Application for Voidtrecker

[themasterthief]

Player Information

Name: Aisu
Age: 33
Contact details: PMs, other options on request
Other characters: 47

Character Information

Name: Garrett
Canon: Thief
Canon Point: Post-game
OU/AU/CRAU/OC: CRAU
Age: estimated to be in his late thirties or early forties

World Information:

The City is what we know the most about and where Garrett is specifically from. The City is going through an industrial age and looks the part though old buildings and settings can be found in places that aren't rebuilt or underneath the new construction. Notably, there are supernatural aspects. In the previous incarnation(s) of The City there were gods and pagans that worshiped them and magic or magic like phenomenon. They have sense faded. HOWEVER there is still supernatural energies connected to The City and Garrett actually has been exposed to this Primal force.

Personal History: Yep, you guessed it.

Personality:

Garrett is considered by many to be the Master Thief of The City, yet this is not a title that Garrett himself would conceive to give to himself. In essence, this simple dichotomy defines him. Despite Garrett's best efforts to be aloof, alone, and independent he cannot fully separate himself from the society that he plunders upon through the shifting shadows and indeed relies upon their efforts to provide him with constant challenges. If the people of The City did not exist then neither would Garrett nor his ability to sneak around unnoticed. What does this have to do with his personality one might ask? Well, it shapes him and defines him.

"Like it our not, this city and its people define you, Garret.
To be alone, you must have something to be alone from."
--Queen of Beggars

Garrett typically works alone but that does not mean he has no contact nor feelings for other people in the world. Indeed, he needs certain people in his life to provide him with money for the items he steals and to find challenging jobs for him. Garrett's fence, a man named Basso, is quite possibly Garrett's only friend. He may not allow himself to get close even to this one person but it's obvious he cares for the other man. Despite carefully avoiding the use of the word "friend" in describing anyone there is one time that he slips and uses the word to describe Basso--when the fence is in trouble. Garrett's inner emotions slip out not only in the use of this word by accident but by the vehemence with which he speaks during this time of duress. He genuinely worries about what happened to his friend. Usually Garrett keeps a tight reign over his emotions and his demeanor is outwardly calm and collected, but this is the one time that his actions come out aggressive and emotional. Yet to illustrate further how he keeps these emotional feelings in check (and quite possibly even denies he has them to himself), within the next two minutes Garrett is back to being outwardly calm, crossing his arms and leaning back against a wall to appear once again in control of himself. It is ingrained in him to keep quiet and calm, collected enough to see all the angles and be hyper aware of his surroundings. He needs his wits about him to keep his head on his shoulders where it belongs, especially in his line of work. However, Garrett's slightly atypical friendship with Basso also reveals one other usually hidden aspect of the Master Thief: he does trust. It's rare, hard to come by, and even harder to earn but he can be made to eventually come to trust another person through time and patience. And a bit of money or a challenging job wouldn't hurt any either.

For the most part though, Garrett is as silent in person as he appears at a glance to be. In part it is due to his profession (and the fact that it has been his life for nearly the entire span) but it is also a deeper part of him to simply be quiet and observant. Even with his close associates he tends to say very little. Yet when he does speak people tend to listen. Some do so because they know he only speaks when there is something worth saying, though for others it is merely the fascinating novelty to hear the elusive Master Thief speak. However, that is not to say that the thief only speaks in a high-brow manner (in fact, that would be an inaccurate way to perceive his sagely advice for he is simply experienced and worldly, and never pompous at all) or an emotionally flat tone that implies boredom with everything around him. His inflection can sometimes be easily missed in his pointed replies but make no mistake that it is there. Garrett will not hesitate to speak his mind freely and more often than not his words are flavored with sarcasm to make his point. He has an interesting mix of subtle sarcasm versus heavily obvious sarcasm, this latter form especially apparent whenever he truly wants a person to think about what the words imply. In this way he imparts his wisdom, a wisdom that has not been taught to him in any way other than by simply being observant to that which surrounds him and through the long lifetime of experiences he has managed to surpass. Therefore he does not speak as a learned nobleman or scholar would with lofty words but rather with plain and uncomplicated words that any working man would normally use. He is of simple words and typically short sentences but of smart sense and a sharp wit.

