BLACKSILVER, Cedric

NAME: He has gone by many names over the years, but currently calls himself Cedric Blacksilver. Original name was Sarva Suril.
GENDER: Male. Usually.
RACE: Doppelganger, although he claims to be human. Stage 3. 
AGE: ~710 years. Appears to be in his twenties.
MAGIC: Aethomancer, Psion, and Ritualist. Also a Chirographer, Swarmshifter, and Wraith. There's more on his magic at the bottom. Skip his history. Seriously. Just skip it.
AFFILIATIONS: Britain, really, although supposedly MI13. Also heavily involved in the Whisperdark Coven. Runs a personal network of informants called the Cait Sidhe.
RANK: English teacher, Initiative Executive of WRAITH.

C A T S

Outwardly, Cedric is the picture of a reserved, demure professor, bar one fact: his hair. Usually the first thing that people notice about him, it's just a shade darker than cyan, a mess of unruly cerulean locks with electric blue highlights that tumble down his head, and by far is his highest expense. It matches sharp blue eyes that peer out from behind glasses. With sharp, defined facial features, Cedric isn't exactly unattractive. His eyebrows can often be found raised inquiringly, with his mouth in a crazy smirk.

He can often be found in long coats. Beneath his black tailcoat, he wears vests and crisp, starched white button-ups, preserving a snappish dress code that exists only to himself. Of course, that doesn't mean he doesn't get them dirty: splashes of mud on his well-worn black pants and leather boots attest to the fact that he can sometimes be found running through the dirtiest streets in town.

At the height of 5'11", Cedric is right in the middle. He seems slightly taller, though, due to his toned physique and wiry build, a result of rigorous training (as a member of M13, he is expected to keep in physical shape for whatever mission he gets sent off to next).

He can always be found with one, usually two, swords on him. Numerous throwing knives can be found about his person, which he will either fling with his hands or with his mind. A couple packets of ready-made henna are also sealed inside a plastic bag in his pocket.

Occasionally, when he thinks no one is watching, he will become incredibly still. He will blink slowly, like a reptile, and his shadow will move without any corresponding change on his part. Underneath his long sleeves, he has numerous strange runes drawn in henna on his forearms.

And, strangely enough, his bright hair is usually the only thing people seem to remember about him. He seems almost detached from the world, more vivid but his edges blurred, although it’s easy to hear him from a distance. A trained agent will know these as the marks of a very powerful magician.

AND  P R O P O R T I O N

Cedric is a giant asshole who’s a little too addicted to doing stupid shit.

The first thing to understand about Cedric is that he is competent. He has survived for seven hundred years, and raised himself from slavery to luxury. There is no doubt that he is a capable magic-worker and one of the most talented Wraiths in the world, as well as a Doppelganger of terrifying power. He is completely willing to be ruthless and to use all resources at his disposal to get the job done if necessary.

However, he purposefully comes across as an idiot. Putting on a bumbling, eccentric face, he enjoys convincing people that he’s a thorough moron. Quoting Shakespeare at odd times and pretending that his competency is in fact nothing more than dumb luck, he keeps himself hidden and isolated. This stupid act allows him to slip beneath the radar. Somewhere along the line, Ced unfortunately got addicted to doing stupid things. His “facade” has become more and more authentic over the years as his screws have come loose and he’s begun to get exceedingly bored with the world. Nowadays, he legitimately enjoys the outrageous stunts he pulls off.

Cedric has a tendency, despite his antics, to come off as quite aloof and arrogant. He is quite proud (too proud) of his achievements, and thinks himself funny. He can get rather cocky at times, although he's usually pretty good at knowing when to run. He’s survived seven centuries, after all.

From a young age he was taught not just how to act, but also how to twist language to suit his purposes. When he wants to be, Cedric can be very convincing. He's the sort of person who, when told to tell the truth, will speak completely honestly, but with enough twists in the wording that he's omitting whatever he pleases and tilting the story as he desires.

Should someone get past whatever exterior he's acting out today, he has a certain sense of humour and daredevil capacity that makes him extremely prone to not thinking before acting--especially when confronted with situations that might enable him to use potentially 'fun' (read: explosive) substances.

