Info dump

[jack_of_all]

Character Name: Jack Prairie
Character Age: Appears in his early 30s.
Background: To begin with: Jack Prairie is the reincarnation of the trickster god Coyote. Coyote was well known in Native American mythos, stories of him spread across many tribes and nations, but those in the modern age no longer know of him. He wanted to take advantage of this and chose to take the form of a mortal for some time. The modern world afforded him with many new and strange opportunities. New technology became especially intriguing to him. Communicating with others was now shockingly simple! How novel. It made his life much easier in many respects. Travel was much faster, too, which would make his plans easier to execute. He never spent very long in one place and chose to travel throughout much of the United States.

Like in his old ways, he enjoyed playing tricks on people, ranging from harmless to very dangerous. Mostly, though, he liked to part fools from their money. Sleight of hand was a speciality of his. He liked to draw people in with entertaining tricks, then challenge them to various games. Card games were the easiest to make the most money from, he found, especially three-card monte. He also enjoyed busking in city centers with these tricks. How easy it was to make money for little effort! He made it a point to be charming, charismatic, and witty to those that would approach. He made a name for himself rather quickly this way.

He developed a persona of sorts on this and started to use the name Jack Prairie. It was plausible as a real name and worked even better as a stage name. He developed an unusual look and wore over-the-top clothing, like Victorian-era suits in vibrant colours, top hats, and the like. Even when not performing, when approached, he would take on the persona he presented. While not much different from how he was normally, he turned up the charm and sweet words. He knew this would give him an edge to the rest of the buskers he worked with and help people to build trust in him.

Word of his abilities made their way through word of mouth (as well as the ever-present internet) and soon, Jack found himself being offered jobs as a sort of "ring master" for various traveling shows. The easiest place to blend in was amongst the oddities of society, after all -- it helped to build the "mystery" surrounding him. Looking a little bizarre also drew more attention, which, in turn, meant more chance to trick humans. He would spend months at a time on the road with different traveling shows, his charismatic and entertaining way of hosting drawing in packed houses. Again, he found himself fascinated by how easy it was to gain noterity now with the very existence of the internet.

On the rare breaks he had from traveling, he was in high request for being a party host for the upper crust of society. He spent nights in California and would be in New York the next day. The mere mention of his name would get people to attend these lavish (and expensive) events without a second thought. Never had Jack thought that he would be able to gain fame so easily! He did, of course, take advantage of this. He would carefully "borrow" a few things here and there from the guests and hosts of these events, making it look like someone else had taken it. If anyone suspected anything of Jack, he would easily talk his way out of it.

He would also take time during his travels to visit casinos. He was careful about his trickery here, though he still managed to get himself kicked out of every single one due to how much he would win in a night. It was still a thrill for Jack and he almost made it a goal in his life to get kicked out from as many casinos as he could. He never did anything obviously illegal, though; he knew better than that, plus he didn't want to spend any time of this short mortal life in court or in jail.

Even for a god all this travel got tiresome. He made his "home" in New Mexico. He called off all of his engagements for some down time. The fame wore him down and he wanted nothing more than to give it up. This decision proved to be one he would regret. Jack soon became boring and he fell into his old ways. Boredom and curiosity got the better of him and he quickly started to lose the large amount of money he amassed. Friends were bought and sold so easily and possessions brought him little joy. Perhaps it was the travel and the trickery that made this mortal life more interesting.

To test this theory, he went back to his old ways. He sold all of his possessions, except for what he absolutely needed for his jobs. Jack felt right at home as the "ring master" of a circus of the bizarre -- a modern day sideshow act. The attendees were easily amazed and even more easily fooled. A common thread that connected the time Jack was used to and now: when you're good at something, keep doing it. He found himself revelling in the fame he had tried to give up. If this was mortal life, maybe he'd continue taking the form of humans. Short lived as they were, their advancements kept things interesting.

Personality: Jack has quick wits and an even quicker mouth. He's always quick to retort with an appropriate (or inappropriate) remark. He's good at thinking on the fly and turning a situation back to his favor. He knows how to sweet talk someone to get on their good side or to get something out of them. He's clever and can wear a person's defenses down with nice words and a smile. He uses this to help him when he's doing his con games -- makes his targets trust him and therefore more likely to give up their money.

He tends to get bored very quickly and needs constant stimulation. He doesn't like staying in one place as it gets stale and stagnant. When he gets bored, he gets anxious and fritters away money he has in an attempt to entertain himself. This rarely works and his boredom borders on ennui until he finds something interesting. The only reason his sleight of hand trickery keeps him entertained is because people react so differently.

Jack makes it a point to not get attached to anyone. He has little interest in making friends, as friends get too curious for his liking. He enjoys playing with a person's emotions, though, and will lead them on as though he's interested in them. He'll even take it so far as sleeping with them before deciding to cut them out of his life. He gets a thrill out of their reactions and seeing how far he can take it before he gets disinterested. He has no interest in relationships whatsoever. The only reason he ever makes "friends" is so he can have ammunition to keep them on his sides. He likes to get people to trust him so he can learn their secrets and fears and use those against them when they make him mad. He does make sure to keep himself personable, though, just so he can continue the cycle.

He is somewhat emotionally manipulative, if only to get a rise out of people. His intent with it isn't usually malicious, but it can be. He really only intends malice when someone makes him angry, which happens when things don't go his way. He can be incredibly vicious when this happens, but will never resort to physical violence; he only ever threatens verbally. He knows the limits of his squishy, mortal body and has no interest in getting into a fight.

Jack doesn't know when to shut his mouth, which gets him in trouble a lot. He pushes things too far, presses limits he shouldn't, and then tries to avoid the consequences. He's good about weaseling his way out of physical confrontations, though, and can usually sweet talk his way out of them. Failing that, he runs away. He rarely gives up in a war of words, which is why he gets into so much trouble. He doesn't learn from this experience either, so the situations he gets into keep repeating themselves.

When driven to anger, he's very confrontational and loses his "cool" edge. He usually tries to be playful, but distant and unattached. He becomes very direct and his words become barbed. If he knows more about the person, he makes the attacks personal to belittle them. He isn't afraid to blackmail someone if the opportunity arises and it makes things interesting. If you anger him, expect to make an enemy for life. He's pretty bad about holding grudges.

He's nosy almost to a fault. While he dislikes the idea of getting attached to people, he likes to be involved in other people's business, especially when he knows it bothers them. He likes to get under someone's skin and tease them when he knows it really drives them crazy. He can be a total jackass about this, right up until it gets him in trouble. He tries to play it off after that and will usually duck out if things start going sour.

Jack is fascinated by technology and likes to learn how to use it to his advantage. He especially enjoys things that make it easier to "play" with others, such as phones, computers, radios, etc. He's not interested in knowing the ins and outs of how things work, but he likes to have a working knowledge of most modern technology. If he doesn't know how to use something, he'll keep trying until he does. He will never ask for help, though, as that makes him feel weak.

He has quite a bit of personal pride and dislikes being seen as anything other than what he presents himself to be. His persona that he built for his fame is how he likes to be seen. If embarrassed, he turns his rage into playful taunts until he can't hold back. Any loss of pride is seen as weakness to him and he won't stand for it. This is another way to make an enemy of Jack.

He also takes pride in his bizarre appearance, knowing it draws attention to him. If someone questions why he looks how he does, he just smiles and tells them "at least I look better than you". If further questioned or prodded, he brushes people off. If insulted about it, though, he makes it personal and will verbally berate the offending individual.