Joe Marder

Estantia's Stories
Joe and the Assassins
Through the Eyes of a Thief #1
The Idea Thief



Username: [Estantia]
Name: Joe Marder, but may tell a different name due to his need for secrecy, from the mage or the law. He will never tell any surname unless pressed hard for it.
Age: 23.

Appearance: Not someone you'd look at twice. Straight and short dark brown hair that's slightly floppy, average height and skinny, around 6 foot. Eyes are grey/brown. Not strong but not weak.
He usually wears faded jeans and a light blue cotton shirt, also faded. He doesn't carry any weapons but always has a waterproof pouch on his belt. This pouch contains powders and liquids which help enhance his magic. Stronger powders are nearer the back of the pouch.

He also carries a backpack which contains things sorted into rough pockets, a few clothes, some herbs and bandages and his money pouch, which is well hidden. The backpack is light and when sealed has a spell which, if touched by anyone but Joe, makes it appear to, or really become a snake. No-one quite knows for sure whether it's an illusion, as it was done for him by a wizard who owed him a favour.

Far History: Joe was born in a small village near a desert and spent the first few years of his life with his brother, sister and mother. When he was nine he was captured by a dark mage who came to destroy the village, whether for fun, to extend his empire or for the raw magic of the little boy that hadn't specialised yet no-one knows. What is certainly true is that Joe lost all of his family in the fire, the evil mage pulled a particularly cruel joke and lanced his own magic into the boy so that he could watch his sister burn in devastating close-up. However there was an unexpected affect to this magical grip. Some of the evil mage's power attached itself to Joe and his senses, coating them so that he could now sense when magic was close. See Through the eyes of a thief #1 for detail.

As much as the piqued the evil mage's curiosity the young Joe refused to learn magic from him, having seen his family slowly burnt in front of his eyes. In the months that followed his magic turned to survival in the castle, shielding his mind, conjuring and disguising his presence. He learnt illusions and simularcrums to count as alibi's after Joe received scars over his back when discovered out of his cell. He was forced to watch the evil mage work, making him hate death, though he wasn't adverse to stealing, as it was the only way to eat. However the occasional book of magic he got his hands on was eagerly read and studied, if it suited the purpose of escaping the castle alive.

When he broke free he vowed to return and kill the mage, however he had to spend some years on the streets of a town on the other side of the wasteland, where he picked up the tricks of speaking 'properly' and pickpocketing before he truly entered the hired thief trade and started travelling.

Recent History: Joe's profession is that of a hired thief mage. This means that in a sense he works like an assassin, given a target and returning it to the employer in return for money or in some cases, rare magical equipment. However when those he is employed by turn treacherous Joe simply vanishes, taking the item he stole as payment for the job instead of the original stated reward. See Joe and the Assassins for details of a treacherous instance.

In his travels he has been imprisoned for several crimes he didn't commit (and one or two that he did) but makes a simularcrum appear to kill himself and escapes - So far he has 12 coffins. He has also seen occasional glimpses of a girl with golden magic in various places, though he can never quite be sure and desperately wants to find out why she has been helping at times in his life (this is Estantia).

Talents Joe's magic has adapted to suit his time in the castle and the work he's done since. Main talents he can do without tools are illusions, mind shield, simularcrums, camouflage, hiding noise/smell. He can also sense magic. A favourite powder he uses is to cast a bright light, which may temporarily blind opponents. He also in his pouch has oil which can be converted to a powerful acid, a vial of magic restoring liquid which he makes and a ruby he uses to store power amongst other things (see equipment list below).

He much prefers to avoid conflict, preferring to not cause a disagreement, quietly vanish from the scene or confuse and knock out/run in that order. He is sometimes called a coward for vanishing from a fight, but he is simply aware that his skills are not suited to them and so it is in his best interest to avoid conflict.

Personality: Neutral and annoyingly calm at all times. Joe is accomplished actor from his spate in the castle and almost never caught in a lie about his name or actions. Although he works as a thief he can't stop himself trying to keep the peace or help and remains true to his word. Combined with his intense curiosity his good nature has got him into trouble several times and was once thrown across dimensions when he tried to prevent a wizard's duel.

Other He doesn't drink alcohol due to the effect it has on his magic, making it erratic and hard to control. As he likes to keep a low profile drinking is not a good idea, despite the odd looks he gets when he asks for tea or water instead of spirits, which just puts him down as eccentric or overly cautious.



For more detailed Rping information on talents and equipment.

Natural talents before RP era:
Sensing magic (and type of, gained through accident)
Ignore spell (he can only be seen/sensed if you KNOW where he is or work it out while it's in effect)
Illusion (usually uses an anchor for it)
Simularcrum (a solid puppet he can control/give instructions to follow. If controlling directly body is in meditation and vulnerable. Takes time and power to create.)

As for equipment he has his pack and his pouch.
Pack: (payment from a job, cannot be opened except by Joe)
Money purse (Same enchantment as pack), contains 20 silver and 10 bronze.
Various common herbs/spare cloth for bandages
Waterproof long coat, black leather. Rarely worn. (later gains a light golden cloth version with pockets and a hood that form as he needs them, surprisingly the golden colour is very hard to see in the darkness and is very waterproof and warm as needed.)
Extra bag of light powder
2 loaves of bread
flask of water.
Card that can form a boat if needed (not until much later)

Pouch:
Light powder, multi-purpose powder. can act as an anchor by itself, create bright light with magic added, acid when combined with oil and magic.
Small container of oil to create acid/lubricate hinges.
Small flask of magic revival potion (two helpings). Made using specific herbs, water and the powder, though takes a day to make more.
Lock picks
Ruby to store power. (not until later)



Estantia's Stories
Joe and the Assassins
Through the Eyes of a Thief #1
The Idea Thief