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[hider="Zachariah West"]
Name: Zachariah West

Gender: Male

Age: 66 years old

Appearance: 
[IMG]http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p252/sam4books/RP/Photo1_zpsc574cef0.jpg[/IMG]

Talent(s):
Zachariah is a demonologist, as well as a practicing exorcist. His preferred style of exorcism relies on precise quotations from scripture, specifically a copy of the [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geneva_Bible]Geneva Bible[/url] he is always seen carrying around inside his coat pocket. He generally prefers this version due to the forcefulness of its material, adding a much needed edge in his verbal combat against spirits. A quick skim through the bible reveals that its language is of old outdated English, dating back to the 16th century. There are six languages in all that Zachariah has proficiency in (Latin, French, English of course, Hebrew, Italian and Greek). He also keeps on him copies of the Apocrypha as well as the Book of Enoch. He has attended as well as given a number of lectures concerning the names of demons and the nature of demons, often citing The Lesser Key of Solomon as his primary source of information. In the 1970s he took his exorcism course at a seminary school in the Vatican, exchanging notes with a number of acquaintances he still works with today, a number of them priests within the Roman Catholic Church. While he doesn't consider himself Catholic, he finds that he respects their methods. Sometimes he might team up with a priest, shouting the scripture while the priest beside him performs a rite. What he lacks in sophistication Zachariah makes up in force of tongue, having an extremely boastful voice that demands the utmost attention.

Background:
Zachariah was born and grew up in French Quarter of the city of New Orleans, Louisiana. He is more than familiar with the St. Louis Cathedral, and spent his childhood being rushed on Sundays to church in a smart little suit that his mama thought made him look terribly handsome. His mama and papa were poor as dirt. Mama worked as a nanny while papa would work the night shift at banks on janitorial duty. Being in such an artistic district, Zachariah would find himself drawn to artists and musicians allike, despising his parent's deep faith for a more down to earth philosophy of "me, myself, and I". He especially clicked with the musical crowd. As a teenager, Zachariah would sneak out from school during lunch, have a couple of smokes with the guys, before tugging at a bass cello string. They had called him the life of the party then. He was also a gambling boy, eventually becoming a gambling man.

He dropped out of high school, causing his parents to become incredibly disappointed, wondering what had happened to their "little angel". Not that it mattered to Zachariah, who only wanted to spend the rest of his life making music and maybe even get a record deal. However, things looked slim for him. The civil rights movement was just starting, and many men his age had decided to boycott the shopping services off of Canal Street. He was invited to join by many of his parent's friends, but he found the movement to be pathetic and not worth the trouble. He doubted that much would change, and frankly wanted to stay as far away from his parents and their friends as possible, before they tried to match him up with a good looking girl or something even sillier like convincing him to study to become a pastor. He went to work at a grocery store as usual, ignoring his friends and their scrambles with authorities. He spent his off days practicing with the cello, determined to impress, and started saving up his money for a decent apartment. He knew he was at a disadvantage, and he knew how people looked at him. He just felt it didn't warrant any sort of trouble. He was almost like an old man; comfortable and unaffected, but young in his disregard. He had enough smarts to stay out of people's way, and he wanted to do nothing but live a comfortable life free of others breathing down his neck. Eventually he would disappear from other people's lives altogether, buying an apartment in the bad part of town, and losing to himself to his music. Around him, his friends were trying to get into college, or boycotting businesses. Some of his friends joined the Black Panther movement, while others moved north. Without a band to aid him, Zachariah had no choice but to audition solo, which he tried to do plenty of times. Yet, nobody would take him. It bittered him, how focused everyone was on this movement when all he wanted to do was play his instrument. He took to the streets, making pocket change money from his performances. Some days he made a decent amount of money, where as other days somebody was in a rotten mood and would roughen him up a bit, He continued playing regardless, even when his cello had gone totaled. He just made makeshift instruments, things that produced sound but had no value. One day during one of his performances he was arrested, presumably for "disturbing the peace".

He didn't understand it, why he was being punished for something he wanted to be no part of. In his jail he was met with the faces of peers who looked so angry it frightened him. Four months in, Zachariah had no strength to be angry, he could only think about his dreams and wept, finally finding the strength to pray for forgiveness. For what, he had no clue.

He was released on bail, by an anonymous donor. He would never know anything about the man other than the fact that he was white, and apparently rich. He had arranged for him to meet with a record dealership, intending to cash in on something young, new and hip. It was the turn of the century, and people's perspectives were beginning to change. It wasn't to say that the old ideas were dead, some ideas die hard, but nobody looked at him like he wasn't even there anymore. They looked at him, and they saw talent. It filled him with hope.

He was hitched with a group, who called themselves "The Voodoo Men". It was one of those New Age Jazz groups. Not exactly old school, but not new school either. It was something for the Bohemian crowd that still lingered from the fifties to enjoy. They lived the scene, dropping acid and taking other hallucinogenic drugs, Eventually one of them suggested they started actually practicing voodoo, to which none of them objected. It wasn't real voodoo after all, just some harmless fun. It wasn't until one of the members of the band fell incredibly ill that Zachariah began to worry. It wasn't the average sort of ill, although it began that way; with him vomiting up stomach fluids and his skin turning cold and slimy. It was during winter season, so naturally it was assumed he was running a fever. Then, he started claiming to see things, but that was written off as a more of a drug effect than anything. It wasn't until Zachariah began noticing that things like his keys were starting to turn up missing that things took a turn for the worse. They all shared a small apartment together, so naturally they slept in the same room. Zachariah awoke to the sound of nails against wood, followed by a scream that he would never forget ever in his life. He awoke seeing his friend dead, with the sick friend standing over it with a knife in hand. When asked about it in court, the lad claimed that a god had ordered him to kill, saying that the admittedly out of tune musician was holding the group back. After the murderer was jailed the group disbanded, and once again Zachariah was left out of a home. While he still worked for the company, doing random gigs with random artists, he still couldn't help but worry about his former friend turned monster. Everywhere else there had been accounts of murders influenced by hallucinogenic drugs, yet somehow this felt bigger than that. He visited his former friend regularly, and each time he seemed less and less like a friend and more like a stranger. He was even told by his jailers strange tales about how the man spoke in tongues and performed seemingly impossible physical feats. The man had become nearly superhuman.

