#declan would if not for the health detriment

[speciouspessimism]

does gansey smoke cigarettes guys.

[latinverbis-archive]

STATS

FULL NAME Declan Matthew Ward NICKNAME N/A ALIAS Quinn Hughes, Declan Butler, Sean Murray, Declan Collins, Shane Murray SPECIES Human / Shapeshifter (verse dependent) TYPE Witch (or Druid depending on verse) / Werewolf (verse dependent) DOB April 8th, 1783 AGE 235 (or younger/older depending on verse) / Mid-30s (verse dependent) ORIENTATION Bisexual RESIDENCE An apartment above Obscura Books OCCUPATION Small business owner of a used and rare bookstore / Author (verse dependent)

PERSONALITY

On the surface, Declan displays a charming warmth that tends to draw people to him. He also possesses a polite streak a mile wide due to the era he was born and raised in when your conduct was scrutinized and defined who you were. That sense of comportment has carried over with him across the decades to the point that in this day and age, people make chivalry jokes about him (which he finds very amusing). Despite his charming, personable demeanor, Declan tends to be cautious when forming relationships thanks to one of the curses laid on him.

As a condition of his immortality, Declan tends to form deep emotional attachments and feelings when it comes to the matters of the heart, so to speak. While he has lasting friendships, Declan tends to gravitate toward those who have shared life experience. Witches who have similar spells laid on them to increase their longevity, supernatural species with long lifespans, and vampires tend to be his friends and acquaintances. When it comes to his romantic relationships, Declan doesn't quite have the same reputation as, say, Flynn Rosewood, but he does have a lowkey reputation of being a ladies man. These relationships typically don't last more than a month or when Declan feels like his partner is getting too close or past his guard. Since he tries to keep his romantic interests at arms length, which is an easier feat these days since the idea of sex has become a lot more casual, he tends to do this out of fear of getting emotionally involved and falling deep and hard for romantic partners and feeling the equally deep grief of their eventual passing. Such attachments tend to be formed out of friendships, which is why Declan tends to feel their deaths more deeply because not only has he lost a friend, but someone who knows him better than most.

People that stick around long enough for him to get closer to, however, usually have his trust and loyalty. He will go out of his way to help a friend in need as well as his fellow witches should one come to him for help. However, when it comes to witchcraft itself, Declan tends to journey the right-hand path, so to speak, and use it for the purposes of good. However, as evidenced by his loss of sight, he can become conflicted. Mixing his good intentions with witchcraft can end in equally mixed and sometimes unpleasant results either for himself or others.

ABILITIES & SKILLS

Medically, Declan is blind in the sense that his eyes are non-responsive to light. However, with the use of magic, he has enhanced his senses (albeit not intentionally to this point, but.. c'est la vie. When he concentrates, this helps him become hyper aware of his surroundings to the point that he could move within the area without issue.

ENHANCED HEARING He can hear changes in sound such as the change in breath a person makes before speaking, the change or minute strain in a person's voice that indicates if they're not speaking the complete truth (thus, Declan is able to tell when someone is lying), etc. With concentration, Declan can filter out noises to pinpoint a specific sound or noise and can hear up to a mile away.

ENHANCED SMELL With his enhanced sense of smell, Delcan could probably tell you what you had to eat that day, when the last time you showered was, and the soap or shampoo you used. He can detect changes in smells and combined with his hearing, this aides him in knowing when someone is lying as well as being able to tell the difference between a vampire, werewolf, etc., based on their underlying scent.

ENHANCED TASTE Combined with his sense of smell, Declan doesn't always need to have food in his immediate area to know what's on the menu. Even before a forkful of lasagna hits his tongue, he'd be able to pick out the sweetness of the tomatoes used for the sauce and the basil to spice it up; The ricotta and mozzarella; And the specific type of ground beef used as well as the wheat in the lasagna noodles. Both senses can be detrimental if a scent is too pungent or an ingredient used too much that it turns him off the smell or food (or make his stomach sensitive).

ENHANCED TOUCH As with his other senses, Declan has a heightened his sense of touch. As such, he's able to feel finer details on surfaces such as the ink of paper, the paper itself, feel vibrations on surfaces or in the air. He can feel temperature changes, drops in pressure, whether the air is too dry or not, or the barest change in wind-shift.

At any given time, Declan's senses can be overloaded and become a hindrance if he has difficulty focusing or concentrating. Magic can be used against him to dull the senses he has enhanced along with excessive drinking and certain kinds of drugs.

As a witch, Declan is knowledgeable in herbs, their properties, how to use them in potions, teas, and spellwork. He is skilled in evocation and knowledgeable in casting spells in both Gaelic and Latin, the primary headspaces he uses for conducting magic. He has limited capabilities with telekinesis and if he uses too much magic in any given day, meditation is not only key to restoring the magic he used, but also to help him keep his other senses in balance as well as getting plenty of rest.

OOC NOTE — UNLESS IT IS DISCUSSED BEFOREHAND, IT'S ASSUMED THAT DECLAN'S BLINDESS AND ENHANCED SENSES CARRY OVER INTO EACH AU HE'S A PART OF.

HISTORY

For the most part, Declan considered his childhood to be a happy one. Declan was born 8th April, 1783 to Irish parents, Aidan and Moira who both came from witch families, although Aidan never came into his power. For the most part, Moira was the one to instruct Declan in witchcraft and taught him everything from plants and their properties to potion making. However, as Declan neared adolescence, his mother grew ill and no amount of their combined magical knowledge prevented her passing. Declan's childhood as he knew it ended when his father, who was by no means a wealthy man, was forced to send his son to a family friend in America. Aidan promised to join them as soon as he could, but unfortunately did not survive the journey due to illness.

