DRYH: Mortal Coils - Alexander
High Concept[edit]
MY NAME IS . . . Professor Alexander Carlyle
AND I AM . . . a precise professor of mathematics.
Five Questions[edit]
WHAT'S BEEN KEEPING YOU AWAKE? My nephew. The boy reminds me of myself, and I had a miserable childhood. He’s small for his age, like I was. He’s terribly nonathletic, like I was. He’s bookish and unpopular with other children, like I was. He’s bullied terribly in school, like I was. And at the end of every day he has to go back home to my brother—like I did. Only he obviously has power over the child he never had over me. And his wife is, if anything, worse; the woman is feral.
I don’t know how to help him.
WHAT JUST HAPPENED TO YOU? The walls started to crumble. They smelled of damp and mold and rot, when they’d been fine before. They bulged and began to collapse, but while my attention was on them it was the floor that gave way.
I sank, more than fell, into this dark room of damp earth. This is not my basement. And... there’s someone, something, down here.
WHAT'S ON THE SURFACE? Calm, collected, even cold. Professor Carlyle is a very competent teacher, but few of his students’ favorite. He’s fair, but very... logical. Not known for his compassion or his passion about his subject. “Dispassionate” is a good word.
WHAT LIES BENEATH? Alexander cares a great deal. He listens too much and empathizes too much and thinks too much about things he has no ability to influence. If he can't help everybody, it's better to use a stoic facade and pretend there are no things that he needs to change but can't.
WHAT IS YOUR PATH? Alexander needs to learn to relate to people better. Not all questions can be answered by pure reason, and ignoring them isn't exactly a solution--and it's entirely illogical.
He is capable of being a protector, a friend, a fierce advocate, and other people may depend on him figuring that out.
Sixth Question[edit]
WHAT NIGHTMARE DOGS YOUR STEPS? She Who Lurks Beneath - Alexander can feel her under his feet. He can feel the vibration beneath cement or a solid floor. On natural terrain he can feel the ground pulse, he can almost see it move.
And sometimes he can’t feel her at all, and doesn’t know where she is. And that might be worse.
Responses[edit]
- TOTAL FLIGHT RESPONSES [2]
- TOTAL FIGHT RESPONSES [1]
Talents[edit]
EXHAUSTION TALENT
- The Underlying Math: Prof. Carlyle is very good at math. Not just numbers, but he can see how things fit together. His logic and reasoning can solve anything—anything objective. When it comes to things like people’s reactions or something that breaks the rules of physics... he can usually figure out what happened in the past, but his powers to observe the present or predict the past fall to pieces.
MADNESS TALENT
- Things Fall Apart: Alexander can make things whither and decay. His touch brings entropy, as though weeks or years or centuries have passed.
- Or simply as though the threads that connect things and hold them together have fallen away, and the structure of physical matter has started to unravel. One of those.
