NPCs
Judge NPCs
Cain Salvatori
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-- Cain
Known locally as "The Psychic" (complete with capital 'T' and 'P' to match his showman persona), Cain is the sole owner of The Hourglass, a small shop located in Marrow that is chock full of mystic and magic wares-- and his personal psychic services. Unbeknownst to the general public, however, his act as a psychic is just that: an act. He has not a single iota of psychic power; everything he passes off as psychic abilities is either smoke and mirrors, observation, sleight of hand, misdirection, cold & hot reading, or just plain theatrics.
Table of ContentsBackstoryCain has been living in Marrow for about a decade now, having hailed from... well, somewhere else. He doesn't really talk much about where he's from, his family, or his past prior to showing up in Marrow, but word around town is he's let a few tidbits slip after a couple drinks: he allegedly mentioned that he "learned his trade from his parents" but had to "move to a city to find any success in it", apparently adding that he sends the majority of his money back to his family for reasons yet unspecified.
Unbeknownst to anyone in Marrow, 'Cain' is not his real name. If you wanted to find out what his real name actually is... well, you'd have one hell of a time coaxing that out of him; Cain is incredibly guarded with that information.
Along the way, even prior to arriving in Marrow, Cain acquired a steep debt to an impatient and unforgiving debtor. While it seems that he owes money, he's never actually stated that money was what he owed-- only that whatever it is was "too much". Trying to get more information out of him about it is nigh impossible. It's likely that revealing too much would incur the ire of this already ruthless debtor. What is clear, however, is that he's been set up to fail: the interest climbs ever higher, and it looks as though Cain will be in debt for the rest of his (self-proclaimed "short") life. |
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Personality
✦ The Façade
Ever the showman, Cain is exceedingly charming and personable, able to gracefully maneuver his way through conversations with even the toughest of personalities. He has the ability to entertain, coerce, and convince most to whatever it is he may be trying to peddle (or glean) at the moment, all of which comes quite in handy as a salesman. Keenly observant while also empathetic, Cain is able to combine both traits to understand how others may think or feel, using that sense to manipulate situations toward the outcomes he desires; both traits also help him with his "psychic" services (which is to say, as a professional liar). Confident, charismatic, congenial; Cain is either well-liked or detested, there is rarely any middling indifference to how others feel about him.
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A few more notes about Cain with his façade:
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✧ Under The Façade
Rather surprisingly, Cain is actually reserved and quiet deep down, not at all a showman by nature. For reasons he has not yet revealed, before moving to Marrow, he forced himself outside of his comfort zone and learned how to play the role of the entertainer. While the extroverted charm is manufactured, his keen senses of observation and empathy are true to his core, leaving him frequently laden with a deep guilt due to lying being part of his current livelihood. As such, even while Cain is still technically lying for certain psychic services (such as séances, for example), his end goal is still to help his clients, and will therefore do every ounce of research he can in preparation and suss out what is the best possible thing (in his opinion) for his client to hear. In a way, he's a bit of an unintentional life coach-- just with a lot of theatrics thrown in. Hidden under that extroverted façade, Cain is simply a lonely depressed man who feels trapped in his circumstance.
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A few more notes about Cain's true self:
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✦ Socializing & Relationships
✧ Outside Looking In
Charming as all hell, Cain can be very suave and smooth when socializing-- and he has a knack for making it convincingly genuine under normal circumstances. Despite his secret financial hardship, Cain takes pride in his appearance and tries to look good regardless of his circumstances. A good example of this is in the one nice outfit he owns: unable to afford any additional expensive outfits or to have the one he has repaired by a professional, Cain has learned to repair and tailor it himself as needed. Not too overblown, he has a healthy amount of vanity. Dress the part and fake it 'til you make it, he tells himself.
