Name:
Tiresias Lafayette
Age:
23
Gender:
Male
Race:
Magical Skeleton
Appearance:
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Tiresias is on the small side of the spectrum. He's 5'3" and doesn't appreciate the giggles that come from his coworkers when he needs something off the top shelf. The glowing lights in his eye sockets are one of the few cues that he is not just an undead skeleton. The malleable bone structure of his face allows him to make a wide variety of expressions similar to people of the sapient fleshy creature variety, and his skill with illusionary magic helps when it comes to sticking out a tongue that doesn't actually exist. If you ask him how magical skeletons actually work, there's about a 78% chance that his answer will simply consist of him waggling his phalanges and saying, "mmmagic~".
It's a well known fact that skeletons don't have any of the heavy squishy fleshy stuff that other creatures have. This causes him to weigh in around 35lbs.
Most of his clothes were hand stitched by his mother, hence the odd designs. He wears them with pride anyways, and Stars help whoever says they look tacky because Mamma Faye didn't take no shit, and her kiddo knows to stand in for her when she's not around. That, and they're really comfy.
Personality:
Tiresias is highly intelligent, and doesn't pull his punches when knocking down other people's pride. He was raised with a love for the piano and a talent for pranks, though only one of which lends itself to harmlessness. To be fair, he only resorts to tricks and pranks when he gets bored, and he does try a number of productive activities before he falls onto that pastime.
Like his parents, he finds magic and it's applications terribly interesting. He's written several journals full of observations and theories focusing on casting efficiency and energy constraints. He is less than amused when people suggest that his deep interest in the subject is borderline manic. He is a skeleton with standards, thank you very much.
Tiresias can be a bit petty at times, being the little diva he is, but more often than not he's a very relaxed guy with a poor sense of humor. He tends to fade into the background of group social activities, since he isn't overly sociable and tends to get drained by too much interaction. The only times he really stands out are when his voice carries a bit too much during the delivery of sass, deadpan humor, and sarcasm. He gets annoyed when people question his existence, since he does look similar enough to an undead skeleton that questions could be made, but for Pete's sake Helen, he has clothes on and undead skeletons don't have an instinctual reaction to flip off annoying people such as yourself!
Strengths:
Cunning - He's often thinking three steps ahead of himself, making plans and taunts ahead of time so that when the opportunity for a jab at an opponent comes through, he's ready to throw them off their game.
Terror - His real strength comes from figuring people out. He observes them, makes note of what they avoid and how they react to things. Doing this he can get a good picture of what they're afraid of. What he does with this information depends on the situation, but his adept magical skills are something to be feared when he puts his mind to it.
Empathy - He can relate to a lot of people in a lot of different ways. Being the psychic he is, he tends to walk in a lot of people's shoes and makes it a practice to show kindness to the people who need it. He's survived this long thanks to the kindness of others, the least he can do is pay it forward.
Weaknesses:
Cunning - His sharp mind is connected to an equally sharp metaphorical tongue that often gets him into a lot of trouble. And when he isn't running his mouth, he's scheming. Prolonged silence is dangerous. Don't let the skeleton scheme. It often results in pranks gone way too far.
Physically Weak - Skeletons, magical or undead, lack all the squishy fleshy stuff that puts mass on a normal person. Without that much mass behind his punches, they really don't make an impact. No pun intended. The featherweight wrestling level would be too much for him.
Untrusting - He can be friendly, downright peaceful with new faces, but he never expects the best out of them. He's a little prejudiced against anyone who isn't a magical skeleton due to some of the harassment he's dealt with. He doesn't count on anyone except himself, and it isn't exactly the healthiest mindset.
Font:
Psychic and Illusions
Gift:
Double fonted.
Equipment:
The Badge - The golden clasp that holds his jacket together in the front is an ancient family heirloom that means the world to him. His parents frequently joked about the inscribed LT on the front standing for Little Terror, his first nickname, but later he was told that it bared the rank of his ancestor who fought and died in a forgotten war.
