Name: Alasdair Ackart
Sex: Male
Age: 24
Classification: Psychic/Magi
Physical appearance: 5'8, ~150 pounds, small build. Works out a bit, but not anywhere as good in shape as his brother.
Hair: Black
Eye color: Grey, wears pince-nez glasses. Keeps a spare set on him at all times.
Occupation: Counselor, works at brother's clinic.
Family: The "prestigous" Ackart family of magi is quite large, with many branches. Alasdair has no real connection with most of the family, they tend to stay away from him and he accepts that. Only keeps in contact with his mother, Marissa Ackart. He and his father, Arthur Ackhart, have an extremely formal/surface only relationship due to Arthur's fear of him.
This fear is because of Alasdair possessing the same eyes as his grandfather, Arthur Sr. Arthur Sr. passed several years before Alasdair was born, but he's spent most of his life hearing various horror stories. He's also, using his ability on his dad, seen the memories first-hand. This is a secret he's kept from everyone, even Ken, and it's the main reason he's accepted the distance between he and his father.
Extremely close with his brother Ken.
Personality: Despite being very friendly and polite, he tends to be bit of an introvert. He has severe trust issues, keeping most at arms length with a facade of smiles and sunshine.
His true emotions tend to emerge when he is trying to help others. This tends to happen a lot, much to his brother's chagrin. It's very difficult for him to leave people who need help alone, sometimes leading him to disregard his own limitations and getting overly involved. Both emotionally and physically.
History: Great things are expected of those born into the Ackart family, Alasdair was no exception. Even as a child his inherent magic ability was a cause for celebration amongst the family. His entire life was to be planned from there. The best schools, a position of suitable power, and even a marriage to another established family were arranged.
Unfortunately, this was all for naught as once he began to reach puberty he developed a "special trait". While this was not uncommon for the family, the nature of this specific ability was. His eyes had the power to see into a person's soul. Their thoughts, their past, their future. In an instant his life was changed.
This was not the first time these eyes had appeared in the Ackart family. Alasdair's grandfather, Arthur Sr., possessed them as well. Using them he brought the Ackart family great power and wealth. With that power though, Arthur became increasingly paranoid. He could only focus on the worst aspects of people.
Things became even worse when his eyes developed further, he could no longer just "see" a soul he could affect it. Make people feel emotions, thoughts, or just expand on what was already there. He began to rule the Ackart family with fear, destroying his competitors ruthlessly and treating everyone as toys. As he grew increasingly mad, he also became very depressed. No longer being able to discern whether anyone around him was "real" or just a subconscious projection of his own, he took his own life.
The Ackart family recovered quickly, finally free of Arthur's reign. So when Alasdair showed the same eyes, they felt a natural fear that one day those days could return. They began to ostracize him from the family, no one willing to get close to him.
Alasdair, for his part, had no idea what was happening. Everyone he thought were his friends abandoned him, he was withdrawn from school and restricted to the estate, and even there his family avoided him. Worse yet, using his eyes, he could see the hatred and scorn. Even his own father feared him now, and he couldn't even understand why.
Upon finding out his ability only worked with naked sight, he was forced to wear glasses at all times. It didn't amount to much though, as he was devoid of most human contact aside from an occasional visit from his brother returning home.
Instead, Alasdair focused on his magical studies. He hoped that if he could prove himself to be a talented mage, one worthy of the family, they would take him back. But this moment never came, and in fact the more successful he was the more of a danger others thought him to be.
He, like his grandfather, began to become depressed over his predicament. He began looking to non-humans for companionship, practicing summoning and spending a lot of time with conversing with his familiars. Still he always felt empty.
A demon he had summoned eventually took advantage of this. Tired of being bound by humans, especially such a young one for a frivolous reason, the demon began to try and push Alasdair further into despair. He spoke to him of the terrible things he had seen humans do, of how insufferable this world can be, and generally tried his hardest to make Alasdair give up.
On Alasdair's 18th birthday, seeing no one who had come for him - not even his brother who has promised him so - the demon convinced Alasdair there was more freedom in death. Alasdair had a poison brewed and drank it that night.
But things didn't go as planned. He awoke much later on in the backseat of a car. In the driver's seat was his brother, with a wrapped box sitting in the next seat. His brother said nothing for awhile, but eventually asked if he'd like to join him for a Red Sox game. Alasdair didn't need to take his glasses off to understand, and from that point on he no longer had to stay with the "main" family.
Alasdair spent the next few years at school in Boston, living with his brother. He never heard the particulars of the arrangement, but the family had agreed to let Kenneth "watch" over him as long as Alasdair remained out of the family business and didn't draw unnecessary attention to them.
Alasdair truly feels like he owes his life to Kenneth, and his goal is to help others who have went through trauma due to "supernatural" circumstances. It was his idea to open the clinic, and he is responsible for the counseling of visitors.
Misc: Is well versed in magic relating to charms, enchantments, and general conjuration. Due to the nature of the clinic, it's difficult to keep a regular administrative/clerical staff on board. Instead Alasdair usually has familiars work things, making sure to properly "read" them before "employment".
