Callum Avery

[Callum Avery]

_{i n t r o d u c i n g . . .}

Callum George Avery ///

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Full Name~ Callum George Avery
Gender~ Male
Age~ 32
Date of Birth~ 27th March
Location~ Phoenix, AZ
Faction~ The Archivists
Celebrity Claim~ Patrick Wilson
Play anyone else?~ No

---

_{m i n d . . .}

what's in my head?

/// SPECIAL ABILITY


Callum has the power of Alpha Status, also known as Super Charisma or Superhuman Personal Magnetism. This power is an aura enhancement, making his personal aura far more vibrant and powerful than normal humans, and thus making him far more noticeable than the average Joe. The short version of what this power does is make him likable, fascinating, personally magnetic, and trustworthy for no rational reason.

SPOILER: Click to show

This ability, however, is far more complicated. Callum's aura sends out subtle vibrations, passively acting on the auras of those around him, suppressing peoples' distrust, fear, hatred, and dislike reactions, and bolstering their trust and love (the platonic kind, mostly) reactions. Since Alpha Status is a passive ability, he automatically affects those he comes in contact with, making them instinctively like and trust him by unconsciously using his aura to manipulate their auras. He has had this power since he was five years old.

This power has recently developed an active component: Awe Inducing. With this power, Callum can extend his aura into the auras of others, suppressing them and causing the owner(s) of the affected aura(s) to be unable to channel their spiritual energy. This makes his targets unable to effectively act or think on their own, as their auras are suppressed, restricting their spiritual energy and thus their cognitive abilities. In this state, Callum's subjects can do very little other than stare at him in reverence. Also, because this power overwhelms the ego borders, people subjected to this power are very susceptible to suggestion, taking any idea posed to them as a good course of action. These altered thought processes do fade after the subjects are removed from Callum's influence as their bodies rebuild their ego borders, and the suggestions, as long as they are ongoing, become easier to suggest as their auras recharge.

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/// ABILITY LIMITS

SPOILER: Click to show

Alpha Status, firstly, is a completely passive ability, meaning Callum cannot turn it off, amp it, or turn it on. This means, that while being incredibly personally magnetic has its perks, it does have its drawbacks. Callum has a very hard time hiding in crowds, and even hiding in general, as his aura tends to attract other auras. This ability also makes him quite recognizable as his aura has a certain resonance that is quickly picked out as unique from others'. His aura influences people within approximately twenty five feet of him, and doesn't rely on sight. The aura's vibrations can go around corners, and through thin barriers such as wooden doors.

This ability, as well as its extension, Awe Inducing, are also decently easy to shrug off as long as the affected person is prepared. If an aura is forewarned of an infringement, it can erect defenses that are very difficult to penetrate. Callum can bypass these, but it takes a great battle of will, leaving him vulnerable, as he has to concentrate his energy into his aura. People whose auras are naturally (or supernaturally) strong are also somewhat safeguarded in this manner.

Awe Inducing is the active portion of Callum's abilities. During the duration of this ability, the vibrations that his aura emanates become almost overwhelming waves that overpower the auras of people within fifty feet, causing them to become his thralls. This barrage of spiritual energy does not turn people into Callum's mindless puppets, however. The overbearing waves of Callum's aura cause his targets to be almost unable to move or think on their own, leaving them susceptible to attack. Callum, too, due to the massive amounts of energy required to subjugate people this way, cannot take actions other than speaking and moving slowly during the duration of this usage of his power. Afterwards, he is physically drained, especially if he has used this ability for more than a few minutes. Currently, he is only able to sustain this ability for five minutes before he becomes too physically drained to carry on, and maintaining it for that long leaves him unable to do much more than just stumble away.

Luckily for him, this power has a bleed off time. It breaks down ego barriers in the subjects auras; the longer he uses the ability, the stronger the effects, meaning that people subjected to his ability for three minutes will be more strongly effected than people who have experienced it for only one minute. The duration of the aftereffects are directly tied to how long a person has been subjugated. For every thirty seconds spent in Callum's thrall, the mindset enforced by this ability lasts for about half an hour, although the strength of this inundation lessens as the aftereffects wear off.

The aftereffects of this ability are simple: the people subjected believe whatever they have been told while under the effects of this ability to be correct modes of action, stemming from a strong belief (created by this power) that Callum cannot do any evil and would not steer them wrong. However, as the effect of this ability bleeds off, small, nagging thoughts regarding the validity of these suggestions. If they fall within the parameters of what the subject would normally do, they follow the suggestions without questioning them, but if the suggestions go against the subject's typical behavioral patterns, say making a thug go to confession, as the ability wears off, the subject may become confused, and may not go through with what Callum asked them to do. The final problem with these suggestions is that the subjects will remember exactly what Callum told them, and that Callum told them to do it, making him susceptible to reprisals. There is no memory altering with this ability; it only alters the subjects' mindset so that their moral parameters are open to acting in ways that they normally wouldn't.

