Post/Author/DateTime

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SoulGamit 04-21-06, 01:07 AM

Well, I figured I'd post the history for that telepath that I've been deity-shopping (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=622767) for. Comments and suggestions are highly welcomed and appreciated; I'm always looking to improve my abilities. This history is for a telepath whose goal in life is to reform the world, one villain at a time. He takes someone and through a combination of mundane psychology and psionic prowess he attempts to change them and hopefully reintegrate them into society. He believes anyone can be reformed, if given the right amount of work. His justification for dominating someone to achieve this is that people who abuse the privilege of free will don't deserve to keep it. I gave him his motive for everyone deserving a second chance from his brother; in essence he believes he is helping the villains by dominating them. I know that the biggest problem for any enchanter is the fear allies have about mind-control; I wanted to remove that fear so I gave the incidence with his wife. I'd really like to know if the history is concistent and makes logical sense. Prelude: Derek Melvior I came into a large sum of money through the use of his psionic prowess. With this money he set up a small town to the northeast of Luskan, along the river of Mirar that shared his last name. Many rumors sprang up that the money was received through less then perfectly moral and legal means, although he and his family denied all such accusations. Regardless of the truth, it is known that Derek Melvior II established relations with many seedy individuals in the surrounding area, especially within Luskan. By then the Melvior family had made a name for themselves through successful farming and transportation. It was also during this time that the Melvior family started a tradition of teaching the psionic traditions and developing psionic talents in its family, as well as naming each heir Derek. Unfortunately, the family fell on hard times when the next heir took over. He had a bad gambling habit and didn’t have a head for business. He had to stoop to blatant abuse of his powers and theft to maintain the lifestyle he had grown accustomed to, ruining the reputation of the family, even amongst their normally shady contacts. Childhood: Derek Melvior III gave birth to two sons, Derek Melvior IV and Jordon Melvior. Derek was the older of the two by a short time and thus was the heir to the family. As was the tradition, from a young age both boys where trained in the psionic arts from childhood. The two were friends as well as brothers, for few parents would let their children near the Melvior family. Without doing a thing the brothers where pegged as being troublemakers and Jordon’s disposition didn’t help any. Jordon had a habit of lashing out, seeking out and picking fights with other kids and always going where he wasn’t supposed to. He was accused of thievery and other petty crimes on many occasions. He often said that people never gave him a first chance, much less a second; that he was considered scum because of some half-assed predispositions based on his family. Despite the fact that Derek was the heir, Jordan showed the most psionic prowess. He was a talented wilder while Derek was learning the basics. It was that fact that made the townsfolk suspected him when a few of the locals turned up dead, killed by obviously magical or psionic means. Although nothing could be proven, the townsfolk shunned and feared. “If I had done it, they why do they think that would stop me the next time?” he scorned. The anger felt by the town culminated when a group got together and attacked Jordon. He used his power to trap Derek, and then he let the attackers have their way. After a thorough beating Jordon thought that they’d finally get their fill and go away, at least that’s what Derek surmised. He trusted his brother, at first, but the beating continued. A great feeling of helplessness came over him; he wasn’t any help and could do nothing but watch. Derek broke down in tears calling for them to stop, but his cries fell on deaf ears. When the beating got too bad, Jordon finally used his powers to get away and lead the angry mob away. Derek was freed moments later, and then he simply ran home to let his father know what happened. Nothing was done in retaliation; Derek’s father explained that he didn’t need a mob attacking him or his son. Adulthood: Derek focused on his studies after that incident, right up until he took over the family business. He learned to influence people’s thoughts with his mind. He used these powers to help his father in business. When his dad passed away, they helped him expand that business to its former glory. Unlike his father Derek had more of a mind for business. His powers helped tremendously with getting and sealing deals. He rebuilt the family fortune by taking out loans to invest into the business and then use the profits to pay back the loans. This tactic worked remarkably well in most cases, and the aggressive form of business earned him the respect of many of his peers. He restored his family name in the eyes of the people by investing most of the net profit into charities as well as setting up his own. He felt strongly about giving delinquents a second chance and helped to fund a few charities dedicated to just that, reforming criminals and other undesirable people so that they could rejoin society. Most such charities failed shortly after creation because it was so difficult in getting people who could help in that area of expertise. If Derek had one weakness it was socializing. He spent more time socializing and making deals then handling the business. It wasn’t so bad of a habit. He hired someone else to handle the business aspects and the socials did help the family. It was at one of those socials that he met his future wife, Caroline. Derek was enthralled by her after only a few meetings. He enjoyed every moment he got to talk with her to the point that he made excuses just to do so. Inevitably he asked her out, and after only a year he asked for her hand in marriage. The marriage obviously went well, for two children soon followed. Unfortunately, problems started to set in. The business had hit a rut, people where refusing to pay and there had been major transportation and theft problems. The frequent problems where ruining the Melvior name again, and many dangerous people where getting upset. Derek managed to keep them pacified, but the state of affairs quickly depleted his financial resources. He had to sell most of his family’s belongings, and could no longer keep up the lifestyle that he and his family where so accustomed to. Then the fights started, what where once polite conversations turned into dangerous arguments. The arguments escalated when Caroline accused Derek of psionically charming her into marriage. He simply couldn’t take the yelling anymore. Without really meaning to, he made her shut up by giving an aversion to speaking. He saw the look of dread in her eyes and realized what he had done. Even when he dismissed the power, but her facial expression didn’t change, and she still didn’t speak. He tried telling her that he was sorry again and again, with tears in his eyes but still nothing. This persisted for the next few days, until Derek had to leave for work. When he got home, both Caroline and the kids where gone. He frantically searched, calling the local guard to help him find his family. One cold trail lead to another, and inevitably his family was given up on. With nowhere else to look Derek went home to wait for some news or indication where they where. Another surprise awaited him, as it turns out his business partner ran away. When Derek went over the documents he realized that Thomas had been stealing from him for years, and just got away with an important shipment for a very important client. Again Derek managed to pacify his debtors, but this time the damage was beyond repair. No one trusted the company and no profit could be made. In the end, Derek had to sell almost everything he owned to pay off his debts. After that he simply left, telling others it was to look for his family. In truth, he had given up on ever finding them. He realized that losing his family was merely the consequence of abusing his power. He still hopes to see them one day, but he doesn’t actively search for them. Instead they merely serve as a grim reminder of what happens when you abuse privileges given to you. Now Derek spends his days wandering around, finding whatever work where he can. He tries to engage in his true hobbies, reforming others, whenever possible but doing that has proven very difficult.