The Basics
Name:Botach
Nickname:Joseph Ivor, Joe
Real Age:Unknown
Species:Púca
Apparent Age of Main Human Persona:Mid 50's

The Appearance
Weight:83 Kg
Height:188 cm
Physical Description Of Main Human Persona: Botach often dresses himself in his version of smart casual, that is to say some form of suit missing a tie and with several buttons undone at the neck or sometimes wears the shirt un-tucked entirely. He appears to be an aging man with slightly above average height yet carries himself tall and with a youthful and perhaps playful energy about himself. He often wears a warm and mischievous smile that makes him look like he is in on some hidden joke. His hair is a little unkempt as is his short beard and both are heavily flecked with grey. His eyes are a soft yellow in colour that sometimes seem to flicker as if reflecting light. he rarely appears visibly surprised or panicked but more often seems amused when calamity strikes around him. Rather than refined his demeanour appears to be restrained, like a dog straining against the leash.

Through the Veil

Botach has no memory of his original form or appearance and appears as a dark and distorted silhouette of whichever form he wears or last wore in the sight of mortals.

Despite the nature of his shifting form he always has 2 distinctive features present in every true form he takes. The first are a pair of antlers sprouting from the head of whichever form he takes. The antlers can vary in specific shape or size but are always present. the second distinguishing feature are his eyes, in his true form his eye socket appear to be brightly lit with no discernible eyes to be seen. The light is often a very soft yellow in colour.

His true form can also be used to gauge his emotions though Botach has yet to realise this due to his solitary life. When angered his form becomes more bestial with prominent claws and fangs but when joyful his features change to become more graceful and elegant, appearing to have a silhouette similar in form to a high elf.

The Human

Personality:Like most of his kind Botach is entirely comfortable in his own company, only occasionally seeking out others to keep boredom at bay. In some ways Botach is very childlike when exploring new places and with how quickly he can switch emotions or attention. He has always been little more mischievous than benevolent (so far as he can remember) but does not bring any real harm with his pranks other than a few scares. it is rare that he uses his powers maliciously but on those occasions the effect can be devastating to the ones that gained his ire. on the other side of the coin he is also capable of bringing great joy and happiness to those who he favours.

He still retains certain childish tendencies but has learned to restrain his less conventional nature in order to blend in with the humans. As technology developed so did surveillance and Botach begrudgingly learned that turning into a flaming eyed steed to travellers did not have the same reaction as in centuries past and led to other seeking him out to capture or study.

Botach has begun to worry about an end. He had never considered death as a concept that mattered to him yet with the decline of his kind and the expansion of humans it became and ever growing worry for him. He believes that in order to survive he must seek out new purpose and feels that the simple pranks can no longer sustain him forever.

He has a dislike for modern places of worship (meaning any religion that requires more than a few tastefully placed stones in a field) and tries to avoid them where possible, the symbology used by Christianity is especially distasteful to him.

Botach has a weakness for games of chance, bets and dares and finds them nearly irresistible and delight in watching others lose or sometimes even win against him. To most mortals he is rather eccentric. If not for his fortune they would might have thought him rather weird or creepy. Consequences to mortals rarely factor into his day to day plans or choices unless he regards the individual highly and this has led to a series of careless choices that made living in his native home of Ireland difficult. He has grown a taste for playing a human mortal and now seeks a fresh start and a greater purpose.

Botach has a strong Tipperary accent as a default but is pretty good at adapting to the accents of people around him and after several hours his accent can noticeably change to more align with the people around him.

Mundane Skills:Dotach has tried his hand at many types of manual labour in recent years and is fairly proficient in most construction jobs such as carpentry and masonry and isn't too bad at sculpting either. The one thing he truly excels at is cooking. For some reason it oddly came naturally to him without having to resort to his supernatural abilities.
Occupation:
Professional Gambler/ gentleman of leisure


The Not So Human
Species Description:
Púca's are solitary spirits that tend toward mountain or maritime habitats. they are often solitary fae that delight in playing pranks and scaring humans that wander into their territory. Depending who you ask, the Púca may be regarded as a terrifying monster or gentle and kind creature. Púca's have the potential to do great good and many have been told to help humans avoid great danger. They can appear in all manner of forms beautiful and horrifying yet tend to choose ro more commonly assume the form of animals.
Powers and Abilities:
Shapeshifting: Púca's can shapeshift in many forms and can choose to be beautiful or horrifying as their whim dictates, they are also capable of taking human form and human speech when they choose.

Fortune: Púca's have the ability to manipulate 'fate' or 'luck' being able to cause fortune or miss fortune to befall others. in order for the Púca's power to work the intended effect must be possible even if incredibly improbable. For more concentration and emotional investment in the power for more precise the Púca can alter fate. the power grows stronger when it comes games of chance; dice rolls are not difficult for Botach to control though cards drawn from a poker deck is more difficult and incredibly taxing if the dealer is intentionally cheating. A Púca rarely loses a coin toss and with some effort could make it consistently land on its edge when flipped onto a flat surface.

When used on a larger scale the Púca's ability becomes harder to control and will very rarely cause a phenomenon whereby the world balances the 'luck' or 'fate' for good or ill to correct the manipulation from its correct course. Fortunately these large scale uses whilst, powerful only occur when the Púca in question is under extreme emotional pressure. the Púca's playful nature makes it difficult to achieve this state and it is almost impossible to do so willingly.

The Story
Character Background:
Botach spent most of his life on the same mountain, rarely travelling far except when his home was under threat of discovery due to his antics. it is only the last 6 decades or so that he has mingled with humans and begun begrudgingly learning their odd ways. Botach took simple jobs of labour at first, his ability to shift his form to suit the task made such jobs easy and he learned much of humans whilst working amongst them.

The most significant event in his recent history was the discovery of the concept of gambling for money, and more specifically Botach's powers being able to affect it in his favour. Remarkably soon after learning about the possibility of his gifts he discovered that humans despise cheaters and do not enjoy losing every time. It was this that prompted him to begin travelling. He slowly travelled Ireland winning only a few games here and there to blend in but steadily began saving his money, seeing little need to pay for anything other than clothing once it became worn.

As technology developed he learned to drive vehicles and ride bicycles though truth be told he much preferred to travel as a bird or a steed. Time passed and he discovered that the more money he had and the nicer clothes he wore, the more receptive and welcoming the humans were. So he set about amassing a fortune from the back of gambling and soon he was loved by everyone but the people who ran games. They had plans to make Botach's stay in the world less permanent and more abrupt than was proper for a fae. Botach fled back to his mountain but discovered that it too had be overtaken by humans that's swarmed over it and so Botach felt despair for the first time in a long while.

One day he sat in his human house, drinking whiskey and watching the banality of human television when he decided on a fresh start. He reconnected with the local fae and learned of a place in New York where humans and fae worked together. He obtained the address and set off to the airport, taking only a hastily packed suitcase his wallet, phone and a passport, which through a series of incredibly fortunate events, had been signed processed and returned in only 4 days time.

Past Connections:TBC
Current Connections:Botach is an acquaintance Gremian and they have kept loose contact with each other for a number of years. One such communication was received by Botach several months prior to his move to New York and is one of the reasons he chose to go there and see this library for himself.