Victor Dwayne

Summary

Name: Victor Dwyne
Gender / Species: Male Virginia Possum
Age: Unknown. Apparently in late 30's to early 40's
Occupation: Magician, Con Man, Predator

Song: "Wrong Side of Heaven" By Five Finger Death Punch

More Than Playing Dead

Some would say that the only way to cheat death is to work for it, but that is not entirely true. Enter Victor Dwayne, a young scholar who went astray sometime before the west was won in search of something he came to know only in dreams. To play dead is a response that has been in possum blood just as long as their resistance to venom, but within the context of dreams, Victor latched onto something new. There was a cloak of sorts, a way to wrap energy about your body, that could fake the absence of a soul, and what was death to think when it comes across a body with no soul? The devil's greatest trick was convincing the world he wasn't there, and Victor's was in fooling death itself into turning away.

This is, of course, not without consequences. Victor was not just off the books as far as death went, he was outside of any of 'greater plans' of those spirits, gods, and their their ilk that held sway over the universe. Victor was a possum without death but not without hunger, injury, or the needs of companionship or the sweet forgetfulness of a drunken stupor. Having already learned one means of making dream a reality, he focused on this magic to become a creature of illusions, trickery, and dangerous magic.

While Victor had much to learn, he learned one thing early on: he could not longer heal or remain young, even if immortal, without additional life forces, and the only way to get the proper kind was to become like the vampire and take the flesh and spirit of the living as his own. Just as the vampire finds the sweetness of fresh blood invigorating, Victor found the soul to be his source of essence. Of course, there was no reason he couldn't take the body as well, and so the possum stopped faking death and starting feigning innocence and weakness to draw in his prey.

Abilities and limitations

Fragile Immortality: Unlike the invulnerable sort of immortal, Victor takes damage as normal folk would.He can be burned, shot, frozen, etc... and will suffer as such. However, he will not die from it. In the rare event that his body is somehow lost, his soul becomes the vector of malice and will hunt until it has enough flesh to reform his body.
Dreamweaver: The most powerful magic Victor has at his disposal is the ability to use the dreamscape and pull from that realm draw powers into the real world. He can change his size and shape, he can alter the shape and size of others, and he can conjure forth things both real and imaginary to aid him in his hunt. He does not, however, have the ability to enter dreams directly, and he avoids this because it could present him with a point of vulnerability.
Charming Voice: Victor has a smooth and disarming tone that he uses with most that he can lace with a little magic to try and fool them, or outright hypnotize them, into doing as he wishes.
Monstrous Body: All of the years tapping into the dreamscape for power have mangled Victor's body that he can distort himself without an active spell when he is hunting. He can take on unrealistic proportions and may even alter his internal anatomy for his own amusement.

Life History

Victor and the Wolf: Victor was the oldest of eight children living on a farm in what is now Southern Germany. By the time he was six he had seen two of his sisters lost to disease and his youngest two siblings due to famine in the same year, but that was the state of things in the mid 1600's.It wasn't until the werewolf appeared that sorrow was replaced by terror as victims were picked off with unsettling regularity in his village. It was around the same time, when he was only twelve years old, that he was taken by strange dreams that often left him gasping for air when he awoke. So frightening were these dreams, dreams of bent and broken reality where the smallest things held power, that he dreaded sleeping more than the werewolf stalking his village. However, it wasn't until his brother, closest to him both in age and kinship, became the victim of the werewolf. Robbed of his fear of the monster by his dreams, the only thing left inside of him was the absolute need for vengeance. That is when the dreams changed.

Victor's rage was so powerful that is finally overtook the fear of those distorted dreams, and in that sleeping place he found a power. the distortions no longer could move of their own will when he slept, and could finally reach out in his waking dreams and take command of them. He woke one morning before anyone else to see the light of day creeping up, and without intending to do so, he made it set again for a time. Victor possessed a form a of magic that let him use dreams and other related planes and powers to distort reality. When he understood what he could do with his power, there was only one thing for him to do: go wolf hunting.

Victor was gone for three weeks, and everyone had assumed him to be the next victim of the beast. When he arrived in town dragging the corpse of the monster behind him he was greeted with a mixture of joy and terror for what child could slay such a beast? Because of the nature of the beast and Victor's wounds, he was kept penned for observation until the full moon during which time the village elders and a priest interrogated him as to how he managed this feat. He replied with a half truth and said that he had seen a way in his dreams that he followed. When pressed, he said that every day since his brother was taken he prayed for the means to avenge him, and after that the dreams followed. when he failed to change on the full moon, he was allowed to return to his family, and he never told anyone the truth about his magic.

Hunter Hunted: Victor was eventually asked to chase down and destroy all sorts of monsters that tormented the countryside. Rather than learn how to use a sword, he opted to learn to fight with a staff or spear because both were far more common to find on a farm if needed a replacement. He also hunted alone and refused to take anyone with him or train anyone in his art, but he always managed to come back with the beast in question. Some began to suspect something about him, and a few even dared to say he must be controlling the monsters to extort money from the villages. Eventually this lead to some very careful scouts tracing Victor's steps where they watched him cause the very trees in the forest to snare and bind a demon before he slew it, and that was all it took. Word arrived in town before he did, and bishop was waiting for him when he arrived with the vanquished demon. They called him a warlock and condemned his unholy art regardless of what good he had done with it. Unfortunately for them, Victor was no less vengeful than he was when his brother died, and he did not fancy himself tolerating betrayal.

