Epicurius posted:

Victor



Name: Victor Talman, aka Dr. Meggore, aka Brother Robert, aka Sir Elias, aka Julius, Duke of Hastard, aka Marcus, aka aka aka......

The world is full of fools. Victor learned that very young from his father. His father was a "good" man. He worked hard. He was generous to his friends and neighbors. He also died poor, taken advantage of by those who could. Victor swore he wouldn't be like his father. He swore that he'd be a success, and that he'd never be taken advantage of.

So, after his father's death, Victor made his way to Haven's Reach. Haven's Reach was a major city. On the mighty Vielle River, it had become a center for trade and commerce, and dominated the area. The trade brought wealth, but the wealth brought a seedy underbelly as parasites came to feed off the wealth of the city. Pickpockets, burglars and smugglers all came to the area, but the place was disorganized, and the city became the home of rival gangs of thieves and black marketeers. This was inefficient. The thieves spent more time fighting amongst themselves than they did working. More, it brought visibility, as the rising violence came to the attention of the city authorities. That was when Balsten Terir stepped in. Terir was the head of one of the many gangs in the city, and he saw that all this fighting would do nothing but destroy them. He brought the gangs together in an alliance, brutally dealing with those gangs that wouldn't fall inline. It wasn't long before Balsten was the king of the underworld of Haven's Reach. Even though he was assassinated about five years later, the institution he built lived on.

This had all happened about a hundred years prior to Victor's arrival at Haven's Reach, and he found himself a place in the organization. Not for him crude violence of a stickup man, or scrambling around in the darkness like a second story man, or the skulking of a pickpocket. Victor soon learned that anyone could steal. The mark of true success was when you convinced someone to give you what you wanted. So Victor ran scams. Big ones, small ones, long ones, short ones. He learned that people would believe what they wanted to believe, even if it wasn't true; and that ignorance, greed, and pride were the best allies a man could have when separating someone else from their money. So Victor runs his cons, kicks a little bit of the winnings upstairs, and is free with the rest. But he still hopes, one day, he'll find the biggest con of all; something that will keep him rich for the rest of his life.

Wish: Wealth! Luxury! It's just unjust that there are so many fools out there who have money, while Victor doesn't. One of these days, he'll come upon the big score, the long con, and be able to live the life he deserves.

Traits: (Select 4)

Cunning +2 Victor's quick on his feet. He can lie and be believed, he's good at sizing people up, figuring out when he's in danger and not, and also good at getting out of there before the hammer comes down.

Charm +2 Victor can talk the bark off a tree. That's what he does. His whole career is based on convincing others that he's trustworthy, that he can help you, that he WANTS to help you.

Actor +2 Victor? Who's Victor? That's the famous doctor Meggore, who created that elixir to treat the fever. No, wait, that's Brother Robert, who's raising money for those war orphans. No, wait, that's the Duke of Hastard, who's raising funds to reclaim his kingdom from his wicked brother. No, wait, that's Sir Elias, who's looking for an investor in his new sawmill. Victor is very good at pretending to be who he's not.

Spendthrift +2 Victor enjoys the finer things of life. When he has the money, he splurges, on food, wine, and other luxuries. When he doesn't, he takes another job. He's not good with saving.

Drawbacks: (Select 2)

Unsympathetic -2 Victor is unrestrained by sympathy for others. It doesn't really enter into his calculations. This is not entirely a good thing, but it does free him up to act in ways the more squeamish might not.

Mistrustful -2 One of the drawbacks of lying for a living is that you assume everyone else is lying to you. In Victor's mind, there are marks and there are conmen....those who'll manipulate others and those who will be manipulated. Victor has partners, sometimes, but no friends, and when he has a partner, he only trusts him or her as far as he can see them.