[@Holy Soldier] Right, sorry it took so long, but I decided to just straight up change the backstory. It's a little long (Okay, it's very long) but I can pare it down if you want me to. [hider=Jace] Name: Jace Derby Nickname: Age: 24 Race: Warlock Height:5’10” Weight:170 lbs Hair Colour: Dirty Blonde Eye Colour: Green Description: Jace does, at first glance, look like any high school girls dream, long flowing locks, green eyes, yadda yadda yadda. If you got close enough, you would see that his face is covered in thin scars from various fights, as well as the result of an abusive father. He is slight of build, and would have difficulty holding his own in a straight up fist fight, though he is an expert at running and hiding. (It's cooler when you don't say it like that) He does of course, like any self respecting goth themed spy, wear a black leather jacket, black T-shirt, and dark jeans most of the time, though he holds back on the make up. In fact, he doesn't even wear any jewellery. It might glint. [hider=Visual] [img]https://d3pl14o4ufnhvd.cloudfront.net/v2/uploads/750b0607-ddf4-408e-90f6-ca3e1a410962/f74ca722fbfc8fa74d360cd386ce7d6fbff5ba7a_original.jpg[/img] [hider=FaceClaim] Jaime Campbell Bower (Jace - Shadow hunters) [/hider] [/hider] Personality: Cool, calm and collected, Jace is well aware of his limits and ensures that he stays within them. He could be described as cold, detached, maybe a bit creepy. Yeah, he’s all of those things. He is also inanely curious, and will follow whatever the object of his curiosity through heaven and hell until he loses interest. He learned to detach himself from his emotions early on, or it just hurt more. Background: Jace was, if anything, unusual. He had seemed different...detached, like he was constantly seeing something that wasn’t there. His parents must have assumed some kind of mental problem, because they dropped him at a foster home in the middle of nowhere, aged three. Most people just assumed he’d grow out of it, you know, one of those childhood things. It didn’t. And it was a long time before he told anyone what he was looking at, what he was listening to. It was after they had finally decided to get a counsellor that he eventually opened up. He was seven, and he had asked questions for days without results. Until, tired of tiptoeing round the issue, he asked “Jace, what are you looking at?”. Jace finally looked up, staring straight into the counsellors eyes. “Demons”. That was the beginning. After that, Jace was predictably the butt of every joke, the victim of every bully. The staff on the foster home tried everything to convince him that what he was seeing wasn’t real, they even tried getting him to draw what he saw, but all he drew were monsters and devils. Eventually, refusing to send him to any kind of mental hospital, they gave up. Jace withdrew further and further away from himself, he didn’t feel the words of the bullies, didn’t feel their spite. But he was afraid. So, so afraid. He tried to hide, anywhere, everywhere, but there was no-where. Nothing. He could not escape the demons. So he disappeared. There is no other way to explain it. But he had just wanted it just so badly for years, and years, and years until...that’s what happened. And not only could the demons not see him, no one could see him. Not the bullies, not the carers, no-body. It was perfect. He never liked being in the world, it was cruel and confusing, but what if he could just, watch? It didn’t take him long to find the book. It was hidden, of course, in a small door in the back of the attic. There was a name of the cover: Magnus. But that was it. It taught him spells. It taught him how to keep the demons away, how to make them, afraid of him. But, as he discovered when trying a spell for the first time, they were always there. In the dark. Under the bed. Watching. Waiting. It had been when he first tried a spell of any consequence. He had been so focused, concentrating so hard, trying to form something out of nothing with only his mind. He’d forgotten about the demons. It wasn’t until he looked up to see the big, brutish face, slavering mouth and sharp teeth, cat like yellow eyes staring into his, hunger glinting within their depths. He screamed. For the first time, the demon could touch him, hurt him. Jace fell back just as the demon tried to rake his claws across his stomach, instead catching his arm. Jace screamed louder. Then the Social worker burst into the room. Jace was a mess, crying and screaming on the floor, he yelled and clawed and bit, trying to get away from the demon. But no-one else could see it. All they saw were the cuts on his arms and an empty attic, they just thought he’d finally snapped. It was the syndicate that saved him. Luckily, despite not showing many outwardly magical traits, they correctly