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Reluctantly retired roleplayer.

Except when I'm not.

Why are you here when you should be writing posts?

You can edit a bad draft, but you cannot edit a blank page.

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EDIT: Issue has been resolved.
Superman Timeline:

-Space
-Return and Lobo

-Becoming Superman?
Once was a man who lived a life so mundane, it could only be true.

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_
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_
Practically invisible to the world around him, life carries on while he felt perpetually stuck treading water just to keep his head

_
_
afloat. Fortunately for the man, fate had different ideas and intervened with a heavy hand. Pushed into a corner, the man

_
_
was driven to hide amongst dusty shelves and heavy tomes. In the silence, he could hear his name being whispered,

_
_
over and over again, until his hand touched one particular opus. A worn book, bound in leather and tarnished steel. Though

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_
sealed, it opened for a price, and upon spreading its pages, the man's life was changed forever.
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_
_
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Now, he is the Warlock they call...




LOCATION: MILK STREET - POINTE BORDEAUX
URBAN GOTHIC #1.01: THE GRIMOIRE

INTERACTIONS: NONE
PREVIOUSLY: NONE
His fingers rubbed across his closed eyelids, pushing his glasses atop his forehead while he futily attempted to massage the exhaustion from his tired eyes. Bloodshot green eyes reopened, looking back at the computer screen in front of him, the high-definition monitor somehow managing to look like a Windows '98 resolution as Archibald Hardwick's eyes immediately resumed burning despite his effort. The text began to blur, prompting an exasperated sigh before Archied leaned back and looked towards the ceiling. A stretch from the bottom of his soul came out of his chest and into his shoulders while he laced his fingers behind his head briefly before his right hand began fumbling across the desk towards a small bottle of eye drops.

It was only Tuesday, and the week already felt longer than most. A large patent case had come in, and Archie was put in charge of cross-referencing the plaintiff's design to ensure their client actually had a case. Discovery had started nearly a week ago and worked through the weekend and late every night. It was thankless work, but he knew they would need to be extraordinarily thorough if they wanted to get the defendant's case thrown out before their lawyers found enough to settle.

"Slack off on your own time, stretch." A voice sneered, appearing behind Archie and startling him. Nearly jumping out of his skin, his hand slammed down on the desk, sending the nearby stack of files crashing to the floor before the vial of eye drops fell from his hand and freely rolled away before lodging themselves firmly under a nearby filing cabinet.

"So jumpy," Archie turned to the source of the voice, biting the inside of his cheek while nursing his right hand. Behind Archie was Tiffany, the office administrator, holding a file with a red stamp across the front. Her heavily glossed lips smacked obnoxiously on a matching shade of pink bubble gum before she extended the folder towards Archie.

"Cheryl denied your overtime request," Tiffany said, the corner of her mouth struggling not to upturn into a smirk.

"I submitted it to Robert, I worked those hours, my key card is logged in." Archie protested, looking over the printout of his weekend and evening hours.

"Budget's tight right now, and work has to be done." Tiffany shrugged, "Tough luck, I guess." She clicked her heels, adjusting the pencil skirt that hung like a second skin over her legs.

"Oh, and Cheryl wants to see you in her office. But if I were you, I'd probably just pack your desk up and leave. Or don't, I like watching a good sacking, hun."

"Are you this awful to everyone?"

"No, just scrawny little pencil dicks that think they're too good for everyone."

"I don't-"

"Save it, Cheryl's probably fuming, she said to send you over ASAP, but I waited thirty minutes to relay that message, so you're welcome." Tiffany smiled coldly.

"Seriously?"

"Uh, duh. Now move your pasty little ass, Cheryl's been kept waiting long enough." Tiffany scoffed, "Honestly, I don't know why Harri puts up with you."

Harri. Harriet Lynd, the girl next door. From the corner of his eye, Archie could see Harri from across the office. She had pulled some strings to get him in the door; the pair had been friends since the day Archie's foster parents had brought him home. The girl from across the street, Archie had been smitten from the moment Harri had hit him in the face with a basketball.

Frankly, I don't know either.

