Tristan is known to few, though other witches of his type may recognize him. As the master and sole known inhabitant of the House of Peacocks, he is afforded some respect by those in the know.
Personality
Tristan is a generally agreeable sort of even temperament. Interesting people especially appeal to him, as well as interesting circumstances. He has little patience or tolerance for those who seem not to be individuals, or who are blatant puppets for the manipulation of others; as far as he's concerned, he controls puppets, he doesn't socialize with them.
New experiences, new thrills are all extremely important to him. He likes novelty and pleasure, but he also enjoys enrichment and enlightenment. Enjoying himself is as important as learning something new that he can put to use at some time in the future.
Tristan is largely pragmatic in mindset, but he can also become bored if he settles into a rut. If he becomes too frustrated, it might cause him to make poor or hasty decisions, if only to alleviate the dullness of his perceptions. Overall, he prefers to enjoy himself and keep himself stimulated by plenty of things new, different, and interesting.
Background
Born of a couple at odds, Tristan had a fairly average upbringing, distinguished primarily by his frequent movement. Knowing many locations as home in his youth, he quickly became bored with the various places he saw as he grew older. By the time his parents finally split, he was more than done with their cold war and welcomed the change, striking out on his own. It was about this time that he experienced what witches of his type call "waking the witch": he awakened to the greater cosmic truth of the universe and began to learn how to use magic, as well as experiencing his nascent superhuman abilities.
In barely weeks, he had managed to learn enough to serve his immediate purposes, setting himself up very comfortably even surrounded by more aged and experienced supernatural beings. When whispered word tempted him enough to investigate the House of Peacocks, he quickly located it and defied what he took for its defenses, to claim it for himself. The place seemed uninhabited and utterly empty, so he commandeered it at once. After a chance encounter with Roderick, a witch like Tristan who called the House of Peacocks home, he began to learn more about it. After some instruction and imparting of knowledge, Roderick disappeared, leaving Tristan to seek him out again.
Who knows how long has passed since that time. Ever since, Tristan has lived at the House of Peacocks, with time passing differently outside of its grounds. The doors and stairways lead to parallel time, parallel space...other dimensions, other worlds.
SKILLS
COMBAT - Competent: Tristan has a fundamental grasp of conflict, to which he most often applies his powers. Without his superhuman abilities, he is less formidable in conflict, but he is more than able with them.
DEMONOLOGY - Expert: Tristan knows his way around the demonic world, including knowledge known by only a handful of beings in the entire universe. Witches of his kind usually deal closely with demons and devils, and as such he is comfortable in such dealings and possesses a greater modicum of control than a normal human in situations such as demonic possession; Tristan's type usually cohabit their bodies alongside demons and still manage to command the greater part of their consciousness. He knows how to summon, bind, release, and more or less anything else of use pertaining to demons.
HERBALISM - Expert: Not only does Tristan have a green thumb, he also possesses tremendous and impressive knowledge of the natural world and its flora. He is excellent at potionmaking, the crafting of balms and salves, and other distillations and tinctures. He is so knowledgeable with plants that he can use them to harm or heal, with equal proficiency and ease.
MINOR SPELLCASTING - Competent: Spells which Tristan has committed to memory, with no major physical components needed, can be relatively easily cast. These are mostly lesser or utilitarian spells, such as manifesting a small source of light and the like. As long as the requirements do not exceed what he is able to do, Tristan may cast these small-scope spells with ease.
OCCULTISM - Expert: With the right spell, preparation, and necessary components, Tristan can accomplish almost anything. However, it requires that he have access to these things, along with the focus of mind required to accomplish them. Most such things are rituals or procedures and not usually able to be accomplished on the fly, requiring significant investment of time and energy to do.
SUBTERFUGE - Competent: Tristan is very good at manipulation for his own ends. He doesn't directly have to charge people into situations he wants; he can play them off of each other without placing himself directly into the conflict. As he is particularly insightful, he often finds it easy to see to the truth of a person's essence.
POWERS
ASTRAL PROJECTION - Basic: The ability to project one's essence out of the physical realm, this allows Tristan to navigate the astral plane and even other planes of existence. It is important that his essence return to his physical body within a reasonable amount of time, or it may become difficult for him to return and his physical body may be suspended in a comatose state indefinitely.
COMMAND - Enhanced: Tristan can impress his will upon others. Simple commands to simple minds require little effort, but stronger minds can resist his influence. Complicated commands are more difficult, as are commands that would attempt to influence someone into doing something that is against their fundamental nature. Physical contact, whether directly by skin or through body fluids or substances, makes the influence far more powerful and persistent, as well as more difficult to resist.
DIVINATION - Enhanced: Simply by being around someone or something, Tristan can pick up certain information about them. Even places can leave him with impressions of things unknown to anyone else. He may also, by using a focus, attempt to foretell future events. Tristan's most typical focus is the tarot, which makes this forecast easier for him; using anything else or nothing at all will make it more challenging and less likely to succeed.
ELEMENTALISM - Enhanced: The ability to conjure, command, and control the natural elements. Tristan can create and control fire most easily, as it requires the least effort to manifest. It is always easiest to conjure any element by summoning it from the surrounding environment, making it much more difficult in places that do not contain a great deal of the specific element desired. Tristan can also resist serious harm by any natural element to a certain extent.
ENERGY TRANSFER - Basic: Tristan can use his own life force to heal others, and likewise he can drain the life force of others. Depending on the extent of the energy used, it can cause dizziness, nausea, disorientation, or even unconsciousness. He is able to absorb small amounts of energy, which is easily and naturally replenished, simply by being around others.
TELEKINESIS - Enhanced: Able to use the power of the mind to manipulate the physical world, Tristan possesses command of telekinesis. Telekinesis can be used offensively and defensively, utilitarian and whimsical. Tristan is able to influence relatively small items with negligible effort, though greater effort must be applied for objects proportionately by size and number.
TELEPORTATION - Basic: Tristan is able to move from one place to another without occupying the space between them. He tends only to do so in line of sight, as teleporting blind is incredibly dangerous and can cause serious injury if on materializes in the same space as something or someone else.
ADVANTAGES
HOUSE OF PEACOCKS The House of Peacocks is a well-known magical house, located in the sleepy and half-abandoned town of St. Verity. Some call the House of Peacocks a cursed house, or even a house of the damned; it connects the various dimensions and enables travel through those dimensions, but it is not always reliable and cannot be taken for granted.
WEAKNESSES
ANTI-MAGIC Any sort of anti-magic dampeners will have an effect on Tristan's spellcasting, not to mention his superhuman abilities. Since most of them are technically demonic in nature, anti-magic dampeners can greatly restrict use of those abilities, as well as weakening Tristan significantly.
AURA Those who are unfamiliar with Tristan's tradition of witchcraft may misinterpret his aura as demonic or even evil, due to his easy willingness to work with not only demons, but actual entities of questionable alignment. He is difficult to comprehend and can be challenging to any who have yet to encounter his kind previously, sometimes leading to major misunderstandings between them.
BINDING Those who know how can possibly bind Tristan's abilities temporarily. This would render him unable to use his spontaneous powers that he is able to use without need for a ritual and preparations beforehand.
MINDSET Certain triggers can place Tristan into an more pliant, submissive mindset. It is difficult for him to transcend it once it has been stimulated in him, but it becomes more likely with the passage of time and distance from those triggers.
OATHS Any oath sworn by Tristan binds him to it, until or unless he finds a way to circumvent or invalidate it. He has some wiggle room in specific phrasing and choice of words or terms, but he must honor an oath sworn.
SOLITARY Most witches like Tristan operate best on their own. They may come together in a coven for greater accomplishments, but few affiliate if they don't have to. The majority become used to working individually, and it's a significant undertaking to try and work with others unless it's for something truly significant.
SPONTANEITY Acting on spur of the moment is more difficult for Tristan. While he can use some of his abilities impulsively, most of them are either risky or outright dangerous, and he won't use them in such a way. Although he can accomplish almost anything imaginable with ritual and preparation, acting in the moment is far more difficult and can place him in an extremely vulnerable position.
