Deadwatch

Nolan Voight was once known as Twig, a cripple abandoned as an infant by his prostitute mother, abused in countless foster homes and finally running away to end up on the hard streets of Gotham City as a pickpocket junkie. What most did not know was that he could see and talk to the dead. 13 years ago he went to prison for murder and seemingly disappeared into the system. Now he has returned, a man almost in full control of his gift.

He walks the streets of Gotham once more, by day an ex-con working as a cook at a diner (and an unlicensed 'psychic' detective), and by night using his hidden abilities as the vigilante/criminal Deadwatch, Gotham's secret resident sorcerer. Shrouded by illusion, spirits and with magic at his call he secretly gathers knowledge, resources and power to protect the weak from predatory entities both mortal and not... and maybe gaining a few creature comforts and wealth along the way.

Background
Many years ago Nolan was a street orphan known as Twig; A crippled streetkid who panhandled, picked pockets, ran scam games, sold drugs and was a mule for various gangs on the streets of Gotham. An orphan, he had been abandoned as an infant by his junkie prostitute mother at a local clinic and bounced around from one abusive foster home to another, bullied and terrorized for years because he saw 'Ghosts'. After almost being killed during a beating by a foster partent and one of teh other foster children he lost control of his power and physically summoned malevolent ghosts that drove his attacker insane and started fire that killed the entire family, allowing him to escape to the streets to which he had been born.

On the streets he was aided by the many lost souls and strange spirits that walked The Dark (as he called the astral plane) of Gotham. His ability was the key to his survival but between the chronic pain of his disabilities and the unrelenting barrage of spirits that would overwhelm him it wasn't long before he became a junkie like his mother had been to dull the extremes of both.

A life of street crime as a cripple, equally as abusive if not more so on him than the foster homes had ever been, saw Twig at the bottom of the totem pole more or less. But he persevered, promising himself he would work his way up someday to be 'a big deal' and one day make all those who had abused him and others like him to pay. By 18 he had been in and out of juvie and jail a number of times on various charges but. But he was no snitch, despite the abuse of his fellow criminals, and thus he was tasked to courier a package of a new high-end drug to a gang in New York. Once There he discovered the gang leader was one the foster kids who had terrorized him as a child and had killed a young girl Twig had been sweet on. The leader recognized him and a fight ensured. Twig was beat to within an inch of his life, his heart actually stopping. The spirits and lost souls flowed through him, restarting his heart and sending him into a ghost-ridden, magic fueled berserker rage and killed the gang leader and a number of his thugs..

Twig was found amid the carnage, arrested, and after a trial sentenced to fifteen years for Murder 2 and Possession of a controlled substance. They couldn't pin much more on him because there was no way to believe that he had been powerful enough to take down a whole gang and, thus by inference, must have been caught in the middle of a gang war insrtead. He was incarcerated at Ryker's Island where he was bullied and terrorized, being attacked on multiple occasions until he was saved by the spirit of a dead inmate named Crumble, a low level magic using hitman and theif who had died in this prison. In return for ongoing protection of Twig and mentoring in the occult, all he asked was a single favor, upon Twig's release. A favor he would not tell Twig what it was until he needed it.

After a decade and some change of surviving prison, bettering himself mentally, physically and 'spirtitually', the prisoner once known as Twig was paroled slightly early. STill a cripple, he was no longer quite the weaking he had been, having become harder and smarter in prison, utilizing all the resources available to him to educate himself and make himself better. Now going by his birth name for the first time in his life, Nolan made good on his favor to Crumble, who asked to be released from teh Dark to whatever true afterlife aaited him. Nolan used his power to call sirts refered to as Those-Who-Judge, entities who came for who the lost souls and shepherd them to the proper afterlife. Nolan doesn't know what happened to Crumble after that but he wished his friend peace.

Now paroled, Nolan has returned to Gotham. He knows the streets are still haunted, by both human and inhuman suffering and cruelty, but no longer fears it's ghosts and spirts. He lived a life of pain and suffering and he is damned if he will ever again. He has power. He has skills. He has a thirst for the finer things that were denied him his entire existence yet at the same time feels he owes the weak a chance to be protected and avenged, be they alive or dead.

By day (and a number of nights) he will be Nolan Voight, diner cook and an unlicensed psychic PI who only advertises by word of mouth. By night he will secretly be Gotham's resident sorcerer, using his psychic and magical abilities to protect Gotham from it's worst monsters by taking in the guise of The Deadwatch, a ghostly vigilante/criminal slowly working his way through the shadows's and alleyways of Gotham and Bludhaven, using his gifts not only to get what /he/ wants, taking from the strong and predatory what they always took from him and his, and avenging the weak, alive or dead, from the evil things that lurk in The Dark.

Personality
Nolan is not a bad person, yet he is. He isn't immoral as much as he can be /amoral/. He comes off as selfish, greedy, and holds his personal freedom and welfare above almost everything else. He dislikes confining laws, self-discipline and distrusts authority. He is the guy who is always looking for the best deal, associates with good and evil characters, is continually tempted to lie and cheat to get the job done if he has to, and then hates himself for being loyal and helping others.

Nolan is someone who sometimes finds it easier to interact with the dead than the living. Easier, not exactly nicer. He can be grumpy, almost cantankerous, and definitely sarcastic to both the living AND the dead. His many years in prison, and his traumatic childhood, have make him sometimes guarded. Some people think he's a nutcase because he talks to thin air, or cracks jokes at the weirdest time, but that is just how his power gift works and he uses that seeming 'crazyness' as a defense mechanism to deflect people.

As selfish as he can be, Nolan e has a very protective streak for Victims and underdogs because he spent so much of his life being one. He doesn't take compliments well, unsure if they are sincere or not. And Authority is for the birds. Nolan has a very.. pragmatic view about justice. He has no qualms hurting anyone or thing that predates on the weak. As Deadwatch he will even kill if he feels it necessary.

Because of his years of being destitute Nolan believes he deserves the better things in life now. He will certainly steal from bad people without any hard feelings. He also has a sense of charity, however, and will begrudgingly share his spoils with those in need.

Logs

 * TBA