Archie's head clouded with thoughts as he stood from his desk; his chest felt like it was going to collapse in on itself. Was he about to be fired? He needed this job; it was all that set him apart from where he had come from. He wasn't a bad employee; he was never late, never took off early. In fact, Archie had never even taken a vacation or sick day in the five years he had worked at Pendelton & Hawking.

His hand shook as he raised it to knock on Cheryl's door. Should he knock? Archie hesitated. If he were summoned, shouldn't he just go in? He was already invited; what need was there to knock? He put his hand on the door handle, pushing down on it before panicking and taking a step back. Raising a loose fist, Archie meekly knocked on the frosted glass embossed with the 'Cheryl Lockhart, Senior Partner'.

"Enter," Cheryl called from the other side of the door, prompting Archie to take a deep breath and turn the handle. Gingerly pushing the door open, he watched Cheryl take a seat at her desk before the pair briefly stared at one another as Archie froze in the doorway.

"Archibald, are you planning on coming in?" Cheryl asked, "You look like you're debating between slamming the door or jumping through my window." She stated, turning in her chair to look at the skyline behind her. "It's a beautiful view, isn't it? Almost uncommon to see the sky as empty as it is today."

She spun back around, a soft smile crossing her lips before she beckoned Archie forward.

"Please, take a seat, Archibald."

"Ma'am, I am so sorry-"

"I know Tiffany didn't relay my message." Cheryl interupted, raising a hand, "And I know, you're probably wondering why I denied your overtime."

"No, Ma'am, I completely unders-"

"Cut the bullshit," Cheryl interjected, she placed her hands in front of herself on the desk that separated her from Archie. "Look, I know you think the work you do around her goes unnoticed, but it doesn't. You've been with us for a while, Archibald and never moved past associate."

Archie nodded as Cheryl paused.

"Five years, that's a long time to remain an associate." She commented before opening a file on her desk. "I see that you studied locally, joined directly out of school. Lynd put in a word for you, you know, she made junior partner in under a year."

"Everyone has always thought highly of Harriet."

"Why do you think that is?" Cheryl asked, leaning back in her chair as Archie stared at her like a deer in headlights. His mind went blank. Normally, he could list off a dozen reasons why Harri was great, but suddenly, now in front of one of the senior partners, none of those reasons felt relevant.

C'mon, you're a lawyer, damnit. Act like one.

"She's confident in everything she does," Archie answered. He wanted to be sick; his heart was trying to escape through his ribcage, while he felt like the pits of his shirt had to be a different colour from the rest of it at this point due to perspiration.

"Confidence is a key attribute in this line of work, one that you're certainly lacking," Cheryl replied, her lips pursed together. "However, you're not without your merits, Archibald. You are, without a doubt, the most thorough of my associates, and I've been looking through your preliminary work on the Hawthorne case, and even I must say it's exemplary."

"Then why are you letting me go?" Archie blurted out. His eyes widened at his own words before he covered his mouth.

"Letting you go?" Cheryl raised an eyebrow before gently massaging her forehead. "Ah, Tiffany..." She shook her head.

"No, Archibald. I am not letting you go. I want to give you an opportunity." Cheryl explained. "I want you to personally handle the Hawthorne case and, if you win, I'd like to extend an offer to you as Junior Partner, with your work on the Hawthorne case retroactively paid at your new rate." She smiled, extending a hand towards Archie.

"That's why I denied your paperwork."

"I, I don't know what to say." He answered, weakly gripping her hand before she squeezed and gave his arm a good shake.

"Most people start with thank you, you might want to start by working on your handshake." Cheryl replied, "That said, Archibald, I will warn you that the consequences will be dire should you not win this case for us. We would have to reconsider your time at this firm if you can't win a case after five years. Think of this as your big break, though, with your talents and attention to detail, if you apply yourself and push outside of your comfort zone, I think you could catch up to your peers."

"Thank you, thank you so much," Archie nodded, "I won't let you down."

"I'm counting on it, Archibald." Cheryl replied, motioning towards the door. "You're dismissed. Oh, and I should mention, I want this settled by next week."

