Background (unfinished)
Herein lies my background-in-progress for Iovis. Everything here is mostly non-sensitive information. If you have a character tie with me, and there's something you want removed from public consumption, please let me know. Similarly, if you would like to make a connection, also let me know. :)
Name: Jack Belliston [OOC Info]
Mortal Alias: Dr. Jack Barker, Dr. Jack Q. Brigham, Dr. Jack Bollenheimer, Jack B______
Shadow Name: Iovis Fatalis (Latin for "Jupiter-fated"), or Jove for short
Background: [OOC Info]
January 31st, 1964: Jack Michael Belliston is born to Anne-Marie Walton Belliston and Michael Edward Belliston. Both parents are prominent members of the Agawam, MA community, with Michael serving on the town council and Anne-Marie being a piano teacher and organizer of Tupperware parties.
April 24th, 1970: Jack's father walks out on his mother after months of fighting. The divorce is finalized after approximately six months. Naturally, Jack associates their break-up with his own failings as a son, and withdraws some. After the divorce is final, Michael packs up what's his, and disappears cross-country.
October 8th, 1972: Jack's mother remarries to Frank Seston, an owner of multiple car dealerships in the Springfield area. Frank tries desperately to be Jack's friend; Jack wants nothing to do with this man, despite quality of life increasing dramatically for the family.
September 5th, 1973: Jack's half-sister Catherine Anne is born. Initially, Jack's bitterness towards his step-father gets transferred to the baby, but after a while Jack warms up to his sister and accepts her as a member of the family. Frank, however, is still out of luck.
1975: Jack discovers astronomy as a hobby, and for the duration of his childhood turns to the skies for escape. Frank attempts one last time in 1979 to reach his step-son by buying him a fancy amateur telescope; the telescope is relegated to being a coat-rack in Jack's room.
1977: Jack joins up with the school's junior varsity track & field team. Somewhat broad in the shoulders and not built entirely for running, Jack finds that he excels in the "field" part of track & field with javelining, shot-put and hammer-throw. He also joins the wrestling team, although often misses out on wrestling competitions due to being classed out of the medium weight group.
1979: Jack founds an astronomy club at his high school, and is president for one semester.
Spring, 1981: Jack graduates Agawam High School in the lackluster middle percentile of his graduating class.
Fall, 1981: Jack enrolls into UMass-Amherst with a major in astronomy. Through an arrangement with his step-father, moves in with his "uncle" James, who is only Jack's senior by fifteen years. At first, Jack is appalled at "uncle" Francis' lifestyle which involves a considerable amount of marijuana and LSD. Since Francis lets him come and go as he pleases, keeps the refrigerator stocked and has his room house kept once a week, he really doesn't make an issue of it.
Summer, 1983: During the summer, Jack takes humanities elective to get it out of the way, and winds up attending a program in Connecticut. Jack meets Dr. Elijah Karma (amnesia_addict). Dr. Karma teaches an Ancient Greek Mythology class, and Jack has his first Epiphany during one class [yet to be determined]. Sensing the potential in this young man, Elijah takes Jack under his wing. Over the course of the summer, Elijah introduces Jack to many historical concepts, including the Pythagoreans and mathematekoi, as well as several mind-opening drug experiences. Jack becomes mesmerized with the classical Greek model of the universe, and during one stargazing expedition, Jack has his second Epiphany. Without realizing it, Elijah guided Jack towards an early Awakening, since he was already something of a dreamer and a sky-gazer. Both student and mentor correspond up until 1986 when Elijah "disappears" after Jack awakens. Inquiries into Elijah's disappearance go unheard.
1985, spring: Jack graduates with honors from UMass-Amherst with a Bachelor of Arts in Astronomy, and immediately enrolls into MIT for graduate work.
1986, January: Jack visits NASA in Cape Kennedy as part of a class trip. During this trip, the class has front-row observatory seats to watch the Challenger shuttle lift-off. Seventy seconds after lift-off, the shuttle explodes, triggering Jack's Awakening in the form of a Shadow Play, which involves Jack trying to reach Mount Olympus (the shuttle pad). The result of that Shadow Play is that Jack Awakens, but lands in the hospital for a couple of days, for stitches and "mental health observation due to the Challenger tragedy." He is released after five days.
After Jack returns home, he finds an expulsion letter from MIT on the grounds that, "his mental health should be a priority, and the rigors of his doctorate may push him too hard." In other words, MIT was clearing themselves of all responsibility should Jack lose his shit again.
