Anthony was a tyrant since he was a little kid. Apart from being aggressive and boisterous nothing about him stood out as a marker for leadership, he wasn’t smarter or bigger than the other children. He just had this way of working his way into a position of authority and then ruthlessly trampling people to stay there.
As a result Anthony has middle-management written all over him, he craves authority and will do anything to get it which motivates him enough to reach that level but also lacks the leadership to move any higher. He does not understand or accept this as the reason for his stalled career, instead it’s always someone else’s fault. It has to be, Anthony has good reason to think he is special.
Anthony can hone in on what he calls a person’s “jelly point”, their soft mental underbelly, like a guided missile provided he is in a position of authority over them. It’s a sensitivity that has woven itself so tightly into his subconscious it’s hard to tell where the impulse ends and he begins. The rush and ease of exploiting it has become justification in and of itself, doubled down in response to the negative feedback of any failures.
The office supply company where he works as a corporate logistics manager, overseeing two dozen other staff and indirectly in control of twice as many more, is his domain. Anthony is widely hated and several harassment complaints have landed at his door, but so far he has managed to evade sanction through a combination of blackmail, force of personality and bureaucratic exploitation. The finesse with which he has achieved this is a point of pride.
It’s also put a ceiling on his career. However unsubstantiated, the complaints against him mean that he will never move to the next rung of the career ladder that he covets so furiously. Alternatively in denial and enraged he has plotted horrific crimes against his competitors which he hasn’t the stomach to commit and horribly abused his long suffering family.
His wife Samantha bears the brunt, her nerve shattered by years of this treatment. Anthony never strikes her but the terrible things he says and does to sate himself have left indelible marks on her. She has tried to leave, twice, but he has always lured her back. The third time may be the charm. Through her job at a hair saloon Samantha’s made fast friends with an outspoken and combative gutter mage - Durrani Afridi - who used her own talents to escape a similar situation. She’s keenly aware that something isn't right in Samantha's world and more than willing to apply them on behalf of her new friend.
This may be a terrible idea for more reasons than inexpertly interfering in an abusive relationship. Anthony’s talent is the result of unwitting psychic sensitivity cultivated over a lifetime. He has no clue regarding the unnatural for now, him catching wise to the existence of that kind of power will be a recipe for disaster.
STATS
Personality: Smug, barely repressed narcissism wrapped up in petty pedantry and officiousness. Anthony is justly detested by everyone under his thumb and those outside his sphere of influence either think of him as repellent or are blithely ignorant of his shortcomings. When he can’t assert himself over someone he’ll try to weasel his way into subjugating them or flinch away. He’s an irredeemable piece of shit.
Rage: Defiance.
Noble: Hierarchy.
Fear: Bigger fish (Helplessness).
Obsession: Being in authority over others.
Wound Threshold: 50.
Terrible Boss 65%* (Substitutes for Status, Substitutes for Secrecy, Coerces Helplessness.)
Authoritarian Augury 55% (Influence, Casts Rituals, Use Gutter Magick. Only works on a person Anthony is in a position of authority over.)
Shock Gauges
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