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/// PERSONALITY


Callum is a generally happy person. He tends to look on the bright side of life, making the best of situations, and putting a positive spin on negative situations, despite how cheesy it occasionally makes him look. He's a genuine people person, trying to help others at every chance he can get, keeping morale high, lending a listening ear, and giving advice whenever the people around him need it. His biggest weakness is a person in need; he tends to drop everything if he sees someone who needs help, and has a hard time saying no to overworked or stressed out people, often to his own detriment.

Despite the fact that he likes people and likes to help them, he doesn't enjoy being in charge. Callum likes working behind the scenes, not getting too much attention, because he feels that he gets too much of that already. He doesn't like people hanging on his every word, and gets annoyed when they do. This, of course, is complicated by the magnetic effects of his power, much to his chagrin. In the past, he's gotten annoyed as people push his, quite considerable, patience by trying to get him to chair committees, run for political offices, and speak at benefits. Since he has been informed about his abilities, he has taken a much more Zen approach to these occurrences, simply explaining that he is content to work with people, and that he can't work with them from behind a podium.

He's also an active person who would rather be hiking through some remote wilderness than sitting behind a desk. Frankly, he's occasionally baffled that he moved to the city to work in a children's services office, but then remembers the large amount of good he's done in Phoenix. Still, he tries to get outdoors as often as he can, taking walks in the park, going on weekend hikes, and helping out as a counselor at summer camps.

Callum loves the simple things in life, taking great pleasure in just being with friends and family, taking interest in people's lives, and actually experiencing the world instead of rushing by it to try to get things done. This aspect of his personality bleeds through into everything he does, not focusing on the mass amount of work that he has to do, but rather taking each moment and each person as if they are the only thing that he has to do. This has led to him getting quite a reputation as a workaholic, and also leads to him getting very overworked, which he doesn't mind, per say, but having little personal time does get old...
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Likes~

• The sound of running water
  
• Home cooked meals
  
• Being outside
  
• Campy movies
  
• Hiking
  
• Helping people
  
• Funny people
  

Dislikes~

• Neckties
  
• Tomatoes
  
• Cold weather
  
• Irresponsible parents
  
• Hospitals
  
• Paperwork
  
• Bare walls
  

Strengths~

• Easygoing temperament
  
• In good physical condition
  
• Quick thinker
  
• Empathic (not the power)
  
• Good with children
  
• Can see both sides of most arguments
  

Weaknesses~

• Becomes irate when he sees children hurt
  
• Doesn't tend to stand up for himself
  
• Is naïve and tends to believe the best about people
  
• Puts others before himself
  
• Bad at time management
  
• Becomes attached to people quickly
  

Skills~

• Trained in Social Work
  
• Knows how to brawl in an unscientific manner from growing up with older brothers
  
• Trained in public speaking and rhetoric
  
• Knows the legal system decently well
  
• Pretty good soccer player
  
• Psychology minor in college
  

Hobbies~

• Hiking
  
• Camping
  
• Collecting pens
  
• Being with family and friends
  

Habits~

• Constantly smiles
  
• Scratches the back of his head when at a loss for words
  
• Looks people straight in the eyes
  

Flaws~

• Farsighted (wears contacts)
  
• Pollen allergy
  
• Claustrophobia
  

---

_{b o d y . . .}

caught in your sights . . .

Age~ 32
Celebrity Claim~ Patrick Wilson
Sexual Preference~ Heterosexual
Ethnicity~ Mostly Irish
Hair~ Brown
Eyes~ Bluish gray

/// APPEARANCE


Callum is a boyish looking, tall, athletic sort of guy. He has medium brown hair that he keeps short and well groomed. His face is generally clean shaven, although his facial hair isn't overly impressive if he were to grow it out, and his body hair is kept short and well groomed as well. Callum's eyes are gray, and generally bright, lit up with his usual smile. His teeth are straight from having braces in junior high, and he brushes them regularly, so they're pretty white. While his face is well proportioned, it has a certain, boyish quality, perhaps from his slightly larger than average ears, or perhaps from the fact that he constantly seems to be in a good mood.

His body is well toned and fit from long years of being active and outdoors at any chance he can get. Callum stands at 6'3”, but still moves gracefully and jauntily. He has a laid back grace, usually walking around with his hands in his pockets and a spring in his step. His clothing is usually nice, mainly consisting of nice shirts, dress slacks, and sturdy dress shoes, but on the weekends, he's more of a polo shirt and jeans kind of guy.

Callum doesn't really have any overly noticeable scars or birthmarks, although he gets a light smattering of freckles in when he gets some sun, and tends to burn rather than tan. He does have a small tattoo of a dove on his left shoulderblade.

The Tattoo

---

_{s p i r i t . . .}

this is where i come from . . .