identified him as a warlock, and managed to stop him from being dragged to a mental hospital. He was only 13 at the time. They eventually found him a foster parent, a doddering old witch who tried desperately to get Jace to unlock the potential she knew he had, but he refused. He learned tricks and illusions, basic enchantments, until casting magic was like breathing. But he never, ever, tried anything that required his full attention. The demons were still there, lurking in the darkness. Eventually, when he turned 18, he was officially recruited by the syndicate as a spy, though he’d been working for them unofficially for two years previous. While an agent might benefit or even attempt to make a reputation, a famous spy isn’t doing his job right. He has excelled at his task, and many raids have been pulled off flawlessly, the enemy having no idea that they had been infiltrated. Since joining, Jace has been a major asset, and a headache to his superiors, as he is prone to getting bored and wandering off. He’s been warned that next time, he’ll face sanctions. He still has his book, though he keeps it hidden. He knows that one day, Magnus is likely to come looking for his Grimoire. Weapon(s): Heckler & Koch HK45 compact           Wolf biter - A silver longsword purchased at some cost, Jace then imbued it with magical properties to make it harder, sharper, but above all, invisible to an ordinary human eye. The ritual took a lot out of him, and he has never tried anything like it since. Armoured Jacket - Not exactly heavy stuff, but the black leather jacket he wears has thin metal plates over his vital areas. A life saver in a knife fight. Skills: Detached - Jace is almost, not inside his own mind, rather, an observer to it. Some people may call him insane, but it allows him to detect any abnormalities and illusions, and rationalise them. Any attempt to subtly influence Jace with magic or other supernatural means, or cause him to see illusions, will fail. Note: He will still see the illusion, but anything to overt, and he’ll know its fake. He is still susceptible to outright, hostile takeover. Swordsman - He’s not going to spend that much money on a sword, and then not learn how to use it. Interrogation - Sometimes, blackmail just doesn’t work, and he has to resort to...other methods. Having perfected his craft over the course of his syndicate career (even if it’s not technically allowed) given time, Jace can make anyone talk. Free runner - What do you do, when the bad guy gets in a car, and you don’t have one? Take a short cut. Jace is a very proficient free runner, and it is one of the only instances when he is prone to showing off. Even if no-one's watching. Power(s): Invisibility - Over a lifetime of practice, Jace can perform this almost effortlessly. However, there are, as always, limitations. Any longer than 10 minutes, and he starts to strain. Half an hour is the max if he wants to recover in the same day. When he goes invisible, everything he is carrying does also, as well as, if he choses, one other person he is touching, though it is a considerable strain for him. Master of Illusion - Jace is an expert illusionist and trickster. He has spend almost the entirety of his magical life learning how to create the perfect illusion. While he is casting, it is particularly difficult to tell what is real from what is not. From all the years of accrued practice, casting such minor tricks and illusions take almost nothing out of him. He is never concentrating when casting. Battle Mage - While in combat, Jace has particularly heightened reflexes and senses. Also, he cannot control his magic fully when in combat, and it will usually have random effects. They can range from setting his sword aflame, to teleporting such minute distances that no-one is even aware it has happened. E.g. He suddenly teleports forward just enough to blink through someone's guard. They are never major, they just look cool more than anything else. It's more like luck than magic. Incognito - Jace excludes a magical aura that minutely affects a person's mind. As long as he doesn’t speak or move into their direct line of vision, the seem to just, forget that he’s their. This is always on, even if he doesn’t want it to be. Other: The demons - Some say he's gifted, most call him mad, but regardless, Jace can see demons. He usually keeps them repelled, sometimes catching them out of the corner of his eye, but when he isn't concentrating, they come back, with every intent to do him harm. They can't normally interact very much with the world, maybe just enough to snip the rope he's climbing....20 stories up. They do not attack anyone else, except by accident. E.g. Someone else is also climbing the rope. They are the reason he never uses magic that would require him to concentrate. [/hider]