"I tried to help, but you wouldn't listen."
--Garrett

For all that he goes about his business without a care and while staying out of others' business as much as professionally possibly, Garrett does in fact have a soft side that occasionally makes itself apparent (and not just when Basso is in trouble), most notably in the way he offers advice freely. This is most notable in his rocky relationship with Erin, a fellow thief whom Garrett has tried to train in the past. Due to her brash and violent nature, however, Garrett gave up this attempt at training her to be a sneak thief and eventually cut ties with her altogether. Thus proving that even the calm and composed Master Thief only has so much patience for people without their wits about them. Despite this disappointing past, when Basso pairs them up for another job (without Garrett's foreknowledge of the fact) Garrett resumes his mentor tendencies. No matter that Erin does not want to listen to the Master Thief's advice, Garrett still attempts to give it. In part this is because he's looking out for himself while on the precarious job. But part of this is obvious care and a need to pass on his knowledge and experience to one so similar to himself. This isn't the only time he shows sympathy for others in his line of work either (though it can be questionable sometimes whether it's true or not, as it seems to be a mix of genuine sympathy and a wry sense of self). Garrett also readily and willingly takes on jobs that keep others safe, such as disabling traps for fellow thieves and taking down darker criminals that prey on others. He does not need to be acknowledged for such deeds either and in fact prefers to make sure that no one (save perhaps Basso since that's usually where he hears about the jobs) know that he was anywhere near the job preformed. Make no mistake though, Garrett is no true altruist and won't go out of his way to play hero--not unless it benefits him in some way or if he's forced into the position with no other way out. He is reluctant to get involved with most heroic/political deeds and even rescuing a friend in dire need takes a bit of wrestling with himself in order to finally settle on taking the action. Give him a reason other than nobility however and he'll gladly take on the challenge.

"It means, I don't kill without thought or good reason and I don't get paid for it!"
--Garrett

Garrett lives for the challenge in the theft of an item, the taking of what is hidden, the opportunity to learn a guarded secret, the lure of discovering the unknown, and the skill used to penetrate the impenetrable. These things are what drive him. He has few rules when it comes to procuring them but what he doesn't have impetus for taking or payment for doing, Garrett typically does not do. This includes killing for the sake of killing. Garrett is not a murderer, and will only resort to killing when it is the very last resort he has to take. He would rather stay hidden in the shadows than risk open confrontation and he would even rather risk discovery as opposed to killing a guard, insofar that even in open combat he prefers to knockout an opponent than kill them. If he can knockout a guard before being seen then he will happily do so, hiding the body so no one else discovers it before the person awakes. And by the time they do awake Garrett knows he'll be long gone. The only exception to this is when he absolutely must do so get away with his own life and the way he operates means this is very few and far between happenings. He won't mourn the dead but he will see it as a failure on his part.

On a last side note, Garrett is such a loner and independent person that he cannot or will not stand the touch of another on his person. No one touches him and he does not touch others. (The only exception being when he moves an unconscious body to hide it. And that can be seen as moving a troublesome object rather than a body in his own eyes.) Garrett is seen multiple times carefully side-stepping someone who tries to touch him, glaring at a person for actually managing to touch him, and quickly removing his body parts away from being touched or even very lightly grasped in a friendly manner. Even while blocking or commanding another through body language he keeps his distance. He'll reach out a hand to stop someone but won't touch them in the process. He'll move out of the way before resorting to another effort in the case of someone coming too close to his personal space. This is both a physical desire to be left alone as much as it is a psychological withdrawal from the surrounding world as a whole and people in general. He doesn't want to be a part of society. To quote himself, "[he's] been a ghost all [his] life." And he prefers to keep it that way.

