Wiktor Szulski

User Name/Nick: Danii
User DW: yarnzipan
E-mail/Plurk/Discord/PM to a character journal/alternate method of contact: yarnzipan
Other Characters Currently In-Game: Max Thompson Jr., Florian Leickenbloom, John Doe, Vincent Smith [Saga Anderson will be dropped as soon as he's in]

Character Name: Wiktor Szulski
Series: The Thaumaturge
Age: 30
From When?: post canon, from the Coterie ending with Ariel Rofe, where he works with the Coterie to win the Czar's favor and stop the pogroms / secret police activity against thaumaturges and other 'dissidents' in Warsaw and 'adjustment' clinics, and stops Rasputin peacefully.

Warden Justification: Wiktor has, in a very real sense, gone through his own 'graduation' process pretty much since he was 15 years old. Despite always being someone who tries to fight for the right causes and who very strongly believes in anything he believes in, his execution on these things has always been extremely questionable, usually reckless, and above all, he previously let his pride and hurt heavily obscure his vision of what's going on. But he got through it after his father's murder, slowly learning the truth of who his father was and finally getting a new view on both him and his own behavior/beliefs from another perspective that helped him to see how toxic and bullshit and juvenile (hurt) it really was. Wiktor's learned a lot, both about the value of understanding your own faults and balancing them and how one pursues power is just as important as what you intend to do with it, as well as how small choices can have big impacts. He's also been lead astray by someone who claimed to be 'helping' him so he'll be both entirely sympathetic to concerns about that and very wary of doing any of the kind of bullshit that Rasputin pulled on him. Utility-wise, Wiktor's ability to quite literally see people's driving Flaws is a pretty potent ability for a warden, as is his ability to read information and emotions from objects and his salutors give him a lot of conflict resolution options in many situations. More importantly, he's learned for himself how to use his Flaw to move him forward instead of having it hold him back or trip him up (and seen it used that way by others, like his sister!) and he'd want to help his inmate do similarly, careful not to remove the core of who they are.

Item: his grimoire, guided similarly to how he's guided in the game by it to his objective and written on a page as needed for such things.

Abilities/Powers: See here and here and here's a link to the wiki on Thaumaturgy here. In game definitions are here and here. I will probably make a permissions page for folks, both to find out whether they want to deal with his powers and to see what dimension they feel themselves tied closest to (everyone loves sorting : ) [ETA: and done, if you want to see it all laid out a little better] and their potential Flaw he'd see.

Unmentioned on there (cause it's kind of self-evident in the game) is a standing 'locate item/person' ability where as long as he knows what he's looking for, he can find it.

Wardening Strategies and Philosophies: Wiktor is a giant nerd for new experiences, new people, new ideas. He supports his sister's feminist education scheme (the Flying University) and does what he can to educate people about thaumaturges and thaumaturgy. He loves reading up about various salutors/mythological figures and gods and demons and isn't at all intimidated by anything weird or otherworldly; on the contrary! ...seriously, the way he talks about Paimon is like how some people talk about 'the one who got away'. So when it comes to the Barge's brand of new and weird, he's all set. He's going to embrace the hell out of it while also being more than happy to bring people into learning about his world and his time and some of the value of it in return.

Wiktor tends to be a bit flippant about anything or everything (his path to dealing with his pride very much involves not taking himself too seriously) but he is passionate and more than willing to throw himself into the path of danger or serious consequence to do what he believes in and he's got no problem admitting to his weaknesses and his fuck ups at this stage of the game. A lot of that is going to inform how he's going to warden: Heart first (unsurprising), with confidence tempered by sarcasm and an earnest desire to do right by someone who's put their trust in him. He's bad at Responsibility with a big R, but he's much better at responsibility to a person (such as his sister, Ligia, or the other members of the Coterie) and I think that will do well by him as a warden.

Being literally able to sense moods and intentions will help him to lead with empathy (even if he can seem like a rather unempathic person sometimes) and his very Slavic 'no bullshit' attitude will hopefully help him be earnest but not mean to his inmate about their choices and their situation. As shown by his very first choice to help Abaurycy (and his later choice to help Wanda), he tends to be a bit of a bleeding heart even if he pretends he isn't and he's abundantly aware of his own fuck ups, so he'll come at any inmate from a place of kinship and a desire to help their goals more than a direct desire to work on his own (the lament of the video game protagonist: sidequests mean you care). He's had enough run ins with the Russian army and the police to not put much stock in 'authority' (not to mention his issues with the secret police and *their* bullshit) and he's well aware he's a flippant asshole so he's not really going to act as an 'authority' type warden. He's much more 'the one who'd bail you out if he wasn't in the jail cell with you' type.