Occasionally, people also manage to get past all layers of his facade and confront his true emotions. With how rarely someone does manage to figure him out, though, Cedric's not really used to expressing himself. When confronted by a possible source for conflict, he will frequently talk around it for as long as possible, making him an extremely tiresome companion. Additionally, he does not enjoy discussing his past.

It is hard to get Ced angry, but it isn't hard to get him irritated or frustrated. Usually, however, he just laughs it off and pretends he was never irked in the first place, but he will remember whatever slight or offence was perpetrated. Frequently, he will arrange for disproportionate retribution, but in a way that cannot be traced back to him.

Deep down, Cedric has for a long while found himself superior to humans. Faster, smarter, stronger, better. With his mastery of magic and intellect, he views himself as the top of a food chain with other sentient beings beneath him. He’s really kind of a prick, but he keeps that hidden. He is dangerous in the fact that he is completely unafraid of being ruthless, and it is this ruthlessness that he taps into as a Doppelganger and underworld crime boss.

Cedric will also show different faces around different people. In the company of high society, he will be snide, prideful, and elegant, but during his day job as an English teacher he’ll be goofy and idiotic.




Sarva Suril was born in 1305 CE to a poor family in India. Although he doesn’t remember his Julian birthday (doesn’t seem worth it, after seven hundred years), he does recall that he was born during the festival of Maha Shivarati, and considers his birthday to be at that time--although the festival’s date changes each year because it’s based of the lunar cycle. It’s alright, though, since Cedric rarely celebrates his birthday.

At a young age, Sarva got “work” on a ship in the Indian Ocean Trade. Eventually, he managed to free himself from slavery and get a legitimate job. During this time he was mugged (perhaps more--he doesn’t talk about it) and picked up vampirism. Later, he managed to become a merchant and infiltrated a noble family by claiming to be a long-lost relative. He retired as a nobleman in the Ottoman Empire under the name Namir Ajith.

However, not long later, he heard about the Renaissance and decided to pick up and move to Venice. By keeping his fingers in the trade business, he was able to generate enough income to become a patron for artists. He also managed to get himself an education.

But by 1450 Cedric (at the time, Marcurio Delaroche) had pissed off a couple popes (it was mutual), Honorius III (he initiated the fifth crusade, against Cedric’s advice) and Innocent VIII (allowed the persecution of witchcraft, which irritated Cedric to no end). Although they were decades apart, Cedric decided he’d had enough of Italy, so he picked up and moved to England. He’d visited there once and had found the weather to his tastes.

Once in England, Ced pretended to marry into another noble family, House Blacksilver, under the name Charlotte. There, he continued his education and began to relax a little into his new lifestyle.

In the 1500s, the Wars of the Roses were a time of enjoyment for Ced. The foibles of the rival kings were, to him, sufficient entertainment, and he was thoroughly amused--except for the part where he was almost executed. That was not amusing at all. But he doesn’t talk about that.

After dealing with that fiasco, Cedric entered the political arena during the reign of Henry VII as Cyril Blacksilver and began to play around, garnering more wealth and power. By the time Henry VIII came into power, Ced was considerably well-established and managed to score himself a first-row seat to watch the numerous beheadings that followed.

During the political turmoil following Henry VIII’s death, Ced got close to Elizabeth. He admired her independence, although he couldn’t state it outwardly due to Bloody Mary’s rule. Of course, he was happy enough to take advantage of the Queen Mary’s rule to collect blood for his considerable stockpile. Once Elizabeth had gained power, she rewarded House Blacksilver’s loyalty and work during her imprisonment. He stayed faithful to her because he respected her caution, although he did begin to get frustrated with her half-hearted approach towards anything. Despite this, he was influential in the Queen’s personal spy circle and was influential in foiling several assassinations after the Pope disowned her.

During this time, Cedric also met Shakespeare. He was enthralled by theatre and became a patron to many actors and playwrights, helping to usher in the golden age of theatre in England.