"Yes, Ma'am," Archie replied, backing out of the room with a bow of his head before continuing backwards into the hallway. Taking another step, her turned and bumped directly into Tiffany, barely stopping himself from toppling face-first into her before an outstretched arm caught the nearby wall, leading to Archie bracing overtop of Tiffany.

He had never realized how good her perfume smelled.

"So, Junior Partner? Congrats, pencil dick, it's about time. You want a quick blow in the closet?" Tiffany offered, her dry tone escaping Archie's notice.

"I, uh-" He stammered awkwardly, looking around as a few of the others began to stare.

"That wasn't a genuine offer, asshole." Tiffany rolled her eyes as Archie just awkwardly stared at her. "Lawyers," She exhaled sharply through her mouth, "I'd need at least five shots of tequila before I'd even consider it." She muttered, "See you around, pencil dick."

"Junior Partner?" Another voice asked from behind Archie. He turned to greet Harri, who threw her arms around Archie, giving him a quick squeeze before pumping her fists excitedly.

"We have to go out and celebrate!" Harri said, reaching up on her tiptoes to tousle Archie's hair. "You've been waiting for this day for so long. It'll be my treat, 'The Haunt' tonight at 7pm?" She asked. Archie could barely hear her over the sound of his heart pumping blood as it thumped around his ears.

"C'mon, Arch, you never go out and have any fun, it'll be good to blow off some steam. Just you, me and maybe a couple others from work." Harri said, tapping on Archie's tie with a well-manicured finger.

"M-m-maybe just one drink," Archie replied weakly.

"Oh, you're having at least two," Harri replied playfully, "And try to be late, no one is early to their own shindig."

"You know I can't do that," Archie replied, attempting to match Harri's playfulness, full well knowing he was serious.

"I really can't, can I?" He muttered under his breath, turning around. His head was spinning; the events of the afternoon had left him feeling like he had whiplash. Junior Partner and Harri wanted to go out with him? Everything was finally coming up Hardwick.

Where was his desk again?


ya'll be killin' it so far


Just wait for me to bring the grade point average down.
<Snipped quote by Lord Wraith>

Do you really want me to talk about that publicly?


Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Vivamus at mi mi. In imperdiet porta dolor, at fermentum nulla commodo eu. Suspendisse volutpat et ex tempor suscipit. Nullam tincidunt at nunc vel auctor. Donec venenatis, nisl nec fringilla varius, massa quam porttitor turpis, sed bibendum purus sem id risus. Nullam scelerisque lectus eget diam gravida malesuada. Maecenas consectetur est ac sollicitudin congue. Maecenas interdum erat dignissim lectus sodales, nec ultrices neque egestas. Integer convallis lacus at consequat volutpat.
Once was a man who lived a life so mundane, it could only be true.

_
_
_
_
_
Practically invisible to the world around him, life carries on while he felt perpetually stuck treading water just to keep his head

_
_
afloat. Fortunately for the man, fate had different ideas and intervened with a heavy hand. Pushed into a corner, the man

_
_
was driven to hide amongst dusty shelves and heavy tomes. In the silence, he could hear his name being whispered,

_
_
over and over again, until his hand touched one particular opus. A worn book, bound in leather and tarnished steel. Though

_
_
sealed, it opened for a price, and upon spreading its pages, the man's life was changed forever.
_
_
_
_
_
_
Now, he is the Warlock they call...




LOCATION: MILK STREET - POINTE BORDEAUX
URBAN GOTHIC #1.01: THE GRIMOIRE

INTERACTIONS: NONE
PREVIOUSLY: NONE
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Vivamus at mi mi. In imperdiet porta dolor, at fermentum nulla commodo eu. Suspendisse volutpat et ex tempor suscipit. Nullam tincidunt at nunc vel auctor. Donec venenatis, nisl nec fringilla varius, massa quam porttitor turpis, sed bibendum purus sem id risus. Nullam scelerisque lectus eget diam gravida malesuada. Maecenas consectetur est ac sollicitudin congue. Maecenas interdum erat dignissim lectus sodales, nec ultrices neque egestas. Integer convallis lacus at consequat volutpat.
@Anciek we didn't forget about you