✧ Customers and Threats
No rancid skeezy car salesman vibes here; even when he is trying to sell a product or an act, Cain holds having satisfied customers in high priority. In fact, should any typical client walk away feeling unsatisfied with a psychic service from him, he will unquestionably issue a refund. There are exceptions to this, however. While thankfully not common, any client that Cain can discern is (or recognizes as) up to no good, a deplorable person, or otherwise someone he distinctly dislikes, will not be issued any refunds-- and Cain is not above being smug about it, should the client be an especially deserving piece of work. This, of course, doesn't always work out so well for him, sometimes leading into the client becoming heated (or worse). In the face of a threat, Cain will always attempt to charm, outwit, or simply talk his way out of the situation. Should those methods fail and a physical altercation occurs, he will try to use his agility and dexterity to attempt an escape rather than fight back as he is painfully aware that he has very little in the way of strength or fighting skills.
✧ Inside Looking Out
Despite it seeming like Cain loves to socialize, he genuinely finds it exhausting and often sticks to himself when he doesn't have to interact with others. It's a complicated issue, mainly due to how draining it is to constantly keep up the act. An introvert pretending to be an extrovert is strenuous. It isn't helped by his guilt and self-loathing either, causing him to believe he doesn't deserve any sort of happiness via relationships. There's also a practical reason: the longer he's around someone, the higher the chance increases that his secret could be discovered. The complication really becomes obvious in the fact that Cain is also lonely and dislikes being so alone, even if it's of his own doing.
✧ Friendships and Romance
Relationships are a thing Cain typically has tried to avoid for various reasons, some of which have been already mentioned. While there are others he considers his friends, he still tends to keep his distance, even from them. When it comes to romance, however, Cain has never had any romantic partner, ever. Just as with platonic relationships, he doesn't believe he deserves that happiness-- let alone thinking he'd just end up accidentally ruining that person's life. This doesn't mean he can't end up with a romantic partner eventually, though. While it wouldn't be easy, someone could get him to push past his fears and allow himself to fall in love.
With that in mind, it should be noted that while Cain can flirt expertly, it is usually entirely manufactured and not at all genuine.
✧ How To Instantly Break His Act
All of that being said, if someone wanted to instantly and undeniably destroy his façade, there is not a more surefire way to ensure that than to make the flirting become more real, aka: getting physically intimate with him, showing genuine love and desire to form a romantic relationship with him, etc. Taking it beyond simply flirting will cause Cain to suddenly become nervous and nonplussed, rendering him unable to hold up his flirtatious act (or any act at all) convincingly. He'll then try his best to talk his way out of whatever the flirting is turning into or find an escape as subtly as he can-- either way, it'll be a struggle for him to hide the sudden anxiety and fear, but he'll certainly try.
Cain's likes:
- Cats
- Mysteries
- Lo-fi music (to decompress)
- Coffee
- Sleeping
- Eavesdropping
- Cleanliness & looking nice
- Smores and smores-flavored things
- Helping others (subtle)
- Cooking (when he has the extra funds)
Cain's dislikes:
- Lying
- Organized religion
- Debt collectors
- Imbroglio
- Physically fighting
- Any form of teleportation (nausea)
- Being alone (especially with his Thoughts™)
- Deep ocean (thalassophobia)
- Fatalism
- Prejudices
The Hourglass
Cain's shop of mystic wares-- and where he provides his psychic services-- is called The Hourglass. It is a small hole-in-the-wall located deep within the city of Marrow.
With a large catalog of inventory coming from a wide array of ethical sources, he has quite a lot to offer. Whether or not everything in his stock actually works as intended (or at all), however, is a bit of a mystery; most of the time, the only way to find out the efficacy of an item from The Hourglass is to purchase and try it.
As for the offered psychic services, most are walk-in welcome-- with the hard exception of Mediumship.
