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Calis Collins (50)
Project: Family movie (“The Journey”)
Known as: No nicknames
Real name: Calis Collins
Group affiliation: The Order of Stability
Physical description: Calis is a man in his late 40ies, though he has the look of a much older man. His hair is long and wispy, and one has to look twice to decide if it is a light blonde or white. It is rarely combed properly, and he wears the simplest of unkempt robes (usually for many days in a row). His face is lined, and his standard expression is a faraway stare of disinterest.
Personality: Calis is a shadow of a man. He is clearly depressed and shows little motivation from anything. More than a few people have observed that he seems to be waiting to die. He will do some things asked of him and answer questions, but he does not bother to ponder the morality of his actions.
Before he lost his family, he was happy, vigorous, and curious. He was very inventive and nearly a workaholic.
History: Calis was one of the most talented young wizards of his generation. Gifted in both magical power and inventiveness, he was known as an innovator and artificer. Curious and adventurous he traveled the world looking for lost magics and fresh ideas. During his wanderings, he met the equally adventurous Melody Maines and they fell in love. Their joy increased a few years later when their son, Caleb, was born.
Eventually they settled in a keep by the sea. It became a place of wonders where their collected artifacts and Calis’ magical inventions were stored. No less adventurous, Calis channeled his impulses into exploring the limits of magic. He accomplished and built things never before seen and felt there was no limit to what he could achieve.
He was working on methods to store magical energy (mystic batteries) and devices that allow those not gifted with magic to employ these stored energies when tragedy struck. His approach seemed to be effective and he created a number of prototype batteries. Unbeknownst to him, the technique he used mystically linked the batteries. So even though he carefully stored them in multiple locations in the keep, when one he was working on exploded it set off a chain reaction and ruined the keep.
To his amazement, he survived (the equipment and regular protective spells he used when experimenting preserved him). To his horror, no one else in the keep did – including his family.
He was so changed by the experience that most who knew him believe he died that day, too. Depressed and withdrawn, his friends thought he would never work again. That was until the Grandmaster of the Order of Stability played on his guilt and fears. She posited a world where magical power was regulated and controlled by a central government. No longer could one gifted individual push the boundaries of magic to the risk of all. All would be given devices to let them take advantage of magic and no longer would those born without gifts be secondary to those born with magic. She had observed Calis’ work from afar and felt he had been on a path to a safer, more fair society.
Calis went back to his work. He did not think he could atone for what happened, but he felt he owed it to those who died to try to prevent it from happening again. His motivations on the surface seemed benevolent but they came from a very dark place of guilt. So much so that he took the Grandmaster’s plan to the next logical step. Not only did he develop inventions to store and share magic, he also made it such the magic was removed from the donating individual. His first successful test subject was himself – symbolically killing who he was.
Unknowingly, using himself in his experiments had a side effect. His reduced emotional range infected the devices, and using the devices blunted the personalities of those using them. The formerly magical people lost much of their drive and passion and became more rulable. A lucky side effect, in the Grandmaster’s mind.
Calis now does little, other than answering the Order’s questions about how to create and maintain the devices. As he waits to die, the world changes around him.
Is there any hope his heart could be reawakened, and his knowledge turn the tide?
Role in the narrative: Spoiler: despite my compelling sentence above, I don’t plan on Calis being the solution. I don’t want the Order to be a purely “evil” force. Calis did some wrong things but he did so as an echo of the tragedy he experienced.
I also want him to be an interesting moment for Kana. She feels guilt for “creating” such an unhappy person and can reflect on her own personal darkness (and its consequences).
Abilities: Currently, Calis has a great amount of knowledge of magic but is unmotivated to do much with it. Before he took his own magic, he was the most powerful wizard in the kingdom.
Inspirations: Pixar is a big influence on this project and my ideas for the Grandmaster may be TOO close to the plot of The Incredibles (Syndrome: “Everyone can be super – and when everyone is super…no one is”). Before I write about her tomorrow I might want to see if I can shake things up more. Grandmaster is really more about government control over freedom and Calis’ story adds a layer not in the Incredibles (essentially a “supers” self-loathing turned against his kind). We’ll see what tomorrow brings (I know one difference is that the Grandmaster does NOT want to be magical/extraordinary the way Syndrome did). As for Calis, there are plenty of broken characters awash with regret and self-loathing (Thomas Covenant is one that had a big impact on me). These are usually stories of redemption but sadly I don’t see that for Calis.
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