Approved! -- Sparky

Your Nickname: Aza
Have you read and do you agree to the Code of Conduct?: Yes
Are you over thirteen? Yes
How did you find us and decide to write with us? Friend
If you have written other characters here: Yes
If Yes, list them all: Warren Neifion
Is this a Primary or Secondary Character?: Primary

Full Character Name: Isambard “Sam” Roth
Character Birthday & Age: October 29th 1920, 89
City & Country of Birth: Andernach, Germany
Blood Purity: Muggleborn
Alma Mater: Hogwarts
Job/Position: Senior Obliviator

Wand: 12” padauk with phoenix feather core, the wand itself is spiral shafted and extremely inflexible.

Physical Description:
Once upon a time Sam might have been a handsome young man or a cute little boy. Those days however, are long gone. Now Sam stands at a slightly hunched five ten and two hundred pounds. He carries most of his weight in his torso, his legs and arms being on the thinner side. His chest is broad, though his shoulders are more on the rounded side, and so is his protruding belly. 

Sam’s face is scarred from a bought with the dragon pox. What isn’t scarred is marked by wrinkles and deep creases. His whisky colored eyes are heavy on the bottom lids. His mouth is a normal size, but his ears and nose are on the larger size. His nose itself is a battered and broken old potato. His bushy grey eyebrows are usually furrowed with the rest of his brow. Sam keeps a short beard the color of steel, and under one eye is a mole he’s never had checked out.
 
Sam keeps his wavy granite colored hair about neck length, and haphazardly slicked back.  He likes to team this up with a button up shirt of any color that pleases him at the time, or a worn out old suit. He’s never been a big fan of wizard robes and avoids them at all costs. When he is forced to wear one it’s usually plain, black, and slapped over whatever “normal” clothes he has on underneath. He’s worn dress robes five times in the eighty nine years he’s been alive, and he plans on keeping it that way.

Sam’s voice is a horrible combination of croak and sandpaper. When he speaks it has been described as sounding like a bullfrog with a sore throat. He distinctly lacks any real accent, having lost it somewhere over the decades. While he may be off putting in appearance and voice most people can’t help but like the guy, and when he talks to anyone he’s usually smiling, usually with a cigar in one corner of his mouth.

Personality Description:
Old man Roth is a little unhinged. He’s still sharp, and lucid. The rigors of a long life filled with war though have made him an odd dude. He’s prone to drink, smoke, and tell stories that probably belong in a pensieve. When he gets a little too much of the first thing he’s prone to exaggerating said stories quite a bit. He’s also a lifelong fan of gambling. He doesn’t play quidditch or any sport, but he knows as much about them as a man can.

He’s a genuinely nice person, though many things about him may put people off at first. He treats people well even if he doesn’t like them, thought he will almost never mince his words. His two muggle parents are both long gone, and he isn’t a fan of his ex-wife, so his only real family is his daughter who he almost never sees. Because of this he’s adopted most of his friends as family in his mind. He’s always good to his friends and will pay the tab at the end of every night. Strangers he treats well enough, having to deal with them often for his job has made him good at dealing with them. Sometimes after a few too many brews he’ll get a distant look in his eye, most likely as memories flood his old mind.

He’s got a can do attitude, believing nothing is impossible. Being born to muggle parents, and spending a good part of his youth with muggles, has made sure that not a thought of pureblood rhetoric has ever crossed his old mind. He’ll never judge anyone based on something as trivial as bloodpurity or being a muggle. He can get nasty once worked up, but can’t we all?

History:
Sam’s pop was an American GI living in Germany post World War 1, and his mom a German girl of French origin who also happened to be his dad’s favorite waitress. Not long after his parents met his mom got pregnant, and not long after that they got married. When Sam was little he lived in Germany until he was about two, and then in America until he was about ten. Once he turned the big one zero his family was uprooted from their South Cental Los Angeles home and moved to merry old England. His dad had been transferred there for work. It was also when he was ten that his magic powers became undeniable. He’d always been able to do little things that mystified his parents, but once he was making things fly around a room it became too blatant. It was around this time that he got an owl from Hogwarts. His parents were suspicious at first, but eventually were swayed to allow him to attend.

