james calloway harding   

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lizzy | 25 | bobthejeep (aim/ymail)

NAME: James Calloway (alias: James Harding)
AGE: 20
RACE: Druid
ETHNICITY: American
GENDER: Male
SEXUALITY: Heterosexual

EDUCATION: GED
OCCUPATION: Part-Time Hospital Orderly @ $7.35/hr; Part-Time Thief @ $35/hr
RESIDENCE: No permanent residence; often squats in abandoned buildings or homes that are vacated.

TRAITS:

TOUGH (&young)
First impressions nearly always paint James as rough: he's well-built and clearly able to hold his own. He carries himself with a quiet sense of guarded aggression, which is sometimes diluted (or seen as immaturity) by his soft and young features.
RESERVED (&outspoken)
An extremely quiet person, James says very little and often avoids initiating conversations. Nevertheless, when he does speak, he is neither shy nor cautious. He will speak his mind plainly and drive home his point.
CONFLICTED (&unwavering)
As someone who has decisively committed himself to Good (or, at least, to what he thinks Good is), James remains painfully conflicted about the nature of his powers, his desire to reconnect with those who do Evil, and the excitement of a kill.
DYSLEXIC (&learner)
James suffers from dyslexia and struggles to read complicated sentence structures or to write with clarity; however, he is proficient with numbers. Despite a hostile school environment, James secretly enjoys learning and is well-skilled in gaining knowledge by observing.

FAMILY

The Calloway line of Druids can be traced back to the late 1700s, with each first born son always given the name William. It's unclear whether the first few generations aligned themselves with Good or Evil, but by the mid-1800s, the Calloway family had already begun its tradition of destruction and mayhem. Having always been associated with pyromancy, the Calloway family is well-known for its mission to "cleanse" the Earth from humanity and other magical races. For the most part, the Calloways have left alone the magical creatures that protect the Earth--but have brutally attacked all others who would seek to pollute it (either literally or metaphorically). The last few generations of the Calloway line have resided in Atlanta, where they rule the magical community with fear. These more recently corrupted generations have perhaps slipped away from the family's original 'noble' cause and have focused more selfishly on gaining a higher status, increasing their powers, and ultimately being as Evil as possible. The following family prophecy from many generations back (which has never been validated outside of family tradition) has encouraged larger families in the hopes that they might fulfill it.

The sixth seed [of*] darkness will rise with the mark of tradition / and lead ancestral blood to its highest position

*This prophecy was handed down by oral tradition and many Calloways wonder whether this word was originally "by" or "through". This has sparked many different interpretations of what the prophecy really means, but nearly all Calloways accept that it relates to the sixth child born in a generation of the Calloway line.

William Calloway 89 | Druid | Living | Grandfather
William Calloway 57 | Druid | Living | Father
Margaret Calloway 54 | Druid | Living | Mother
William Calloway First Born | Druid | Deceased | Brother
Jonathan Calloway Second Born | Druid | Living | Brother
Maxwell Calloway Third Born | Druid | Deceased | Brother
Justine Calloway Fourth Born | Druid | Living | Sister
Aiden Calloway Fifth Born | Druid | Living | Brother

HISTORY

As the sixth child born in Atlanta to this generation of Calloways, James from an early age felt constant pressure from his grandfather and father to fully embrace the traditions of his family. As a young, rather sensitive boy, he hated hearing stories of the evils his family had thrust upon the world. Unlike his brothers and sister, he was often sickened by his family's traditions and the constant attacks against other races. More importantly, he hated the expectations that his father placed on him. James was under constant pressure to outperform his brothers, to do better in school, and to become this great family 'savior'. He knew that generation after generation of Calloways had borne a sixth child, each with their own high expectations, and over and over again, nothing exciting ever happened: the prophecy was never fulfilled. James never thought for a second that he would be the one to fulfill it and time and again he's wondered if the prophecy was even real. Nevertheless, the pressure from his parents was very real.

As he entered junior high, James' grades severely suffered, causing a passive-aggressive disappointment from his parents. Though he tried as hard as he could, his teachers labeled him as lazy and disorganized--everyone unaware of James' undiagnosed dyslexia. Rebelling against school and family, James often found himself in fist-fights and detentions. While his parents wanted him to focus on spells, rituals, and power, James preferred the lighter side of humanity, focusing instead on art, the piano, and pop culture. He flunked 7th grade, having to repeat the year and causing more flak from his parents. By high school, he was in a constant state of conflict. His parents and grandfather had stopped hoping that James would be the promised sixth and started focusing more attention on James' eldest brother, William. Their passive-aggression towards James turned to a more blatant dislike. James wanted so much to have the approval of his family, to be loved for who he was, but at the same time he hated their expectations, their disappointed attitude, and their constant need for more and more destruction.

At age 15, James came into his powers: an impressive number of them, which instantly caused jealously amongst his siblings, specifically with William. Aside from William--who only had the ability to breathe fire--the rest of his brothers and sister each had impressive powers of their own. Just as all his siblings before him, James eagerly began training with his powers, enjoying the attention of his parents moreso than his abilities. For the next two years, James' parents seemed to have forgiven him for not being the prophesied sixth, his impressive powers apparently enough to make him worthy of something. James--despite his inner doubts--embraced his family's tradition for the first time, assisting them in multiple attacks on humans and witches. During these attacks, he was both directly and indirectly responsible for the deaths of multiple humans, witches, and demons.