We just forgot to reply


What are we paying you for?
A R C H I E H A R D W I C K
A R C H I E H A R D W I C K
"It's not like I can point and say 'Avada Kedavra'... I tried that first."
C H A R A C T E R P O R T R A I T
C H A R A C T E R P O R T R A I T
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FC: Matthew Gray Gubler | Dialogue: #C0C0C0
C H A R A C T E R S U M M A R Y
C H A R A C T E R S U M M A R Y
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Archibald 'Archie' Erik Hardwick
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27 | Single
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Lil'Santiago | American

P H Y S I C A L A T T R I B U T E S
P H Y S I C A L A T T R I B U T E S
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__HEIGHT || 6-1"
__WEIGHT || 152 LBS
__BUILD || SLENDER
__EYE COLOUR || GREEN
__HAIR COLOUR || LIGHT BROWN

A B I L I T I E S, L I M I T S, & W E A K N E S S E S
A B I L I T I E S, L I M I T S, & W E A K N E S S E S
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A B I L I T Y || N O V I C E W A R L O C K
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L I M I T A T I O N S || C O S T & M A T E R I A L S
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W E A K N E S S E S || S E L F - T A U G H T
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T H E S T O R Y S O F A R...
T H E S T O R Y S O F A R...
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Archibald Hardwick is a loser.

Raised in government housing and on food stamps, Archibald, or Archie, never had a chance at leading a life of privilege. His childhood was spent with elderly neighbours whose homes smelled of decay and ammonia or in the company of young teenagers barely old enough to care for themselves. Though a quiet child, Archie's temperament gave pause to many as the infant could go from calm to inconsolable without warning. As language developed, he would repeat the word 'dog' frantically, while pointing in seemingly empty directions. It was to no one's surprise when Archie was eventually taken away from his parents and put into the foster system. A system that was not kind, and Archie's only escape from the reality he found himself thrust into was through books and comics.

As a very young child, Archie spent several years in the care of the Mission of Santa Maria de Laveaux before being placed in a home. Before the age of five, Archie was settled into a foster home with a pair of aging parents who provided him with enough to be elevated from his previous living condition, but never surplus or luxury. These things would prove elusive in his life.

Nearly as elusive as friends would be. Between abandonment issues and his time in foster care, Archie's social skills were stunted from a young age. He hadn't learned the playground dynamics, and to others, it made him strange and off-putting. Still, it never stopped Archie from trying, and eventually he managed to strike up something akin to a friendship with a girl on his street by the name of Harriet Lynd. Archie was immediately smitten with Harriet even from a young age, and while the girl never explicitly abused the privilege, it didn't stop Archie from bending over backwards to help her, even to his own self-detriment.

Archie's love of reading manifested at a young age, and his foster parents leaned into it, providing Archie with a library card and ways to retrieve and return books. Without any siblings to play with and without the attention of doting parents, Archie found everything he needed through stories, which only grew in complexity as he matured from a child into an adult. But it was the escape that drew Archie in the most; he took on the mannerisms of characters he adored and inserted himself into their lives.

Lives where he wasn't alone, he wasn't poor, and he certainly wasn't weak. Calder City did nothing to curb Archie's aspirations for a life free from everything that was pulling him down. Scarcely a day went by that he didn't look to the skies and see some manner of superpowered individual using their gifts. The very gifts that Archie longed for. In his pre-teen years, Archie began putting himself in harm's way in order to be requested by a Gray in the hopes their abilities would prove to be contagious. This behaviour would put him at odds with his foster parents, who had on more than one occasion threatened to return the boy to Santa Maria's if he did not get his act together.

Even into his teenage and adult years, Archie's love of reading would remain a persistent trait in his life. It developed into a studious nature, which, paired with Archie's desire to free himself from the situation created by his parents' financial failings and his foster situation, made him a stellar student. Archie excelled in academics, graduating with honours from every institution he attended before finally landing a job in corporate law, which, for the first time in his life, provided him with financial stability.

