Wyck

Wyck is the typical, 18 year old (ish) protagonist of the 1980's movies.

Inspiration
He's got some parts of him that resemble a protagonist in a typical 80's movie:
 * David Lightman (Mathew Broderick) in Wargames
 * Mikey (Sean Astin) in Goonies
 * Sam (Corey Haim) in Lost Boys
 * Aladin (Boy thief)

Name
Over the years, Wyck has told people a bunch of different stories about his name. Here are a few of the better ones.
 * My father’s name was Chandler which means candlemaker. So I was his little ‘wick’.
 * When the fuckers tried to burn me, they didn’t have enough wood for a bonfire so they used a bunch of candles. I was the ‘wick’ at the center.
 * When he was five he dressed up as a witch for halloween but couldn’t say the name right so it was the ‘Wicked Wick of the West’.
 * W.y.c.k. are his initials.

Hooks
He's a shy kid with only a few friends whom he thinks of as his family. Very intelligent though his grades often don't reflect it, he's constantly rubbing up against authority figures the wrong way and getting into trouble.
 * Southern: Wyck was born and raised within the south. The streak of southern manners runs deep in the boy and he's been known to demonstrate this in his presence of manners and concepts such as hospitality, guest rights and debt. Wyck -hates- being in debt to someone else and will do anything and everything in his power to get out from under someone else's thumb. Should someone be invited to spend time with Wyck, either at his trailer, one of the places he's borrowing as a 'home' or just in polite company, they are treated as a 'guest' and are afforded all rights (and responsibilities) that means. To Wyck, a guest should be treated with respect and given every opportunity to repay such kindness, but he'll never bring such obligation up within the conversation. Guests never pay for their meals, but they should also be respectful of any other guest Wyck has at the table.
 * Intolerence: Wyck has a few issues which he has become intolerant of over the years. First, he can't stand a bully. If he sees someone bullying upon another - especially if the target of the bullying is someone weaker - then Wyck will probably have to do something about it if he can. He's not stupid and he's not going to just charge up and challenge the bully to a fight, rather he'll wait and pick his moment to ensure that person can't harm another...again. Another big issue for Wyck is women; he don't like them. More specifically, he doesn't like what women have become in modern society. Given that a large influence on how he saw women was by a woman who was his adopted grandmother, his views on how people should behave are somewhat antiquated. His issue seems to involve the trend for women to follow in the footsteps of the Kardashians and Hiltons where intelligence and integrity is trumped by popularity and appearance. This is not to say that he is intolerant of all woman, just those who have aligned themselves with that type.
 * Artist: Wyck is what you might call a starving artist. Meaning that he's not being paid for his art but he doesn't often get paid for it. He draws what he sees, usually, so he's constantly scribbling away at this or that in one of many sketchbooks he carries with him. (See gear below).

Street Hooks

 * Hustler: Wyck is straight - or at least that's what he tells his clients. Normally he tries to find up-scale buisnessmen who want a little action on the down-low and is usually able to keep them quite entertained. (NOT effeminate)
 * Homeless: (strictly speaking he lives in a Winibago but it's on the street). He's been known to squat here and there by parking his winibago near an abandoned or vacant building so as to tap into their power and water. How he taps in is another matter entirely.
 * Fixer: Wyck is known for helping people find what they need - for a small price. He makes introductions, finds things that need to be found or, more likely, losses things that shouldn't be found again.
 * Thief: One of the things he tends to 'fix' for people is when they need items back from people who have taken them or when the courts won't force them to give them back. Above such things as a pick pocket and not as sophisticated as a bank robber, Wyck will 'find' things that people need (or say that they need) for the right price. He's been known to find heirlooms, pieces of art, antiques, etc.
 * Witch: When all else fails and he needs money - he's known to read tarot cards, cast curses and things on people. He drums it up as an act to make money. He's none-too-shy about admitting his interest in the occult and doesn't hide the fact that he considers himself to be a 'street witch'. His grimoire is a composition notebook, his wand is a prop from Harry Potter and he has a Slythern patch on his satchel.
 * Vagrant: Occasionally he has to move the camper so that people don't become too wise that he's stealing their power or water. So he could end up anywhere in the city.

Background

 * Small Town: Wyck was born in Louisiana and quickly left the small town and his family as soon as he could. Wyck's family life was difficult at best. His parents always fought and most of the time he was caught in the middle.
 * Passed Around: When he was between fifteen and sixteen, he decided to leave in the hopes that his absence would make his parents fight less. Originally he went to Texas to live with a friend of the family who said that they would look after him until 'things got sorted out'. A year after his arrival, the friend - who had become something of a grandmother to him - died. Unable to stay where he was (as a minor) and unwilling to go back home (which is where the courts were wanting to send him) he took off and headed to the big city.
 * Poor: Wyck was raised in a poor family who dreamed about having a working class income. As such, his priorities are a bit different. Rather than focusing upon gathering all of the outward, material signs of wealth and success, Wyck has learned to do with less and is quite happy to focus his sights on goals which are more important to him. So long as he has a roof over his head, food in his belly and a spare notebook, he's usually good to go. Anything else he might acquire is there to help others.

Supernatural Hooks

 * Bloodboy: is nearly equivalent to a courtesan in that the mortal exchanges his blood for a nice place to live and a small stipend of money. Typically, the term is used to describe a mortal who was kept in a tight-knit herd whose members lived together in a house provided for them by the vampire.
 * Wyck was at one time part of a Vampire's Herd about three and a half ago (when he was 16) in Los Angeles.
 * The vampire was destroyed in a fire set by another, rival vampire.
 * Even after realizing that he was part of a herd, Wyck still regards this time in his life as one of the most stable.
 * Wyck has tried to keep in relative contact with those who were part of the herd.
 * Technobane: Wyck is allergic to technology. More specifically, technology is allergic to his touch. At his touch cellphone batteries will drain faster than they should, computer monitors will flicker, item scanners at the checkout will malfunction, etc. It's not something that people would immediately recognize (2 point flaw) but it is something that people would probably pick up on if they spend any time around him. It's not immediate and it's not flashy but you don't want him to hold your new smart phone or check the web on your laptop.
 * Bards Curse: Whereas people may interpret the 'feeling' that one gets with Awareness, Wyck, for some reason, manifests such a feeling by a subconscious need to rhyme his words. So, if something supernatural starts to happen around him, rather than him getting the 'oogly' feeling, he just starts to rhyme.

Powers
Wyck starts off with a handful of RITUALS that he acquired on his travels prior to his arrival. He has learned about magic from Flick, the fire spirit he “found” in his brief time in the Nether and has one or two Trinkets.
 * Ritual of invisibility (circle of protection)
 * Ritual of summoning (of simple spirits)
 * Everburning Candle (home for Flick)
 * Key Ring (open simple locks)

Props

 * Sketchbook: Wyck is rarely seen without his satchel and one of the prized possessions within the satchel is his sturdy, small, black-covered sketchbook. Part journal, part idea book and part sketchbook, the book holds all of his thoughts about almost everything.
 * Satchel: Wyck is constantly seen with his canvas satchel - whether he was on the road or now that he's in town. The satchel is large enough for a laptop but wider - as though it were designed to hold a stack of books rather than just the thin profile of a bit of electronics. It has every appearance of being a messenger bag. The satchel is decorated with a dozen or so patches from all over the country (state parks, etc.) as well as a number of odd glyphs and scrawls in black, permanent marker with the occasional white paint pen to highlight this and that. As a consummate nomad, his satchel holds everything he would need for life, work or the occasional adventure. Since he's usually on foot and doesn't head back to the camper until the sun's down so that he doesn't lead anyone back to his home, he needs to keep everything that he'll need with him at all times.

Background
Wyck grew up in a very abusive home. His mother, whom he idolized, was killed by his father when he was ten in a drunk-driving accident. Though she was not awakened herself, magic was still a heavy influence in her life. Her mother, Wyck's granny, had spoken of the 'family secret' a few times, but every time his father heard her talking about it he would go into an angry tirade. Wyck's father even drove them out from the midwest to the coast to keep him and his mother from the 'Legacy' of the family. It was on that trip that his father, driving at night and drunk, accidentally drove their car off the road and slammed it into a guard rail. His mother was killed instantly. In the years that followed, Wyck threatened to run back to his Granny and leave his father behind for the drunk he was and each time, his father would beat him into submission. Wyck learned to stay gone on nights when his father would drink - or sneak out of their home when he had a temper so he wouldn't be beaten up. By the time he was fourteen years old, he had simply run away for good and was living on the streets - making his way back to his Granny in the South.

Ren-Wyck
It wasn't an easy trip but he was able to spend some time with her before she passed away a few weeks after he had arrived. He didn't know what to do without her. The bank claimed the house soon after and he was back on the road using his granny's winnebago and what was left of her credit cards to keep moving. After a time he met up with some friends who were traveling on the Ren-Fair circuit and asked if he wanted to join them. That summer changed his life. He was nearly eighteen, barely, he was at one of the pagan festivals that he and his friends often visited but this time there was someone there who changed his life. She was an older woman, a plump-little grandmotherly figure with handmade clothes of recycled blue jeans and tie-dyed everything. She was the one who got him talking about his history, his interest in magic and, eventually, the loss of his family.

The woman was a self-styled 'granny witch' who lived near the fields that the pagans were using for their spring rites. She had come out to hang with the other 'witches' who were at the gathering and Wyck had taken a shine to her. He had missed his granny and had no real sense of family - she was exactly what he needed. She had invited him, and a few others, back to her simple house if they needed a shower or to do laundry before the event. The others had set out through the small trail in the woods between the field and her house ahead of him but he needed to finish some things up before he could go. It wasn't too late and he could see through the brambles and things but the 'simple trail' quickly became confusing to him and he lost his way. When he turned around to head back the way he came, he was jumped by two, large and shadowy forms that stuffed a bag over his head and hauled him away.

Kidnapped
Though unable to see, Wyck could hear lots of voices and noise around him. It was as though he were being taken back to the festival and he thought that this whole thing was possibly some kind of pagan initiation or maybe a joke by his friends. The bag came off and he found himself for sale at a Goblin Market. Unable to speak due to a single black thread tied around his throat, his eyes frantically searched the crowd. He couldn't believe the sizes, shapes and colors of the creatures that were bidding on him. One looked like a satyr crowned with goat-horns and the other was a frosty-looking woman with ice for hair. When the auction was complete and he was hefted down to who his new owner was, he was shocked to find out that it was the granny woman. She took him away, lead only by a slender bit of thread tied to his 'collar' and when they were a distance away he heard that she was -not- pleased that he was taken. She had apparently had him already coming to her willingly and then some oafs went in and kidnapped him - forcing her to buy him.

Wyck's time with the Granny Witch was long, longer than he knew how to count, but it wasn't all bad to start. She was, in many ways, the grandmotherly figure that he had always wanted. Wyck was good at finding things for her - for sneaking in and sneaking out of the Market to buy things for her when she needed them. She even had him 'retrieve' some 'lost' items from the mortal world and from others. Eventually, when Wyck started to realize that her grandmotherly love was more than a little smothering, he tried to see just how far he could get before she would tug on that near-invisible leash of his. It took him months and months to find a way to cut through that thin thread but once it broke he lost himself in the Market as fast as he could and took the first path back to the mortal world he could find.

The Return
Since his return, he's remained on the road. He wasn't gone for too long and eventually connected back with his friends to rejoin the pagan and ren-fair circuit. Recently he ran into some trouble with the company and decided to get lost for a while. This lead him to go to the one place that no one would ever -think- to look for him: one of the biggest cities on the west coast. Plenty of freaks to hide among.

With his escape, Wyck has mostly supported himself through thievery and to a smaller scale prostitution. Already having broken in a few places and stolen things to sell for gas, food or car parts, Wyck thought that he could return to a basic life of crime when he returned. However, his natural good looks and ability to discern what people are wanting from him lent themselves to feeding off that glamour. Realizing that he could charge more than an average street-walker for his services, he became less of a prostitute and more of an escort at least in his mind. The distinction may have been only symbolic but it raised the quality of his clients, put more money in his pockets and allowed him to be far more selective on whom he spent time with. This then draw him to the spring court as they emphasized his connection with Desire and the manipulation of it in others.

The main reason why Wyck left the south-western ren-faire and pagan festival circuit was when he saw his Fetch still operating with his old company. Though it took him a while to catch up with the rag-tag batch of faire-folk, he thought that he was finally going to reconnect with the folks that he felt were his true 'family'. He entered the faire grounds in a borrowed set of garb and walked around for a few minutes before someone of the old friends saw him and gave him an odd look. To them, he had 'suddenly' changed his hair from brown to stark white. From across the faire they pointed at him, his hair and gave him the big thumbs up of 'that's awesome' but he was just confused until he saw his double. The fetch had replaced him - stolen his friends and family. He didn't know what to do so he just left. He couldn't attempt to explain what had happened - no one would believe him and he wasn't sure if he'd survive a fight with the imposter. That's when he decided to get lost and head to where no one would recognize him - from the south-west to the north-east.

The Wikibago
Wyck is a nomad, living out of a 1976 Winnebago Chieftan. Wyck got the winnebago at some point in his travels and it’s been around long enough to seem like home to him. He found it when he was homeless and was sleeping on the street. The idea of having a mobile home like this was a perfect solution - mobile so that he could move it around the city so that people couldn’t track him down and comfortable.

It’s not a lot of space but it’s got a bed, table, and a place to keep food from going bad for a while. But it does require supplies to keep it going. He needs to fill with gas to keep it mobile and this beast eats gas like a fat kid eats twinkies. It needs propane to keep the heater going in winter. Propane isn’t that expensive but it’s not cheap either.

It also can need maintenance and repairs, extra batteries, water and sewage connections, etc.

Whoever had the ‘rig’ before he got it had already customized it to a point. The old rv was built in the 1970’s so some things just needed to be replaced or repaired because they had failed in the history of the vehicle. The mattress in the back was replaced, the cushions on the couch were replaced, the batteries that kept things going as well as a lot of the plumbing.

Nearly every piece of the original RV ‘s carpeting and upholstery has been replaced with something loud and vibrant with color.

Immediately in front of you is a small table with a PURPLE-covered couch to the left and a regular bench to the right. To your immediate left is a small, two-basin sink, a small, covered range and what looks to be a mini-fridge.

The central 'hall' is blocked at the back of the camper by a large, floor-length, green-star curtain that blocks off the 'bedroom' from the rest of the cabin. Opposite the refrigerator is the bathroom and shower and that sits right up against the back of the PURPLE couch.

The bedroom is a full mattress that sits on a platform around knee-height with cushions along the rear wall. It too is covered with some kind of tie-dyed, printed sheet and a few mismatched pillows.

The kitchen area is mostly non-functional, the only thing that works are the twin sinks that drain in the floor of the camper. There’s only running water if an external hose is connected. The small stove only works when a propane tank is connected to it but there’s no functional hose between the tank housing on the outside of the camper and the stove.