At Hogwarts he was sorted into Gryffindor, though the sorting hat struggled between that and Slytherin for a while. What ultimately sealed his fate as a Gryffindor was most likely his blood status. He lived an odd life while attending the big H. His school years would be full of magic and wonder, while his summers were full of mundane muggle crud. His father during this time was finding it hard to keep a job; as a result Sam often had donated supplies and such for school and at home. The only thing he had that was truly his was his wand, an odd and powerful wand at that. Said wand was a little ahead of his learning curve and it took him a long time to get used to it.

His time at the school wasn’t bad, and aside from being forced to wear robes, he looks back on it fondly. He was for the most part an average student, but he excelled in Defense against the Dark Arts, Charms, and Potions. He never played much quidditch, but did develop a love of gambling on it.

Once he graduated from the school he started as a junior Obliviator, something he excelled at since it meant he got to roll around in muggle clothes. He Obliviatored around with the Ministry until the rise of Grindelwald and the Second World War, at that point he took an extended leave of absence and set off for the front of the war.

His time battling against the dark forces of Grindelwald and against the Nazis isn’t a tale for polite company. Suffice to say it involved a lot of bloodshed of his own, of Nazis, and of dark wizards in service to Grindelwald. If you ask him about it after he’s gotten a little tipsy he’ll gladly share all the gory details. He does have one story he’ll tell at any time, about how he was one of the witnesses lucky enough to see old Dumbledore put Grindelwald out of commission. Usually he’ll embellish that story quite a bit while on the drink.

For a good twenty some odd years things settled down for Sam. He moved back to America for a while and served as an Auror for the American magic government. He even settled down and got himself a nice case of the dragon pox. Those years were great for Sam. He went around doing routine missions, gambled a lot on quodpot and winged horse racing, and drank most of the wine in California. But things changed for the worse again once he caught wind that another self-styled Dark Lord was moving about, this time in Britain. He tendered his resignation, packed his things, and moved back to England.

Once back in his old stomping grounds he put in an application with the Ministry to get his old job back as an Obliviator. For many years he found himself increasingly having to obliviate the minds of muggles attacked by Death Eaters. Those were dark days in Sam’s life. He constantly had to watch his back for attacks by Voldermort supporters, his muggleborn status being common knowledge in the Ministry. He never trusted anyone during those times, not even the people he worked with.

During the invasion of the Giants on Britian Sam was sent to the heart of the fray. He had a lot of work to do in working on the memories of all the muggles being slaughtered by the Voldermort led beings. He also helped pick up the slack in the offensive assaults on the Giants, taking part in the extermination of entire tribes of them. Sam also harbors a special dislike for Werewolves since they seemed to come out in droves to support the Dark Lord as well. The real change in the tide of things however, happened when Bartemius Crouch passed an edict allowing use of the unforgivable curses against Death Eaters by Aurors. Sam decided as an Obliviator he had the same right, and often worked with the Aurors at the time.

Eventually the Dark Lord disappeared. His followers however did not. Sam continued to work in his official role as an Obliviator, and his unofficial role as an unhinged spell slinger, to crack down on the Death Eaters. After a while things started to get quiet, and even sort of return to normal. Around that time Sam briefly got married, got promoted to a senior Obliviator, had a daughter, and then got divorced. His wife got the kid and the house; he got the child support bill and his freedom.

Sam was bored out of his mind during that precious collection of years when things seemed to be slowing down. He spent most of his time drinking or at work, sometimes a combination of both. His penchant for gambling, boozing, and being quick to pull his wand ensured he would never be made a Department Head. Sam though, wasn’t the sort to care all that terribly much. Besides, with an Order of Merlin First Class on his wall he didn’t have anything to prove to anyone.

Then the “Second” Wizarding War came. Sam always had a couple things to say about Fudge, but when the Minister waged a propaganda campaign against Harry Potter and Dumbledore, his swears got real personal. Sam almost lost his job a dozen times for doing “independent investigations” into the lives of previous Death Eaters, and people he suspected of being in favor of the dark cause. Once the war broke out into the open Sam found himself swamped with work constantly. One time of note was when Voldermort destroyed the Brockdale and Millennium Bridges. Once his old enemies of Giants and Werewolves came back as well, Sam knew that things were going to be as bad as they were before.