Victor opted to embrace what they said and proved himself capable of magic. The homes and villagers not involved were seemly pushed far away to make the center of town into a huge arena with just him, the clergy, and the two men who had spied on him. Specters of those who had died at the hands of all the monsters he killed appeared behind Victor as he challenge them to tell these souls, souls he avenged, that his art was unholy. While it was not the souls themselves, they were very convincing illusions, but not enough to rattle his accusers. So it came to be that the ghosts he called forth from dreams tore his enemies asunder and left greasy red smears and tattered clothes on the ground. The means by which Victor had triumphed when others failed was revealed, and he was not a monster feared more than any before him. A terribly high price was put on his head, and so he started to travel southeast with an uncanny ability to make anyone following him to lost.

The Making of a Monster: Alone and hunted, Victor resorted to stealing, robbery, and even murder to sustain himself as he traveled, and these acts only served to increase his notoriety. Worse yet, he was pushing into the territory of a different sort of monster. The vampires he was encroaching on were not only numerous but they were also well organized. As a virgin wandering out in the forests and roads on his own, Victor was a prime target. With the world he knew turning against him, there was very little holding Victor back from doing anything he wished without regret. It was in this time that he was learning how to manipulate his power to fool almost anything, and it was a vampire that he first fooled into thinking he was not dead. The usual playing possum would not work against a vampire,but the dream-wrapped illusion Victor employed was enough to shake a vampire off his trail. Rather that let things be, Victor used the chance to ambush the vampire and bind it. The idea of being fed on by a vampire irritated Victor, and in his desire to return the favor, he somehow consumed the whole vampire in one go, and that vampire's essence became fuel for him. That was the start of his battled with vampires and when the souls and spirits of people and monster alike became his source of additional power and longevity. It would take a decade of mangling spirits and souls to learn how to trick death itself into leaving him behind.

Hometown: Immediately after the events that caused him to leave home, Victor was away and yet connected enough to know that his hometown would again be the target of the church. This time they were out to erase recent history and ensure no one could follow in Victor's footsteps. Victor back tracked home grudgingly at first, but the closer he got to home, the more he was reminded of those that had cared about him and appreciated what he had done for the town. As one final middle finger to the powers that be, Victor opened a rift to allow those who wanted to leave a chance at a realm where life was better in all ways. A sort of living dream, he shuttled most of those who would go into this realm and out of the way of the church's forces.

The realm created on that day still remains. It is one of the only safe havens that Victor will direct others too if he likes them well enough. In a way it is a fortress, but it does not have the look and feel of one. Souls may choose to leave but cannot return. Some have left and many have remained though the ages. Not only is this place a sanctuary, it also helps keep Victor from becoming the monsters he has slain.

Frenemies

Victor is not nearly as old as Plethorat, but when it comes to screwing with someone's plans, Victor has found that agitating Pleth is usually worth his time. Both entities are immortals with the difference that Victor pulls his life anchor from the literally unimaginable power of dreams and nightmares which Pleth is kept on the mortal plane as a karmic balance until one of his preordained endpoints is reached. While Victor could actually cause widespread disaster among Pleth's troops, he opts just to pick off certain ones to piss the rat off.

They are proper frenemies though in that they will ally abilities when it is in their interest to do so such as taking down a particularly problematic anti-rodent threat. One can bet that Pleth is keeping score though, as his spirit type was made to do.

Relationship with other beings

Mortals: Despite what he has become, Victor associated best with mortals, and he has changed with the ages just as society does. With jeans, a t-shirt, and a cell phone, it is very hard to tell him apart from anyone else. Mortals are his primary prey though, and their souls are enough to sustain his and keep him youthful. He will partake of them as he needs to maintain himself, and he will partake of them because he is in the mood to and almost no one in forensics is going to figure out where the missing persons went. He does still divide his dealings with mortals into friends and food for the better part, and he rarely doubles back on his allies. Even he needs some places of shelter through the ages.

As a general rule, Victor does not prey upon his own species. He deems that it makes it easier to get along with them and even start and maintain families when he so feels the need. One can expect that any family he is part of will not be normal, but there are plenty out there that will fit the bill.

Sympathies: There are some groups of people Victor cares for and tends to be generally good to. Possum and friends of them are one such group that is easier to understand and to identify. The other is those who have lost hope and have come to the point of seeking their own death. In his mind, this is a side effect of the ultimate betrayal of the world, spirits, and fate regarding a person. In these situations, Victor may grant the seeming of death or the loss of the body but will otherwise look over the soul. Those betrayed or neglected touch him deeply and remind him of his origin, so he sometimes offers what he couldn't have. Some of these souls go on to the next life, some come back with renewed strength, nad others still form the close knit group of people Victor trusts and has given tasks within his own organizations.