✦ Items For Purchase:
The Hourglass inventory that your OCs can procure:
- Health & Healing Items
- Potions of healing, antidotes for toxins/poisons, elixirs of magic/power regen, powders of revival, medicines & herbs for most major ailments/status conditions, etc
- Most popular items
- 100% genuine and effective
- Potions of healing, antidotes for toxins/poisons, elixirs of magic/power regen, powders of revival, medicines & herbs for most major ailments/status conditions, etc
- Luck Charms
- Both good luck [bless] & bad luck [curse]
- Efficacy uncertain, highly subjective
- Both good luck [bless] & bad luck [curse]
- Crystals & Gems
- For focus, spellcasting, positive/negative vibes, aura control, decoration, etc
- Authenticity and effectiveness are based on type and goal
- For focus, spellcasting, positive/negative vibes, aura control, decoration, etc
- Buffing & Debuffing Items
- Come in various forms, including but not limited to: rings, bracers, sigils/charms, jewelry, food/candy, clothing, powders, crystals/gems, etc
- 75% reliability
- Come in various forms, including but not limited to: rings, bracers, sigils/charms, jewelry, food/candy, clothing, powders, crystals/gems, etc
- Books, Scrolls, & Tomes
- Vast and varied selection, including but not limited to: countless types of spells, ancient & modern information on a wide variety of creatures/lore/myths/legends, various magic & magic-adjacent research, etc
- Arguably all genuine, but vary wildly in accuracy or efficiency
- Vast and varied selection, including but not limited to: countless types of spells, ancient & modern information on a wide variety of creatures/lore/myths/legends, various magic & magic-adjacent research, etc
- Trinkets & Curios
- Wide selection of [presumably] non-magic items simply for enjoyment, such as novelties, knickknacks, souvenirs, ornaments, collectables, & curiosities
- These sure are roadside attraction paraphernalia-esque
- Wide selection of [presumably] non-magic items simply for enjoyment, such as novelties, knickknacks, souvenirs, ornaments, collectables, & curiosities
- Divination Tools
- For fortune-telling purposes: tarot decks, non-tarot cards, dowsing rods, dice, runes, pendulums, spirit boards, crystal balls, scrying mirrors, etc
- Effectiveness is said to depend entirely on divination skills and methods
- For fortune-telling purposes: tarot decks, non-tarot cards, dowsing rods, dice, runes, pendulums, spirit boards, crystal balls, scrying mirrors, etc
- Ritual Tools
- Altar dishes/bowls, chalices, pentacles, patens, swords & daggers, other blades, inks & quills, wax, wands, etc
- Results may vary [wildly]
- Altar dishes/bowls, chalices, pentacles, patens, swords & daggers, other blades, inks & quills, wax, wands, etc
- Candles & Incense
- Burning options for a wide array of intentions, including but not limited to: healing, love, fertility, protection, enlightenment, money, luck, etc
- 100% real; ???% success rate
- Burning options for a wide array of intentions, including but not limited to: healing, love, fertility, protection, enlightenment, money, luck, etc
- Art & Statuary
- Originating from countless different cultures and worlds, a vast selection of magical arts, statues, stained glass, décor, etc
- Authenticity not guaranteed
- Originating from countless different cultures and worlds, a vast selection of magical arts, statues, stained glass, décor, etc
- Summon & Familiar Accessories
- Items for summoning specific entities from a large catalog of available choices
- Results WILL vary; The Hourglass is not liable for any damage (collateral, property, physical, or psychic) caused by summons
- Accessories for familiars, including but not limited to: clothes, armor, name tags, cute jewelry, etc
- Any accessories destroyed by unsatisfied familiars will not be refunded
- Items for summoning specific entities from a large catalog of available choices
- SECRET ITEM: Information
- Need specific information from around Thraelos? Want to know the current rumors surrounding something or someone? Desperate for intel on your next opponent? If you are aware this secret offer exists, you may be able to order it from Cain
- If what you are wanting to discover is already available knowledge to Cain, it can be discreetly purchased off of him under the table
- Cain can also be covertly hired to acquire the desired information, using his observational skills and social adroitness, then report back to you
- Not all requests will be accepted; will depend heavily on many factors, including but not limited to: reason, importance, difficulty, and potential dangers involved for Cain himself
✦ Psychic Services:
Psychic services your OCs may hire Cain for:
- Cartomancy (Tarot Reading)
- The art of fortune-telling and divination through the use of cards
