Librarian Spectre

Appearance
Johann stands at 5'9" and is a lithe, willowy sort, with a certain frailty to him. He is definitely not the sturdiest or manliest of fellows, and would be best described as effeminate. It's enough that, when combined with his long hair, facial structure, and attire he is often mistaken for a woman. He has a gently angular face, his jawline is smooth and comes to a softly pointed chin. He has high cheekbones and a small, ski-slope nose. His lips are soft and full and almost womanly, same with the almond shape of his eyes and the long lashes they sport. His eyes vary from gold to amber depending on the lighting and contrast nicely with his long, silky smooth crimson hair which is usually pulled back with a black velvet ribbon. His complexion is very pale, rouge barely tinging his lips and cheeks.

As he is a ghost with only limited times of solidity, he does not change clothing often, if at all. He prefers to remain in the clothing that he died in, as they were gifts from his old mentor. Thus more often than not one can find him in the tailored frock coat and a-line skirt that fit him perfectly, accentuating his feminine figure. When he does get the itch to wear something different, he sticks to darker, somber colors. One might say that Johann dresses as if he were in mourning. There are two puncture marks on his neck, though they are usually hidden by his clothing.

Johann is exceedingly aware of his looks and mannerisms. He spent so long under the watch of someone he wished to impress very much that by now much of what he does is second nature out of the desire to appear prim and proper. He does not slouch, his gait is always measured and precise, and his general movements hold a sort of smooth, practiced grace to them.

Personality
Johann has many layers to him. On the surface he is exceedingly polite, nearly to the point of being subservient, and very gentle. He will not raise his voice nor his hand and treats everyone with the same amount of respect as he desires for himself, no matter their race, gender or creed. Even if he is faced with less savory mannerisms, he will still extend courtesy to those he interacts with. Tolerance is what he strives for. It is not easy to annoy or upset him, as he does his best to take everything in stride. While working he exudes a sort of calm and collected confidence, as book-tending has become his raison d'etre over the years. He has the habit of putting others' needs before himself, which may be unhealthy at times. Whether you need a shoulder to cry on or someone to sort tomes, he will try to provide the assistance you require to the best of his ability.

Under this kind and gentle exterior sits a man who is no longer certain of himself or his role in the world. He shoulders the blame for many things, not all of which are his fault, and scolds himself horribly for perceived failures. For example, he believes he was killed at the hands of the person he cared for the most, and yet he can't bring himself to put the fault on his old master. Johann has convinced himself he must have done something to disappoint or otherwise anger the vampire to drive the other to land the killing blow. Since his death he has experienced a sort of listlessness and ennui as he's not sure what to do with himself...So he clings to the routine he had in life, as it is the one thing that will remain constant. When emotionally stressed or otherwise burdened he has the bad habit of burying himself in his work, and has been known to get tunnel vision during which he ignores everything else. In short, he clings to his past and is slow to adapt to change.

One other thing to note is that Johann lived a very reclusive life due to the way he was employed and for whom he worked. Therefore he missed out on a lot of life experiences, namely those in the social and romantic realm of things. He yearns for a lot of that things that he never got a chance to partake in, but he has the tendency to bury all of that away as unimportant - he's dead now, what's the likelihood of such things happening?

Frequent Expressions & Manner of Speech: "As you wish," "If you please," and "How may I be of assistance?" are all things that leave Johann's mouth on a regular basis. Others will always be referred to as sir or miss as appropriate. His voice is a soft, soothing timbre with a very faint German tinge, lending a slightly harsh edge to his v's, w's, and g's.

Backstory

Shortly before the turn of the 19th century in rural Germany, the Dresner family was blessed with another child. In their eyes though, this wasn't something to be celebrated. They had five little brats before this, and already struggled with space and feeding them all. Despite this frustration though, they didn't have it in their hearts to abandon him...So instead their impoverished lifestyle simply lost what scant wiggle room they had. Johann grew up the metaphorical runt of the litter, bringing up the rear after his five brothers. Even at a young age he felt the bite of guilt -- being a rather sickly child and cursed with a poor constitution, he had a hard time being productive at playtime, nevermind joining his brothers tending the fields.He was ten when he hit the first big change in his life. It was a cold December night, shortly after his birthday, when they came for him. He had been in bed, nursing yet another cold, when the sound of movement woke him up. Shuffling out of bed, careful not to disturb his brothers, he sidled to the front of the house to peep and eavesdrop on what was going on. Two darkly dressed men were discussing something with his parents in hushed tones. Straining his ears he was able to pick up on enough bits and pieces to realize they were negotiating a sale...Which was baffling at first, considering it wasn't like they had anything to sell. But it soon sank in that they were discussing the sale of a person.

Johann refused to believe what was going on, right up until the point he was being carried, kicking and flailing, out of his parent's shabby home and stuffed into a carriage. It was so surreal and made no sense. As he hunkered down inside the carriage cabin, partially curling up on the seat cushions, he listened in confusion as it was explained to him that his presence had been "requested" at Herr Reinhardt's manor. This only made things harder to understand -- Herr Reinhardt owned the land that his parents farmed, why would they want him of all people, all of the sudden, in the middle of the night? Not that he had any choice in the matter, really, as soon he was left on the doorstep of the lavish estate, winter moon high in the sky, shivering and cold...

As the years passed, he gradually adjusted to the new role thrust upon him. Compared to the fieldwork he had been struggling at with his brothers, he was much more suited to the job of cleaning and library-tending that Herr Reinhardt had set him to, although he was still prone to sickness. During the day he was tutored in reading and writing by some of the housestaff, to better excel at his job, and during the evenings Herr Reinhardt made appearances to observe the youth's work and provide extra instruction. It was these interactions that tipped him off to something being...off...about the estate lord. At first, Johann kept these observations to himself, giving him time to mull them over and put together the puzzle pieces. Soon enough though, he called the man out, equal parts curious and hesitant -- Herr Reinhardt was a vampire.

While it was a fanciful deduction, strangely it appeared to be right on the mark and earned him a sort of...elevated status. Herr Reinhardt seemed much more invested in Johann after his discovery of his master's status. They spent more time together in the evenings, during which the vampire meticulously groomed his servant -- dictating speech, mannerisms, even style of dress and how the teenager should hold himself. It was all rather eccentric, but Johann was young and eager to please so he wouldn't be thrown back to a family who obviously didn't want him.

Spending so much time in close proximity, it wasn't that surprising that, by the time Johann entered adulthood, he had developed something of an obsession and fascination with his mentor. The vampire was really one of the only people he spoke with in depth about anything at all, sharing only the most basic pleasantries with the other house staff. Ever since Herr Reinhardt had taken him under his wing so to speak, the others seemed to avoid him. But...that was fine with Johann, so long as he could continue working for and making his lord proud. This dedication soon morphed into a puppy-love which rapidly bloomed into a full-blown romantic interest. However, having been raised in such a sheltered and reclusive manner (as after he was purchased he spent most of his time indoors tending to the library or this or that on the estate), he...wasn't sure how to handle these feelings.

So for the longest while, he simply sat on them. Stewed in them. Until shortly after his twenty-sixth birthday, he could handle it no longer. Resolved to confront his mentor he spent the entire day filled with nerves until the sun set and the vampire joined them for their usual tea. Sire, I have something to tell you, he remembered saying, but after that--everything hurt. His knees gave out, the world spun, his chest ached terribly. It was hard to focus on anything at all, let alone what Herr Reinhardt was trying to say to him. The only thing that sank in was the image of the vampire hovering over him with blood smeared across his mouth. While a modern autopsy would have found that Johann died due to his frail heart finally giving out, he passed away under the notion that he had failed Herr Reinhardt in some manner to cause his lord to kill him.

For Johann, though. Death was only the beginning.

First, there was blackness, but after a while, he soon came to, back in his mentor's library. To his dismay, the vampire was gone. In fact, everyone seemed to be gone. This greatly confused him at first, especially since it took a while for the reality of his passing to sink in. Funny how easy it was for him to connect the dots regarding Herr Reinhardt's supernatural existence, and yet it took him quite some time to confront that he was dead. And yet, unlike how it's written in books, that revelation didn't set him free and give him peace. It only made everything hurt more -- an emotional, psychological hurt. Where had he gone wrong? Why had Herr Reinhardt been so upset...?

It was easy for him to lapse into the habit of blaming himself. And so he soaked in those notions as decades passed and he watched families come and go in the estate. Trying to cope with the fact that he was stuck there while burying himself in the tending of the library. He always did his best to remain unseen, as he hated the idea of frightening people...But sometimes it couldn't be helped. Eventually the estate entered the ownership of a rather wealthy family, and it stayed in their hands over the years. And so the status quo was established. Johann lingered around the library idly during the day, and worked during the night...

By the time the great wars rolled around however, remaining at his old mentor's estate had become unbearable. The weight of his past was stifling and he had to get away. It was then that he chose to emigrate to America, hidden alongside the current owners of Herr Reinhardt's estate. Uncertain of what else to do, he simply followed the family's collection of books to tend them for the time that they remained together.

As time passed and the books scattered to the four winds via various estate sales and trading, Johann found himself at a loss of what to do once again. To keep himself occupied and try to fight ennui, he developed the habit of 'vigilante' library tending.

Skills & Powers
Book tending: Having spent much of his existence as a librarian, Johann has become rather adept at caring for books. He is familiar with both book repair and sorting, and the general maintenance required by newer and older tomes alike.

Trilingual: Fluent in German (native tongue), English (primary second language) and Latin (for use in studies).

Eidetic memory: It can be a bit uncanny at times, but Johann has the ability to recite any bit of knowledge he has encountered over the span of his short life and lengthier afterlife. So long as he's read or heard it at least once, it's stored in his memory banks for later retrieval. Of course, this doesn't mean that he necessarily knows how to perform say, heart transplant surgery, but he can certainly go into great detail about it if he's read a surgical textbook before.

Telekinesis: This is Johann's primary means of interacting with the physical world. He often uses his telekinesis to give himself "form" when he's not manifested, e.g. making a barrier around his hands so he can seem to pick things up. He cannot lift things more than 200lbs with this power, and the heavier something is the more draining it is.

Intangibility: As an incorporeal being, Johann has ability to pass through solid matter, e.g. walls, doors, etcetera.

Visibility control: He also has the power to make himself visible or completely unseen, and anywhere in between. (e.g. completely opaque to transparent).

Levitation: Likewise, he can also ignore gravity and hover/float/fly.

Manifestation: With enough energy reserves or ambient power (e.g. from natural events such as heavy thunderstorms or places of power e.g. converging leylines), Johann may manifest himself into a solid form. This allows him to interact with the world like any normal person, and allows him to eat, drink, breathe, and perform other such activities although he doesn't need them to survive. Doing so is extremely energy intensive/draining however, and so is generally reserved for emergencies or special occasions.

Weakeness
Memory-fettered: As a ghost, Johann is highly dependant on those remembering him. Memories keep him rooted in this plane and can sort of be considered as Johann's brand of "food". This is why many of his 'breed' of ghost so to speak resort to haunting. Scaring the wits out of people is a great way to have someone remember you. The more Johann is remembered, the more power he has. Everything he does uses this power in some form, from making himself visible to using his telekinesis to handle objects. Thus from time to time to conserve energy he utilizes rest periods where he goes completely invisible and simply lingers around.

Johann can tap into natural power, e.g. from heavy storms or from leylines, but it is nowhere near reliable as simply making new memories with people.

Iron and salt: Johann cannot pass through solid iron objects nor can he cross unbroken perimeters of salt.

Exorcism: With sufficient occult knowledge and power, Johann may be exorcised from this plane, forcing him to pass on.

Psychological quirks: While not a traditional weakness, there is a hard-coded need in his psyche to appear "normal". This means he expends extra energy doing things like maintaining a steady visibility level, keeping himself level with any floor or surface he is supposed to be walking on, and handling objects as if he were really touching them.

Relationships
Coming soon.

Playlist
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