Charles is 6'1", fit but not quite bulky. His face is sort of angular, but still has a young quality that gives away his age. His hair is a pale blonde and his left eye is pale blue, but his right eye has a fully clouded cornea and is entirely blind. He typically has a hard stare and rigid posture, only softening in close company, and there's definitely a sense of confidence to his movements. Wherever he is, he immediately acts like he owns the place.
Back home, he dresses in tailored suits, but in Hadriel he'll skew more casual. You can find him in t-shirts and jeans with boots, though he'll stay away from anything too garish or weird. He prefers at least one layer (like a jacket or coat) so he can hide weapons under it. He pretty much never wears jewelry.
Other notable features include his tattoo, an open-jawed coyote skull on his left hand, at the juncture of his thumb and forefinger- so that the mouth appears to close when his hand does. He also has some gnarly scars you aren't likely to see if he's got his shirt on: a horizontal one just under his ribcage on the right side, one just below it that wraps around to his back, and one on the outside of his left bicep.

the rundown

Charles is from a rougher timeline of our own world, where the Cold War wasn't so cold and the United States isn't so united anymore. He lives in a version of Chicago that's an independent entity, essentially run by what used to be organized crime. They're more politicians than drug lords these days, but their version of law is still pretty brutal.
He and his twin sister Xivia had a bit of a rough start in life, raised as part of the underground organ trade. They were subsequently "adopted" by one of the city's criminal elite, who Charles replaced after his death as head of an organization called Renaissance. (Well, 1/3 of the head, but that's irrelevant.) He spends a lot of time dealing with the rulers of other territories, overseeing Renaissance's control over the shipping trade, and maneuvering so that his organization doesn't lose power to the other factions in the city. It's a precarious life, but it's one he chose, and to him, that's what matters.
Out of necessity, Charles is blunt, quick-tempered, and sometimes ruthless. He does what he needs to in order to protect and provide for the people he cares about, regardless of how morally dubious. He's stubborn, sarcastic, and tends to resort to violence. But on the other hand, he's also kind of a bleeding heart, especially when it comes to kids. He tries to keep that side of himself under wraps, but is mostly unsuccessful.

where to find

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skills/abilities

Violent Stuff: Though he tends to delegate these sorts of things, Charles can definitely handle himself in a fight. He knows his way around firearms, though his aim's not great, and he's much better with a knife. He can throw a solid punch, too, and he's pretty scrappy overall.

Polyglot: Though it was initially just part of his job, Charles has found that learning languages is something of a hobby for him. His primary language is English, but he speaks Mandarin, Russian, and Spanish with relative ease, and can sort of get by in Italian, German, and Japanese. He's not so great at reading these languages, however (excepting English).

Vocal Memory: Part of what makes languages easier for Charles is that he has an excellent memory for spoken words. He might not remember what he or anyone else was doing at the time, but he can often remember entire conversations verbatim, even long after the initial event. Many people find this incredibly annoying.

details

Voice: Charles has an American accent, which is closest to a present-day Midwesterner. He doesn't quite shake the accent even in other languages. His voice is slightly deep, with a bit of a rough edge to it.

Scent: Charles keeps clean and is an ordinary human, so he probably smells like that.

Mental Information: He has no special mental defenses or psychic abilities, and he tends to just say what he's thinking anyway, so there isn't much point in reading his mind.

Biological Information: Charles is healthy, but he does have some physiological oddities. He's missing his entire right kidney and part of his liver (anyone well-versed in medicine who sees the scars can easily identify them as very unskilled surgical incisions). His right eye is completely blind, clouded over with scar tissue. He's also an asymptomatic carrier for a nasty, engineered virus that at one time ravaged his world. It's technically transmittable through blood contact, but for Hadriel purposes, we'll say it's not contagious.

Magical Information: Charles is entirely non-magical, as magic does not exist in his timeline.

Character Info

Charles Yvry II

original character