Profile
Basics
A practical, no-nonsense farmer who believes in hard work and nothing much else. He sees magic as a dishonest shortcut and those who use it are simply people who never want to put in the work for anything. A bit of a curmudgeon and a lot of a crabapple, Caleb is nonetheless a harmless and determined man who just likes to be left alone.
Likes
- farming
- drawing
- cigars
- daisies
Dislikes
- abandonment
- magic
- keeping secrets
- his son resenting him
About
The oldest of three boys, Caleb was used to hard work from the very start. Farming was all he knew, and all he cared to know. He believed in the power of good and honest hard work, and attempted to imbue that in his only son. He is rather detached from his fellow townsfolk and as a result has a rather bad reputation; in reality, he's not very good with words and prefers instead to be left alone.
young adulthood
Caleb Caldwell was part of a team working on a grant project in Noachis studying new methods of growing crops. While he enjoyed his time working there he did not particularly enjoy the company, mostly keeping to the working-class rather than his peers. When Celeste Michaels, the daughter of the grant project's head, began making advances on him, he cast her aside. When she not only refused to take no for an answer but actually made strides to meet him halfway, he warmed up to her. The grant project ended and Caleb moved on to a developing town called Ft. Orbyn that was in need of a farmer. Celeste followed him there and the two began an intense relationship.
adulthood
Caleb settled easily in Ft. Orbyn. Being more of a loner he did not make any attempts to connect to the other people in town, keeping busy with his work. When Celeste fell pregnant with his son he tried to convince her to marry him and start a proper family, but she did not even want to carry the baby to term. At his insisting she followed through with the pregnancy and Reggie was born. He tried his best to help her through the resulting psychosis but he was in over his head, and things came to a head on the night she tried to drown Reggie. When she left he was more angry than anything, but upon finding out she was nowhere to be found it swiftly changed to worry and grief. Without Celeste, Caleb was left to care for his very young son alone. His neighbor, Petunia Rohd, herself childless and yearning to be a mother, offered to help him care for the young boy. They got to know each other very well from their time spent alone together and found themselves falling for each other. It took a few years for Caleb to truly come to terms with it, having just lost the mother of his child, but they began a tentative romance. Not long after, however, Petunia disappeared, kidnapped by alraune (unbeknownst to Caleb). This loss so soon after Celeste drove Caleb to solitude, refusing to connect with anyone ever again for fear of losing them.
campaign
Once Petunia returned to town to reconnect with her old family, now reborn as an alraune herself named Punica, Caleb was hurt when she made no effort to find him again, not realizing she didn't remember him at all. After she and her party became embroiled in Celeste's plan to suck the magic and life out of the forest, she and Caleb found each other again, Punica learning that they had once been together. Per Caleb's request she gave Celeste a peaceful death, and stayed behind in Ft. Orbyn to help rebuild. The two rekindle their romance, though Punica often leaves town for holy work.
Relationships
Celeste Michaels [ ex-wife ]
Celeste won Caleb over with her determination and moxie and the two were in an intense relationship for a long while. As time went on it became clear that the two had different ideas for their futures, especially when Celeste became pregnant. He was not aware of the heinous acts she'd been committing, and this isolation led her to madness. After she leaves he cuts her from his life and their son's life completely, eschewing all things magical.
Reggie [ son ]
Reggie is the most important part of Caleb's life. Because he is all he has left he is terrified of losing him, and does everything he thinks is right to keep him happy and at home. In a misguided attempt to spare Reggie's feelings he avoids talking about Celeste and her work altogether, shutting him down whenever he shows interest in her work. While Caleb doesn't realize it, he is isolating Reggie from the rest of the world and making it so that Caleb is all Reggie has, and whenever Reggie tries to break out into the world, he is limiting him. He does not approve of Reggie's interest in magic.
Punica [ girlfriend ]
Caleb takes a little bit of time to reconcile his feelings for Petunia with his feelings for Punica. When she moves back in to town the two of them work closely together to revive the land, and he learns how Punica is different from the woman she used to be in life. Despite these differences, Caleb finds himself falling for her all over again, and the two begin their relationship anew. She leaves for extended periods of time to perform holy work, but will return to Persephone's Keep to be with Caleb.
Dahlia Rohd [ neighbor ]
It was only when Petunia vanished that Caleb had any real interaction with Dahlia, her older sister. Jealous of the attention Petunia was giving Caleb instead of her "real" family, Dahlia had always disliked and distrusted Caleb, and this only escalated when Petunia disappeared. She completely isolated Caleb from their family, in a fit of rage claiming that Petunia had only wanted to associate with him because she had wanted a child. When the fields started to fail, Caleb assumed Dahlia's magic garden was responsible for it and made attempts to re-purpose it for the towns' crops. Though they have their issues with each other, at the end of the day they do care about each other.
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