John Belsky

John Belsky, Charlatan

Drive: In The Blood (The specific dark secrets of my character's past are up to you, as per book, if you're okay with that.)

Pillars of Sanity: Belsky Family Honor, Humanity Will Prevail, Do No Evil

Special Ability: By spending one point of Assess Honesty, a charlatan can always tell the difference between a charlatan and a real occult believer. With a one point spend of Reassurance a charlatan can subtly hint that he is one as well, establishing a bond of trust.

Sources of Stability: Semyon (old manservant, was given a room to spend his last days at the Trust compound), Ellie Peterson (on-and-off lover, assistant to Dr. Bannister, Jack Griffin (friend, publisher of the books, owns a small press)

The last descendant of a once prominent Russian noble house that had since then slipped into obscurity and near-poverty, Ioann Belsky fled Russia with his elderly manservant Semyon shortly after the October Revolution. His already meager funds ran out a few months after the arrival to the United States and, after a few unsuccessful attempts to acquire them by less extravagant means, he decided to use the knowledge of the occult he gained by perusing his late father's collection of occult works by becoming an occult guru. He wrote several books ("The Secret Knowledge of Ivan IV's Lost Library", "What I've Learned From a Yakut Shaman: A Memoir" and "The Gilded Way of the Sukharev Tower") that were mostly filled with benign self-help material, with some vague, pseudo-mystical clap-trap on top. Surprisingly, they sold well enough for him for him to move to New York and attempt a career as a guru to the city's wealthy socialites. He was successful enough to solve his immediate financial problems, although it wasn't enough for him to really feel comfortable, so when he heard about the Trust and the prizes it offered from his on-and-off lover who worked as Dr. Bannister's assistant he decided to join the Trust.

Investigative:

• Anthropology 1
• Architecture 1 or Languages (English) 1 if I can't get that as a freebie :3
• Cryptography 1
• History* 2
• Library Use 1
• Occult* 4
• Theology* 2
• Assess Honesty* 3
• Credit Rating 4 (From 1)
• Flattery* 2
• Reassurance* 1
• Art History 1
• Astronomy 1
• Locksmith 1
• Photography 1

General:

• Athletics 8
• Conceal* 4 (2)
• Filch* 8 (4)
• Firearms 6
• Health 10
• Hypnosis* 8 (4)
• Sanity 10
• Stability 9
• Sense Trouble 5
• Stealth 3 out of 4
• Weapons 4

Five points saved for a Mysterious Psychic Power, as per suggestion in the Charlatan Occupation description.

Hit Threshold: 4