so. His trading moved supplies between groups, or his scavenging gather things much needed, but not always free. More than a few people had to turn over once valuable jewelry for a backpack of food.
As times got tougher though, trading turned into something more like supply running. Still, some came to expect his shows, and that fame was more than worth it to him. About a year ago, however, Sentinel control over what was once America finally became too much for him to navigate, and one close call was enough to scare him northward, traveling up into Canada. Searching for a place to hide, he eventually ended up in Newfoundland, parts of which were under mutant control. He travels a much smaller area now, drifting between two different sides of the war. He finds mutant patrols a bit easier to avoid, assuming no good sensors and telepathy, and at least once he's used his abilities and guile to simply convince them he's a mutant too. Still, between the two factions things are getting tougher for him, and so he's heavily considering a way out. So far it seems like a toss up between Europe, South America, or even Cuba, which a few people he's met say is still neutral.
Powers: Magician and Conman: While hardly super powers, much of Tommy’s time has gone into learning the tricks of the magician. Beyond actual “magic” tricks, sleight of hand and misdirection can be valuable, as he can quickly draw items from his person or another, on top of which he’s learned how to manage a crowd with flair and acting. He’s also learned several other kinds of “magic” typically seen in the world, and all manner of ways to scam people out of their money if he had inclination to. This requires some acting skill on his part, so he’s learned to bluff his way through situations and disguise his own emotions. Still, many of these can be beaten by the very observant or telepaths.
Magic: His real powers, however, are his actual skills in the magical arts. Much of his early training was in the principles, history and lore more than practice, so he knows the basic ideas behind far more arts than he has skill in practicing. Still, this gives him a broad knowledge of magic, and he knows many small tricks. Most of the magic he uses require little in the way of obscure phrase and hand motion, and focus more on willing the effect, often with a short rhyme to keep himself focused. It fits his style, as he prefers more subtle magic, and as such his most trained skill is Sympathetic Magic.
Sympathetic magic for Tommy is, simply, following the principle that like begets like. One of the oldest magic’s, it’s the basis worldwide folklore. The association between objects have a certain measure of power, and the trick of it is to manipulate that power to one’s benefit. Eating or owning animal part to gain their abilities, using plants depending on what they’re associated with, owning possessions to gain attributes of their owner. He tends to avoid darker uses such as voodoo dolls if he can. In general, eating an animal or destroying a plant gives greater power than simply holding it. Beyond the actual magic, it requires some thinking on Tommy’s part: namely, to guess what power an object might have. For this reason, Tommy keeps a wide variety of “junk” on him, trinkets and bits, plants and seeds, in case he might need an association they have. While those tend to shift around, two of his current constants are a lucky rabbits foot for jumping out of danger, and his holster belonged to a life-long trick shooter, allowing him to pull of difficult shots. The general level of class his clothing presents can also aid him in impressing and charming audiences and individuals.
Other: Tommy knows short bits and phrases of many languages and cultures, partially from his heritage but mostly from his magical studies and his own fascination with the world.
Tommy is also left handed.
Writing Sample:
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