Immortals and Semi-immortals: This includes things such as vampires, werewolves, spirits, and even ghost and poltergeists. Most of the time he will not bother with them unless one of them bothers him. He has been known to attack vampires and werewolves in particular but tearing their essence out of their bodies. Normally this is only done when he plans to take over the holdings of that being and establish a new base of operations. He tends not to bother most natural spirits if only so they do the same, but immortals coming from infected or corrupted mortals are a prime target for PR work. He slays the monster, gets the praise and glory, and no one knows they are rooting for the greater monster.

Gods and Greater Spirits: Victor is no fool. If he can stay under the radar of these entities, he feels that is best. He does not meddle too much in the affairs of mortals and immortals associated with groups large enough to cause him pain. Even with his power over dreams and illusion he does not have the power necessary to turn back something of this scale. The closest he may deal with them is working for or with one of them towards a common goal for some form of boon, but this can lead to attachments he does not want and thus he avoids them.

Relative Power Comparison and Strategies

Compared to your average person, Victor possesses enough power to be considered a god, but that would be highly inaccurate. Against conventional military tools, Victor might as well be a very compact Godzilla, but it is in that comparison that Victor's level of power can be defined. Victor has the power and skills of an ancient monster, but he is not on a level to be challenging any true god. This is one of the reasons he hasn't taken his wars directly to religious capitols and erased them.

Victor could be better compared to characters such as Dr. Strange,the original Bram Stoker's Dracula, greater liches, and if one had to assign him a god, it would likely be a trickster like Loki. In the use of dreams, he might be similar to Freddy Kreuger for both use of wit and creativity in mangling the reality and dreams of his victims.

Against physical attack entities: Going up against those like the Hulk, Thor, etc, Victor would be extra creamy if any of them landed a solid blow against him, so reality mangling to to keep them away or trapped are his best bets. Even if he was turned to paste, if his soul is not captured he will just return later after claiming a form. While physically not any better than the next guy, he can still knock such gods around physically by changing the rules in the local area. If he can't beat them, he may trap them or knock them out of the park for a while.

Against attacks o mental magic and psionics: Staying hidden and keeping his signature covered is one way to avoid a conflict, but should someone get to his outer defenses or push him to react, it can be anyone's guess. Victor can strip most common minds down to eager obedient toys by the use of dream and waking dream as weapons. This is a realm where a true stand and fight may happen, but it is also one where Victor's victor could result in the complete consumption of body and soul to erase a threat from coming back.

Against the use of magic: Given how broad this category can be it is easier to mention outliers. Mind centered magic and necromancy suffer the most from Victor's resistances, and the domain of poisons goes up against an expanded version of a possum's natural resistance to poison and venom. Everything else is usually a matter of scale and how ready Victor is for it. Nuke the site from orbit magically or bot has always been an option. Victor is not demonic so he does not suffer a real vulnerability from divine magic, and if anything he has trained against that sphere more than any other out conflicts going back to his childhood.

Against Spirits: Another realm where Victor meets his match. As one who consumes souls for power and prefers to prey on the spirits of vampires, werewolves, and their kin, he has the potential to do incredible harm to spirits, but they are also the ones most likely to try for his. As one can expect, no one has taken his soul yet but some have come close. AS a general rule Victor does not normally bother natural spirits or other benign entities on the premise of not causing a turf war where he gets surrounded.

Natural Enemies

Everyone has enemies, and using the dreamscape for power does not come free. Victor is most vulnerable at the point of his energy tap, and that means his main enemies are not those in the real world but those of the dreamscape and even the enemies of the dreamscape such as Darkness.

Nightmares: Nightmares are capable of attacking Victor at almost any time, but they have the best access to him when he is sleeping or when he is pulling power from the dreamscape. Because Victor causes alterations in reality using dreams, it is possible that a nightmare could manifest by controlling Victor and using his power to its own end. This is always a danger, and it is one of the primary reasons Victor does not go around showing off much.

Lucid Dreamers: Just as Victor uses the dreamscape to alter reality, there are dreamers of sufficient power to alter the local dreamscape and therefore attack Victor in the one place he is most vulnerable. The only saving grace Victor has in this case is being a good diplomat and trying to encourage such folks to help protect him from nightmares.

Darkness: Victor is one of the most hated sort of being on Darkness' hit list. The reason for this is that he not only makes things up like most mortals, he makes those things manifest enough to add even more chaos to local space. Victor has encountered Darkness on some occasions, and it made certain that he was careful in what he did afterwards to avoid their wrath. He has a very tenuous truce with some of them in that he helps remove other hated supernaturals from the field and this can have a net stabilizing effect.

Angels of Death: Victor has escaped the jurisdiction of the reapers and so death does not pose much of a threat to him in that he can't come around a second time to get him. Angels of Death, however, operate on a different set of rules. Because they can directly seize souls by causing death on their own, they don't have to wait for the appointed moment of death. Again the only saving grace he has in this case is that he can remove other supernaturals that could be protected from the AoD and thus be worth keeping around.