Martin Morstan
Mr. Martin Arthur Morstan
Physical Description
General Physical Condition
Other than his liver likely preparing to revolt at some point, he was in fine health for his age.
Body Features
Tall, broad shouldered, strong, virile, handsome.
Facial Features
He has a small, light scar on his jaw that he usually hides behind a beard or a little scruff. He pulled a knife on a fellow student once, and they got it from him and left the swipe as a reminder of his folly.
Apparel & Accessories
Martin likes to dress well - fine clothes, well made, professionally tailored. He takes great pride in his clothing, too, so any time there is the slightest imperfection, it ruins his entire mood, and day.
Specialized Equipment
He always carries around a single gold coin that was found in his father's possessions.
Mental characteristics
Personal history
Martin Morstan was once a spoiled and pampered young boy running wild through an estate his father earned through conquest and cronyism. After his mother's death, his father, a Captain with an Indian regiment in India, sent him to a boarding school in Edinburgh. This move was a considerable shock to the young man, who was used to being treated like a little prince; at Wolfram's, he was just one more privileged teenager, and not even the most privileged of the bunch. Boys with much more impressive pedigrees and many more friends to back them up soon let it be known he was no longer everyone's little prince.
Martin's first taste of reality was a bitter one, and it left a similarly-flavored impression on him.
When he was 17, he entered university in Edinburgh, but soon discovered upper education wasn’t his strong suit. He chose to follow his father’s footsteps into the Army, then, and was assigned to a regiment in India not long after, likely due to his father’s influence. His military career was unremarkable, except for its end: a disappointing review led to an excessive amount of liquor and an…unfortunate encounter with a young lady he incorrectly assumed to be a lady of the evening. She was the half-Indian daughter of a General instead, and that he only received a drumming out of the services - repackaged as an early ‘retirement’ - was the least of his punishments.
His father - and the young lady’s father, attempting to protect her reputation as well - covered up the incident and buried the actual details deep. Martin was given a relatively prestigious assignment at the General’s family business, and communication between the Morstan men became…strained. That’s why, when his father suddenly reached out wanting to see him in London, Martin was surprised.
The fact his father never kept the appointment was less surprising and more curious. So was the fact he was never seen or heard from by anyone again. Instead, on the same day each year starting on the anniversary of his father’s disappearance, a single pearl would appear in his mail. This went on for six years
Someone recommended C. Holmes, consulting detective to him, and he was…mildly surprised to find the two women who seemed to run the operation were fairly competent. That they figured out the insane mystery behind his father’s disappearance and the events in India that explained the pearls wasn’t the best thing to come of the who event - it was meeting and romancing young Joan Watson. She was lovely and sweet, if not a little misguided in her ambitions, and was conflicted socially in ways that served his wooing well. They married a year later, and for the first time in a very long time, he had a little money to lean on (there were more pearls, and the setting for them, and extra bit of coin he managed to blackmail out of Sholto’s sons).
It didn’t last long. The gambling houses got most of it, and debtors a good bit more. He slipped back to prostitutes and liquor, and his home life became contentious. Joan made noises about leaving. He let her know if she walked out that door, he’d find her and drag her back over his dead body. She pointed a gun at him. He informed her he could finish her off in more ways than one: did she think he didn’t know what had been really going on in that boarding house on Baker Street? Did she know how easy it would be, with what he knew of their ‘relationship’ and what he knew of her escapades during the war, or even without either, to get her committed to an asylum for the rest of her days? Did she think her ‘good friend’ would take her back, now he’d used her up and she’d thrown her over for him?
It really shouldn’t have surprised him that he wound up dead the next morning.
Gender Identity
He considers himself the epitome of a traditionally tough and masculine man.
Sexuality
Aggressively heterosexual with difficulty understanding that other people have the right to tell him no.
Education
Private boarding school, brief time as a student at the University of Edinburgh, and then life in the Army (until he was quietly discharged).
Employment
He was given a job at a prestigious shipping company that he kept up through most of his marriage, though he had recently been let go
Accomplishments & Achievements
Nothing he has did he actually earn for himself.
Failures & Embarrassments
- Dropped out of university after about a year.
- Discharged from the Army, though the circumstances were kept quiet and he left straight into a new job.
Mental Trauma
His mother died when he was young, and his father, overwhelmed with being a single parent (and an active duty soldier, perhaps) decided it was best to send his son away to boarding school. Martin had been his mother's little prince, and he was used to being the center of everyone's attention. Having to co-exist with other children and faculty and not have rules bent around him was a difficult adjustment for him to make. He didn't make it much better in university, or the army.
Intellectual Characteristics
Morstan could be a charmer, and sweet as pie to boot, when things were going his way. Once luck began to spin against him, though, his crueler side came through. He possessed an addictive personality, which led him to like too much drink, too many women, and spending far too much time at the gambling houses. His habits moved past the point of vice to pathology, and his bad luck usually came with painful consequences for Watson. He was a mean, angry drunk and seemingly cold by nature; his attempts at putting on a warm façade seemed more like learned behavior than actual kindness.
Morality & Philosophy
Martin clung to the belief that class defines what a person is worth, what they deserve, and what they should expect, especially in regards to the privileges it should allow him. Even after losing most of the money his family name provided him, he still held fast to his 'place' in society, and how it benefited him.
Personality Characteristics
Motivation
Wring every bit of life and joy out of this world; if he can’t, wring it out of everyone else around him.
Succeed, at whatever costs. He’s not going to pay them, regardless.
Vices & Personality flaws
- Far too fond of alcohol
- Far too fond of women that aren't his wife.
- Far too fond of gaming houses, to the detriment of his circumstances and wife.
- Possesses a violent streak, especially when he’s drunk.
Social
Family Ties
Arthur Morstan, father (deceased mother (deceased Joan Watson Morstan (spouse
Relationships
Legal Status
Legally married, right up to the moment of his death
Current Status
Deceased
Age
45
Date of Birth
3rd March
Date of Death
10 October
Life
1840
1885
45 years old
Circumstances of Death
Scotland Yard suspects he was poisoned.
Birthplace
London, England
Place of Death
London, England
Spouses
Dr. Joan Watson-Morstan
(Wife/Widow)
Siblings
Children
Current Residence
Coroner’s office
Pronouns
He/him
Sex
Male
Gender
Man
Presentation
Masculine
Eyes
Brown; when he’s feeling particularly cruel, they’re dark as burnt coffee
Hair
Brown
Height
6’3”
Weight
Athletic, 205lbs
Belief/Deity
Raised Anglican
Ruled Locations
Comments