An Unpleasant Fella - Alexander Sheridan

If you think he's after you, don't walk - run.

Depending on who you ask, Alexander Sheridan is either the biggest bastard they've ever met, or far worse. A Spook by trade and mogul by nature, Alexander sees the world in simple terms - the things he wants and the things that are in his way. To him, life is a struggle to get to the top, and only those who work the hardest and fight the cruelest triumph. It was true when he cut his teeth in the intelligence business, true again in the business world, and nothing has really changed in the world of magic and secrets. Magic is just another tool; monsters and witches just another obstacle.

Description

You're either an asset or an obstacle. Fuel for a corporate machine hungry for immortality.

Alexander is a balding man in his early 50s, with a slight paunch and greying temples. His early exploits cost him his left eye, which he has since replaced with the grafted eye of some terrible beast but covers with an eyepatch when in public, just in case you forgot he was the villain. Underneath it, his new eye is blood red with the iris like a goat, while his still-human eye is a gentle blue. At a glance, there's little about him that stands out from any other old business executive, save for his usually rumpled suit and busy, impatient demeanor.

His impatience has earned him several scars throughout his career, some which still ache whenever he comes near a Fae.

Now a CEO, he runs his company like a tyrant. His word is law, his edict might as well be divine, and his ambitions are endless. Employees who know him personally might not have it so bad, but he's a relentless taskmaster to the unknown masses. They specialize in "information management", meaning they're one of those asshole companies ruining the internet for everyone.

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Cunning, ruthless, and driven, Alexander likes to think of himself not as an immortal monster, but the ideal businessman. Wealth, power, and influence are all weapons to field, to garner more of each.
Magic, it's true, has added a few wrinkles to the game, but only set his sights higher.
Alexander has a way of manipulating information and secrets to his advantage. He is imaginative in how he uses his magical assets to empower his Prime business, and again how he uses his business to impose his will in the Shadow. Blackmail, corruption, bribery, misinformation - all arrows in his quiver, expertly aimed at whatever poor bastard is in his sights.

On the plus side, with the goal of immortality set square in his sights, letting the world end is no longer an option. Alexander's company has made big moves to 'fight against climate change' and other existential threats. After all, he intends to live forever.

Though ruthless, Alexander prefers suffering out of sight and out of mind. If he can't see it, it doesn't bother him - in the cases where he's had no choice but to watch the blood-splattered consequences of his ambition, it has left him... Uneasy. Not enough to stop, just enough to devise a way to avoid the feeling. Such weakness, after all, would impede his ambition.

In the shadows, the Spook isn't welcome much of anywhere and so keeps to either the Prime or a secluded lair, hidden away deep in the the Shadow. His ambitions have made many enemies and cost many lives already. He consorts with creatures who demand sacrifice of blood and flesh without qualms, destroy any who stand against him, and all around acts like a real asshole.

Few magi still deal with him, and he's had to make his own, much bloodier, way to things.

Despite every enemy lined up against him, Alexander holds his own. Through magical prowess, formidable minions, and enough wealth to buy plenty of assassins, Alexander isn't going anywhere anytime soon.

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And the more powerful he gets, the less patient he gets. His spells are slung almost on whim now, a temper tantrum so eager to bend and break reality when it doesn't suit him.

Outside of his victims, Alexander is largely pleasant and polite. He tends to complain of minor ailments but still pursues his business with a vigor that would make him the envy of anyone half his age. A staunch believer in merit above all, Alexander doesn't care much about who someone is, only what they can do for him. Never particularly fond of red tape and office politics, he will frequently cut to the heart of an issue where others might deliberate or hesitate.

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Spooks

Magic is nice and all, but doesn't always put food on the table. Sometimes, a wizard's got to take whatever work they can get. Sometimes, that means working for 'The Man', or becoming the system.
Spook is a catch-all term for any witch or warlock who cashes a paycheck from either a government or corporation, even if their patron doesn't really know what they do. For some, it's a convenience. For others, it's a power structure right there and ready to be manipulated to suit whatever ambition they happen to have.
Once, Alexander was a spook who sold his talents for subterfuge to corporations and governments. Now, he uses them only for his own sake.

Grafting

As his mortal shell begins to decay, Alexander has begun to seek out means to extend his life and vitality. With eternity on the line, no price seems too great, but he has yet to find an entity willing to restore his youth through a pact, and has instead turned to less... Conventional methods.
Grafting is an emerging art of magical butchery that replaces parts of human with bits of monster. Alexander's eye is not the only thing he has grafted to himself, only the most obvious.

The eye, stolen from an unknown creature of nightmare, lets Alexander see the darkest fear of whoever meets his cursed eye... Which can be a real boon in business negotiations.

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Through his time as a wizard, Alexander has accumulated a vast repertoire of powers and arcane arts. He is an accomplished Hobgobbomancer, a blood mage, and much more. There's no tome too forbidden, no secrets too blasphemous. There's only power, and the will to use it.

Alexander tolerates no dissent, except from his long-time secretary, Ms. Nazari. An unaware mortal, he keeps her shielded from the supernatural world and the attention of his blood-thirsty bodyguards.

Alexander's Long List Of Dickery

Between his ever-growing ambition, lust for power, and general disregard for human life, Alexander has hatched a fair few schemes throughout his career. Driven by, ah, 'enlightened self-interest' taken to its extreme, there's nothing he won't at least consider.

Catching the Countess

Determined to bleed the Fae of their power and unlock a source of magic for himself, Alexander hatched a scheme to kidnap and butcher one of the most powerful Fae. Using the Fae's own eternal strife against them, he manipulated a group of Fae Lords and Ladies into rebellion and war, then struck.
His plan was foiled by a motley crew of Walkers and Beyonder beasts, who were not going to let him get away with that shit for one reason or another.

The Bloody Black Hand

Most Magi avoid vampires, even earthbound ones. They're a hungry, devious lot, with alien minds that think in centuries rather than hours or days. Making a pact with one is dangerous and bound to get bloody - whatever price Alexander has paid to bind a whole brood of them to serve him, few care to think about.
The Bloody Black Hand is Alexander's personal goon squad, a small group of vampires who serve him as part of a Pacts. Cruel, powerful, and deadly, they're the last group any Walker wants to run into.

Currently...

Alexander has his sight set on plundering the Ruinous Vault, a prison for immortal terrors and forbidden artifacts. Such a place is destined to hold at least one secret to immortality, or so his logic goes. It is a scheme with such potential to cause calamity that even one of the vampires of the Bloody Black Hand is secretly warning other Magi of the dangers to come.