Dark Days and Darker Nights Information

Nathan Barrows
Character Details Name: Nathan Barrows Age: 24 Gender: Male Sexuality: Homosexual Appearance: About five-four, Nathan has a narrow but fairly athletic build, which he uses to carry himself with an impressive confidence that makes him seem larger than life. A crown of carroty red caps his diamond-shaped face. He has an easy smile, though usually with a smug superiority. His eyes are mismatched; one hazel and one blue. The young man dresses quite well. His day-to-day wear is typically a stylish button-down shirt, slacks, tie, a vest, and decent shoes. Beyond the clothing themselves, Nathan has a wide array of accessories in matching sets of silvery, gold, and copper metals: metal sleeve garters, a pocket watch on a one chain and a smoky quartz on another, a chain bracelet, and an earing. He also keeps a few useful tools in his pockets, thought such are small enough as not to disrupt his silhouette; a piece of chalk stored in a plastic lip balm tube, a small satchel of sage, a tiny spray bottle of his sandalwood cologne, and a mint tin full of birthday candles. Human or 'Monster'? (eg: Supernatural): Human (O-Class) Powers (if Super): Born with an innate gift for magic, Nathan can cast an impressive array of spells, charms, hexes, and enchantments. The overwhelming majority of his spells, however, take ten minutes or more to cast depending on range, scope, and the effect itself. Notable exceptions include: With relative ease, Nathan can discharge what looks like a darkened stroke of lightening from any of his fingers. Besides the burn and frostbite his bolts inflict, they work unlike a taser on a struck target in causing seizures. By 'charging up,' Nathan can send out a bolt that leaps between multiple targets or that explode outward from him. Nathan knows and uses a rhyming, almost hypnotic chant that creates a rather effective barrier against magical effects and creatures, forming a protective bubble that lasts as long as Nathan chants. Any supernatural creature already in the bubble is not ejected, but their movement becomes sluggish and heavy - Nathan himself is not immune to that effect. Nathan has an 'charming' spell that works that works by allowing him to flood the target with a feeling of euphoria that is intensely addictive during the span of the spell's duration; he can also withhold the high to cause equally intense withdrawal. The spell lasts about an hour maximum, after which all addiction and withdrawal are lifted. Nathan can throw hexes out, creating a variety of unpleasant and potentially debilitating effects not always explainable by science. While Nathan hasn't quite figured out what he will inflict, examples include an intense ringing in the target's ears, blue warts, migraines, weeping abscesses, acne, and causing his target to smell like sewage. Nathan can conjure a variety of basic and minor effects in someone way connected to the elements; he can create gusts of wind or sustained breezes to crudely manipulate small objects, floating balls of fire the size of his fist, showers of sparks, splashes of water, and the like. Nathan can leave a 'mark' on an object to enhance it within logical lines of its purpose as part of interacting with it - by way of example, Nathan might imbue an umbrella as part of opening it to protect anyone under it from rain, wind, and dragonfire; he might lock a door and reinforce it against being broken down; or a standard steel knife might be made to leave lasting wounds on a werewolf. No matter the item or effect, Nathan's improvements work significantly better against magical phenomenon - the umbrella mentioned would provide better protection against the dragon than it would a natural tornado. Nathan can turn everyone within a fifteen foot radius in to a toad, rabbit, mouse, or bat for up to an hour; this includes himself. Every target is turned into the same type of animal, and transform back all at the same time if the spell is broken prematurely somehow for any target. The spell does not effect clothing or other inanimate materials, and despite a few animal instincts here and there targets maintain their own knowledge and personalities when transformed. Nathan also has some 'perks' due to his supernatural nature. He can see auras as projections around creatures and possibly objects, meaning he might detect creatures otherwise hidden behind objects and possibly read their moods and any magical effects lingering or imbued on them. Folk magic of various flavors tend to work for him, such as burning sage to expunge curses or ghosts; divination using a crystal on a pendant, a 'focus' from his target, and a map; and lines of salt, powdered brick, or chalk to create effective barriers against malicious forces - such barriers function similarly to the ones Nathan himself is susceptible. Skills (if Human or Not Super): Even for matters not connected to the supernatural, Nathan is an accomplished researcher, and skilled at the decoding and/or translation of codes and languages he does not already know. In line with his archaeological work, he is also fairly good at dating, authenticating, and identifying both terrestrial and extraterrestrial artifacts. Weaknesses: Despite his formidable magical power, Nathan is inevitably human, and a fairly weak one at that. He suffers all the mundane hindrances of a healthy human male with his physical age and attributes. Additionally, Nathan has a number of supernatural 'laws' that he can not violate, either at his own discretion or even if mentally influenced somehow. However, the restrictions can be overcome if someone else physically forces Nathan to do so, such as by lifting and carrying him or giving him a good shove. Nathan's strictures include the following: Nathan can not enter a dwelling not his own without an invitation, or if he is carrying a key to any door within it. Once inside, Nathan can not be 'uninvited,' but if he leaves (or is forced out) he would need a new invitation. An invitation can either be given by someone or something tied to the dwelling itself (such as someone who lives there or a mat with the word 'welcome' on it) or anyone else physically within the dwelling at the time. If he is not be able to enter, Nathan can neither assault the dwelling nor anyone inside from