vietmyke — Roleplayer Guild

Name: Jacob Bartholomew McCalister
Gender: Male

Race/Species: Human 
Age: 40

Appearance:
A middle aged man that appears perpetually tired and somewhat disheveled, Jacob stands in at 6'2", putting him typically several inches taller than many of his cohorts. Jacob has a sinewy build and broad-ish shoulders, but is neither bulky nor lanky. His wavy hair is relatively short and generally combed to the side and kept out of the way, the gray and dark brown hair somehow always manages to appear neat, yet casually unkempt at the same time; and his chin often sports a stubble that is likely several days old. His eyes are a sharp gray, and his piercing gaze is analytical and critical but belie a lurking sadness. His facial features were once strong and defined, but have grown gaunt and thin, and his mouth is often pressed into a thin line. His prominent features and build would lead one to believe that in his heyday, many would consider Jacob fairly attractive, though years of work and being a single father have clearly taken its toll.

Most of Jacob's wardrobe consists of well fitted suits, mostly black and gray often with a monochrome tie. The vast majority of Jacob's footwear are leather dress shoes, clean and professional enough to wear with his suits, but comfortable enough to walk or do activity in for days on end. Jacob wears a leather shoulder holster over his shirt, and typically makes no effort to hide it. On his left hand Jacob wears a silver wristwatch, along with a golden wedding band on his ring finger. He keeps a picture of his daughter in his wallet.
 
Personality:
A serious man with a strong work ethic, Jacob often has a no-nonsense demeanor and is typically impervious to the jokes and wisecracks made by his coworkers. Only rarely willing to crack a grin for his close compatriots, Jacob is for the most part incredibly blunt and to the point, though not confrontational. Strong willed, and somewhat hard-headed, Jacob is a man of conviction and his beliefs are hard to shake. Despite his callous attitude, its fairly plain to see Jacob is honest and well-meaning, but isn't afraid to get his hands a little dirty. Jaded, and somewhat cynical, despite possessing a well developed moral compass, Jacob will often ignore morality and act in what he believes are in the best interest of himself and his compatriots.  

Generally slow to trust those around him that he isn't well acquainted with, Jacob is skeptical of most strangers, and is a firm believer of "If it seems to good to be true, it is". He takes almost everything with a grain of salt, and rarely accepts things at face value. Jacob is for the most part calm and patient, and requires a fair amount of goading to lose his cool. As a part of his fatherly instincts, Jacob is extremely protective of his daughter, and will often react aggressively when something involving her well-being seems to be threatened. As a result of his wife's murder, Jacob is usually distrusting of humanoid supernaturals- particularly vampires, and is quicker to aggression when one is involved.

Powers, Traits, and Abilities:
Jacob possesses an innate magical talent, and has the ability to cast simple charms and telekinetically move smaller objects, such as books, pens, wallets, and coins. He has yet to bother pursuing further mastery of his magical talent, too busy with work and family to take the time to focus on practicing magic.

While by no means an Olympic athlete, Jacob is no slouch. In good shape for someone his age, Jacob possesses a mental and physical fortitude capable of taking a considerable beating and can hold his own in most situations that are physically taxing, from lifting and moving objects, to chasing down suspects and even fist fights. While not a brawler, Jacob knows his way around a street fight and can be a formidable foe when provoked. Though not a marksman, Jacob is well versed in operating firearms and firearm safety, and can be a decent shot with his sidearm or even a shotgun or rifle.

Jacob is a smoker, and smokes several cigarettes a day. Despite his good shape, and regular workout habits, its clear that the years of smoking have taken a toll on his overall stamina. Jacob has also been starting to develop a drinking habit, and has begun using cigarettes and alcohol as a vice.

Street savvy and smart, Jacob knows his way around Chicago, and does especially well at night, when most decent folk have called it a night- his stature and attitude often give the seedy types pause. As an investigator, Jacob is capable of many tasks, from surveillance, to opening doors that aren't meant to be opened, and even a bit of interrogation. As a single parent, Jacob is also fairly adept in common household skills, he knows his way around the kitchen, and can grill a mean steak.

Background:
Glazed in the golden glow of midday, the interior of the little shop was absolutely aromatic, a mixture of coffee and baked goods filled the air and almost took Jacob to days long past. Once the sparse cloud cover blocked out the golden sun, Jacob was slowly brought back to reality- a paper cup of the cheapest, strongest coffee he could buy and the loud voice of the Starbucks barista calling out to the next customer. He sat at a short, small wooden table, his knees bumping against the bottom of the wooden surface. Across from him was an empty chair nursing some sort of strange, pinkish-purple and blue concoction that was apparently a frappuccino of some sort. 

Jacob took a sip of his coffee absentmindedly as he regarded the pale pink puffy jacket drapped around the back of the chair- Morgan had gotten it for Amanda a few weeks back, said something about him having a terrible taste in children and women's fashion. It wasn't designer, but it wasn't cheap, Jacob was curious how Morgan managed to afford buying gifts for his daughter so regularly- her salary couldn't have been that much higher than his after all.  

Looking up as a head of dirty blonde hair skipped back to the table, he couldn't help but touch the golden band on his finger fondly. While Amanda had his eyes, nothing else about his daughter looked anything like him. She did however, take after her mother almost perfectly, the round face and soft features- Jacob liked it better that way, his wife was the pretty one in the family anyway.

