Marcus Kolbeinn
The Basics
Name: Marcus Kolbeinn
Gender: Male
Age: 29
Race: Human
The Physical
Physical Description: In his late 20s Marcus is a slightly overly thin man with lightly tanned skin and a frail looking build. High cheekbones and a weak chin combined with thin lips give him an almost petulant look though that is faintly hindered by the overly focused way his blue eyes regard everything around him. He keeps his dark hair cut fairly close to his skull and would go for a full skinhead look were it not for the negative reactions that would receive in certain areas.
His English has the slight accent to it that marks him as a non-native speaker who nevertheless has had quite thorough formal lessons in the tongue.
The clothes he wears tend to do their best to compensate for his appearance, usually at the lower end of expensive and selected to disguise his smaller frame. Simple attire, shifted as appropriate to what sort of event he is attending but where possible defaulting back to jeans and shirts of dull colours outside of business attire and plain suits for anything more formal.
Alternate Form: n/a
Talents & Weaknesses
Skills: An excellent chef Marcus combines the abilities with a wide ranging collection of biological knowledge that lets him put together dishes that would not be out of place in the finest dining establishments in the world. Particularly unusually he is capable of making a meal out of things most would never see on their menu either because of obscurity or legality.
While that was his area of focus the family's lessons for him were the same as any of his siblings. Medicine, magical lore, etiquette, and similar were all considered as important as the baseline education most would receive and drilled into him by tutors with no patience and accustomed to this over generations of his bloodline.
As well as that the family ensures a degree of combat training is part of every one of their lineage's education, even more so if they head off into the wider world outside of the family's watchful eye. Unsurprisingly most, including Marcus, tend to cheat slightly by adjusting the weapons they own to add a degree of bone to them to let them fight that bit more efficiently. Without that level of support he is unlikely to be able to handle himself against anyone with serious training but is slightly more capable than the norm.
Powers: Like the rest of his family Marcus has a talent for osteomancy, manipulation of bones through magic. The family talent also lends itself to limited divination through various bone mediums and even a very limited degree of biokenesis. The latter is much more limited to the sort of thing that medical science could eventually achieve itself given time and largely stems from refinements devised by family members over the years rather than the swiftly cast evocations those truly talented with such things can manage.
The osteomancy however is something almost effortless for most of his family and over time various tricks have been passed down by ever sneakier family members. Boots not capped with steel alone but a small amount of bone too let manipulation of it produce kicks that would leave martial artists astounded. A thin layer of bone made malleable and disguised as a handkerchief gives an unexpected shield that confuses even arcanely inclined observers. And f course there are always the old tricks of doing terrible things to someone's internals by fiddling with their ribcage.
Marcus' personal abilities, especially when it comes to divination, have been honed by his food focused specialisation. Unlike the old augers who can read someone's fate in the organs of a bird he is better at doing so with the picked clean bone of their rack of ribs.
Vulnerabilities: The most basic weakness of practicioners from his family line is their defences tend to have greater holes in than the magical shields favoured by many others. They rely on the bone mediums they favour which while sometimes more suitable to entirely physical attacks are a lot more limited when it comes to assaults less easily resisted. Fire for example one of their shields might block a blast but they would not ward off the residual heat with the same efficiency as a wizard's shield would.
In addition obviously enough he needs bone to work with for his osteomancy. Marcus cannot skewer a ghost with its own skeleton though he can and does carry slivers of bone shards tipped with iron, coated in salt or similarly altered for various foes in the cuffs of his sleeves.
Under The Hood
Personality: Dryly humoured with a polite and respectful manner Marcus blends in well as a background existence amongst high society or Accorded Nations equally well. Only those close to him know that there is a personality beneath all of that, buried deep behind layers of training and obligation but still there. He has a borderline obsessive dedication to his work even if a small part of him does resent the fact that in a lot of ways he does not have much of a life as an individual.
Something of a traditionalist in dealing with others he tends to adhere very closely to rules of hospitality and dealing with others with the respect they are due.