Not long after his 17th birthday, James' eldest brother William--without their parents' consent--coaxed Maxwell, Justine, Aiden, and James into a plot against a small coven of witches. Their main objective was to steal their Book of Shadows, but William was encouraging the death of the witches as well. The young teens, however, were ill-prepared to go up against the witches on their own. After a firey battle, the witches defeated the Calloway children, leaving all of them badly hurt and vanquishing Maxwell. James in particular took Max's death very hard--of all his siblings, he'd always felt the closest to Max. William, for his part, showed no remorse or guilt for foolishly putting his brothers and sister in danger. Rather, he spoke ill of Max, tarnishing his brother's memory by insisting he was weak and had deserved his death. More strikingly, James was horrified by his parents' praise of William's initiative and their lack of sadness for the loss of Max. A week after the death, James consciously committed himself to Good vs Evil, finally acknowledging the desire that had been deep inside of him since boyhood.

James' parents did not respond well to his sudden refusal to participate in the family tradition of gaining power. His grandfather, the patriarch himself, warned James that if he followed such a foolish path, he'd be disowned from the Calloway name. Firm in his decision--Max's death still freshly underlining all his reasons--James left the family, opting to crash with a friend from school. Surprisingly, this didn't cause outrage from his parents--but it did strike a chord with his brother William. For whatever reason (most likely a misdirection of guilt over Max's death), William vowed that as the future patriarch of the Calloway line, he would never allow such impurity in the family bloodline. He vowed to "cleanse" their family. So that night, taking the family's Tome as his arsenal, the 22-yr-old eldest son viciously attacked the 17-yr-old youngest son. While his brother relished in the torture, James thought up his own counter spell to disarm his brother from using the family Tome against him. What followed was a brutal hand-to-hand fight between two brothers--both silently agreeing not to use magic, both wanting to know who would prevail in a brother against brother battle. James, bloody and near-beaten, finally managed to thrust William's own athame directly into his brother's heart.

The fight, unsurprisingly, had attracted a small crowd in the isolated corner of the park where brother had encountered brother. Quickly burying his family's Tome with bloody hands, he whispered a cloaking spell before being dragged into the streetlights by a cop. Amateur cell phone video from an onlooker easily ensured James was swiftly cuffed and brought to jail. Though he was only 17, he was tried as an adult and within only a few months, was found guilty of second degree murder and sentenced to 11 years in prison. His parents could not enact their revenge on James for killing their prized eldest son for fear of exposing magic to the world. For the same reason, James himself was stuck behind bars, unable to use his powers to escape for fear of exposure. Making things more hopeless, James quickly learned one of the prison guards was a practicing witch, intent on ensuring James remained where he was.

Knowing that the cloaking spell he'd placed on his family's Tome could easily be broken by the insistent magical callings of his parents, James--who had plenty of time to himself each day in his cell--spent hours recasting different variations of his cloaking spell to ensure his family could not find it. He worked on another spell to magically bring the Tome to his prison spell and consistently failed for the first three months. Finally, he managed to successfully call the book by calling upon his own blood. With the Tome in his possession, he easily found a spell within it that he cast to ensure his family would not be able to retrieve it without spilling their blood on its binding.

Young and immature, James had conflicted feelings about being imprisoned. On the one hand, he knew that he had actually killed others in cold-bold, but on the other hand he felt cheated since the death of his brother had been self-defense in his mind. Begrudgingly, he accepted a diagnosis of dyslexia and managed to attain his GED at age 19. Frustrated about being pulled away from his human life, his school, and his friends, he could think of nothing but escaping the boring life of prison. About four months ago, at the age of 20, James finally found a chance to escape, using only minimal magic, and successfully not exposing the supernatural to the human world.

Harshly coming to the obvious understanding that he could never stay in Atlanta or anywhere near the prison he'd busted out of, James hitchhiked north. Constantly under the threat of being discovered by the authorities, James was more concerned about being found by his family. Not trusting Evil magic, he sought out a powerful Good coven of witches in Michigan, begging them for help. Keeping his own Evil history and his fugitive status a secret, he asked them for a spell that would prevent his family from being able to find him. They agreed, casting a powerful spell that shielded James' true identity from being recognized by nearly all known magical means. As payment, James spent the next three weeks using his powers to help vanquish demons, internally conflicted by how much he enjoyed the killings.

After wandering through the midwest, avoiding the police and any public areas, James finally decided to try and settle in the Twin Cities. Hoping that he was far enough away from his home and that enough time had passed, he got a part-part time job as an orderly at the hospital, using a quick confusion spell to trick the hospital into thinking his name was James Harding. For the last month, he's been able to live under the radar, catching a few hospital hours here and there, but receiving his main income from stealing. He's been squatting in abandoned buildings or in homes where people are out vacationing. He hasn't seen his mug shot posted anywhere and he's been careful to keep his appearance different from it had been in Atlanta.

   acceptance post   

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not even CLOSE to what i expected from you, but i'm absolutely in love with it! a very dark past for an already dark character. i think his family dynamic is absolutely perfect based on the spinning wheel you got for him. i don't know that i could have done better myself! have him start at ST. MARY'S in uptown. there's a big music festival there for the public. sounds fun, huh?!

   stats post   

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STRENGTH - 6

were it not for the wiry frame, he might be a bit stronger. still, it's pretty hard to survive in his world without being a bit above average.

DEXTERITY - 7

but why be stronger when you can be quicker?

CONSTITUTION - 6

it's hard not to be hard when you're a victim and a victimizer.

WILL - 5

not flawlessly mastered, his powers are comfortably under his control and he has no real issues with them.

WISDOM - 4

his confidence in the magical world was shaken for a number of rather obvious reasons. what he knew is something he's had to leave behind and learning something new...well that's never easy.

FAVOR - 1

he may have switched sides in his own mind, but that hardly has earned him divine praise.

ITEMS OF IMPORTANCE

CALLOWAY TOME
a stolen magical tome originally belonging to his family.