outside in any way; any such attempt stops immediately before the walls or the invisible barrier and either dissipates harmlessly or falls to the ground. In a fashion similar to a dwelling, Nathan can not cross a line or affect a line of salt or powdered brick drawn by anyone who would consider him foe. Unlike a dwelling, the barrier Nathan experiences extends in both directions. While Nathan can not take any action to try to disrupt such a line himself, the line loses its power over Nathan if it is somehow broken or covered. Indoors or underground such barriers extend to the ceiling and do not impede Nathan if he is on another floor unless there is a significant break in the ceiling. Such barriers lose their power and become inert at midnight. If an iron nail is intentionally pushed into any footprint Nathan has made since the previous midnight, the foot that left it becomes instantly locked in its current location, potentially even leaving Nathan to remain suspended by that foot in midair. The effect lasts until midnight passes, the nail is removed, or someone else forces Nathan's foot from its locked location: any of which also negate that same footprint from being used again. When alone or with anyone else suffering a similar affliction, Nathan gets lost and disoriented at crossroads and road intersections. This 'law' only has an affect outdoors, and does not kick in if there is at least one visible sign with a street name. Magical creatures tend to feel a prickling on the back of their neck when Nathan is near. They can also typically tell by looking at him that he is something more than an ordinary human. If and when Nathan dies, he is all but slated to rise as a vampire, ghost, or werewolf. Occupation: Nathan works for the Sanctum as archaeologist, researcher, curse-breaker, as well as support on monster-hunting missions. Living At: A small, quaint, aggressively-warded loft with a series of useful enchantments near the Sanctum. Character Depth History (where are you from? How did you get here? Why are you here? ect...): From birth, there were a lot of signs for those who knew what to look for that Nathan was going to be something more than a normal boy. For anyone else, they were a striking array of bizarre coincidences. Nathan was caul-born under a solar eclipse. Once that was cleared away, it became apparent that he was born with a tail, an extra nipple, an extra toe on each foot, and a full set of milk teeth. The tail was corrected surgically within a few months of birth and the teeth were replaced normally, but the remainder is still around for those who know that those are all signs of hose touched by the supernatural. All in all, Nathan was an exceptional student, but otherwise had a fairly mundane childhood until he hit about fourteen, got into a fight at school, and ended up hexing one of his classmates with an allergy to mirrors. The bizarre nature of the incident, and a few other similar encounters the same year, put Nathan on the Sanctum's radar. Five years later, Nathan was finishing his studies in anthropology and literature at UC San Diego and otherwise living the dream. A few days into winter break also marked the first time Nathan encountered anything supernatural; he'd been coming back from a birthday party, walking through the neighborhood int he middle of the night. It was the aura that gave the monster away; a dark haze unpleasant to look at, surrounding what looked to be an ordinary person. Even without the aura, the hungry look and clear direction towards Nathan was reason enough for him to head the other way and fast. It caught up, and ended up herding Nathan into an alley. To their mutual surprise, Nathan got of a frantic bolt then the ghoul grew closer as a graze, and another that took it down when he was backed the rest of the way into the dead end. When the ghoul was down, Nathan tried to run and ended up slamming into a gargoyle and a cyclopes from the illustrious San Diego Aurora Sanctum. The ghoul went in to lockup, and Nathan got brought in for a lengthy interrogation and a thorough overhaul of Nathan's world view. A good eight hours later, a rather bewildered college boy arrived back to his apartment, mind blown, with a modest stack of books older than the Constitution. The remaining years were all about study: studying magic, studying monsters, studying ancient cultures, and snapping his way up to PhD. Some of that study was more hands on; Nathan ended up helping capture and/or toe-tag a series of malicious phantasmagoria. Personality: Nathan enjoys the finer things. Fine art, classy dress, and the feeling of superiority that goes with being one of the more capable people in the room. Nathan is more than a bit of a cocky smart-ass. As far as he cares, he deserves to be; he's a super talented warlock who got where he is by being damned good at what he does. More to the point, Nathan isn't super-strong or super-fast, or super durable. He is formidable because he stuck his nose in a book and studied, rather than being born with an automatic edge. Even among other practitioners, the speed in which Nathan mastered magic is unparalleled. Obtaining the elusive 'U-Class' classification is one of Nathan's top goals within the organization, though more for the recognition than the actual level of power that such a classification inherently entails. Despite his mortality, Nathan can either be reckless or disparagingly impatient. When he is excited about something, he can be much more reckless but display the patience of a saint, and vise versa. Beneath his massive ego, his elitist attitude, his sharp satire, and a number of other quirks that are either designed to be intimidating, distant, and superior to others, Nathan does act out of a sense of empathy and justice. However, he will invariably provide a more self-serving explanation when people accuse him of being generous. Likes and Hobbies: Expensive wine, exotic food, and wild parties rank pretty high up. Nathan is also fairly fond of competition and showing off. The majority of Nathan's free time is typically spent with a lazy glass of wine or tea with a book, the pursuit of greater understanding, and/or experimenting with spells to add to his repertoire. Dislikes and Pet-Peeves: Tedium, stupid questions, and people who speak or walk overly slowly.