With a brief period of finding himself in his new awareness, Jack strives to "change his Fate." After experimentation over the course of a few weeks, he finds a new letter in his home mailbox about his doctorate project's reinstatement, and a welcome back to MIT.
1986, February: Jack uses mundane resources and Fate to try and track down what happened to his biological father, who disappeared across country after the divorce. Over the course of several months of research, Jack finds that his father met a rather grisly end in 1980, found fleeced of his valuables and stone-cold dead behind a South Dakota truck stop. Stray strands of Fate in the Tapestry lead Jack to believe that there is a generational oath going back through his ancestors to western Europe, and reinforces his Awakening imagery of faeries "collecting his blood" to satisfy a blood-price. This becomes one of many topics that Jack studies over the next two decades.
1994, February 2nd: At age 20, Catherine gets married to high school sweetheart Dan Avingway. With Fortune smiling upon their relationship and the planets in a pleasing configuration, Jack forges his first Oath, bringing the Supernal down to witness the happy couple's vows.
1998, October 15th: Iovis, under his mortal alias, visits New York City and Fates his way into New York University where he teaches a seminar on Pythagoras, the mathematekoi, and the Music of the Spheres. Here he meets Jou Ammiel (sorjourner) and the two strike up a discussion after class. Over coffee at a corner store in SoHo, it becomes glaringly obvious that both are Mages with something in common. A fast romance occurs.
1999, winter: Iovis and Zah'ra break off their romantic relationship due to conflicting schedules, distance, and other external influences. [Unconfirmed] Roland (_dark_tower_), a Moros from the Salem, MA area has a good deal of influence on their separation, with him being Zah'ra's mentor at the time.
2001: Parsing through da Vinci code, as well as his usual method of delving into the harmonies of the celestial bodies surrounding Earth, Iovis determines that something horrible is going to happen in New York City later in the year involving the Twin Towers, but he is unable to read the Tapestry in such a manner that makes the prediction accurate.
2001, September 11th: 9-11 tragedy. Iovis uses a combination of Fate and Time in order to anonymously warn the government about the already-happened tragedy in hopes that the Tapestry will sort itself out. Even with his warning, naval fighter jets arrive seconds too late. Unfortunately, due to extremely muddled threads in the Tapestry (including buried Sleeper evidence that indicates several suspicious facts surrounding the crash on the Pentagon, and in Pennsylvania), Iovis decides that something greater was at work, and any further tampering could invoke Supernal horrors for everyone involved, and as such he resigns himself to failure.
Shortly after 9-11, Mr. Black (simon_black) confronts Iovis about his meddling with Sleeper fate on such a grand scale. This builds into an adversarial relationship between the two Magi until the apex of their disagreement in 2003.
2003, January 31st: While monitoring the Columbia shuttle mission at the Haystack Observatory, Iovis discovers horrible fate-threads in the Tapestry that doom Columbia's re-entry into Earth's atmosphere. Mr. Black intercepts Iovis before he has a chance to warn NASA. After a brief exchange, Mr. Black shoots Iovis, incapacitating him, and calls 911. While Iovis is in surgery, on the morning of February 1st, Columbia is lost during re-entry.
2003, February on: On the behalf of the Awakened community, Iovis ensures that the mysterious break-in and assault on his mortal alias is forever mired in hopeless clues and becomes an unsolvable case. This also allows Iovis to return to the Haystack Observatory and resume his studies now that mundane authorities are no longer crawling through it.
2004, June 8th: "Men in Black" government agents visit Dr. Jack Barker at Haystack Observatory. They have various benign questions about a certain woman, who's name they give, and then clarify with her current name, Jou Ammiel. Replying with similarly benign answers about their relationship in '98 and their current friendship, Iovis eventually sends them off, but first gets their business card. As Iovis dials the other Consilium members, he places a hex on the agents through sympathetic connections and causes them to have a breakdown on the highway. Through the efforts of Iovis, Mr. Black, Mr. White, and others, the association of Jou Ammiel with the terrorist watch-list is dissolved.
Iovis forges an Oath for himself that reinforces his determination to never reveal Jou's true name to anyone. Unbeknownst to Iovis, the name given by the Men in Black was not Jou's true name. She had another name before she was adopted by a United States family.