- Probably the most popular psychic service he offers, cartomancy-- or more specifically: tarot reading-- is a means by which Cain may foretell a client's future by using a deck of cards. His preferred method is via tarot cards, but he is also able to utilize typical playing cards to the same degree. His tool of choice is a well-used tarot deck that seems very sentimental to him. Cain offers several different types of spreads based on what area of your life you might be aiming to focus on: love, success, spiritual, career, or any other manner of specific request
- Available via appointment and walk-in
- Clairsentience
- The power to perceive emotional or psychic energy that is imperceptible to the five standard senses
- Similar to clairvoyance, Cain offers the ability to discern various types of information through use of his extrasensory perception-- the key difference being that he receives the information via psychic feelings rather than psychic visions. He can't always guarantee what exactly he will sense as this power can yield a vast array of results and depends heavily on many different variables, but he can attempt to hone in on specific subjects of interest. The psychic feelings can also manifest themselves in three completely different ways: precognition (pertaining to the future), retrocognition (pertaining to the past), and pericognition (pertaining to the current moment)
- Available via appointment and walk-in
- Palmistry (Palm Reading)
- The reading of character and divination by interpretation of lines and undulations on the palm of the hand
- Another popular psychic service, through palmistry Cain can read a client's palm (or equivalent thereof) to glean attributes of their character, personality, and experiences. He can also read their future, which is the more common request, particularly with the focus on personal relationships
- Available via appointment and walk-in
- Psychometry
- The ability to discern facts or impressions about an object (or its owner) through physical contact
- With psychometry, a client can bring an object to Cain (or bring Cain to an object) that he can then touch and tap into images or visions that will appear in his mind corresponding to the life of the subject that the object is associated with. Cain will require time with the object to better solidify the visions as they typically appear slowly and with incomprehensible definition; over time (which varies), he is able to bring the visions into focus and make more sense of the information presented in them. Very rarely can he instantly glean clear visuals and information from the initial touch
- Available via appointment and walk-in
- Mediumship (Séance)
- The practice of mediating communication between familiar spirits or spirits of the dead and the living
- Via what is commonly known as a séance, Cain offers clients the opportunity to communicate with the deceased through the use of himself as a medium. This psychic service costs the most and is often the most demanding of him-- but it is also the only service that tends to yield paranormal occurrences perceivable to the naked eye. Séances have very specific time, place, and ritualistic demands of Cain, and thus can ONLY be via appointment. Unlike any of his other psychic services, hiring Cain's mediumship requires scheduling ahead of time and the addition of at least one preliminary meeting with the client prior, in order to allow Cain to properly prepare for a connection with the correct spirit
- Available via appointment ONLY
Abilities
✦ Deduction
Being inherently keenly observant, Cain's greatest strength comes in the form of his deductive skills. He is very perceptive, able to pick up on details and clues around him that the average person would completely overlook or disregard. Reason, intuition, and logic are his tools of instinct. All of this combined with his sense of empathy gives Cain an almost inhuman ability to accurately read and understand others-- something that plays directly into his fake psychic charade. He can pick up on nearly imperceptible tells and micro-expressions, allowing him to deduce his way through cold reading others; ironically, this also makes him quite good at detecting lies and deception.
✦ Charm
For all intents and purposes, charm almost rivals deduction for Cain's maxed out skill, falling short due to being a learned trait rather than one that came naturally. This isn't to say Cain isn't a charming person under the act, but it certainly isn't the same as the sharpened persuasive silver-tongued ability he taught himself over many years. Using charm, he is able to entertain, tap into humor and quick wit, make snap judgments, exude trustworthiness, persuade (and manipulate, if the ends justify the means), lie convincingly, and typically win most people over-- the exceptions being individuals that distinctly dislike him, find his type of personality irritating, or can somehow perceive that it is an act. His charm is a key factor in his ability to ascertain desirable information from around Thraelos.