Backstory: From a family with a historical specialisation in osteomancy Marcus in same ways is fairly typical for them. The Kolbeinns originate from Greenland and still have family holdings there where they are considered even by the locals area who have known generations of them as a bit somewhat odd. Quiet about their personal affairs, friendly in their manner but distant and with an overly focused attitude when dealing with even the most minor thing despite that they make a point of reaching out others and building connections wherever they go, even in places they only settle short term. Mundanely the family have an extensive number of its members go into medicine usually with the same specialisation but some of them go into lines of work with some overlap with the family's interests such as paleontology, bioengineering, history and more.
In the supernatural community their behaviour is a bit more understandable with those who know about them. While the origin of the family's abilities is unclear it has always been heavily focused on divination through the medium of bones. Some claim they have their routes in various famed oracles, others that the origin lies in practices that predate most organised wizardry that survives to this day. Those less positively inclined instead make insinuations about necromancy or pacts with demons as the original source of the power. While some of the elders of his family may know the truth Marcus is still far too young and unremarkable to be considered even close to being worthy of such secrets. Whatever the reality a talent for biological manipulation largely limited to manipulation of skeletal structures as well as a knack for divination with bones as the primary medium has been something that has consistently bred true through their bloodline for as long as any of the currently living members can recall.
As the talent rarely has expanded much beyond these specific and never to the abilities of a full wizard the family has never been accepted into the council but they have had to endure extensive Warden enquiries into their life. Given the ease which animated bones can look like necromancy to the overly paranoid gaze they have had numerous issues over the years, not helped by the fact that as such minor practicioners for a long time the family had no real ability to push back when over zealous wizards opted for the immolate first approach. As a result over the years the Kolbeinns have made a point of building friends in other parts of the supernatural community. Most notably since its inception there has been at least one member employed full time by Monoc Securities somewhere in the world, officially as a medical expert but usually performing more esoteric duties also. The majority of their other connections are with much more minor players in the wider world but over generations the family at least managed to nest themselves as a known quantity in the Council's records, though there have still been incidents over the years.
In addition to the search for allies the Kolbeinn family also pursued further efforts to develop its familial magic. Between pursuing various mundane fields of study to widen their understanding of the biological world and pursuit of various sources of more magical lore they also took the more unusual route of having their children pursue relationships with various minor talents or other practicioners where possible if their abilities seemed to have a degree of compatibility. This has resulted in them having ties to various minor magical lineages across the world and occasionally resulted in more unusual permutations of their abilities, though very few of those seem to breed true. Even to this day the assumption is that when a member of the family marries it will be to advance the family in some way, shape or form be it cementing political relationships or trying to develop their talents further.
Even the mortal world was considered worthwhile to spread their influence to, working over centuries to cement themselves in various parts of the world and amass not just material power but the less obvious influence in various parts of human society. Very rarely that would involve leveraging their unique talents, particularly the medical side of things. Sometimes there were conditions that they could help with where mortal medicine could not and when deemed to be worth the risk they would take the opportunity. While the Kolbeinn lineage never had the same success that more massive groups like the vampire courts managed they nevertheless were able to carve out a slice of such things for themselves and much as they had on the supernatural side of things every generation was expected to build on what the ones before had done and leave the next in a better situation than themselves.
With such a familial history it was therefore unsurprising that Marcus is a somewhat mirthless sort. He had the misfortune of being part of a large brood of children, ninth of ten, meaning that by the time he appeared the family was running short on opportunities given they had finite resources to invest in each generation. They might have connections in a wide number of establishments across the world but every part of the Kolbeinns competed for those and even outside of his immediate family he was part of an especially large generation and as such there were a lot of opportunities already claimed. He was not from a particularly renowned branch of the family and as such people were slightly at a loss for what to do with him. Despite learning from all of his siblings, either by directly pestering, stealing their research or just simple osmosis Marcus did not show a particular talent in any specific area the family normally favoured.
He was however undeterred and sought ways to prove he was worth investing in, examining records of discarded routes other family members had attempted for their abilities that fell outside the normal areas already monopolised. Eventually Marcus found an area that should have been obvious, that of food preparation. Manipulation of bones let him handle meat in manners no mundane chef could and practice began to yield results. While initially scoffed at when it was pointed by one amused elder that the family prioritised its diplomatic efforts as much as any others and a good meal was rarely a bad idea there was an extensive and fairly irritable discussion before it was concluded that there might be some mileage here. Unfortunately for Marcus while the family was happy to try a new route they wanted to see swift results to justify it. Which is how he found his first period of extensive time away from the family being at university where alongside his studies there and at a fairly renowned restaurant he was also assisting a family member's work with one of the various ghoul clans out there.