But then in a way, they got worse. The Ministry was taken over by Voldermort’s underlings and Sam was forced to flee. During his time in hiding he did as much as he could to aid his contacts in the resistance, and volunteered to help every time something was going down. It was a long year of running, attacking Death Eaters, and doing all of it in various states of inebriation didn’t help. A majority of that time was spent attacking the nonwizard combatants in the Dark Lord’s army, Werewolves, and Giants. He found it easier to hide, and lay ambushes for them, as opposed to trying to fight a guerilla war against purebloods in their manors.

Sam made his way north into Scotland, and took to hiding in the village of Hogsmeade. During that time he stayed in constant contact with his contacts. He had a feeling deep in his bones that something was going to go down at Hogwarts. He was very much correct. The word came down that Potter was back in the castle, and soon afterwards the Dark Lord’s voice rang out over the Castle and the Village. Along with every other villager in Hogsmeade, Sam took part in the Battle of Hogwarts. It was a vicious and bloody day, but it ended in him witnessing another great duel that would go down in history. It was the duel where Harry Potter defeated Voldermort once and for all.

After the end of the Second Wizarding War Isambard got his job back the Ministry as a Senior Obliviator, and it’s where he’s been ever since.

Describe your job duties and how you go about them:
As a Senior Obliviator Sam has to deal with supervision of the majority of Obliviator cases. He also finds himself having to interact with other departments. This is in addition to actually going out and Obliviating muggles himself. The title of senior in this case mostly just translates to more, more work, more responsibility. He also has his hand in training the “new recruits” as he likes to call them.   

Elaborate on your expertise in your field:
It could be the fact he’s been an Obliviator on and off for over seventy years. It could be the fact he’s a decorated veteran of three wizard wars, and one muggle. It could be that even though he’s closing in on ninety quickly he’s still spry on his feet and quick with a wand, both things integral to having to clean up magical catastrophes. Mostly though it’s the fact that there’s nowhere else for him to go, he can’t go any higher because of the way he lives his life, and he’s too vital a player to let go.   

Writing Sample:


Sum up your character in one paragraph:
Isambard “Sam” Roth is a grizzled old Obliviator with the Ministry of Magic. The muggleborn, but long lived, wizard is a veteran of three wizard wars. The old man has also found himself on the front lines of muggle conflicts as well. He’s a good guy, usually an intoxicated guy, and a big gambler. He works hard because he doesn’t know what else to do, and he plays hard, sometimes during said work.

Special Ability

Character Name: Isambard Roth
Age: 89
Character Biography: http://absitomen.com/index.php?topic=12895.0
Do any of your other Characters have Special Abilities?: No
If Yes, then Please provide their name and a link to their bio:
 
Special Ability: Legilimency/ Occlumency

What level is this ability at?: Master

At what age did your character gain this ability?: 17

How did they learn or hone this ability?:
Sam first started learning Legilimency and Occlumency in his last year at Hogwarts. Once he had been accepted to be a trainee Obliviator he went out and found a private tutor in the two skills. Sam had decided that if he was going to be wiping people's minds every day of his life that he would need a way to make sure that the spell had worked. The Occlumency was something he picked up more on a whim at the time.

The honing of these two abilities came with decade upon decade of practical use. During the war with the forces of Grindelwald, Sam used both abilities often out on the front. Whether using Occlumency to protect his mind as he passed through check points, or using his Legilimency skills to tear information from the mind's of his enemies, Sam was constantly using the abilities.

During Sam's time as an Auror in America he also used his Legilimency ability frequently. By this point he was past needing his wand to use either side of the coin, and relied only on semantic casting and eye contact. The First Wizarding War came after that, and it was during that time that Sam became an Obliviator again with the MOM in Britain. He would constantly use both Legilimency and Occlumency during those times. Legilimency when dealing with potential spies and informants, and Occlumency when feeding false information. After that period of time Sam mostly used Legilimency, using it for the reason he had first started learning it in the first place.