Suspicious, Zachariah consulted the woman they had been buying their voodoo supplies from, believing that she might have some helpful information on the matter. What he heard from her terrified him, for according to her the spirit that had overtaken his friend was no god, but a dark and terrible demon that latched onto the souls of the creatively inclined. What really frightened him was the suggestion that he might be next. So, in an effort to free both himself and his friends from what he perceived to be a terrible curse, he asked the woman what he must do, only to get absolutely nothing in response. Agitated, fearful, and incredibly depressed, Zachariah scoured whatever library he could get into for information on the "unknown". As expected, nothing came up, and he was going to give up until he saw an ad for an exorcist in the local newspaper. With little to no options left, Zachariah gave the exorcist a call.

From the day he picked up the phone and made that call, to the present period, Zachariah had begun his journey into the world of demonology.

The man he called was a Lawrence Chance, his ministry being The Second Chance Ministry. It was a terrible and not so subtle gimmick, but it worked. And Lawrence had connections, oh he had so many connections. He decided to settle his business of exorcisms in New Orleans, due to him hearing that it was a cesspool for spiritual anomalies including voodoo and witchcraft. The day he received the disjointed call from young Zachariah was the day he received his first "apprentice" for lack of a better word. In spite of his comedic gimmick, Lawrence was strict, and a no-nonsense sort of guy. To him, exorcism was a serious business, as such was any business that dealt with demons. He informed Zachariah that his friend could very well be a lost cause. Frankly he sounded surprised that the man wasn't dead.

He agreed to exorcise the man free of charge, as long as Zachariah would aid him in the exorcism. Zachariah didn't ask why, only agreeing due to the fact that such an act of kindness could not be overlooked. He had his doubts, not believing fully that an exorcism would ever work. He only hoped, and even prayed that his friend would get better.His prayers felt so weird to him, especially after all that he'd done since the last time he asked a favor from his parents' god. Somehow, he felt as though he was intruding. And so, the exorcist came, and Zachariah stood beside him and watched as the man commanded a demon out from his friend's body. The experience was exhilarating. Never before had Zachariah seen so much energy, not even in his performances. Somehow it was scary, yet calming at the same time. Just seeing his friend free from the illness that ailed him put tears in his eyes. He wasn't sure what to say, his friend was free from the chains that bound him spiritually and for the first time in months they could embrace without any fear. Zachariah wasn't sure how to thank the priest, and tried offering him money, which the priest had promptly turned down. Lawrence explained that knowing that the man was safe was reward enough, and that somehow God had told him that what he had done was necessary and important. Still, Zachariah would not give up. He found out what church the man attended and started attending the church himself. At first he sat far away as to not draw attention to himself, later choosing to sit closer and closer until the exorcist had no choice but notice him. Finally Lawrence got fed up with the boy and pulled him aside, asking him just what he wanted to do in life. Zachariah explained that he wanted to save lives, just like he had done with his friend. He wanted to fight against the demons of the world.

Lawrence offered to teach him, on account that he goes back to school, and does excellent in his grades. He also demanded that Zachariah got into a good seminary school. Determined, Zachariah did as he was told, and even exceeded expectations. He got top marks in his classes, and got a scholarship to Centenary College of Louisiana for Religious studies, after submitting a paper on spiritual warfare and his experiences with it. He studied there for four years, working up a good enough academic record to place him in a seminary school where he could learn how to dispel spirits in the same way Lawrence could. During his time at the college he took an interest in occultism, and demonology, and he would ask Lawrence about it often. Lawrence often warned about such things, calling such matters "dangeous". The priest was kind but hard on the boy, knowing exactly what kind of trouble he was capable of getting into. For the last few years, he had allowed Zachariah to stay at his large home, so long as he didn't mind acting as a cleaning boy for pay. Sometimes Zachariah would invite his friend who was studying to become a psychologist over for a quick little jig, for old time's sake. It was Lawrence's idea to send Zachariah to the Vatican. He had good connections there, and knew of a man who was interested in the subject of Voodoo. Zachariah would be able to take a course on exorcism there, and could continue if he so wished. The college he attended would allow for such a feat to occur. All Zachariah had to do was work for it.

Eventually Zachariah would study for two months in the Vatican, before going returning to Louisiana to attend the Notre Dame Seminary Graduate School of Theology, earning a Masters Degree in Pastoral Studies and continuing his vocation in France. From there, he would move to Boston where he began forming connections with fellow spiritualists, as well as rebuilding former connections with the priests-in-training he had met at the Vatican. Eventually he would become a brilliant scholar on the subject of demons, having extensively studied them in college and forming an intense interest in the subject matter in particular. He had been approached by many spiritualist groups and industries, including a couple members of the Freemasonry. However, Zachariah prefers not to belong to any one group, and would rather work alone. His reasoning is simple; exorcism is a dangerous field of practice. Anything can happen.

He often comes back home every now and then; sometimes to give lectures, sometimes to visit prisoners who are in need of spiritual guidance, sometimes to give advice to teens who are at a crossroads. Zachariah simply does not wish to see anyone repeat the same mistakes he once made. He still has nightmares about the time his friend had been possessed by demons, terrible dreams where the demons would return, and this time they were after him.

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