Name: Dominic James Calder
Age [appearance]: Mid forties
Age [actual]: 42; born 3rd November
Gender: Male
Species: Human
House: Eruditio
Title: Tutor; particularly skilled with poisons, but teaches other chemistry
Appearance
Hair: Calder\'s dark hair is beginning to dim into grey, and he resents the slight thinning at his temples. Photographs in his room suggest a past as a young man with a ponytail, and a snake\'s fang earring. Although those days have passed, he\'s very partial to reminiscence and laments his descent into becoming such an old grouch.
Eyes: Calder is brown-eyed, the owner of a very penetrating and clever gaze. His long life and hard-wearing occupation have deepened the crow\'s feet around his eyes. They age him, though remain as sharp as his mind, and the customary look in his eye suggests something bemuses him.
Frame: Tall and narrow; Calder has never been brawny and never will be. He\'s built academically. His fingers are slender, his limbs long, and he has a way of moving that suggests control at all times. He eats little, and always in the privacy of his own quarters, having spent most of his life learning about how easy a poison can be concealed within food. For this reason, and also issues of stress, his weight can dip alarmingly at times. When content, he appears quite healthy.
Tattoos/Distinguishing Marks: Calder\'s hands distinguish him. A long-term love affair with herbs and fungi have left them stained, almost mottled. The evidence of repeated snake bites can be found on his fingers and up his arm. Should you ever been in a position to see it, you\'d find a rather impressive burn streaked up his right thigh, following an accident when he was a student himself. He\'s also set apart by his decidedly aquiline nose.
Personality
Calder ranges from being a devoted and resourceful tutor, to being intensely critical and often unfair to those he judges unworthy of his subject. Generous to his lovers and contemptuous of his inferiors, Calder has a rather distant stance to society and makes few excuses for his behaviour. He can be a playful companion, though only with those he decides to like, and is more likely to come down from his high-horse if plied with a little alcohol first. He\'s happiest when he has some mental problem to work on. Any worthy partners in this are treated with the greatest interest.
History
Calder was a student of Eruditio himself, and his life apparently involves some practical experience of working out in the world with various poisons. He shares these stories only with older students, and only if humoured in the right way. It\'s generally understood that he\'s taught for most of his life, on and off. He\'s also penned a few textbooks, under pseudonyms which are not made available to students.
Family
Calder\'s mother was a skilled gardener, and he speaks of her with great admiration. His father is rarely spoken of, though it\'s known that he attended the academy. Calder also has an older brother, again unspoken of.
Likes: Talent or acquired skill in his particular subject. Calder doesn\'t teach for the money or the warm fuzzy feeling inside. He has a genuine, deep-set fascination with poisons and knows too much about them than is comfortable to hear about. Students or other staff expressing interest or knowledge are instantly in high favour. He also likes collecting books, particularly Victorian novels, and he has an affinity for rats. He cannot bare to see one harmed; his test subjects are more likely to be students. He keeps his mind active with crosswords and puzzles. Classical music is a particular love, and silence a close second.
Dislikes: Calder has no time for those concerned with social standing. He despises loud or mindless people with all of his being, and his contempt for Cruori students is renowned throughout the school. He\'s been cautioned for making up his mind about students within minutes of meeting them. He also loathes people who lounge around in bed all day.
Strength: Calder is well-housed. Wickedly clever, his greatest strength lies in his memory and his ability to memorise long lists of ingredients and effects and symptoms. His mind is highly logical. As far as knowing his subject is concerned, Calder is the best. He\'s also a mean chess-player.
Weakness/Flaw: Physically, Calder makes a poor fighter. He has a great contempt for hand-to-hand brutality, considering it crude, and so has never worked on his physical strength or learnt to manipulate any weapon beyond a basic level. If told to learn, he claims old age. He looks forward to the day somebody recognises his worthiness of the title of Master, and he can have an Apprentice to carry out his strenuous work.
Interesting Facts/Quirks: Calder\'s extremely allergic to banana.
Favourite Food: Calder is rather partial to French food, though has no particular love of eating. He takes more pleasure in a decent bottle of red.
Favourite Colour: Dark green. A particular poison of his own recipe yields just the right shade.
Hobby/Hobbies: Working with dangerous plants and herbs; caring for his multiple snakes; card-games, particularly poker; wine-testing; chess; long baths (no, really)
Sexuality: Homosexual
Relationship Status: Calder is currently single. Generally, his behaviour with students is quite distant - being a tutor of Eruditio, he\'s very aware of the need for respectability. However, he shows great interest in those with particular talent or spark. Catching his eye is rumoured to be worth the effort.
Weapon: Typically none. Calder\'s method of assassination is long-distance, subtle and undetectable. He considers clanky bits of sharp metal to be beneath him, and is unafraid to express this opinion to those who require it.
Magick: Poisons; some minor, relevant healing abilities