PCs Mentioned in this Document:
Roland (Scott Coutcher) _dark_tower_
Mr. Black (Chris Burns) simon_black
Mr. White (Ben whateverhisnameis from CT)
Jou Ammiel (aka Zah'ra Ammiel, Janeka Rector from GA) sorjourner
Name: Jack Belliston [OOC Info]
Mortal Alias: Dr. Jack Barker, Dr. Jack Q. Brigham, Dr. Jack Bollenheimer, Jack B______
Shadow Name: Iovis Fatalis (Latin for "Jupiter-fated"), or Jove for short
Background: [OOC Info]
January 31st, 1964: Jack Michael Belliston is born to Anne-Marie Walton Belliston and Michael Edward Belliston. Both parents are prominent members of the Agawam, MA community, with Michael serving on the town council and Anne-Marie being a piano teacher and organizer of Tupperware parties.
April 24th, 1970: Jack's father walks out on his mother after months of fighting. The divorce is finalized after approximately six months. Naturally, Jack associates their break-up with his own failings as a son, and withdraws some. After the divorce is final, Michael packs up what's his, and disappears cross-country.
October 8th, 1972: Jack's mother remarries to Frank Seston, an owner of multiple car dealerships in the Springfield area. Frank tries desperately to be Jack's friend; Jack wants nothing to do with this man, despite quality of life increasing dramatically for the family.
September 5th, 1973: Jack's half-sister Catherine Anne is born. Initially, Jack's bitterness towards his step-father gets transferred to the baby, but after a while Jack warms up to his sister and accepts her as a member of the family. Frank, however, is still out of luck.
1975: Jack discovers astronomy as a hobby, and for the duration of his childhood turns to the skies for escape. Frank attempts one last time in 1979 to reach his step-son by buying him a fancy amateur telescope; the telescope is relegated to being a coat-rack in Jack's room.
1977: Jack joins up with the school's junior varsity track & field team. Somewhat broad in the shoulders and not built entirely for running, Jack finds that he excels in the "field" part of track & field with javelining, shot-put and hammer-throw. He also joins the wrestling team, although often misses out on wrestling competitions due to being classed out of the medium weight group.
1979: Jack founds an astronomy club at his high school, and is president for one semester.
Spring, 1981: Jack graduates Agawam High School in the lackluster middle percentile of his graduating class.
Fall, 1981: Jack enrolls into UMass-Amherst with a major in astronomy. Through an arrangement with his step-father, moves in with his "uncle" James, who is only Jack's senior by fifteen years. At first, Jack is appalled at "uncle" Francis' lifestyle which involves a considerable amount of marijuana and LSD. Since Francis lets him come and go as he pleases, keeps the refrigerator stocked and has his room house kept once a week, he really doesn't make an issue of it.
Summer, 1983: During the summer, Jack takes humanities elective to get it out of the way, and winds up attending a program in Connecticut. Jack meets Dr. Elijah Karma (amnesia_addict). Dr. Karma teaches an Ancient Greek Mythology class, and Jack has his first Epiphany during one class [yet to be determined]. Sensing the potential in this young man, Elijah takes Jack under his wing. Over the course of the summer, Elijah introduces Jack to many historical concepts, including the Pythagoreans and mathematekoi, as well as several mind-opening drug experiences. Jack becomes mesmerized with the classical Greek model of the universe, and during one stargazing expedition, Jack has his second Epiphany. Without realizing it, Elijah guided Jack towards an early Awakening, since he was already something of a dreamer and a sky-gazer. Both student and mentor correspond up until 1986 when Elijah "disappears" after Jack awakens. Inquiries into Elijah's disappearance go unheard.
1985, spring: Jack graduates with honors from UMass-Amherst with a Bachelor of Arts in Astronomy, and immediately enrolls into MIT for graduate work.
1986, January: Jack visits NASA in Cape Kennedy as part of a class trip. During this trip, the class has front-row observatory seats to watch the Challenger shuttle lift-off. Seventy seconds after lift-off, the shuttle explodes, triggering Jack's Awakening in the form of a Shadow Play, which involves Jack trying to reach Mount Olympus (the shuttle pad). The result of that Shadow Play is that Jack Awakens, but lands in the hospital for a couple of days, for stitches and "mental health observation due to the Challenger tragedy." He is released after five days.
After Jack returns home, he finds an expulsion letter from MIT on the grounds that, "his mental health should be a priority, and the rigors of his doctorate may push him too hard." In other words, MIT was clearing themselves of all responsibility should Jack lose his shit again.