And one more thing: he hates boats. Probably not due to a lack of knowledge of how to swim but rather because boats are by their nature unsteady and Garrett prides himself on his sense of balance and sure-footed stature. He is generally a cautious man and will even back out of a job if he sees fit. This is rare, but Garrett knows his limits and keeps to them. If something feels shady then typically he'll avoid it altogether. Flee to thieve another day.

It is all these dichotomous features that make up and define Garrett as a whole. His pride is tempered by his caution; the dark nature of his life diluted if but by a little with his wry humor; and even his aloofness can be rarely countered by his hidden sympathy. It makes him a hard man to befriend and an even harder one to understand, but it is what his life experiences formed him to be.

CRAU developments:

List of threads can be found here. The short of it is Garrett's personality and demeanor have not changed a bit, although he might be slightly more jaded than he already was in canon due to all the horrors and changes wrought in Ryslig. The biggest impact the monster laden world had on Garrett was the physical changes into an arachne type monster and the cruel urges that came with it. Despite being in Ryslig for months at a time, Garrett still despises the act of killing and feeding on humans and does so only because the alternate is far worse--losing control and going on a killing spree being the most likely of consequences to avoiding the whole process of feeding. The second biggest impact was Garrett's friendships and rivalries with certain PCs he met while in Ryslig. He had more contact with his fellow monsters than he ever had in his life within The City. Bonding with them came as a surprise to him and he will genuinely miss those he has parted from, which is a new thing to him. Additionally, though he's still unlikely to want to get involved, he's now more likely to get involved with solving mutual problems and taking part in large-scale events due to being forced into many random and horrifying situations against his will. He hates being a puppet and although he hates being a "hero" he would rather help than watch people go into danger alone, and he would especially be inclined to help if it meant getting back to his old life. Although maybe it's better he doesn't make it home if the arachne thing has decided to stick around this time...

Key themes: sneak. thief.

Main Motivation: love of a challenge

Skills:

Garrett is an accomplished sneak thief. His specialty is in moving carefully through the shadows to go completely unseen. He is adept in sleight of hand tricks, including pickpocketing and lockpicking mostly by touch (though it's possible he also goes by hearing in some cases as well). He moves through the city in a fashion called parkour, or free-running, in our world and can scale nigh impossible surfaces by "free soloing", or without the use of any unnatural aid or rope for protection from falls. Garrett also has some skill in combat, mostly with the blackjack and bow as weapons. His extreme agility aids in his capabilities to dodge melee attacks quickly and proficiently, while he typically fights back with his blackjack to land nonlethal blows to an opponent in the effort to eventually knock them unconscious. He knows a number of efficient ways to render one unconscious (as seen through knockout cutscenes). With the bow, he is proficient with a number of different types of arrow heads though notably he usually attempts to refrain from using the bow and arrow to attack opponents. He would rather use his precise and far-reaching aim to aid in distractions or other useful capabilities than for killing.

Garrett is by no means a scholar but he has a lifetime of experience at his disposal. He is quick to watch and learn from the shadows, and has a tendency to eavesdrop on useful information. He has a keen eye for an item's worth and can appraise specialty items (such as rare jewelry, paintings, sculptures, and other artwork) with just a few seconds worth of examination. Likewise, he can spot a fake at a glance.

CRAU: Garrett has been transformed into an arachne-type monster with appropriate abilities and weaknesses. Full details on this page.

Also, since there is no depowering in VT I'd like him to "regain" his ability to Focus for limited amounts of time to enhance his abilities. Currently "unlocked" benefits: Intuition, Dexterity, Sense, Efficiency, and Stealth. This ability is supernatural and was granted to him by the Primal energy connected to The City.

Item: set of lockpicks

Sample:
some old, old stuff:
test drive meme and tdm 2
some slightly less old stuff: sample 1 and sample 2
And a new thing:

The master thief perched precariously on the edge of the brick wall as he watched the people on the street move below him. Dark was settling in as the sun sunk below the horizon. The thief was waiting for the cover of darkness before he moved towards his goal. It would hide his actions and keep him safe. That was the way he operated. It had always been the way he operated. It always would be.

