Character Information
Character Name: Ward
Character Dreamwidth: ward_below
Age: 40ish? He’s really not sure.
Canon:
History:
Mutation:
Ward can open most key locks. He does this by shoving a finger into the lock and turning it as if his finger were the key. This only works if the lock is large enough to reasonably accommodate his finger (ie: a standard door deadbolt, sure; a miniature lock on a diary, not so much). The lock will open, but will be ruined thereafter.
Price:
His finger tears off in the process, stuck in the lock, rendering it unusable. It's extremely painful as ripping off an appendage is want to be. It results in a lot of blood, torn muscle, and sometimes the joint doesn't break cleanly, leaving fragments of bone behind. Staunching the blood is a good idea, but trying to stitch the finger closed will stop the healing process. After a day or two, the lost finger will begin to regenerate which in itself is painful and burns a lot of energy. It takes a little over a week for the finger to grow back completely.
Personality:
Ward exists in a state of confusion. He has no idea who he is, or what he’s supposed to be doing. Quiet and introspective, he prefers to remain in the background. He will do his best to chat with you if you approach him, but rarely will he initiate a conversation. When he does try to speak, he tends to stammer and then trail off into silence, leading some to assume that he is simple-minded. This isn't the case, but communication is certainly an issue for him.
A fixture within the City, Ward is at once well-known and forgotten as only a vagrant can be. Mostly he goes about his business beneath the radar of pretty much everyone. If someone should notice him, he’ll simply register as “oh, hey, it’s that homeless guy” and that will be that. A few know his name, most know that he isn’t violent or dangerous, and that he won’t make a nuisance of himself. If you tell him to keep out of your trash cans, he’ll listen. Indeed, he has moments of clarity where he makes a surprising amount of sense. Street smart, Ward exhibits extraordinary common sense for someone who often can’t seem to tell if they’re coming or going.
Ward tends to walk with his shoulders bent, hunched into his tattered coat against the cold. When he does bother to stand up straight, it can come as bit of a shock to realize how big he is. His thinness only adds to it, making him seem even taller than he truly is. There is the potential to do damage in his long limbs and big hands. However, anyone who bothers to look at his face will see that there is no malevolence there. Surviving on the street may be a cutthroat business, but Ward is not the sort to draw blood over a crust of bread.
Unlike some of the street people wandering the City, Ward has no problem sharing what meager scraps he may have found. He will share his food, his shelter, and has been known to intervene if he seems something happening that doesn't sit well with him The other tramps respect him and tend to defer to him in most situations. He doesn't steal, preferring to scavenge for what he needs to survive. Occasionally, someone will take pity and trade him food for labor. He actively tries to avoid begging if at all possible.
He has a burning need to know, to recover the pieces that he’s lost, but so far he’s had no luck. searching. All he has to go on is a gut feeling that he cannot even name. This feeling drives him to search, to look for answers since he can't really explain well enough to ask about them. Something tells him that what he's looking for is somewhere here in the City, but he doesn't know where. He devotes days to long walks, looking and looking but never finding the answer to his question.
Non-Mutation Skills/Powers:
Tall and strong, he would be good for manual labor if he wasn't so concerned with keeping his head down. Despite his size, Ward is good at being socially invisible and keeping to the background. While he doesn’t say much, he is an intent observer, noticing everything. Although he would rather avoid confrontation, he can more than hold his own in a fight. Anyone or anything that attacks him will quickly discover that they're in for a lot more than they bargained for.
Memory Lost: He only knows he's lost something.
