Evan Black

Physical Appearance

• Medium length black hair
• Red eyes
• Fair skinned, very pale
• Somewhat tall in height
• Physically fit with a mildly muscled/somewhat scrappy build
• Pierced ears and pierced lip on the right side

In life, he looked relatively similar to how he does now, although his eyes used to be hazel. He's mentioned that he wasn't in quite as good of shape as he looks now and was a little bit shorter. He also mentions he had problems with facial acne as a teen and had a lot of acne scars from that time as an adult, so as an Eksel he has a perfect complexion. He cheekily comments he didn't look nearly this pretty when he was alive, but he was a perfectly average, decent looking man.

Clothing Style

Evan dresses in a rather simplistic style of all black with minimal silver accessories. He usually wears a black turtlenecked top with a black sleeveless vest with some pockets. He wears black jeans with black leather boots, and he also wears black fingerless gloves and simple silver bangles around his wrists. One of the bracelets is a handmade link charm bracelet, which is one that his girlfriend made for him in life. He apparently dressed somewhat similarly in life, although since he died in the late 1970s the specific style of his clothing was different due to the times.

Personality

Evan is a low key, quiet, and thoughtful man who tends to come off as emotionless and low energy. He holds himself with confidence and has a cool and calm demeanor. Others know him to be level headed and he rarely seems to get thrown off or surprised no matter what he faces. He prefers to be hands on with his work and tends to do things on his own for the most part. He's often blunt when he speaks, but he's a relatively mellow person and easy to get along with, although he comes off as a little snippy just because he doesn't bother with petty issues. It's easy to assume he's a little apathetic due to his deadpan demeanor, but he's a man with direction. He tends to be rather low energy when around other people, but he is a bit more active when by himself or with a partner rather than a group.

Evan can come off as melancholy at times since he left behind his girlfriend when he died, who relied on him for emotional support both since she lacked confidence and suffered from anxiety, but also because the two had just lost a child from stillbirth and she wasn't coping well. Evan wishes he could still be there for her while also wishing he could've done something for their child. He seems to have accepted his fate though, and although he wonders what became of Katherine, he acknowledges it's out of his hands at this point and it's not worth dwelling on. He tends to imagine what he'd do if he was still alive or if Katherine was with him as an Eksel too, so he can sometimes be seem mumbling to himself when he feels alone. He offhandedly acts as though either of these scenarios are playing out when he's wandering by himself, but it's more to amuse himself rather than filling any emotional need.

However, Evan tends to wonder the most about the kind of child he and Katherine might've had. He often gets lost in thought, wondering who he or she might've grown up to be given the chance at life. The image he most often thinks of is a son with a curious mind and interest in the arts like his mother was. This is probably the reason why Evan was so drawn to Carter when he found him wandering the Realm of the Dead, scared and alone. Evan cares deeply for Carter and treats him like the child he always wanted, and he would do anything to protect him. Evan acknowledges that Carter suffered from emotional abuse and dismissal from his real father, so Evan does his best to foster Carter's interests without upsetting him or his fragile confidence.

Abilities

• Invisibility in the mortal plane
• Levitation and teleportation
• Eksel Manipulation to change shape and affect matter around him

Strengths

• Confident, level headed, and resourceful
• Independent, clever, and observant
• Creative, inventive, meticulous, and quick witted
• Easy to talk to, a good listener, and supportive

Weaknesses

• Low energy and can unintentionally bring enthusiastic people down with his lack of receptiveness to excitement
• Loses interest easily when in a group and will shut out others once he's done socializing
• Gets bored with staying in one place for too long and will go off on his own without warning
• Gets hung up on his own thoughts often and doesn't open up to others easily

Backstory

Evan doesn't go into a lot of detail about his past other than the time shortly before his death. He was lucky throughout his early life that he never encountered any hostile Eksel and only interacted with very mellow ones. Due to this he apparently had a relatively normal childhood. He sometimes remarks of dropping out of art school at some point in his life and living with his girlfriend, Katherine Black, whom he'd known since their time in public school. He also speaks of losing their first and only child attempted together due to stillbirth.

Only a few weeks after this, Evan states he was killed when an Eksel manipulated the driver of a car that was on the upper floors of a multistory car park and made him drive through the wall and off the building. He remarks it was a relatively quick and painless death and is relieved he was able to push Katherine out of the way before the car crushed him. Evan wandered about Yashanarika before meeting Annelie, Richard, and the rest of their group. Evan spent equal time with their group and drifting along on his own.

About 10 years after his awakening as an Eksel he encountered Carter, a newly awakened Eksel, being pursued by a Waking Range scavenger. Evan rescued him and took the boy under his wing, partially because Carter resembled the image Evan created in his head what his stillborn child might have been like if he had survived. Evan continues to look after Carter, acting as his surrogate father and teaching him to survive the Realm of the Dead. He's noticed Carter has started to take after him in both personality and appearance, which he has no qualms about, and he's grown very protective of his son figure over the course of 20 years.  

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