✦ Sleight of Hand
Like one might expect, Cain's sleight of hand skill involves quick, clever, and dexterous movements of his hands utilized namely to deceive spectators and/or manipulate objects. This is an ability he has honed for many years, making him slick and very adept with using it in various situations. His card tricks and illusions benefit substantially from this ability, making them seem like legitimate magic to all but the most acutely perspicacious (who know what to look for). Other uses for sleight of hand include misdirection, lock-picking (his hair stick is multi-purpose in that regard), stealing/pickpocketing (though he'd only ever do either if it was a justifiable means to an end, never just for himself), cheating (especially in card games), theatrics (particularly with 'psychic acts'), and entertainment.
Job & Skills
Outside of running his shop, the main occupation and skillset that most others associate with Cain is that of a working psychic. In addition to the services he offers normally, his ability as a psychic has also been called upon from time to time by authorities, such as a consultant in missing persons cases or in helping solve particularly stumping mysteries.
Truthfully, however, Cain's status as a working psychic is secretly a complete farce. Cain actually doesn't have any powers at all whatsoever; he is not a real psychic.
The success Cain finds under the guise of being a psychic is actually achieved through deduction, research, intuition, and theatrics. For example: when the authorities believe they are hiring a consulting psychic, they are actually hiring a highly intuitive detective pretending to make discoveries through use of psychic abilities. When Cain is able to make [seemingly] very specific and accurate readings, it is actually through use of subtle cognitive tricks such as Barnum statements, reading tells and micro-expressions, prior secret research, etc. When paranormal events seem to occur during a séance Cain is conducting, it is actually due to hidden smoke-and-mirror tricks and rigging he'd already have set up in preparation. Many magical items in his inventory can often lend him a hand as well.
All in all, while Cain is absolutely not a real psychic, he still tries to (and typically manages to) get the results he is hired for-- it's all simply presented under the guise of having been gained through psychic methods.
Deconstruction of Cain's psychic skills:
Definitions of techniques used in Cain's tricks:
- Reading [People]
- Hot Reading
- The reading technique of utilizing information that was already secretly known prior to the reading (for example, from background research or overhearing a conversation)
- Warm Reading
- The reading technique of interpreting responses to generic catch-all statements and questions
- Barnum Statements
- General statements of characterizations attributed to an individual that are perceived to be specifically true for them, yet which are in fact vague and general enough to apply to a wide range of people
- Rainbow Ruse
- A reading technique in which the reader first assigns the subject a personality trait, and then assigns its opposite to cover all possibilities for validation
- Shotgunning
- A tactic that a reader uses to put forth a large amount of general information, then observes which one elicits a reaction in order to slowly narrow the scope
- Barnum Statements
- The reading technique of interpreting responses to generic catch-all statements and questions
- Cold Reading
- The reading technique of quickly obtaining a great deal of information by analyzing a person's body language, micro-expressions, age, clothing, style, gender, sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity, education, speech, origin, etc during a line of questioning
- Hot Reading
- Misdirection
- The art of subtle deceptive directing of an audience’s attention towards one thing (a magical effect) so they do not notice another (the method or mechanics of a trick)
- Mentalism
- A performing art in which 1) the practitioner appears to demonstrate highly developed mental or intuitive abilities, and 2) includes special effects that may appear to employ psychic or supernatural forces, but that are actually achieved by "ordinary conjuring means", natural human abilities (i.e. reading body language, refined intuition, subliminal communication, emotional intelligence), and an in-depth understanding of key principles from human psychology or other behavioral sciences