Nathan Barrows

Character Details

Name: Nathan Barrows

Age: 24

Gender: Male

Sexuality: Homosexual

Appearance: About five-four, Nathan has a narrow but fairly athletic build, which he uses to carry himself with an impressive confidence that makes him seem larger than life. A crown of carroty red caps his diamond-shaped face. He has an easy smile, though usually with a smug superiority. His eyes are mismatched; one hazel and one blue.

The young man dresses quite well. His day-to-day wear is typically a stylish button-down shirt, slacks, tie, a vest, and decent shoes. Beyond the clothing themselves, Nathan has a wide array of accessories in matching sets of silvery, gold, and copper metals: metal sleeve garters, a pocket watch on a one chain and a smoky quartz on another, a chain bracelet, and an earing. He also keeps a few useful tools in his pockets, thought such are small enough as not to disrupt his silhouette; a piece of chalk stored in a plastic lip balm tube, a small satchel of sage, a tiny spray bottle of his sandalwood cologne, and a mint tin full of birthday candles.

Human or 'Monster'? (eg: Supernatural): Human (O-Class)

Powers (if Super): Born with an innate gift for magic, Nathan can cast an impressive array of spells, charms, hexes, and enchantments. The overwhelming majority of his spells, however, take ten minutes or more to cast depending on range, scope, and the effect itself.

Notable exceptions include:

With relative ease, Nathan can discharge what looks like a darkened stroke of lightening from any of his fingers. Besides the burn and frostbite his bolts inflict, they work unlike a taser on a struck target in causing seizures. By 'charging up,' Nathan can send out a bolt that leaps between multiple targets or that explode outward from him.
Nathan knows and uses a rhyming, almost hypnotic chant that creates a rather effective barrier against magical effects and creatures, forming a protective bubble that lasts as long as Nathan chants. Any supernatural creature already in the bubble is not ejected, but their movement becomes sluggish and heavy - Nathan himself is not immune to that effect.
Nathan has an 'charming' spell that works that works by allowing him to flood the target with a feeling of euphoria that is intensely addictive during the span of the spell's duration; he can also withhold the high to cause equally intense withdrawal. The spell lasts about an hour maximum, after which all addiction and withdrawal are lifted.
Nathan can throw hexes out, creating a variety of unpleasant and potentially debilitating effects not always explainable by science. While Nathan hasn't quite figured out what he will inflict, examples include an intense ringing in the target's ears, blue warts, migraines, weeping abscesses, acne, and causing his target to smell like sewage.
Nathan can conjure a variety of basic and minor effects in someone way connected to the elements; he can create gusts of wind or sustained breezes to crudely manipulate small objects, floating balls of fire the size of his fist, showers of sparks, splashes of water, and the like.
Nathan can leave a 'mark' on an object to enhance it within logical lines of its purpose as part of interacting with it - by way of example, Nathan might imbue an umbrella as part of opening it to protect anyone under it from rain, wind, and dragonfire; he might lock a door and reinforce it against being broken down; or a standard steel knife might be made to leave lasting wounds on a werewolf. No matter the item or effect, Nathan's improvements work significantly better against magical phenomenon - the umbrella mentioned would provide better protection against the dragon than it would a natural tornado.
Nathan can turn everyone within a fifteen foot radius in to a toad, rabbit, mouse, or bat for up to an hour; this includes himself. Every target is turned into the same type of animal, and transform back all at the same time if the spell is broken prematurely somehow for any target. The spell does not effect clothing or other inanimate materials, and despite a few animal instincts here and there targets maintain their own knowledge and personalities when transformed.

Nathan also has some 'perks' due to his supernatural nature. He can see auras as projections around creatures and possibly objects, meaning he might detect creatures otherwise hidden behind objects and possibly read their moods and any magical effects lingering or imbued on them. Folk magic of various flavors tend to work for him, such as burning sage to expunge curses or ghosts; divination using a crystal on a pendant, a 'focus' from his target, and a map; and lines of salt, powdered brick, or chalk to create effective barriers against malicious forces - such barriers function similarly to the ones Nathan himself is susceptible.

Skills (if Human or Not Super): Even for matters not connected to the supernatural, Nathan is an accomplished researcher, and skilled at the decoding and/or translation of codes and languages he does not already know. In line with his archaeological work, he is also fairly good at dating, authenticating, and identifying both terrestrial and extraterrestrial artifacts.

Weaknesses: Despite his formidable magical power, Nathan is inevitably human, and a fairly weak one at that. He suffers all the mundane hindrances of a healthy human male with his physical age and attributes.

Additionally, Nathan has a number of supernatural 'laws' that he can not violate, either at his own discretion or even if mentally influenced somehow. However, the restrictions can be overcome if someone else physically forces Nathan to do so, such as by lifting and carrying him or giving him a good shove. Nathan's strictures include the following:

Nathan can not enter a dwelling not his own without an invitation, or if he is carrying a key to any door within it. Once inside, Nathan can not be 'uninvited,' but if he leaves (or is forced out) he would need a new invitation. An invitation can either be given by someone or something tied to the dwelling itself (such as someone who lives there or a mat with the word 'welcome' on it) or anyone else physically within the dwelling at the time. If he is not be able to enter, Nathan can neither assault the dwelling nor anyone inside from outside in any way; any such attempt stops immediately before the walls or the invisible barrier and either dissipates harmlessly or falls to the ground.
In a fashion similar to a dwelling, Nathan can not cross a line or affect a line of salt or powdered brick drawn by anyone who would consider him foe. Unlike a dwelling, the barrier Nathan experiences extends in both directions. While Nathan can not take any action to try to disrupt such a line himself, the line loses its power over Nathan if it is somehow broken or covered. Indoors or underground such barriers extend to the ceiling and do not impede Nathan if he is on another floor unless there is a significant break in the ceiling. Such barriers lose their power and become inert at midnight.
If an iron nail is intentionally pushed into any footprint Nathan has made since the previous midnight, the foot that left it becomes instantly locked in its current location, potentially even leaving Nathan to remain suspended by that foot in midair. The effect lasts until midnight passes, the nail is removed, or someone else forces Nathan's foot from its locked location: any of which also negate that same footprint from being used again.
When alone or with anyone else suffering a similar affliction, Nathan gets lost and disoriented at crossroads and road intersections. This 'law' only has an affect outdoors, and does not kick in if there is at least one visible sign with a street name.
Magical creatures tend to feel a prickling on the back of their neck when Nathan is near. They can also typically tell by looking at him that he is something more than an ordinary human.
If and when Nathan dies, he is all but slated to rise as a vampire, ghost, or werewolf.

