John Barcomb
John Barcomb is a Wolf-blooded.
Background
John Barcomb has been a target for spirits since he was six. He's not really sure what it was that happened that night, over three decades ago. He suspects, though he isn't sure why, that it has something to do with his Aunt Stacy and the reason she disappeared. He remembers the half-moon shining in his window, and he stood there, watching as little flecks of color rode the moonlight into his room. Once there, though, all the beauty vanished. They swirled together like a swarm of locusts, they bit and stung him and, over his own screams, he heard what sounded like a howl.
And for 30 years after that, not a night goes by that John doesn't see the spirits of his city.
It took a while for him to realize what they were, of course. Sometimes they look like animals, sometimes they look like people, sometimes he can't find words to describe them. He thought he was crazy for a while, but he's seen so many therapists and shrinks that he's almost qualified to psychoanalyze people himself by now. He's tried taking medication, but nothing helps the visions. He's tried religion, but every holy man he's talked to seems quite willing to entertain the possibility of demons and so on until someone actually reports seeing them, at which point they start recommending therapy.
So John has learned to cope. He's made lists of spirits, written down the ones he's seen and even correctly guessed a few bans. The spirits have never actually harmed him (outside of the painful bites he received as a child), and he's willing to live with a bit of nuisance.
One of the most frightening bits of nuisance, though, is that John sometimes sleepwalks. He wakes up in strange, often frightening locales with no memory of how or why he came to be there. Often, when he wakes up, he feels a glimmer of spirit activity, but the place is eerily quiet.
What John doesn't realize is that Aunt Stacy is alive and well, and a proud member of the Storm Lords. Her pack, noting the interest that spirits take in John, has been using him for decades to pinpoint aggressive spirits, those on the verge of possessing humans or attacking Uratha. The pack often uses the Call Human rite to force John into suspected problem areas. (The rite doesn't always call him, of course, but they typically wait until he falls asleep, and, of course, being wolf-blooded makes him more susceptible and then quickly deals with the spirits present before he awakens.)
Stacy has always prevented the pack from sending her nephew into a truly dangerous area. She doesn't want to see him hurt - or, worse, Ridden. She's aging, though, and her younger packmates look hungrily at John, wondering what horrors their lure could hook.
Appearance
John is a tall, thin man in his late 30s. His black hair is thinning, but he wears a full beard and moustache. John runs an animal shelter, and is usually covered in cat and dog hair and wearing old clothes that he doesn't mind being soiled
Stats
Mental Attributes: Intelligence 3, Wits 2, Resolve 3
Physical Attributes: Strength 2, Dexterity 3, Stamina 2
Social Attributes: Presence 2, Manipulation 2, Composure 2
Mental Skills: Academics (Religion) 2, Computer 2, Crafts 1, Investigation 1, Medicine (Veterinary) 1, Occult 2, Science 2
Physical Skills: Athletics 1, Drive 2, Survival 1
Social Skills: Animal Ken (Wolves/Dogs) 4, Empathy 1, Intimidation (Icy Glare) 1, Socialize 1
Merits: Watched 5, Wolf-Blooded 5
Willpower: 5
Morality: 7
Virtue: Prudence. John hasn't survived this long by giving himself over to God or even by being particularly strong-willed. He's survived because he's smart and logical, able to recognize a problem he can solve and one that he must simply accept.
Vice: Wrath. John has anger issues. He knows it, his coworkers know it. He's had to back away from people who come into his animal shelter more than once, because he knows that they aren't going to really care for the animals they adopt.
Health:7
Initiative: 5
Defense: 2
Speed: 10
References
- WTF: Blood of the Wolf, p. 128-130