Marcus Xin-Murdoch

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Marcus Xin-Murdoch (Scenesys ID: 1112)
Profile
Name: Marcus Xin-Murdoch
Superalias: None
Gender: Male
Species: Human
Occupation: Councilperson for Astoria, Queens
Citizenship: United States
Residence: Astoria, Queens
Education: J.D. from CUNY School of Law
Theme: Original (OC)
Groups:
Details
Apparent Age: 34 Actual Age: 34
Date of Birth 01 Aug 1985 Played By
Height: 6'3" Weight: 220 lb
Hair Color: Dark Eye Color: Brown
Twitter:
Theme Song:


Character Info

Profile

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Only child of magic-practicing family-lineage, Marcus is a young local politician who has rejected the 'short cut' of arcane power, managing his sense of privilege by dedicating himself to representing the people of his borough and furthering their interests.

Timeline

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Timeline:
* 1985 Born in Queens, New York to Xin Wuyu and John D. Murdoch.
*1998 Begins magical training, alternating months under his mother and father.
* 2004 Enters college at Columbia, studies pre-law. This pleases his parents, who approve of practical skills, until they learn he is not choosing to simultaneously pursue his magical training.
* 2008 Graduates undergrad, is accepted to CUNY School of Law. Distinguishes himself as hard-working and capable if not outright brilliant.
* 2011 Graduates law school, joins Sanctuary, a non-profit immigration LAG. Makes peace with his parents, who decide it is better to leave the door open than to shut him out.
* 2017 Elected as representative for Astoria.

IC Journal

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{{{ICJournal}}}

Personality

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Ambitious:
Marcus harbors ambitions, and a sense of his own clarity of vision. Outwardly a man of the people, inwardly a political animal, Marcus is careful to manage the inner rooms and outer verandas of his soul in the service of achieving his goals, and justifying their achievement.

Charismatic:
Marcus has the charisma called for by his chosen path, capable of presenting a charming face to the public. It's a schooled charisma, something he's made a discipline of, but by now the motions are second nature. He's not likely to come off like your buddy, but he's good at projecting a sense of focused concern, and fostering a belief that he hears you, respects your wishes, and will do whatever he can to see them fulfilled.

Driven:
Marcus is genuinely hard working, capable of intense focus and deep dedication to a task. This can backfire, as he's capable of refusing to let go of a project and exhausting himself when he should pace his progress.

Introverted:
Despite his outward-facing affability, Marcus is an introvert, needing, eventually, to retreat into a profound privacy to restore his mental energy. At a gathering where he's reached his limit, he's most likely to thank his hosts, inform his closest friends, and leave as quickly and discreetly as possible.

Private:
This basic dynamic is further reflected in the way he keeps an opaque wall between his public life and his private doings. While he has no particular vices - he enjoys the occasional drink, and has had some short-lived romantic involvements - and holds no secrets save those entrusted to him by his family, he is reticent when asked about his personal life, always carefully pivoting to 'the work he's doing for the dynamic people of Queens'.

Privileged:
Marcus carries a certain amount of privilege-guilt, understanding that despite his best intentions he cannot truly 'represent' many of the people who elected him. It's a part of why he turned away from magic, which seems a further way to 'cheat' his way to accomplishments.

Character Sheet

Powers

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Arcane Warding:
Marcus can construct wards in spaces to block out magical intrusions and unwanted effects; he can also perform some basic abjurations, though this is likely to be ineffective against anything of considerable power or resistance.

Novitiate Arcane Training:
Marcus has a passing familiarity with the major East Asian and Western European traditions, with more focus on those branches his parents specialized in- namely summoning and communication (on his mother's side), scrying and alchemy (on his fathers). He can recognize sigils and incantations and is familiar with lower-grade mysteries, but never got properly initiated, so his skills are meager compared to any genuinely dedicated or innate magic user.