Occupation: Nathan works for the Sanctum as archaeologist, researcher, curse-breaker, as well as support on monster-hunting missions.

Living At: A small, quaint, aggressively-warded loft with a series of useful enchantments near the Sanctum.

Character Depth

History (where are you from? How did you get here? Why are you here? ect...): From birth, there were a lot of signs for those who knew what to look for that Nathan was going to be something more than a normal boy. For anyone else, they were a striking array of bizarre coincidences. Nathan was caul-born under a solar eclipse. Once that was cleared away, it became apparent that he was born with a tail, an extra nipple, an extra toe on each foot, and a full set of milk teeth. The tail was corrected surgically within a few months of birth and the teeth were replaced normally, but the remainder is still around for those who know that those are all signs of hose touched by the supernatural.

All in all, Nathan was an exceptional student, but otherwise had a fairly mundane childhood until he hit about fourteen, got into a fight at school, and ended up hexing one of his classmates with an allergy to mirrors. The bizarre nature of the incident, and a few other similar encounters the same year, put Nathan on the Sanctum's radar.

Five years later, Nathan was finishing his studies in anthropology and literature at UC San Diego and otherwise living the dream. A few days into winter break also marked the first time Nathan encountered anything supernatural; he'd been coming back from a birthday party, walking through the neighborhood int he middle of the night. It was the aura that gave the monster away; a dark haze unpleasant to look at, surrounding what looked to be an ordinary person. Even without the aura, the hungry look and clear direction towards Nathan was reason enough for him to head the other way and fast. It caught up, and ended up herding Nathan into an alley. To their mutual surprise, Nathan got of a frantic bolt then the ghoul grew closer as a graze, and another that took it down when he was backed the rest of the way into the dead end. When the ghoul was down, Nathan tried to run and ended up slamming into a gargoyle and a cyclopes from the illustrious San Diego Aurora Sanctum. The ghoul went in to lockup, and Nathan got brought in for a lengthy interrogation and a thorough overhaul of Nathan's world view. A good eight hours later, a rather bewildered college boy arrived back to his apartment, mind blown, with a modest stack of books older than the Constitution.

The remaining years were all about study: studying magic, studying monsters, studying ancient cultures, and snapping his way up to PhD. Some of that study was more hands on; Nathan ended up helping capture and/or toe-tag a series of malicious phantasmagoria.

Personality: Nathan enjoys the finer things. Fine art, classy dress, and the feeling of superiority that goes with being one of the more capable people in the room. Nathan is more than a bit of a cocky smart-ass. As far as he cares, he deserves to be; he's a super talented warlock who got where he is by being damned good at what he does. More to the point, Nathan isn't super-strong or super-fast, or super durable. He is formidable because he stuck his nose in a book and studied, rather than being born with an automatic edge. Even among other practitioners, the speed in which Nathan mastered magic is unparalleled. Obtaining the elusive 'U-Class' classification is one of Nathan's top goals within the organization, though more for the recognition than the actual level of power that such a classification inherently entails.

Despite his mortality, Nathan can either be reckless or disparagingly impatient. When he is excited about something, he can be much more reckless but display the patience of a saint, and vise versa.

Beneath his massive ego, his elitist attitude, his sharp satire, and a number of other quirks that are either designed to be intimidating, distant, and superior to others, Nathan does act out of a sense of empathy and justice. However, he will invariably provide a more self-serving explanation when people accuse him of being generous.

Likes and Hobbies: Expensive wine, exotic food, and wild parties rank pretty high up. Nathan is also fairly fond of competition and showing off. The majority of Nathan's free time is typically spent with a lazy glass of wine or tea with a book, the pursuit of greater understanding, and/or experimenting with spells to add to his repertoire.

Dislikes and Pet-Peeves: Tedium, stupid questions, and people who speak or walk overly slowly.