Barnibas Clay

Physical Appearance

• Medium-length chocolate brown hair
• Blue eyes
• Medium in height
• Relatively fit with a somewhat scrappy build
• Fair skinned
• Usually wears contacts for his farsightedness but sometimes wears glasses

Clothing Style

Clay tends to dress for the cool weather that almost always engulfs the dreary city of Dyrelaw. He almost exclusively wears long sleeved tops and pants, and he usually wears vests and jackets on top. He strikes a balance between mildly professional and casual, and his style resembles something of very mild hipster fashion, more so when off the clock. He likes wearing either scarves or ties depending on what type of shirt he's wearing. He also tends to have a lot of methods of carrying things, such as his messenger bag, various pockets on his clothes, some pouches on his belts, and whatnot.

His most common outfit while out in the field includes a blue sweater vest (or a full sweater if it's particularly cold) over a white long sleeved button up collared shirt with a dark blue tie. He usually wears a dark gray jacket outdoors (with sleeves usually rolled up to elbows if the weather is fair enough), and sometimes he'll wear a scarf along with it depending how cold it is outside. He'll usually have with him or wear white gloves, especially if he needs to handle artifacts of his research. He also usually wears khakis or brown slacks with loafers or dress shoes. His socks are usually blue and sometimes patterned. 

He will sometimes wear glasses, and he almost always has his camera worn around neck and a leather messenger bag with him. He usually has a belt with extra pouches to hold things, and sometimes he'll have another belt and pouch around his leg. He'll also frequently wear a blue newsboy style cap when outside. Later on he is gifted some dog tags and he rarely takes them off.

Personality

Clay is an inquisitive and curious photographer and journalist who is always dead-set on finding his scoop. When working on his article or taking photos, he is very confident and headstrong, and most people note that he is rather nosy and pushy about getting to the bottom of things when he suspects there's a story worth uncovering. He can be a bit opportunistic and is in-your-face about asking questions, which can make him rather annoying to anyone involved with him for extended periods of time if they're not cooperative. Clay doesn't have problems taking risks to get his scoop or get the perfect shot with his camera, but he can often be a bit reckless in his passionate pursuit of his story and usually ends up getting himself into trouble. Although he is a very clever and resourceful man with great intuition about how to get what he's looking for, he gets very flustered if he winds up in a violent situation, and despite the fact he can handle argumentative people just fine, he tends to panic when legitimately threatened. He's not scared or deeply affected by morbid things if he's reporting on them, but he doesn't handle actually being in danger very well and usually freezes up in situations where he should run or defend himself. He's not a violent person in the slightest despite usually reporting on violent crimes, and he has a lot of trouble acting in self defense since he usually can't bring himself to hurt other people.

Clay comes off as a rather quirky character that most people either love or hate. For some his positivity and enthusiasm is contagious, but for others it's incredibly annoying. He seems a little too dedicated to his job at times and rarely goes "off duty" in terms of his personality. He tends to be fast talking, witty, and a bit sassy when talking to others, and he never lets anyone talk him out of getting what he wants. He also has a very particular way of doing various tasks, and he rarely does things differently than what he's used to. Although he's willing to try new things and take risks, in terms of things he already knows how to do he sometimes has trouble with change. Clay tends to do certain tasks in ways he's familiar with even if there's a more efficient way to do them, especially if it's something he can do in the privacy of his home office. When by himself, Clay is much more subdued and lower energy, and he rarely lets anyone see him when he's at home winding down. Being with him on a very personal and private level makes him much more quiet and coy, and he doesn't like to let other people know too much about him. He gets rather defensive and flustered when asked personal questions, and he seems to be a bit nervous about letting people know him in great detail despite how much detail he puts into his work involving other people.

Abilities

• Has the uncanny ability to be in the right place at the right time (which can easily turn into the wrong place at the wrong time)
• Highly skilled at photography and noticing the tiniest of details in even the messiest of surroundings
• Eloquent and highly literate, making him skilled at reading, writing, editing, and research
• Fluent in Ela and Aquanix

Strengths

• Observant, instinctual, and has keen intuition
• Clever, eloquent with his journalism, meticulous, and creative
• Determined, persistent, and difficult to deter
• Quick witted, enthusiastic, and self motivated

Weaknesses

• Nosy, pushy, and way too curious
• Easily flustered when outside of his comfort zone and emotionally crumbles when in danger
• Stubborn, difficult to talk out of things, and tends to prioritize his work over his own safety or health
• Gets into trouble frequently when he focuses too much on his investigations or when taking pictures

Backstory

Clay doesn't talk much about his past before moving to Dyrelaw. He currently works at the largest news station in the city, working as a journalist and photographer that focuses on crime and scandals. More recently he's been assigned to research and find scoops involving the increasing gang and mafia crime, particularly the increasing number of murders in the district. While snooping around the area, he constantly runs into Detective Jones and often gets on his nerves when he tries to photograph crime scenes, strangely enough usually before law enforcement can even reach them. Although Clay seems to find crime scenes at every turn like no one's business, he is willing to trade info with the grumpy detective for a more in depth story. Even though Jones is usually a jerk, Clay seems to enjoy encountering him and getting him worked up.

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