The Kolbeinn family had had dealings with various supernaturals like ghouls whose diet was largely meat based for a long period of its history. Partially due to an overlap of interests, occasionally because between ghouls and osteomancers body disposal was effortless, and also because of a particular offshoot of the family bloodline. That part of the family at least had the misfortune of seeing their routes of integrating other supernatural heritage into the bloodline yield results. The ties to those with a smattering of ghoul in them though even the most fanatical about seeing further development of their magic are reluctant to pursue that part any further. Unsurprisingly time dealing with creatures who regard "To Serve Man" as disappointingly lacking in good advice did not make for an especially well adjusted bit of life experiences but Marcus endured, even as he forced aside a degree of scruples. From that experience on he was a proper Kolbeinn and continued to build on the skills he had learned even as he worked to develop himself for the sake of the rest of his family.
Where Marcus aligns most closely with the bloodline philosophically is they are agreed that the current situation is an opportunity. They had always had dealings with mortals, most of them ignorant about the true nature of the world but on rare occasions they would reveal some truths. All sides of the spectrum of moral society were seen as possible opportunities, the family have disposed of mortal bodies for the criminals and supernatural creatures for the police for decades along with less horrifying work but now that the supernatural world is in danger of fully spilling out of the closet it opens the possibility up of something more official. Not that they are not concerned, there is the danger of horrifying reactions from mortals. But there is also the possibility of stealing a march on the White Council as humans forcefully awaken to the unfortunate truths of the world.
Connections: Marcus currently owns and operates a number of restaurants of which the best known mundane one is The Rack and Pinnion situated in a former factory and specialising in meat dishes. Open much of the week with his watchful eye often present it caters largely to an upmarket crowd but is not so elite that only the terminally wealthy can attend. The rest of his time is spent more in his specialised venue open only by invitation, Pound of Flesh. This too is a restaurant but caters to a much more narrow range of customers and also provides a venue for business transactions between various supernatural groups, made all the easier by the pointed "Accorded Neutral Territory" sign. Here any factions willing to enter and abide by the rules within can get along with their meals a list of all goods and services currently being offered by either Marcus himself or various parties looking to advertise through the establishment.
The site also offers a number of more specialised services to the various supernatural factions. Fae can expect cutlery without even a trace of iron as the norm within, Black court vampires and others with supernatural vulnerabilities to mundane are served platters specifically catered to avoid any trace of substances that cause problems for them and the establishment favours more archaic technology where possible to avoid overly excitable wizardly sorts ruining things for other guests.
What this means is that the establishment caters to a variety of groups many of whom have pre-existing ties with Marcus' family or simply enjoy a place to discuss business protected by the authority of the Accords. Be it fae taking some time in mortal society and looking for an establishment with minimal risk for them, ghouls wanting to eat somewhere where the volume of meat they consume doesn't acquire a second glance or even more obscure entities the greatest barrier to those looking to dine here is less their species and more the bank balance. Of course sufficient status can fill in for wealth. The staff are largely mortal, ones fully aware of the supernatural world and vetted closely and often for any issues. A smattering of them are minor talents, usually little more than enough awareness to pick up a supernatural from a crowd, but the majority of those Marcus is sculpting for better things since he considers nurturing such ability part of his duty as an employer.
The relationship between Marcus and the White Council is somewhat distant in contrast to his more welcoming manner to various other major and minor players in that world. Being a practicioner he is a known factor in terms of their records and as one conducting their business within the rules of the Accords should be unworthy of attention. However the family history means there is always a degree of tension there and he is not immune from contributing to that given his upbringing. Marcus will not break laws to assist those working against the White Council but he also does not consider himself to have any manner of obligation to them either.
The Kolbeinnn being exceptionally old money also means Marcus has a number of ties to the mundane world at various levels. While not a frontman for the family by any measure, lacking the natural charm and charisma many of his peers possess, Marcus still has been making connections before even entering his adult life on both sides of the law and is a known figure to many. Next to none from the non-supernatural side of things know about the magical side of things and the perception of him and his businesses is correctly that all is above board in terms of mundane laws but as for any with that sort of wealth there are suspicions.