With a brief period of finding himself in his new awareness, Jack strives to "change his Fate." After experimentation over the course of a few weeks, he finds a new letter in his home mailbox about his doctorate project's reinstatement, and a welcome back to MIT.
1986, February: Jack uses mundane resources and Fate to try and track down what happened to his biological father, who disappeared across country after the divorce. Over the course of several months of research, Jack finds that his father met a rather grisly end in 1980, found fleeced of his valuables and stone-cold dead behind a South Dakota truck stop. Stray strands of Fate in the Tapestry lead Jack to believe that there is a generational oath going back through his ancestors to western Europe, and reinforces his Awakening imagery of faeries "collecting his blood" to satisfy a blood-price. This becomes one of many topics that Jack studies over the next two decades.
1994, February 2nd: At age 20, Catherine gets married to high school sweetheart Dan Avingway. With Fortune smiling upon their relationship and the planets in a pleasing configuration, Jack forges his first Oath, bringing the Supernal down to witness the happy couple's vows.
1998, October 15th: Iovis, under his mortal alias, visits New York City and Fates his way into New York University where he teaches a seminar on Pythagoras, the mathematekoi, and the Music of the Spheres. Here he meets Jou Ammiel (sorjourner) and the two strike up a discussion after class. Over coffee at a corner store in SoHo, it becomes glaringly obvious that both are Mages with something in common. A fast romance occurs.
1999, winter: Iovis and Zah'ra break off their romantic relationship due to conflicting schedules, distance, and other external influences. [Unconfirmed] Roland (_dark_tower_), a Moros from the Salem, MA area has a good deal of influence on their separation, with him being Zah'ra's mentor at the time.
2001: Parsing through da Vinci code, as well as his usual method of delving into the harmonies of the celestial bodies surrounding Earth, Iovis determines that something horrible is going to happen in New York City later in the year involving the Twin Towers, but he is unable to read the Tapestry in such a manner that makes the prediction accurate.
2001, September 11th: 9-11 tragedy. Iovis uses a combination of Fate and Time in order to anonymously warn the government about the already-happened tragedy in hopes that the Tapestry will sort itself out. Even with his warning, naval fighter jets arrive seconds too late. Unfortunately, due to extremely muddled threads in the Tapestry (including buried Sleeper evidence that indicates several suspicious facts surrounding the crash on the Pentagon, and in Pennsylvania), Iovis decides that something greater was at work, and any further tampering could invoke Supernal horrors for everyone involved, and as such he resigns himself to failure.
Shortly after 9-11, Mr. Black (simon_black) confronts Iovis about his meddling with Sleeper fate on such a grand scale. This builds into an adversarial relationship between the two Magi until the apex of their disagreement in 2003.
2003, January 31st: While monitoring the Columbia shuttle mission at the Haystack Observatory, Iovis discovers horrible fate-threads in the Tapestry that doom Columbia's re-entry into Earth's atmosphere. Mr. Black intercepts Iovis before he has a chance to warn NASA. After a brief exchange, Mr. Black shoots Iovis, incapacitating him, and calls 911. While Iovis is in surgery, on the morning of February 1st, Columbia is lost during re-entry.
2003, February on: On the behalf of the Awakened community, Iovis ensures that the mysterious break-in and assault on his mortal alias is forever mired in hopeless clues and becomes an unsolvable case. This also allows Iovis to return to the Haystack Observatory and resume his studies now that mundane authorities are no longer crawling through it.
2004, June 8th: "Men in Black" government agents visit Dr. Jack Barker at Haystack Observatory. They have various benign questions about a certain woman, who's name they give, and then clarify with her current name, Jou Ammiel. Replying with similarly benign answers about their relationship in '98 and their current friendship, Iovis eventually sends them off, but first gets their business card. As Iovis dials the other Consilium members, he places a hex on the agents through sympathetic connections and causes them to have a breakdown on the highway. Through the efforts of Iovis, Mr. Black, Mr. White, and others, the association of Jou Ammiel with the terrorist watch-list is dissolved.
Iovis forges an Oath for himself that reinforces his determination to never reveal Jou's true name to anyone. Unbeknownst to Iovis, the name given by the Men in Black was not Jou's true name. She had another name before she was adopted by a United States family.
PCs Mentioned in this Document:
Roland (Scott Coutcher) _dark_tower_
Mr. Black (Chris Burns) simon_black
Mr. White (Ben whateverhisnameis from CT)
Jou Ammiel (aka Zah'ra Ammiel, Janeka Rector from GA) sorjourner