- Logical Reasoning
- Deductive Reasoning [Deduction]
- Making an inference based on widely accepted facts or premises; a general-to-specific form of reasoning that allows one to apply known truths to specific instances with a high degree of certainty
- Inductive Reasoning [Induction]
- Making an inference based on an observation, often of a sample; a specific-to-general form of reasoning that tries to generate broad rules that can be applied in many circumstances
- Abductive Reasoning [Abduction]
- Making a probable conclusion from what you know; a specific-to-general form of reasoning that specifically looks at cause and effect, often for a particular example
- Deductive Reasoning [Deduction]
- Confirmation Bias
- The tendency to search for, interpret, favor, and recall information in a way that confirms or supports one's prior beliefs or values
- Sleight of Hand
- The skillful art of quick, clever, and dexterous movements of hands, utilized namely to deceive spectators and/or manipulate objects
- Improvisation [Improv]
- The activity of making, doing, or saying something not planned beforehand, using whatever can be found
- Cartomancy (Tarot Reading)
- Utilizes: Cold Reading, Warm Reading, Deduction, Improv, Confirmation Bias
- Being without a doubt the trick that Cain has the most practice in, Tarot Reading is his personal favorite psychic service and one he can pull off with ease. It seems that Cartomancy might have been the first psychic skill he ever learned; he still uses a very old and clearly sentimental deck– perhaps his first? Having an extensive memory and understanding of both the major and minor arcana at his disposal, most of Cain's focus goes instead toward the personalization of the pulls, leaning hard into his deductions of his client through Cold and Warm Reads to improv on his working memory of the cards' various meanings. He likes to add dramatic flair for fun as well, of course. He can whip out a professional card reading at a moment's notice, seemingly always in a state of gauging those around him for information. Giving any divination reading typically depends entirely on expounding on his understanding of the client, their goals, their problems, and what he personally believes is the best way forward for them. As with any other situation in which Cain is "telling the future", he will word it all in such a way that can't be brought back on him later should his prediction be incorrect.
- Clairsentience
- Utilizes: Cold Reading, Deduction, Induction, Abduction, Improv, Confirmation Bias
- Relying almost entirely on his sense of empathy, the trick to Cain's Clairsentience "ability" is simply observation and reasoning; he isn't entirely lying when he claims he can intuit something through a feeling. Working with empathy as the primary tool is technically using feelings to get results, after all. Out of all of his advertised psychic powers, Clairsentience is the simplest, yet not at all the easiest: simplest in that it's merely a mix of logical reasoning (all three types typically) and empathy. However, it's quite difficult in that there are no guardrails or parameters to follow, unlike Cartomancy or Palmistry, for example; it leaves him the most subject to any manner of topic or situation that can be thrown his way, thus he must be on his game to handle the high chance of curve balls. To that end, Cain will always give the disclaimer that this service yields the lowest guarantee of accuracy due to "many variables at play" and how he "doesn't have control over what information he receives"-- aka deniability should he fail.
- Palmistry (Palm Reading)
- Utilizes: Warm Reading, Induction, Abduction, Improv, Confirmation Bias
- Reading palms is the easiest trick for Cain to pull off as it doesn't require much heavy mental work outside of memory. For the most part, he simply has to memorize and recall all of the possible "meanings" for the details found on palms. Warm Reading techniques can really spice up the reading to make it feel more "personal", as well as through observation and cause-and-effect reasoning (Induction and Abduction respectively). The tricky part comes in with reading palms for divination, but much like with Tarot Readings, Cain can simply expound on what he's already read of the client and improvise generic or vague enough predictions for them. He always states the predictions in ways that give him an out later should they not come to pass, though.