After Elizabeth and Shakespeare’s deaths, Ced got a little bored. At the beginning of the seventeenth century, he moved, retiring to a vast country estate called Ashgrove, and used the time to begin to make several long-term moves. He expanded the land he owned and became known as a fairly benevolent landowner. If people were in debt, he would sometimes accept payment as a sample of their blood instead of money, which lead to many grateful people and some rumors of witchcraft. The latter he found amusing, and he’s kept the rumors alive, leading to an aura of mystery around the Blacksilver name.

In addition to patronizing the arts, he began to research into the theoretics of magic and the rumors of wraiths, who could detach their shadows from their bodies. Although the art was long-lost, he used his network of contacts, personal collection of artefacts, and hard work to begin to rediscover the art. He disconnected his own shadow successfully, named it Puck, and began to train and develop his wraith abilities.

Comfortable in his current position and slowly building up a stock of blood, he was ready and ambitious enough to want to become a Doppelganger. It became a bit of a personal quest for him. He managed to capture a leopard shifter who was almost completely crazy and rarely went out of their animal form, and allowed himself to be bitten once every two weeks until he developed symptoms. After his first shift, he discovered his leopard form was melanistic, making it appear black. Cedric found this appropriate and was quite pleased. He killed the leopard shifter not long after. Ced’s cat form has contributed to the village of Old Ashton near Ashgrove Estate being known for its frequent sightings of Cait Sidhe.

Once Cedric was done with all that, colonialism was in style. In the 1700s, he decided to take a brief hiatus to the Americas, and enjoyed himself thoroughly, becoming good friends with some of the higher ups in the East India Trading Company while he was at it. He piddled around during the Revolutionary War, not really taking sides and moreso just throwing wrenches into battles under the guise of a Lady Isabelle Blacksilver. Eventually, once that fun time was over, he packed up and returned to England.

That was, until he noticed the growing anti-slavery movement in Britain. Cedric disapproved of slavery because of the conditions he’d once endured, and he found it quite amusing to spend his time freeing slaves. Purchasing a fleet, he integrated himself into the East India Trading Company and began to run between the Americas, England, and Africa. He would free slaves (often illegally) and bring them back to Africa. Although he used them as labor, he did feed them and pay them (although wages were very low). The one thing he did charge, however, was a bottle of their blood.

Cedric tired of that after not too long and returned to England just in time for the Victorian Era, in around 1822. He loved its class and style, as well as the Queen. He kept his fingers in trade and began to collect high-quality items, understanding that their value would raise over the years.

The Victorian Era was fun for Ced. He thoroughly enjoyed the appearance of morality that adhering to the strictures of Victorian noble life allowed him, and appeared to subscribe to all of the tenets of Victorian lifestyle, all while running illicit operations on the side. It was also during this time that he became involved not with just membership of the Whisperdark Coven, but also in running it. Since he was very influential in London, both in the nobles and in the underworld, he was in an excellent position to help many magical creatures further their goals in exchange for fealty.

Cedric also began an extensive practice regiment for his magic, moreso than in previous years. This was more of a personal power grab than a search for theoretical understanding like he’d done in the 1600s. He became more capable with combat aspects of all of his magic.

By the 1900s, Cedric considered himself a native to Britain and had pretty much adopted it as his country. In the early part of the twentieth century, he became involved with the British Secret Service in order to assist his nation. He could sense something was coming--something big. So he trained with cryptographers and agents as the young heir, Jasper Blacksilver, and fearing an international crisis, began to utilize his extensive network throughout Europe for his information gathering needs.

When WWI broke out, Ced spent his time not only infiltrating traitor groups in England and ousting their agents but also helped magical creatures displaced by the war find homes and jobs. He spent most of the Great War in London, helping British Intelligence and keeping magic beneath the government’s radar--sometimes by destroying important documents. It was also during this time that he began the process of creating personal blood banks--one in Ashgrove, and one in London.

After the war, most of his time was spent helping said magical creatures recover and return to normal life. He was hit hard by the depression, but because of his long-term outlook, his finances rebounded quickly.