The Jacket - Handmade by Mamma Faye, there are a multitude of secret pockets hidden inside of it, and at the bottom of each pocket is a tiny stable portal linked to the family's secret vault. The rule is to take no more than you need and return more than you take.
Skeleton Keys - They're good for opening up obscure old locks. And when laced between the phalanges they make a decent weapon when aimed at the eyes.
Twin Blades - When things get messy. He only uses them when his magic is tapped out. They're meant for slicing, not stabbing. He doesn't have enough force behind him for stabbing.
Backstory:
Tiresias came from a strong, well-off family. His dad, Tiberius Lafayette, was a lead researcher in the study of magic efficiency, and a highly skilled portal caster. Mamma Faye was everything and more. She worked as an advisor for a bunch of big companies, using her psychic abilities to keep everything running smoothly. One of the big things that she told him when he was a kid, other than 'don't even think about pranking your father', was never to abuse his gifts.
Other gems of wisdom were shared as well. Do no harm. Stay humble. Give respect and get respect in return. Of course, they'd lived in a small town that was mostly made up of magical skeletons back then. Dad took a portal to the city for work every single morning at six and came home during the wee hours of the morning. Tiresias tried to stay up for him a few times, but it ultimately ended in failure. Mamma left for the commute at nine and was back home by seven at the latest. Then, about when he turned ten, Mamma stopped going to work.
She said that she'd worked long enough. He didn't have to read her mind to know that she was lying. Over the course of the year, her bones started to turn slightly grey, and her eyelights began to dim out. Moving around the house became an effort. Then one day, here eyelights went out and she fell down.
She didn't get back up.
Tiresias moved to the city with his dad after her funeral. Culture shock was an understatement. People gave him weird looks when he walked to school that first day, muttering and whispering about a skeleton running around in the streets. The police officers he passed even looked at him weird. Were his eyelights dim enough that they thought he was an undead? Did they even know how to tell the difference? He hadn't seen any other magical skeleton on the streets, maybe dad and him were the only ones who actually lived in the city? Were magical skeletons considered a minority? Stars, he just wanted to be home with Mamma.
Things didn't get better at school. When he was walking home, he got jumped by some of the bigger kids. One of them chipped his tooth, and when he hit the ground the others started kicking at him. They scattered when a cop showed up to break up the fight. The cop was nice, didn't get spooked by the skeleton. Just a kind soul looking out for a kid in bad shape. He must've taken a pretty good hit to the skull, because after that he didn't hear Mamma's voice in the back of his head telling him to be good. Something a bit more than bone snapped that day.
He hit the books hard. Started skipping grades because he just didn't want to be there anymore. Reading the teacher's mind in order to get all the right answers was also a smart move. He started pranking the people who gave him weird looks, learned to be quick to not get hit. Evolved into the stupidly smart class clown and troublemaker. He tapped into his fonts hard, figured out how to scare off the people that he couldn't stand up to in a fight.
His dad took off of work in order to attend his graduation. Turns out becoming an evil genius is enough to get noticed by the guy who was supposed to take care of you. Tiresias couldn't hold it against him, Mamma didn't exactly leave a manual on how to take care of the son that they called Little Terror for the early half of his life.
What she did leave was a hand stitched jacket with the family badge shining on the front, with a note that always makes him cry when he reads it.
He started working at his dad's lab while he also went to college. No pranking during science time. The two of them got along better when they were casually conversing in scientific terms. While Tiresias was out taking a final, something went wrong at the lab. A portal became unstable, dad got hit by one of the impulses and cracked his skull open against the metal wall he was thrown against. Death was instant.
Tiresias was left to pick up the pieces. Started working full time at the lab translating a lot of his dad's theoretical work to the lab assistants, since no one except him could make out his dad's terrible handwriting.
Then he got contacted by the government. The government was something that sparked fear in the soul of the budding scientist, something that his dad had drilled into him. After all, they look for profit and submission in science. Instead of scientific study, they asked for him.
And he felt like the scum of the Earth when he though about saying no. Do no harm... He couldn't ignore the faint whisper in the back of his skull, and not doing anything would only let more people get hurt. So, he might as well try something new.