- Psychometry
- Utilizes: Hot Reading, Warm Reading, Mentalism, Improv, Confirmation Bias
- Similar to séances, Cain's Psychometry service typically relies heavily on research conducted in secret prior to the actual "psychic event" (Hot Reading). Although the focus is primarily on the object presented to him (at least to the onlooker), Cain utilizes any subtle information he can glean from the client as well to help formulate his overall understanding of the "big picture" (aka his interpretation or made-up details to fill in the gaps). Generic questions (Warm Reading) can really help in this case, something he can explain away as requisite for helping him "better understand the object and its history" so that he can "hone his psychic ability on it". Cain then requires that the object be left in his care (or that he has continued access to the object, especially if it's huge or immovable) for a number of days so that he can "focus and discern the visions". The truth, of course, is that he's actually just using that time to do as much research as possible. Once he has enough info to formulate a plan, he'll bring in the client once more, physically touch the object, and play up receiving visions of the answers (Mentalism). On rare occasions, Cain may already be familiar with the object (or what is being asked in relation to it) so he doesn't need to take time for research, instead simply pretending to get clear visions instantly.
- Mediumship (Séance)
- Utilizes: Hot Reading, Warm Reading, Cold Reading, Deduction, Induction, Abduction, Sleight of Hand, Mentalism, Misdirection, Improv, Confirmation Bias
- It's not a lie when Cain states that utilizing his "Medium skill" takes the biggest toll on him out of all of his psychic services-- it's simply not in the way he presents it as. Rather than due to honing his psychic abilities to reach and channel specific spirits, séances require use of all of his tricks and techniques to pull them off effectively, and then some. This is also the reason why this service is the only one REQUIRING an appointment in advance; Cain begins the service by doing as much research on the client and the client's deceased target as possible, which includes an initial "interview" appointment in which Cain gathers as much information as he possibly can (including the subtle info garnered through Cold Reading) under the guise of "making sure he hones in on and channels the correct spirit". Once he feels he has a sufficient portfolio of info to pretend convincingly, he'll rig the room in his shop that he'll use ahead of time with hidden theatrical tricks to secretly set off during the performance in order to make it seem as though paranormal activity is actually happening. Conducting the séance itself is an intensive one-man show that requires exhaustive effort from Cain and utilizes every type of logical reasoning, reading style, and a considerable amount of improvisation-- plus the Mentalism, Misdirection, and Sleight of Hand skills in order to pull off the theatrical parts at the same time.
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Important note: For the most part (which is to say, when the client isn't someone he actively dislikes and feels is horrible), if Cain intuits potential problems the client may be facing during any of his psychic services, he will try his best to subtly suggest help through the psychic act, be it advice for the issues at hand, his opinion on a decision, encouragement, guidance, or even just what he thinks they want to hear if it'll help them to make it through another day, etc.
Cain may be a liar, but he is one with good intentions. |
✦ General Stats
| ✦ Strengths |
✧ Weaknesses |
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✦ Psychological Stats ✦
| Charisma | ✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦ | Kindness | ✦✦✦✦✦✦✧✧✧✧ |
| Patience | ✦✦✦✦✧✧✧✧✧✧ | Intelligence | ✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✧✧✧ |
| Confidence | ✦✦✦✦✦✧✧✧✧✧ | Perception | ✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦ |
| Discipline | ✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✧✧✧ | Psych stamina | ✦✦✦✦✦✦✧✧✧✧ |
| Courage | ✦✦✦✧✧✧✧✧✧✧ | Caution | ✦✦✦✦✦✧✧✧✧✧ |
| Honesty | ✦✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧ | Loyalty | ✦✦✦✧✧✧✧✧✧✧ |
| Maturity | ✦✦✦✦✦✦✧✧✧✧ | Creativity | ✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✧✧ |
| Cleanliness | ✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✧✧✧ | Work ethic | ✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✧✧ |
✧ Physical Stats ✧
| Physical Strength |
✦✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧
|
Speed |
✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✧✧✧
|
| Magical Strength |
✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧
|
Constitution |
✦✦✦✧✧✧✧✧✧✧
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| Physical Defense |
✦✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧
|
Dexterity |
✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✧
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| Magical Defense |
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Plotlines
BifrostTerminalOCT
Meta role: Host NPC
✦ BTOCT Prologue
With a sharp thwip, the nature of the last tarot card was revealed.