During the long stretch of when he was on the run during the Second Wizarding War Sam who was always better at Legilimency, and was indeed a master of the art at this point, became equally as skilled with Occlumency. The old wizard had been using the ability prior to his run from the Death Eater controlled Ministry to keep any spies from learning information that would of aided Voldermort's side. Once on the run his skill with using both abilities without the need of wand or words played a significant factor in him living through the period.

Since the defeat of Voldermort and his instating as a Senior Obliviator Sam has been using his skills solely as he originally intended, for the most part. Over the 70 + years of practice and practical experience with the duel abilities Sam has managed to become a master of both.


Describe how the Special Ability influences their life.  What do they use it for?:
Sam has used his Legilimency and Occlumency abilities in many different ways over his life. During war time he's used the abilities to guard secrets from the enemy, to rip secrets from the enemies, to hide his identity while moving on the run, and to implant false information in the mind's of his foes.

As of late, and for the reasons he originally intended, he's been using his abilities to double check the mind's of any muggles he's Obliviated to make sure the charms have stuck. This is accomplished without breaking the Statute of Secrecy through his mastery of the skills. He no longer needs a wand to cast the spell, or to say the spell out loud. Instead he can just dive in and dig around, then leave. Using his skill in Legilimency he can erase any tracks of his digging.

The abilities have also influenced Sam's life in a huge way. If it wasn't for his skill in both abilities there would of been many times when he might of been caught and killed by either Grindelwald's forces, or Death Eaters. Not only that, but he wouldn't of been able to get vital information over the years that added the war effort in all three wars.

These days the abilities affect him less. Mostly they allow him to be the best Obliviator he can be. There's never been a recorded instance of any of his Obliviating charms not holding up since at least the end of the First Wizarding War.


Write a description of what happens when your character is exhibiting this Special Ability: Sam has been doing both Legilimency and Occlumency for a long time. Over 70 years in fact. He hasn't been a dabbler in either of the abilities for most of the time he's been using them, having to rely on them in real life situations to ever treat them as just passing interests. As such Sam doesn't really feel anything during or after using the abilities. He's skilled at using Occlumency only when a Legilimens is trying to enter his consciousness, and few Occlumens exist who could breach his mind anyway. It stands to reason however that if an Legilimens of equal skill to his own was to try enter his thoughts that he would suffer the usual effects of someone fighting the skill; headaches, nausea, etc.

In regards to Legilimency, Sam is an artist. He has a subtle finesse that allows him to enter mind's through eye contact alone. Once inside he sift gently through a person's mind without leaving a trail. While he's capable of extracting thoughts and emotions by force it hasn't come to that in a long time. Sam is usually so imperceptible in his  forays that he can usually gain even closely guarded knowledge without alerting the person he is breaching. Even going so far as to dig into memories that they may have suppressed or have had hidden.

Approved! - Kit

Isambard Roth, Obliviator serving the Wizarding Kind of Great Britain, and our European cousins, your commitment to the ideals of mercy, bravery, and love of justice has earned you great honor and our esteem.  It is our great pride to award you the Order of Merlin First Class for your tireless action and selfless victories in bringing the dark to the justice of light. Great Britain thanks you, Isambard Roth, for keeping our world safe for our children today.


Special Title Request

Character Name: Isambard Roth
Title Applying For: Order of Merlin 1st Class
Character Biography: http://absitomen.com/index.php?topic=12895.0

What Experience has Prepared You For This Honor?:
Sam's entire history is littered with experiences that make him a prime candidate for an Order of Merlin. But it is in fact his history as a whole that makes up the experience that best befits the honor.

Sam's entire life has been a continuous crusade against evil. He has spent the greater part of his almost ninety years on earth fighting for the side of good. 

His sacrifice has been his life. During the time of Grindelwald he could easily of stayed in Britian and ignored the forces of darkness. It was out of a sense of duty, and benevolence, that Sam spent years waging war against the forces of the Dark Wizard.

During the First Wizarding War Sam could of stayed in America where he relocated after the defeat of Grindelwald. Again, instead of living an easy life as a Auror on the west coast of America, Sam picked up his wand and joined the effort to fight back against the forces of Voldermort. Sam was an active part of the front against the Dark Lord, moving with Aurors against the Giants and Werewolf forces. He and the other Obliviators at the time were integral in cleaning up the disasters left by the monsters, as well as aiding the Aurors in the destruction of the beasts.

During the second rise of the Dark Lord Sam continued to aid in the fight against him. Even though he was getting on in age by certain standards he kept the fight to the Death Eaters. When the Ministry was compromised he left and again waged war from hiding.

The majority of Sam's long life has been spent selflessly fighting for the forces of good against one evil after the next.

What Do You Think the Most Important Aspect of This Job Is:?
Sam's most important duty as a Order of Merlin 1st Class recipient, is to stand as a paragon to the rest of Wizard kind. As a model to be emulated in times of trouble. A figure always standing ready to give his life in the defense of justice.

Tell a Story From Your Past That Has Proven Your Mettle:
It is 1997, but in Sam’s mind it is 1942. In the present he is stuffing down half of a ham on rye, in his memory he is doing the same. Sam thinks about how it had been a cold and dreary day like any other on the western front.

The sounds of artillery lingered in the air over battlefields littered with carrion for the crows. Sam had taken some shrapnel the day before, and a wound from a bullet that just grazed him that day was wrapped on his left arm. He sat with his back against a tree facing away from the edge of a wood line. He took slow bites of the sandwich, wanting to savor as much of the stale bread and meat as he could incase it was his last meal. He cursed himself for not linking up with one of the muggle armies. Pretending to be a muggle and shooting Jerry had to be better than the one man crusade he seemed to be on. He’d been walking for days and his boots felt like they were about to break apart under the constant wear. He couldn’t apparate for fear of setting off an alarm or splinching from being as tired as he was. The cold had been particularly bitter, and his short beard and slightly grown out hair didn’t do much to defend against it. The sandwich was gone sooner than he hoped, and then it was time to move on.

In the present Sam gets up from his table at the cruddy little tavern he is in. He’s finished his sandwich and the tall glass of beer he’s gotten with it. The hood of his cloak is pulled low over his face. He bumps elbows with someone as he makes his way to a door at the back of the tavern. The guy he bumped turns and swings on him. Sam takes the blow full to the face, turns and spits out some blood, and then balls his hand into a bony fist and punches the guy in the throat. He goes down gasping, Sam keeps moving.

Back in his mind, and in fact in the forties, Sam was walking too. He was moving over an open field. The air was still then. His whisky colored eyes searched desperately for a sign of life. It wouldn’t do to be tagged in the head by a sniper strolling over a battle field. Then he spotted a hill and sprinted towards it. He rested his back against the berm and checked his equipment. His canteen was still affixed to his side, and the Luger he’d picked up off a dead German was tucked in his pants. His most important tool, his wand, was hidden up his sleeve in a very uncomfortable way. Just then he heard the sounds of an approaching patrol.

Sam slowly peeked around the berm. It looked like three SS soldiers were moving a group of civilians through the battlefield, crossing at a different angle then him. But then Sam recognized the symbol on the collars of the men’s uniforms. His eyes went wide as he realized the situation at hand was much worse than he had originally anticipated. He thought he might have to deal with a patrol passing through, not with three of Grindelwald’s finest with a group of captives. Sam did the only thing he could think of to do.

“Hey! Hey, over here! I need help,” Sam shouted in German as he pitched himself from around the berm. The Soldiers saw him immediately and moved in on him to see what the issue was. Sam was dressed as much like a muggle civilian as he could. The way he was going about his business, he needed freedom to maneuver. So when the three dark wizards came up and saw him, what they saw was an injured and tired muggle lying on a battlefield. They probably assumed he was a farmer or something out at the wrong place at the wrong time. Or maybe someone picking through the corpses for things to sell. They didn’t seem to care either way, but instead helped him to his feet and instructed him to get in the group. The wizards said they were escorting civilians through the battlefield to safety. Sam of course knew better.

Sam walked with the group for the better part of five miles. They crisscrossed the battle field, stepping over the torn bodies of the soldiers from either side. Sam said a silent prayer for every Allie soldier he saw, and had to hold back from spitting on every nazi corpse that he found at his feet. The day was long but the sky was a brutal granite shade of grey. The ground they walked was muddy in some places and he had to help up one of the group after they had fallen more than once. Eventually they came to the edge of a tall forest. It loomed high and ominous. Sam couldn’t help but feel nervous as the group made its way toward the edge of the trees. The trees themselves were thin, uncharacteristically so for the area and the darkness between the trunks was impenetrable, unnatural even. He turned and spat into the wind. Behind him was death and to the front he felt dark magic, powerful dark magic. He had a a choice to make and he had to make it soon.