But, for Archie, it still wasn't enough.
Even into adulthood, he had remained a social pariah. Archie had a reputation for being a dedicated and hardworking employee, but he also had one for being eccentric and antisocial. In his pursuit of financial freedom, he had eschewed all personal relationships, resulting in a lonely, completely unfulfilling life.

Devoid of relations with parents he had never bonded with, Archie never learned how to build relationships and other meaningful relations properly. He had stood on the sidelines and watched bitterly as Harri developed other friends, lovers and a circle that no longer needed him.

Him, Archibald Hardwick, the loser.

It felt like a perpetual cycle of misery.
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"For the first time in my whole pathetic life I finally have real power. Do you have any idea what this feels like? People want to be around me, people want to be me. I swear, I even saw a woman checking me out and not in the 'gross, he wore that to work' way, no, she genuinely was looking at me like a piece of meat. Like she actually wanted me. Do you know how long I've waited for that? So, no. No, I am not giving up the book; the book is finally giving me what I've waited my whole life for. A chance to break free, a chance to even the odds. I'm a new man, and there's no way in this life or the next that I am ever going back to being 'Adorably Pathic Little Archie.' It's time for the world to meet the new and improved Hardwick."
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Resentment follows Archie like a dark cloud over his head. It felt like his life had been constantly plagued by bad luck. Lending to his eccentric reputation, Archie had what some would consider to be a crippling case of superstition and severe obsessive-compulsive behaviours that led to him seeking counsel and therapy.

But no one had ever been able to help him.

The dog from his infant years had never disappeared. Despite seeking help, as far back as Archie could remember, he had always been followed by a black dog, not unlike a grim or a barghest. No amount of cognitive therapy had ever made him stop seeing the creature. Everywhere he went, it was only a matter of time before the shaggy black dog appeared in the distance, its haunting eyes and dripping jowls staring back at Archie. Though by adulthood, Archie had grown numb to seeing it. The creature often disappears after a few deep breaths, but it always returns.

Unbeknownst to Archie, his life was about to drastically change. Stumbling into possession of a dusty tome. Archie would discover it to be an ancient grimoire sealed by powers unknown. But despite knowing every trope, Archie couldn't leave it alone and as the book ceaselessly whispered his name, the loner allowed himself to be drawn into its grasp in exchange for power and status.
M O T I V A T I O N & G O A L S
M O T I V A T I O N & G O A L S
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"With absolute power, comes absolute corruption."

The story of Hardwick is going to take familiar story beats from classics such as 'Aladdin', to forgotten cult films like 'Chronicle', with a healthy dose of 'The Magician's Apprentice' added in. For Archie, his greatest motivation is the desire to be known, to finally be somebody to someone. His parents did irreparable damage to his psyche from a young age, leaving him with insurmountable insecurity and severe abandonment issues.
A D D I T I O N A L N O T E S
A D D I T I O N A L N O T E S
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S U P P O R T I N G C A S T
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S T O M P I N G G R O U N D S
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His foster parents constantly guilt-trip him and especially have become more manipulative as Archie has grown, matured and made something of himself. Archie is heavily driven by ambition, but it's an ambition that's poisoned by envy and jealousy.

As the story unfolds, Archie is going to learn more and more from the Grimoire, uncovering its potential and power while also discovering its origins and the terrible secrets hidden between the lines. Archie will encounter other wielders of Mag'ik while also engaging with the wider selection of Grays that populate Calder City. This will be a story of one man's journey for power and the complications of downfall that come with it.
P L O T S
P L O T S
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I S S U E # 0 0 1
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URBAN GOTHIC

I S S U E # 0 0 2
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ARCANA MAJOR

I S S U E # 0 0 3
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GENTLEMAN & SCHOLAR

"Holy $#!%, I'm a wizard, Harri!"_____
Character Sheet Format Created by @Lord Wraith, by using this sheet I am hereby giving credit to Lord Wraith.
We allowing second characters. Thinking about something with light and energy manipulation


Suit of armour?
Who's on first?
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