Walter Thornley-von Bremen

Age 34

Gender Male

Origin Altalusia

Occupation Baron, Occultist

Current Goals:

Return back to health;
Improve the state and affairs of the Bremen barony;
Improve the family's social standing;
Improve relationships with the Magicians Collective;

Appearance

Height 179cm

Hair black, few gray hairs

Eyes indigo-violet

Usually low voice, a little husky, with a full-chest, pleasant bass in song or when raised;
Normal 'human' odors are very faint, but always carries a scent of sage and something herbal;
Strange scent intensifies with shroudweaving;

Ever so slightly shorter than average, but carries himself with a quiet dignity;
Pale, easily sunburnt complexion, cooler skin undertone and 'blue blood' veins;
Jet black hair falling in rounded large locks down to the shoulders when not clipped,
early graying in a few hairs at the forehead and right temple;
Eyes are a dark, but vibrant and, some could argue, unnatural violet hue;
Fangs very slightly enlarged, with sharper tips, a subtler second pair behind the normal one;
Poised, straight-shouldered, but carries himself somewhat heavier, like a man used to armor;
There is a certain fluidity and precision to his motions, but no flourishes or intricacy;
Right hand always gloved or covered, kept out of view; feels very thin under the fabric;

In clothing, elects navy, midnight blue, sky blue, teal or forest green accents, and silver;
Exceptions are the bronze family head signet ring and dagger with the crest on the pommel;
Wears layers, top ones usually an undershirt, vest or long doublet, overcoat and a cape;
Prefers boots with a low heel, but will be reasonable if forced to travel on foot;
Carries a travelling journal, and a curved dagger (karambit shape) with a silvered edge;

Personality

Virtues: Loyal, Honest, Introspective, Decisive, Intelligent, Reliable, Inventive.
Downfalls: Stern, World-weary, Worrier, Heartbroken, trouble shifting from 'work focus'/responsibility.

Walter is a product of his many environments.

His noble upbringing brought him extensive education, including arcane and occult theory, but also instilled into him traumatic responsibility for his 'legacy' and put him firmly into the closet;
His youthfully innocent tryst with a stable hand that was cut short when the latter drowned - brought the first true experience of death and grief, and so he learned to value life;
His rebellious youth taught him worldly skills and hard work, wit when it came to mundane affairs and better understanding not only of the common folk but also organized private military groups; The Captain, who took him in and never explained how it was connected to his mother, taught him cruelly, but well, on the subjects of responsibility for others and perseverance;
The subsequent incident and transmutation that othered him has instilled a sense of confidence that only comes with a degree of fatalism;
His return home, while it did not reignite the boyish charm and smile, managed to rekindle some warmth through connection to family and friends, though marred by an almost year-old heartbreak.

Skills

Social:

Fluent in Legalese and tax codes;
Speaks, reads and writes several languages;
Not very fun at conventional parties;
Known for singing surprisingly well and writing poetry;
Collected a lot of folklore and local worldly wisdoms in his travels;
Good with animals, but most dogs are uneasy with him.

Mundane:

Educated in a variety of common subjects such as economics, politics, heraldry, mathematics, etiquette, rhetoric, military tactics, logistics and inventory managements.
Proficient in horse riding, horseback hunting, knows how to make traps and fish;
Can wield a longbow and shortbow, rapier and longsword, but seems to prefer a dagger;
Knows basic medicinal herbalism, how to make a poultice, how to apply it, studies plant almanacs;
Learned through practice how to set a bone, how to wash, sew and bind a wound, and has very steady hands for basic surgery of the sort;
Has basic mapmaking and navigational skills on land;

Magical:

Educated in a variety of magical subjects such as arcane theory, shroud transferrence, theoretical artificery, malignant spellcraft (hexes, curses, cursed items) theory, etc.
Educated on a variety of flora and fauna, in active research of inherent magical properties or transmutation brought about by the Shroud (aka applicable alchemy);
Educated in family legacy, being occultists with a martial streak, which is destruction of aberrant, monstrous and undead;
Also has a theory of First Things (which will be written out), an occult theory that explains the primary interactions of the Shroud in formation of the world around'

His altered state prior to weakening allowed to comprehend the woven Shroud and discern through illusion; however, direct understanding is more often than not very hard to put into any coherent words, and so he often tries to describe what he sees in allegories;
Cannot externalize the Shroud via traditional weaving; seems to operate in a subtler form of magic which often uses blood, magical creature parts or magic items as a source of Shroud in order to heal (only himself, but very efficiently), track, or form a bond;
All lasting effects, bindings, bonds of blood or promise, last thirty days and a day, then fade and need to be renewed;
Despite needing a proxy to externalize an effect, Walter is much harder to pinpoint, himself, with anything magical that tries to track his location or target him indirectly (out of line of sight);
Aura reading and other effects of clairsentience translate to an eerie 'there is something that should be there, physically the person is there and mutually interacts with the world, clearly has an internal flow of the Shroud - but there is Nothing there'; he is not invisible, however, and can be somewhat tracked by that unique distortion;
Is not resistant to physically harmful effects of manifested magic - but is not affected by magic-origin illnesses and curses, as well as any external beneficial magics where the source is not a creature with a shared blood bond;
Can slowly erode Shroud weave by touch or syphon it; in a living creature, needs blood as a proxy in order to target; Has a very low internal Shroud pool;

Also, seems bound by a number of limitations that reflect inescapably in his conduct:

Cannot tell a direct lie, to which he will stutter as if his own body resists the distortion, down to his tongue and nose bleeding;
Cannot break an explicitly given promise; however, any lasting bonds need be renewed once every thirty days and a day;
Seems incidentally driven to places just a short time before a magical or magic-related incident occurs;
Seems very viscerally drawn to neutralizing the source of said incidents, be it a cursed item, monstrous creature on a rampage or a congregation of Shroud about to rupture; almost despite himself, as if by a half-feral instinct to 'equalize' the manifested excess (more often, in magical enchantments, or accumulations of pure Shroud) or shortage (more often, in living things) about to occur before it gains an uncontrollable momentum;
Attracts magical and magic-adjacent misfortunes; The non-sentient events trigger indiscriminately, however, if the source of misfortune is semi-sentient or sentient, it will gain awareness of Walter, and Walter of it, and the understanding of Walter's impending destructive intent; Walter can somewhat control this by 'calling' a misfortune to occur, however, he has no control of what exactly happens, and is only vaguely controlling the degree of power (usually up to or slightly exceeding his own potential); If Walter does not resolve misfortunes on a regular basis, they will start triggering around him spontaneously (the bigger the challenge, the more time in-between) on an increasing scale until he either picks up this strange 'duty', or the sudden dangers turn lethal.

Last edited: Aug 1, 2025