Declan became the ward of the family he'd been sent to live with (later in life, he'd adopt Ward as his surname) and settled into life without his parents guiding hand. He struggled, at first, with the family and didn't say much the first year he lived with them as he grieved over the loss of his mother and father. Eventually, however, he bonded with the family's daughter, Caitlin, over her love of books and the two became close.

Drawing him out of his shell, Declan flourished in both his magical and academic education in part due to Caitlin's enthusiasm for learning, a trait he would end up adopting as his own. A few years later, he was was introduced to another friend of the family that had recently moved to the area.

She was introduced as a childhood friend of Caitlin's and the three continued to learn about their abilities together. As Caitlin had done with Declan, he bonded with the other young lady over their interest in magic as the years went on. While the two became friendly, for Declan that's all it was as he continued to grow closer to Caitlin. Unbeknownst to him, his kindness in befriending Caitlin's friend gave the young lady the wrong impression. Unfortunately for them all, Caitlin's mother saw what was happening and told the woman that her power was not strong enough for the family and she'd never marry into it.

Whether or not she approached Declan out of pure rebelliousness or to know what Declan thought on the matter, she revealed her feelings for him. By then, Declan had admitted to himself that he was in love in Caitlin and therefore rejected the other witch's advances. His rejection, no matter how polite, was not taken well and combined with other circumstances, she cursed him. His punishment? To spend the rest of his life, however long that ended up being, falling deeply for someone, to care for them, and ultimately outlive them. The scorned woman's retribution was eternity.

Despite his curse or maybe in spite of it, Declan married Caitlin. The two started a family of their own together and lived a happy life until the gravity of his curse finally hit him two decades later when Caitlin's health started to fail. When she passed and only their children remained, Declan outlived them, too. The cycle continued once more, compounded by the fact that the witch somehow managed to find him once a decade to taunt him. Depression eventually set in and Declan went through a very dark period in his life where he tried to break his curse and failed. Repeatedly. It got to the point where he hit rock bottom and couldn't live any longer. Declan tried to end it. That, too, ended in failure, but by then there was nowhere for him to go but up.

Declan traveled the United States partly out of a need to unmire himself from the idea he was going to live forever, and partly to make it more difficult for the witch who cursed him to him to track him down. That part of the plan was not always successful, but eventually Declan came to grips with it.

Once he had traveled the length and breadth of the United States, reconnecting with people again, he returned to Ireland for a time. There, he was befriended by a woman who he cautiously started a relationship with. It ended up being a brief affair when the witch found him again and Declan moved on to England and then Europe. By the middle of the 19th century, he had returned to the United States.

He settled in a small little town that proved to be a sanctuary for the supernatural. Havenwood was quite a place for someone like Declan and he grew confident in putting down roots. He opened an apothecary shop and made connections with various members of the community, eventually meeting and getting to know the next woman who would become his wife. When the time came, her passing was difficult, but not impossible to get through. Thankfully, the witch found him after he'd mourned his wife. But, it was that interaction that possibly spurred him to help another woman in his life.

With the sting of her words ringing in his ears of being uncaring and unhelpful, Declan took pity on a young gifted woman. Her ability to manipulate time landed her in the wrong century after an experiment with her twin sister went awry. She had already spent several years living in Havenwood trying to fit in and continue her study of her power. Unfortunately, her progress had been slow, so Declan decided to help the girl and the two of them became friends as they researched how best to send her back.

After nearly a year of study and small experiments, Declan finally concluded that they were ready. It was simply a matter of waiting for star alignments and moon phases and when the time was right, he and the gifted woman cast their spell. At the end of it, the girl had disappeared and Declan could only assumed—and hopedm—that his friend had found her proper time.

Days after he helped the girl return to her own time, he was visited by Hecate herself. Despite his good intentions, Declan had manipulated the laws of nature by interfering with time itself. Hecate took his sight and it was perhaps his good intentions that earned him such punishment instead of something harsher. He had difficulty adjusting, of course, as was the intent. In the end, her actions were harsh, but fair, as was her way. Remaining in Havenwood, Declan's life became rather lonely until a few years later when the local coven approached him for his help.

With the loss of his sight, Delcan understandably felt useless. His medical practice was on his end was handed off to another after he enlisted the help of an associate to continue. Afterward, Declan withdrew from the majority of his community ties except those that were too stubborn to admit the defeat he clearly saw. Feeling without purpose, he eventually shuttered himself away in his townhouse until the local coven leader (one of his too stubborn friends) appealed to his better nature. Aware of the growing troubles in Havenwood, Declan felt the womans call to arms, so to speak, but felt that he wasn't well enough equipped to assist. After some debate, Declan made the decision to cast a spell on himself to heighten his senses in order to better help his fellow witches. It was either fortunate or unfortunate that his spell worked a little too well. Instead of enhancing his senses enough to be helpful, they became dialed up to eleven. It took Declan a year to acclimate himself with hours of training and help from the coven he tried to assist.

From that point, life became rather routine that was broken up now and then by traveling and settling elsewhere when too many people remarked on how youthful he continued to look. Even his visits by the witch became routine, their interactions becoming tiresome in a boring way. He continued on in this fashion, eventually returning to Havenwood several years ago to take over an occult shop when it's owner decided to retire. After leading such an uneventful life in the 20th and part of the 21st century, Declan can't help but feel that his life is about to change in a wholly unexpected way...

gif source / brucee-waynee