Passive Magical Detection:
If magic is going on and is not taking pains to hide itself, Marcus is likely to notice it by way intellectual recognition and simple visceral response, a rise of gooseflesh or a sense of vertigo. He may not know exactly what is going on, but he usually give it a decent guess, and should he dust off the family books he could research his way to a respectable conclusion.

Spiritual Communication:
Given time and resources Marcus can sort out how to converse with magical beings. This doesn't necessarily make doing so safe, though with the above skills he can at least protect against the most obvious ill-effects.

Skills

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Language Skills:
Marcus is fluent in English, Mandarin, Cantonese, and conversant in Spanish; he can read Tibetan - Modern, Old and Classical - and with a dictionary and some patience he can crack Sanskrit texts; he has some rusty knowledge of French, German and Italian, but mostly in archaic forms. He has a working knowledge of Latin and Ancient Greek, and has learned some modern Greek in preparation for his campaign in Astoria. His facility with the less frequently-used of these languages has weakened in the absence of practical use.

Legal Training:
Marcus graduated with distinction from his program, and distinguished himself while working for a non-profit immigration legal assistance group. He is capable of prolonged bouts of concentration and grueling mental effort. Though not a trained trial lawyer, he has some experience with rhetoric, and understands the fundamentals of US Law, with a focus on New York state and city law, and a fairly comprehensive understanding of immigration law and policy.

Resources

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Community Contacts:
Marcus' most carefully cultivated resource are his connections with his constituents. He maintains relationships with local business owners, prominent spiritual leaders, and community organizations. Understanding both that they rely on him for representation and that he relies on their influence to bolster his chances for reelection.

Family Legacy:
More precious than mere lucre is Marcus' potential access to his family's trove of arcane books and objects. While hardly an armory, it's a respectable collection of tools and texts, enough to undertake modest magical projects and perform meaningful research. To achieve any real access he'd have to make nice with his parents, who "understand" and "respect" his life choices but are very "disappointed."

Personal Wealth:
Marcus' financial situation is insured by his parents' investments. This permitted him the remarkable privilege of a debt-free law school experience. He can be considered financially comfortable, though some of his purse strings have obscure attachments to the whims of his family.

Weaknesses

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Dreams In the Dark:
Marcus' inclination to privacy keeps him sane, keeps him from burning out. On the other hand, it lets him harbor schemes and secrets he cannot check against friendly or moderating judgement. At war in his nature, and prone to self-justification, there is the risk that privacy will turn to secrecy, and secret ambition - especially when linked with the arcane - is a dangerous thing.

Human, All Too Human:
Aside from the tradition of magic in his family, which lightly stacks the deck in favor of his ability to learn and practice, Marcus is nothing more than a mortal man, with all the associated vulnerabilities.

Pledge and Temptation:
Though he's remained committed to his youthful rejection of magic, age and experience have a way of eroding once-passionate commitments. As frustrations mount and obstacles present themselves to him, Marcus always has the lingering temptation to return to his family's legacy and use the power he once refused. This would be not just a betrayal of his own promise, but a breach of family code, yet to have broken-with them once makes it that much easier to imagine breaking-with again.

Role-Play

Logs

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Marcus Xin-Murdoch has 3 finished logs.

Title Date Scene Summary
The Scottish Play June 25th, 2020 Shakespeare in the Park! A very intense performance of Macbeth is given as audience members weigh in on the idea of power corrupting.
Prospect and Perspective April 7th, 2020 No description
A Chance Alignment April 3rd, 2020 Metaphors collide at the Queens Symphony Orchestra.

Cutscenes

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Marcus Xin-Murdoch has 3 finished logs.

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Entertainment Credits

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Marcus Xin-Murdoch has been credited in 0 shows.

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Marcus Xin-Murdoch has been credited in 0 albums.

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Marcus Xin-Murdoch has authored 0 books.

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Gallery

Marcus Xin-Murdoch/gallery [ edit ]