Of course, there was only a short breath before the second world war. Thankfully, most of his paintings and blood storage was moved out of London for WWII, but some of his artifacts were damaged during the Blitz when his London townhouse was bombed.

Ced took a much more active role this time around. He worked as a cryptographer under the same alias, and also ferreted out Nazi enclaves and killed them, frequently exsanguinating them as well (Ced was never above a bit of personal gain). Additionally, he was one of the cryptologists that was recruited to focus their efforts on decoding new Enigma ciphers (at the end of the war, he decided to keep the reconstructed Enigma machine he’d used as a souvenir).

During WWII, Ced also helped cover up and aid magical creatures that were agitated by the Blitz. However, ultimately, the situation spiralled out of even the London Coven’s control and the government heard about it.

After the war, Ced withdrew from public life. He spent a significant amount of time recovering from his wartime energetic state, but the creation of MI13 rather shook him up a little. He moved quickly to ensure all of his operations stayed beneath the government’s eyes, and also secreted his blood banks away. He also focused once more on magical studies, prepared to fight for his life if the government came for him.

As the Cold War broke out, Ced became more entwined with the criminal underworld, frequently using his contacts to ferret out Communist spies and feed the British intelligence agencies information from numerous aliases. His loyalty to Britain had grown during the world wars, and now he was prepared to defend his country.

At the same time, Cedric also created several blood banks throughout the world in case he should have to flee. He owns considerable estate in India, Switzerland, Japan, America, and Australia, each with a large blood bank.

After tensions had defused, MI13 began to target magical creatures for extermination. Originally, Cedric was supposed to be killed, but he managed to convince the agents instead to hire him in 1972. This had less to do with his charming personality than it did with his knowledge of wraiths and magic.

Through some considerable maneuvering and convincing higher-ups that he was indeed loyal to Britain, Ced managed to be instituted as the leader of a programme of his own devising, the WRAITH Programme, in 1985. He also convinced someone, somehow, to let him be an English teacher.

He currently lives a little bit of a double life: playing the elegant noble Lord by night, when he mingles with high society types, and being a goofy English teacher during the day to everyone but the Executives of CAFE.

Although Ced has fallen in love numerous times throughout the ages, especially when he was younger, recently he’s stopped doing that. His loves kept dying on him. Now he seems to have devoted himself to Britain, which is longer-lasting and considerably more healthy.



THE VERY  B U T C H E R    OF A SILK BUTTON, A DUELLIST, A DUELLIST,
A  G E N T L E M A N
Ced was born a natural aethomancer, which has made him not only excellent at illusions, but also very good at understanding magic. He taught himself for most of his life, picking up a teacher once during the 1400s and trading tricks with his magic-working friends throughout the ages, especially once he joined the Whisperdark Coven.

Because of his natural aethomancy, he’s considered rather valuable by CAFE, because natural aethomancer students are so hard to find teachers for. Despite this, he’s also a last resort, mostly because he’s probably a bad influence.

Over his seven hundred years, Ced has also picked up psionism and ritualism. He is an accomplished telepath and telekinetic, as well as a capable warlock. He keeps henna on him at all times for use in chirography, and usually has a couple runes on himself.

As a shifter, Ced’s favored forms are human and that of a Russian Blue or black cat. He is capable of swarmshifting, but finds it uncivilised.

During the 1600s, Ced spent much of his time rediscovering an old magical art that allowed him to create a Wraith: a semi-intelligent shadow that was torn from someone. The ritual requires extensive knowledge of psionism and aethomancy, and he knows of no one besides himself in the world that is capable of performing it.

Of course, Ced used the ritual on himself once he was certain it worked. Ced’s shadow is very sassy, because it has had freedom for about four hundred years and has started to seriously build up intelligence.

It is still incredibly loyal to Ced, and acts as a companion and someone who always laughs at his jokes and delivers his punchlines when it can (i.e., when they don’t require sound). It’s also incredibly well-behaved, as far as shadows go, and very good at pretending to be a normal shadow around those who don’t know Ced’s true power.

The shadow’s name is Puck. It likes to take the form of a cat. It’s very cute. It’s also very good at making lewd gestures.