Faction~ The Archivists
Birthplace~ O'Toole, Iowa
Mother~ Lynette Avery
Father~ George Avery
Siblings~ Randall Avery (48)

SPOILER: Click to show

Fear Inducing

Brandon Avery (39)
James Avery (36)
Elena Avery (34)
Spouse~ None
Children~ None
Other Family~ Kelly Grant (Uncle, 67)

/// HISTORY


Callum was born in the small town of O'Toole, Iowa as the youngest of five children. Both of his parents were school teachers at the local high school, and he was raised in the typical helter skelter lifestyle that large families with two working parents often lead. They lived in a small house just outside the town, with woods and a creek in the backyard, but still close enough to civilization to have a large cadre of neighborhood kids to play with after a short bike ride.

Because of the environment, Callum grew up mostly outside, running through the woods, having pine cone wars with his brothers and friends, and swimming in the nearby lake. He had quite a few friends, and seemed to gain them rather easily—almost too easily. Of course, this was partially his primary power manifesting, but it was also his way with people. Growing up in a large family, especially as the youngest, he quickly developed a knack for talking people down from each other's throats, and making them like him.

These two aspects helped him be relatively popular in high school, and the fact that he was on the soccer team definitely helped his social status. He got pretty good grades—nothing spectacular, but good enough to get into college at the University of Iowa. There, he majored in social work, deciding that he wanted to dedicate his life to helping people, and minored in psychology so that he could get to know the people he was helping better.

After graduation, Callum got a job as a social worker in O'Toole, but quickly realized that he couldn't do as much good there as he could do in a big city. He moved to Phoenix, Arizona, in response to an add for a job as a youth social worker with children services, and has worked there ever since.

About a year into his stint as a social worker in Phoenix, he was sent to investigate rumors of abuse in a local youth shelter run by a local temple of a little known faith. Luckily for him (and them) the rumors proved false. Even more luckily for him, through talking to a few of the members of the temple and people running the shelter, he realized that his incredibly magnetic personality was due to the fact that he had a special ability.

Finding out that he was a “special”, and that the individuals running the shelter worked with people with powers to make sure that those individuals were able to function in society and did not use their powers to harm others, Callum started helping them any way he could, sending the occasional troubled teen with powers their way, volunteering hours at their youth homes, and studying his powers with the workers.

He has worked with them for the last three years or so, and has become a commonly seen face around their Phoenix locations. More recently, he has been working with a few of the youth home's "special" workers to expand his aura, trying to find active applications of his mostly passive power. He has had some success in this field, although he is still a bit new to its uses.



_{c r e d e n t i a l s . . .}

what do you bring to the party ?

/// PLAYER INFORMATION

Name or Alias~ Dave
CBox Name~ Banalitybob
Contact Info~ [e-mail]
Age~ 22
Years of RP Experience~ 10ish
How Did You Find Us? Mooneypants

/// SAMPLE RP

Callum leaned forward, propping his elbows on his desk, and looking the young man sitting across from him straight in the eyes. The kid looked down, moving his head to the side so his hair flopped in front of his left eye which was swelling with a nasty, purple bruise.

”Look, you need to tell me why you ran away this time, Andy. I'm your caseworker, and I need to find you a foster home if your parents keep beating you up, which, from that bruise, is what I'm thinking is what's going on.”

Andrew stared at his hands, picking at the cheap, worn fabric of the gray hoodie he was wearing, looking like he wanted to say something but was too afraid to.

This was the third time the police had brought him in after finding the 16 year old sleeping on park benches. Something was wrong in the kid's home, but he never would tell anybody what was up. So, he kept going back, getting beaten up, and heading back out to the streets where he was picked up and dropped back in Callum's office.

The clock ticking was the only sound in the office, and Callum sighed. He wasn't getting the rest of the story today, not unless he did something that, while not exactly illegal, probably would be if people knew about people like Callum. Plus it wasn't ethical. His trainers would probably object pretty heavily.

But something had to be done.

Leaning back in his chair, he sighed again, then extended his aura, overwhelming the aura of the kid sitting in the chair across his desk.

Andrew sat up, staring in rapt awe at Callum.

From what Callum had been told from the people he trained with, the kid should only be feeling the intense need to do anything Callum said

”Now, Andy, tell me at your home life. Why do you keep running away from home? I want to know everything.”

He pulled his aura back. The kid should tell him everything now.

”I-i-i, my dad and mom think I'm posessed,” the boy stuttered out in a low voice. ”A couple months ago, I woke up and I was lying on the ceiling. I yelled and my mom came in and flipped out, and I just wanted her to stop screaming, and I felt something go out of me, and she slammed against the wall. Then dad ran in, and started yelling, and mom said that I was holding her against the wall and he started hitting me, then I fell.”

The kid looked up at Callum, fear in his eyes.

”And it keeps happening like that. I just can't stop it. I'm not a freak. I swear.”

Callum had leaned forward during the story, a look of concern and consolation on his face.

”Don't worry, Andy,” Cal said, looking him straight in the eye. ”You're not the only one who can do stuff like that. Luckily,” he said, picking up the phone, ”I know people who help people like you...and me.”

The kid's eyes, which had returned to scanning his kneecaps, suddenly shot back to Callum's face, and were met with a grin of solidarity.

Did you read the rules: Nah, man, we're a lawless board!