When the last bit of sun dipped below the horizon the thief finally moved from his still position. He slipped inside the building with ease, already having planned out his infiltration and exit beforehand. It was easy, too easy. He would need to complain to Basso about the lack of challenge in his recent jobs. It took him less than thirty minutes to get in, grab the desired piece of expensive jewelry, and get out. And that was accounting for a guard patrol that was delayed due to bad flirting with a maid (to which Garrett would have loved to make a wry comment or two if he wasn't trying to stay out of sight and hearing).

That left the night still young when the master thief crept back out onto the dark city streets and a sense of disappointment filled his chest as he walked away from the heist. He needed something to occupy his mind as much as his body, and this last thievery did nothing for the former and hardly anything for the latter at that. He suddenly darted to the right and into a dank alleyway, making his way into the bowels of the City with little thought. He wasn't impulsive--not truly--but he was bored. He knew the City like the back of his hand anyway. There was no danger in circling around, pilfering whatever he could find as he took the scenic route to his destination. In the end he gathered a few additional pieces to his hoard as he simply picked up forgotten, lost, or abandoned things scattered about the City alleyways and rooftops. It kept him occupied for a bit at least. Though he still ached for a challenge.

"Too simple," he announced as he tossed the jewelry piece onto Basso's desk. The other man's back was to him.

"What have I told you about using doors, Garrett?" the fence declared slightly louder than typical after a small outburst of cursing from being startled by the unexpected object landing in front of him. He picked up the jewelry and began to give it a once-over to confirm it's worth. Basso didn't doubt the thief's ability in the least but he did sometimes wonder about his clients' tastes and truthfulness. It seemed legit much to his satisfaction. He looked up at the thief with a raised brow.

Garrett kept his gaze steady as he stared back at Basso unfazed. "You know my opinion on them," he reluctantly replied as the fence continued to wait for an answer instead of moving on in the conversation.

Basso leaned back in his chair and sighed. Typical Garrett. "Can't teach an old dog new tricks, huh?" he said with a small huff of a laugh.

Garrett made a slight face at this. "Not if the trick isn't worth learning." The thief leaned forward slightly. "Speaking of which, if the next request isn't interesting enough I'm declining it. Basso, you know I don't care for these simple tasks any street thief could handle."

Basso waved one hand in the air dismissively and tossed the jewelry piece back onto his desk. "You want a real challenge? All right. I just heard of something that might peak your interest this time."

The black-clad thief rose his eyebrows at Basso to indicate his skepticism.

"I'm serious," Basso insisted. He got up and moved towards a bookshelf covered in as many random paraphernalia as it was strewn with dusty books. He rummaged a bit before turning back towards Garrett, holding out a newspaper clipping. The date was relatively recent.

As Garrett read the circled article his expression changed subtly from disbelief to actual interest. He looked up at Basso. "You think there's truth to any of this?"

"Heard a guy thought it was all boulderdash and went in to look for the bank's money. He didn't make it back out. Whatever is there, it's hindering any common street thief from stealing the good stuff in the main vault."

Basso knew he had Garrett hooked the moment the sneak thief took a second glance at the newspaper article. It was an announcement for the grand opening of the new bank down in the upperclass section of the City. It boasted a state-of-the-art locking mechanism for its main vault and several new security systems that sounded outlandish even in this industrial age. But if any of it were true... then the sneak thief would have his challenge.

"Consider it done," the master thief proclaimed as he released the newspaper carelessly to float down to the floor. Garrett moved to exit the hovel the fence called home.

"I haven't even told you what to steal yet!" Basso huffed as he bent to pick up the newspaper from the ground. But when he had straightened back up the sneak thief had already disappeared.

Garrett slipped back into the night with a glint in his eye. He had found his next challenge. Life was good.

Notes: CW: cute spider