Strengthwise, he has the fact that he's not nearly as morally upright as some so he's willing to be sneaky and even manipulative if he sees it as the way to get done what needs doing. This is something that could always backfire, but there are places and people for whom 'straightforward' just isn't going to work and that they'd never trust it. He's got (unsurprisingly) Pride in himself and his abilities and in his willingness to do what he has to to accomplish his goals, so inmates who'd try to attack his self-confidence might find themselves a bit at ends. His flippant attitude and lack of 'authority' vibes (as well his deeeeep cynicism about the world and politics and how people can act sometimes) will probably go over well with those who don't like the concept of wardens and his no-sugar-coat honesty will probably be just right for those who don't like the 'therapy' vibes. Also the intense 'daddy issues' are something he could probably help someone else with after his own extensive experience there.

He's definitely a 'good times' type so he's the type that would be up for getting into a brawl, going out drinking, and otherwise being good friends with his inmate without any qualms about their morality level; his best friend is a murderous gang leader who writes poetry with other people's blood. If you need someone who can and will fuck up a little so they can connect, he's 100% your guy. He's also going to be great with people obsessed with their causes/pursuits, people who are a little willing to harm themselves for their causes (same hat) and his own experiences in mental hospitals will help considerably in making him sensitive to 'treatment' that might do more harm than good. Because of his view on Flaws, he'll be a good fit for someone who has a driving issue that can be good for them if properly channeled but, previously, has just made a mess of their life. It's his meat and potatoes, honestly.

Weaknesswise, he can be mean and cutting when upset, that same impulsiveness can lead him to doing or saying dumb shit, and his flippancy can absolutely rub people the wrong way if they think he's not going to or doesn't take them seriously. His more morally gray/practical side could get taken as 'you have no right to judge me' given his past, and he isn't much for fighting people on that. Someone who's especially sensitive, who can have one argument or phrase upend an entire relationship for all time, and people who are about duty and honor and family tradition just won't jive with him at all. He came to respect his father, but that's still not *his* path. He's also just not going to be as good with people who are intellectually driven; he's Heart all the way and it shows in how he understands things and how he proceeds. As much as he's a nerd, he'll be a little lost on people who make decisions entirely through logic and reason without the emotional component in the driver's seat. And he won't be very good for people who have no passions, who just kind of fell into their problems. Just... will have a hard time understanding them. Most importantly, his 'Flaw' is pride, so he absolutely may have issues with having bitten off too much, with trusting his own takes, or taking advice properly if it hits him the wrong way and he will do some dumb shit 'for the principle' or hold grudges much more than he ought to.

Deal: Wiktor would like to restore the life of those killed by the Golem (including his father, his father's girlfriend, and Rofe's boyfriend)

History: here, here, and here's about what I got.

Sample Network Entry: My dearest Ligia,

You would not believe what your brother has gotten into now. I have said this before, but you often are more than willing to believe in how far and how low I have managed to go, and yet today, I think I may have something to challenge you.

For one thing, I've taken a job. I know! Can you believe it? Your good-for-nothing brother has actually taken employment. But the wonders do not stop there, sister, and perhaps as I continue, the reasons may become clearer.

You see, my job is as a warden in a prison. Ghastly, you might think, but this is a prison like no other, a prison for the dead. And in this prison, the goal is not penance or punishment or even containment but, of all impossible things, redemption.

I can see your eyes rolling from here, and you should know that they will one day roll out of your head if you continue like that.

Also, stop smoking so much.

More importantly, this very special prison exists upon a boat, a Barge specifically, which travels between worlds. Are my reasons becoming a little clearer now? I promise to you, Ligia, I am not mad and I have not ended up back in the asylum again. You may send a letter to Nadia if you doubt me.

Once you've written back and assured me that you believe at least as much as I've told you, I'll tell you more. Regardless, you are as always in my thoughts. I would say that I hope the store is doing well but I know that, under your leadership, it can do nothing less. Father knew at least what he was doing there, leaving it to you.

And so I leave you with all the love a brother can give. Yours, Wiktor.

Sample RP: TDM @ TLV - May

Special Notes: