Maxwell Carter

The Codex and its nightmare fuel have uses beyond the manifestation of shadow puppets. Maxwell is also capable of extracting "forbidden knowledge" (rituals, future knowledge) from the Codex's pages. This process takes time, with deeper and more complicated secrets requiring more time and effort to decipher, and not every answer can be found within the Codex's pages. The incantations in the Codex also allow Maxwell to weave barriers, illusions, and veils of darkness to blind his targets. All of these spells require the expenditure of nightmare fuel- once Maxwell runs out of it, he only has his own mortal cunning to rely upon.

The use of shadow magic over a long period of time has both accelerated Maxwell's aging and resulted in the development of monstrous features, namely claws, pointed teeth, and unnatural pallor/cyanosis. He uses illusions to cover the more exaggerated of these features (so his teeth normally appear perfect and his claws are de-exaggerated to the point of being slight nails concealed under his gloves), but when exhausted or when his focus slips, these features can leak through, revealing that the seemingly well put-together gentleman is more overtly otherworldly than he initially lets on. He also bears marks of his extended reign as Nightmare King, which his illusions seemingly refuse to conceal- inky bruises around his wrists, legs, arms, neck, and chest. As a result, he gets very nervous about the prospect of taking clothes off. Maxwell also has limited "hammerspace" in his pockets- he can't carry an infinite supply of things, but he can fit a lot more things than those 1906 pinstripe pants pockets should. 

Having dealt with eldritch horrors over an unfathomable amount of time, Max has become fairly accustomed to dealing with otherworldly beings. Though he's still woefully insignificant in the grand scheme of things, he's able to push through the instinctive horror a lot of people feel when the abyss stares back at them, letting him get down to business more quickly. Per the contractual nature of his most noteworthy patrons, the umbral Them, Maxwell is also incapable of telling a plain-faced lie (he can still lie by omission and redirection). This isn't something his patron has to actively enforce; it's a fundamental part of his psyche at this point.

Inventory: Backpack, fully charged Codex Umbra and twenty measures of Nightmare Fuel, his usual change of clothes (including the rose on his lapel), a fur coat, log armor, a Dark Sword, a football helmet, a winter hat, a full stack of uncooked seeds, a fully-charged lantern, five pieces of charcoal, a full (though rather battered) chess set, a fistful of jam, a full watering can, a hoe, a stack of logs (20), three potatoes, a clove of garlic, a stick of butter, a pile of Glommer goop, nine twigs, thirteen tufts of grass, twelve rocks, five living logs, twenty pieces of flint, and a short, stubby twig he uses as a placeholder for a cigar

Job History: Prior to coming to the States, William Carter worked as an apprentice tailor under his father's guidance in Liverpool. However, showbusiness was calling, so he embarked on a ship from London to the United States in 1902, where he took up busking as a street magician. Unfortunately, his nerves and stammer made it difficult for him to make a name for himself, and after receiving a threatening letter from one of his creditors (who may have in fact been said creditor's daughter, trying to help her struggling father), he took the last of his money and bought a train ticket to the U.S. west coast, hoping to perhaps stay with his brother, Jack. At some point prior to the trip, William came into the possession of a strange and ominous book, which seemed to offer real magic... but at an unknown cost. William decided to hold onto the book, but resolved not to use it unless his life depended on it. During the journey west, the train collided with a circus wagon caravan, causing a derailment that left the magician stranded in an overturned, burning train car. It was at that point that he decided to use the Codex Umbra to preserve his own life, and from there, he knew there was no going back. Once he was freed from the derailment (with the help of a circus strongman), William Carter fled into the wilderness, never to be seen again...

A short time later, a charismatic performer calling himself "The Great Maxwell" appeared as if out of nowhere. Styling himself as a master of dark magic, he made quite a name for himself, touring the west coast and living a life of luxury. His luck, however, was short-lived, as in 1906, his magic went out of control in the middle of a performance, and he was pulled into another world.

From that point onward, the passage of time is unclear. Time moves non-linearly in the Constant, with "seconds and eternities throwing caution to the winds and dancing around in little do-si-dos." Maxwell has ruled more than once as the Nightmare King of a realm called "the Constant." He's been deposed. He's taken the position back. As of late, the role of monarch has been decisively taken by his former assistant, Charlie, so his job position can best be described as "slumming it with the mortals." How old this actually makes him and how greatly he's been altered from extended stints being bound to an eldritch conduit are anyone's guess.

Suppressions: Maxwell walks a fine line between keeping his old personality as William buried, without completely giving himself over to the eldritch horrors he formed a pact with to create the Maxwell persona. Though old habits die hard and he's most fond of his shadow magic, he is a fickle warlock at his core, ready to strike a pact with whatever force will put him in a good situation. He definitely has to fight the urge to sign on the dotted line at the first opportunity- a trait perhaps carried over from poor William, who couldn't seem to keep himself out of debt.

Working with madness-inducing shadow magic, Maxwell also has to be careful to keep up a façade of having things under control, even when his mind starts slipping. While he's "dapper" and less susceptible to madness than most, he doesn't help his situation by poring over any mysterious magical tomes he happens to come across. What does help his situation is the fact that he can often use other people's spellbooks... at the cost of most of his mind, of course. When his mind starts to splinter, Maxwell will usually behave in one of two ways: either he will lapse back into William's behavioral patterns, or he will become brazenly overconfident, often spouting nonsense or quoting literature while performing grand acts that garner the awe/horror of onlookers

Maxwell is also in denial about his sexuality, and in particular, he's in denial about his attraction to a certain Gentleman Scientist. Though Maxwell finds constant excuses to gripe at Wilson Percival Higgsbury, they end up happily collaborating with one another often enough. Granted, the magician doesn't dwell on how working with Higgsbury makes him feel, but there's a definite divide between what he says he thinks about the scientist, and what's actually going through his head. Now, of course, Maxwell is rather reserved, physically prudish, and doesn't like to be touched, so his private thoughts on the matter are still rather tame. That being said, there's no one he'd rather endure a long, bitter winter with.

Greatest Fear: Being utterly stripped of power, with no way out of his debts

Greatest Desire: The power to control his own life, whatever that means. Preferably while undoing all the damage he's done to the people he cares about.

Greatest Regret: Letting his sweet Charlie get dragged into this whole mess. As far as he's aware, his beautiful assistant didn't know that he was actually dealing in the supernatural, and when it came time for Maxwell's debt to be paid, Charlie was dragged through the Door with him. She was stripped of her body and turned into the embodiment of Darkness in the Constant. It took untold eternities for her to take back some control... And even now that Charlie's well and truly running the show in the Constant, Maxwell isn't sure if he's ever going to be able to make things up to her. Oh, but he's going to try...

Sample: [psl link]