While his eyes are no where near as strong as Arthur's, they have developed over the years as he has gotten older. Particularly he has begun to feel particularly strong emotions/thoughts from those near him - even with his glasses on.
Delving too far into a person's soul has a lot of adverse effects, particularly headaches and (if going too far) loss of consciousness with temporary blindness following. Trying to see a person's death is particularly dangerous for him. Supernatural souls tend to have different side-effects depending on the nature of the beast in question. A particularly old and powerful undead might make him feel ill for example.
At Kenneth's insistence, he sometimes "gambles" for money with his ability. Games like poker are kind of easy for someone who can read minds.
Name: Dr. Kenneth (Ken) Ackart
Sex: Male
Age: 28
Classification: Psychic/Magi
Physical appearance: 6'1, 170 pounds, in excellent shape.
Hair: Black
Eye color: Green
Occupation: Doctor running his own clinic.
Family: Same as Alasdair, except instead of a neutral relationship with his father he is openly hostile and antagonistic. He blames Arthur for everything that happened to Alasdair, and likewise hates most of the family for how things went down.
Very close and protective of Alasdair, although this is a source of embarrassment for him.
Personality: Rash, aggressive, and pretty frank, doesn't like to sugar coat things and tends to provoke those that #### him off. Can be very petty and vindictive, never letting things go. Physical altercations are not uncommon with him.
Despite his abrasive personality, he always finds himself helping others. Especially those Alasdair has gotten himself involved with. He's the type of guy who would catch you when you fall, while simultaneously berating you for being so clumsy in the first place. Male tsundere I guess.
History: His early life was similar to Alasdair's, being groomed to be the next heir. He never really liked this, always trying to test how much he could get away with, but in the end he always accepted things and went with the flow.
Like Alasdair, he came into his own special eyes. Instead of seeing into a person's soul however, he could see into a person's body. He could see ailments before people actually came down with anything, and best yet could actually "fix" or otherwise alter things. He learned early on however that recklessly messing with the human body could have severe consequences, even "cures" could end up having a terrible chain reaction.
This is why he decided to focus on medicine/alchemy rather than the more arcane arts, as he wanted a full understanding of what he was capable of. His family was overjoyed about this, believing he'd find some miracle cure and bring further fame/fortune to them.
Kenneth transferred away and studied under an old alchemist friend of the family. This man is one of the few Kenneth respects, even if their relationship was often rather rough on the surface.
Kenneth wouldn't find out about what happened to Alasdair for a few years after the fact, and when he did he was extremely pissed. Not just about how Alasdair was treated or how alone he was, but for being lied to about everything.
This was a big turning point for Kenneth, as he became to despise his family after finally seeing their "true" face. He no longer had any intention of succeeding the family, but decided to use them for as long as he could as he worked toward his true goal. A way to "cure" Alasdair of his sight.
During this time he would often try, and be denied access to, Alasdair. The few times they did meet Alasdair would always act happy, but Kenneth new it was all a lie. He threw himself further into his studies determined to help him.
On Alasdair's 18th birthday he returned to the family, this time to take him away from the family for good. Arthur however refused this proposal and the two got into a lengthy argument over how Kenneth was "throwing away his life" for a lost cause, with Arthur eventually referring to Alasdair as a monster. Kenneth lost it and struck his father, storming out daring anyone to get in his way.
When he came to finally see Alasdair he found him unconscious on the floor, dying. Kenneth used his eyes to discern the cause and treated him, but took what happened as proof that Alasdair needed out of here. He went back and, for the first time ever, bowed to his father begging him to let them go.
Eventually they came to a shaky agreement, Kenneth would take Alasdair under the condition that Kenneth would keep a "leash" on the potential threat.
Kenneth moved to Boston and, with family funding, opened up his own clinic. Along with his and Alasdair's freedom, Kenneth signed a number of contracts relating to his work. He must agree to care for any patient the family should ever send to him, as well as sign over the rights to any medicinal work he should accomplish.
He continues his research in removing supernatural "mutations" like the Ackart family eyes. Alasdair no longer needs such a cure, but Kenneth is convinced other should have the option. He believes things like lycanthropy, psychic ability, and even stuff like vampirism is something that can be cured.
Misc: As a child, while on a business trip to America, his father took Kenneth to a Red Sox game. Kenneth has been an obsessive fan ever since. It's actually part of the reason he chose Boston for the site of his clinic.
His clinic has a reputation for doing things off the books, and attracts both criminals and the supernatural. While Alasdair takes care of the magic defense mechanisms for the clinic, Ken takes care of the physical. He's always up for a fight, and a shotgun under the front desk never hurt anyone. Unfortunately having someone on hand who could instantly know whether someone is hostile tends to prevent the need for most of this...
He's a heavy smoker, as well as a frequent drinker. Keeps a spare set of glasses on him for Alasdair's sake, though Alasdair doesn't know of them.
If it wasn't clear, Kenneth has much more control over his eyes. Can turn the power off at will, focus on a single person rather than seeing everything near him, etc.
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