| Desmond Black |
 |
| Portrayed By: | Michael C. Hall |
| Status: | Alive |
| Age: | 30 |
| Occupation: | Occultist |
| Family: | Quincy Black (father, deceased), Desdemona Black (mother) |
| Significant Other(s): | Black Magic |
| Freak Factor: | Sorceror |
Spoiler Warning: Plot and/or ending details follow. This knowledge is provided for Out of Character reading pleasure only, and is not to be used In Character without justified knowledge of the events (such as being present, or having staff permission).
Background
Some children are born under what some societies would claim portentous omens or signs. The first snow of winter, a particular phase of the moon.
This was not the case with Desmond Black, who was brought into this world in the early evening of, by all acounts, a decidedly average day in early March. His parents, Desdemona and Quincy Black, were the owners and proprietors of an occult bookstore in Surrey, England. His parents had a loose affilation with the Watcher's Council, serving as a resource in occult information. From a young age, Desmond could sense the power and lure in the occult, and in magic. And though his parents were not rich, only what would be considered middle class, he could tell he was born into priviledge. By nature of his birth things, power things, were known to him that most people knew not. He felt this afforded him some measure of personal power and strength.
He was half right. There is a difference between knowing there exist spells capable of blasting people with flame and knowing how to perform the ritual. Despite his complete lack of formal education in any sort of combat, occult or otherwise, Desmond attempted to bully the children in his school with fear and intimidation. He failed. The day he came home with a black eye was the day he discovered his precocious talent for lying. He told his father that it was he who had been bullied. His father, feeling sorry for his child, allowed him to sit and read from some of their occult books. This would turn out to be a very, very bad decision. As Desmond grew from a small boy into a teenager, he absorbed a lot of what was held within the books.
His knowledge wasn't the only thing growing, either - as he aged, he got much better at scaring and bullying people into getting what he wanted. He stopped getting black eyes and bloody lips from kids who were now unwilling to fight back, usually because he would show them something terrifying, like a shrunken head or perform some small feat of magic like levitating a pencil. This would have been bad, as he would have had to start punching himself in the face, but when he turned fifteen his father told him it would be time to study harder in the occult. His father, with his loose ties to the Watcher's Council as an informant, hoped his son would take it a step further and join their ranks. Desmond thought this was a brilliant idea, though he pretended it was brilliant because he could 'help so many people'. He just wanted their knowledge.
At eighteen Desmond attended college. He kept to a low profile now, in case the Council would be watching him. Only in the darkest, hushed corners did he study what people consider black magic. The only people he bullied were those he knew would never speak of it. It was, truth be told, a very uneventful four years as college goes. No parties, no love affairs. He had no time or interest in love - only power. Upon his graduation he was indeed tapped by the Watcher's Council to join their ranks. He stayed only as long as he needed to gather the information and books that he required. This ended up being longer than he wished, because though he tried to cover his ambitions, the Council did not fully trust him with their full library of tomes and scrolls. After eight years of being surrounded by middle aged men in mid-life crisis', Desmond could take no more.
Returning to his parent's book store, he began to pack up every book in the store of real worth, not the stuff out front. He was interrupted by his father in the middle of it. It's a shame it is so difficult to clean blood off of aged parchment, his father's blood ruined some pretty decent scrolls. Desmond murdered his father in cold blood, and left. Some members of the Council caught up to him just as he was getting to the airport. He killed them, too. He was quickly becoming disillusioned with the sanctity of life. He got on a plane to the States, leaving behind his home and his soul (well, metaphorically anyway). Upon his arrival to the States, he moved from state to state selling some of the less valuable items he took from his parents to make money.
He was running out of states by the time he got to Nevada, so he made a decision to settle down. After all, there seemed to be a lot of magical activity in Las Vegas, and with a lot of magical activity there would be a lot of power to be gained. He purchased a simple apartment near the Strip, and moved in.
Stats
- Attractiveness +2
- Ex-Watcher +5
- Hard to Kill +4
- Nerves of Steel
- Occult Library +3
- Sorcery +2
Logs
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