“Hm, The Tower…” A beat followed by a long inhale, “There's no gentle way for me to infer this, so please forgive my bluntness: The current path of your financial future is careening towards complete and utter ruin.”
The client sitting across from him gasped softly, shaking their head in resignation. Their downtrodden expression told him that they had silently expected that answer all along.
“But,” Cain started again, gloved finger sliding over to tap The Chariot card pulled earlier, “You have the chance, the choice, right now to change that. After all, it’s called the ‘sunk-cost fallacy’ for a reason– you can choose to take your losses of the past, stop gambling, and bet instead on yourself, your worth, your potential, on a better financial future. The cards depict two paths for you: one in which you reap what you sow in the present and continue to instantly gratify your way to devastation– or one in which you break the addiction, weather the pain of the immediate, and walk out of the tunnel into a brighter future for yourself. So…” The psychic sat up, his gold eyes locked unwavering with the client’s rapt gaze. “You stand at a crossroads, my friend; in which direction will your chariot race?”
...
With a soft smile, Cain bid the client farewell, closing the door to The Hourglass behind him with a click of the lock and twist of the 'OPEN' sign. Once hidden by the thick wood of the door, he shook his head with a sigh. Sometimes these readings were making him less a “psychic” and more a “life coach”.
They’d been the last customer of the day, a sad fellow. With everything Cain could read on the poor lad, stricken by incessant poverty of their own well-intentioned doing, he couldn’t in his right conscience charge them for the tarot reading. After all, he saw in them a mirror of himself, one hitting far closer to home than he was willing to admit.
That would have been the fifth psychic service he’d decided to work pro-bono that week already– and it was only Wednesday. Maybe he was growing soft, his hidden bleeding heart starting to claw its way into his rationale more and more. Regardless of the why, the bills– his debt– didn’t have the same bleeding heart for him. They’d need to be paid somehow and–
Tp tp tp.
The faux psychic perked up, his thought interrupted by the sound of a knuckle tapping rhythmically against the window of his locked shop door. Who…? A man in a sharp suit stood on the other side, patiently waiting to be let in.
Above the breast pocket sat the recognizable logo of TITAN.
"Present day" Thraelos; A small but well-known psychic. Resides in the city of Marrow where he keeps a small shop of magic wares, The Hourglass. Touts having a number of psychic skills and offers several psychic services (though it's all a ruse).
Contacted by the megacorporation TITAN for a hush-hush job offer: rid the century-abandoned Bifrost Terminal of its haunting; absurdly high payment. Needing the money, Cain accepts the job and travels via flight on the back of hired dragon, Kazuya, to the Bifrost Terminal to complete it, expecting it to be a case for a typical exorcism.
He discovers he is very very wrong. This is not a type of haunting he has ever seen before.
Well out of his league, he retreats back to Marrow, thanks to Kazuya retrieving him, and decides to subcontract additional help: anyone who feels equipped to assist, be it priests, psychics, paranormal investigators, mediums, ghost hunters, etc.
When he returns to the Bifrost Terminal and meets up with those that answered his call, they all become suddenly trapped within the facility by the most powerful ghost there, challenged now to free all of the spirits haunting the Bifrost Terminal in exchange for their freedom.
✦ Within The Winning BTOCT Canon
[TBD]
✦ BTOCT Epilogue
[TBD]
NPC Usage
✦ BTOCT Audition
While it is not required to include Cain in your audition to BTOCT, keep in mind that he is diegetically also trapped there with your characters in the Terminal. It would create a plot hole to not mention him at all as if he didn't exist, but you are free and welcome to write a reason for him to not be there, effectively explaining away his not being included in the entry.
✦ RP (Roleplay)
Players have permission to use Cain in BTOCT RPs. You do not need to ask ElectricEidolon to use him, but please do not claim him as your OC.
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