"Did you wash your hands?" Jacob asked pointedly as Amanda sat down, grabbing at the drink with notably dry hands and sipping on the straw. Amanda finished a long sip of her drink before she looked away sheepishly.

"Yes..." she lied, not very well. She Also took after her mother in that regard.

"Then why are your hands so dry?" Jacob asked suspiciously, Amanda hated hand dryers, and the brown paper towels only ever got most of the moisture off.

"No they're not!" Amanda insisted, rapidly rubbing the sides of her drink, collecting the condensation onto her hands before shoving them out and showing them to her father, "See! They're still wet!"

"Amanda..." Jacob chided softly as he pulled a small bottle of hand sanitizer out of his pocket and dropped a dollop onto his daughter's outstreched hands. "Now hurry up, we've got a lot to do today."

Half an hour later, and the two McCalisters were at the Pier Park, Jacob watching as his daughter went on a spinning ride for what must have been the fourth time. This was Jacob's first full day off in weeks, so Amanda had written out an itinerary for her self titled 'Best day off day ever, ever'. They were already done with most of the list- breakfast/brunch in bed, followed by a matinee showing of The Incredibles 2, late lunch with 'Auntie Morgan', and a trip to the arcade. After a coffee break, the two came to the Navy Pier, where they'd ride rides to their (Amanda's) content, and watch the sunset.

As Amanda got off her fifth ride on the swinger, she giddily- and dizzily made her way over to her father, giggling all the while. Hugging at her father's waist Amanda let out a tinkling little laugh. "Hey daddy, are you sure you don't want to go on? Its really really really fun!"

"Ah you know me," Jacob said with a nonchalant wave, "I'm not too fond of heights."

"But you're a detective! You're not supposed to be afraid of anything?" Amanda insisted, looking up at her father.

"Now where on earth did you get that idea?" Jacob asked, as he resisted his daughter's pull towards the large swing ride. "Besides, don't you think you've been on there enough? You can barely stand straight!"

"I can so!" Amanda replied with a huff and a stomp, not noticing as she brought her foot down onto her father's shoe. "See! Watch!" She said as she began to walk away from Jacob, standing upon a line in the cement tiles and walking foot in front of foot, her arms out to her sides to help her keep balance. Unfortunately, that type of walking made the already unsteady Amanda even move unsteady on her feet, and after a few short steps, she stumbled forward, catching herself with a few stuttering steps and a pair of hands being thrown forward. 

"Well, I don't think we have enough time to go on the ride again anyway," Jacob said as he trotted over to his daughter, pointing at the sun. The sun had dipping closer to the horizon, turning the sky from a light blue into the darker prelude of evening. "If we don't get on the ferris wheel now, we'll miss the sunset.

The threat of missing the sunset must have been a strong motivator, because next thing he knew, his daughter had grabbed his hand and began dragging him towards the steadily growing line of the park's ferris wheel. Through some stroke of divine fate, or perhaps a bit of trickery on Jacob's behalf, the two McCalisters managed slip through the lines and get themselves high into the sky just as the sun began falling past the horizon, the sky now noticeably mixed with a wash of orange and purple amongst the blue.

The younger McCalister stiffled a yawn and leaned against her father. Jacob placed a hand fondly on her head and ruffled it a bit.

"Daddy," Amanda asked, stiffling another yawn, "What was mommy like?"

Jacob blinked a few times, his hand curling up and slowly retreating from his daughter's head. "Hm? Where's this coming from?"

"I've been trying really hard to remember mommy, but I cant remember a thing." Amanda muttered, pawing at her eyes with a small hand. "What was she like?"

"Your mother?" Jacob replied, absentmindedly touching his ring, "Well,"

"She was everything."

"To be fair, we probably wouldn't have given you a Stryx even if you had asked. It was more of a question about- nevermind." Emil sighed with an exasperated tone. To be honest, Emil hadn't expected to see such passion about anything other than drinking and whoreing from the young Baske boy. His words weren't entirely untrue either- the town was essentially defenseless when it came to the larger and more dangerous monsters, and they had to do something. Emil had just figured that it'd be someone else to decide to go figure it out. Maybe he had misjudged the Baske boy- or maybe Tristan was just batshit insane. 

He looked to his hired guard, "Ah, well, what do you suppose we do with them, Tork?" 

"I still say lop off their hands and call it a night."

Emil shrugged, he didn't know why he had asked. Tork was always eager to make examples out of thieves- and very few thieves ever tried to steal from the Aviary, mainly because taking a Stryx wasn't quite like taking a horse. A horse, so long as you had the reins, a bit and saddle would follow instructions. A stryx? Not so much, bonding with the birds took some time- hell, not even Tork could climb onto Greytail's back without the bird trying to gore his face with its beak. Emil waved Tork away, who with a huff, shouldered his crossbow and began walking back to the house. Emil gestured at the barn that Greytail had come out of- its door still ajar. 

"Alright Baske, you want a place to stay, you can sleep in there. I'm fairly confident none of the Stryxes in that barn have developed a taste for human flesh yet." This was a bluff- in fact none of the Stryxes at the aviary had a taste for human flesh- one of the few perks of keeping them domesticated. They'd still claw and tear a man's arms and legs off, but they wouldn't eat him. "You too," he added, looking at the other boy- though this time it felt less like an invitation and more like a forceful suggestion.

"Greytail will keep an eye on you guys tonight. Goodnight."

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