It’s 1997 and Sam is standing in front of a door in a tavern. Behind him on the ground a man is clutching his throat. The tavern is dim and everything feels swollen with sea water. It was like the building was built into the belly of a whale, or leviathan. Sam felt it was appropriate. Sam draws his wand from under his cloak. There is a lot of murmuring and shifty eyes. Sam turns and glares only once. The room returns to its normal sullen volume. The old Obliviator turns and eyes the door, it doesn’t look enchanted. He takes a deep breath and puts the boot in hard in the middle of the door.

In 1942 Sam stood at the edge of the massive forest. He could feel his insides start to turn. They were churning with a sense of foreboding and excitement. He looked around at the weary faces of the muggles that were being led by Grindelwald’s soldiers. Their faces were dirty, they had seen war and Sam could see plainly that all they wanted was to live their lives. They would be led to slaughter or worse if Sam let them enter the forest, he knew that much. The Luger had already discharged most of its magazine into the Soldier behind the group by the time Sam got his wand to wiggle down into his hand. The two wizards at the front were already withdrawing their wands from inside their tops. Sam blasted the first one with the killing curse. The wizard dropped dead at the edge of the wood. The second one Sam could only stupefy, if he went for the longer curse he’d of been dead himself. Sam turned and with a cold look in his eyes cast the killing curse on the wizard he’d dumped the majority of the magazine into. Then Sam started yelling in German, telling the muggles to line up or they’d be next. He could see the terror in their eyes. He could see that they didn’t ask for any of what was happening. He went down the line and obliviated each of the muggles. It was in the past, so he needed the wand. The fugue brought on from the spell made it so that they were easy enough to control after that. He instructed them to leave and go somewhere safe. He told them that they all wandered onto the battlefield and were in a daze from a shell. They all seemed to buy the story and seemed to make haste back the way they had come. He watched them until they were all out of sight. He gave another prayer, this one not silent, for their safety. Then he turned and looked up at the crooked and grasping trees of the forest. Something was in there, something nefarious, he could feel it in his bones.

Sam collected all the wands of the felled wizards, and then revived the one he’d stupefied. Sam demanded to know what was in the woods. The Soldier wouldn’t talk. Sam questioned him again but much harder. The dark wizard still wouldn’t answer him in a way that told Sam what was lurking beyond the tree line. Sam couldn’t get any more out of him, so he granted the wizard a quick demise at the end of his wand. Then he turned and took a deep breath. Something lay in the wood, and Sam knew he had to put a stop to whatever it was. Or at least die trying. He spat into the uneven ground that led up into the trees. Said a prayer, this one silent again, and then walked forward, the darkness engulfing him.

It’s 1997 again and Sam has just kicked a door in a tavern right off its swollen and rusted hinges. Three Death Eaters, or maybe they were Death Eater supporters, sat at a table playing cards. Sam’s first stupefying blast sends one sprawling. Then a barrage of curses meant to slay him came his way. He tumbles to the side, not very gracefully, but efficiently enough. He shoots another stupefying spell as he comes to his feet. As he does, he hooks his foot on a foot stool and swings up his leg. The bar stool soars through the air and collides with the last standing Death Eater’s face. Sam is on him immediately. His gnarled and scarred hands get the Death Eater talking. The Death Eater is still practically a kid. It doesn’t mean much to Sam. What does mean something is the information the kid spills to Sam. Sam finds out where the next strike on muggles is going to be in the area. Now it’s just a race against time. Sam has to get the information to his contacts so they can do something. And he’ll be there to help too, just as Sam is always there.

Fifty five years had passed from 1942 to 1997, and the lion’s share of that time Sam spent doing what he’s always done. Sam fights for justice, putting his life on the line, fighting for longer than most people can remember. Sam is a fighter for not “the greater good” but just for Good. Sam will continue to fight until the day he dies so that others can live peaceful lives free from oppression and the sorrows of war.