Sleuthing For Sale

So great news. I’ve got a duck pond. Bad news, this plant grew by it, and it bit me while I was trying to weed the flowerbeds. So either this is my Poison Ivy era origin story, or a PSA to watch out for the weird carnivorous plants that are, apparently, indigenous to the area.

Rodolfo "Rudy" Garza He / him

"Knowing is half the battle, and I'm great at that. It's the other half of the battle that's the problem."

SPECIES: Spellcaster OCCUPATION: UMWR Student AGE: 18 Years Old PLAYED BY: Tyler FC: Xolo Maridueña

BIOGRAPHY:

For most of his life, Rudy Garza always considered himself a “hopeful skeptic”. That phrase meant that while he would never be fully convinced of paranormal creatures or entities until he saw them with his own two eyes, he was very eager to encounter one some day. It was ironic, considering he came from a family that could control lightning seemingly at will. Magic was not at all a foreign concept to him. Still, he had grown up with and been immersed in magic his whole life. Ghosts and demons were a completely different matter. Historically, the Garza family had been skilled practitioners of electromancy. It made sense to him, he could see electricity every time he turned on a light or lightning any time it stormed. While his control over electricity was tenuous to say the least, he always dreamed of eventually using his powers to fight dangerous criminals like one of the superheroes from his comics. His father happily helped him hone his powers whenever he could. 

His friends were like him, paranormal enthusiasts, but with varying degrees of skepticism among the group. They had done several ghost hunts with a disappointing degree of failure on each. Chris was the one who was by far the biggest skeptic, finding the idea of the paranormal to be fascinating but mostly tagging along just to make fun of the others as their investigations eventually turned up with nothing at all. 

The summer after graduating high school, his friends decided to use a ouija board in an area of woods that was rumored to be an abandoned burial ground. This time felt different, this time a foreboding feeling overcame him the second he received the invitation. In spite of this, he agreed to tag along. Spirits were high as they trekked deeper into the woods, none of the group seeing the strange symbols carved into the trees as they walked into the dark forest. The session began and they all sat in front of the board, making sure to have an EMF reader on standby to make sure any messages weren’t just one person fucking with the rest. 

Then, shortly into their questioning, the board started on fire, sending everybody into a panic. Rudy tried to make sense of his surroundings, but between all of the trees and the seemingly endless darkness surrounding him, he couldn’t get his bearings. He heard a growling sound behind him and tried to harness any sort of electricity to send towards the sound, trying desperately to defend himself and his friends. But it was to no avail, as his friends all disappeared before his eyes, leaving him as the sole survivor. He didn’t know why he was left alive.

His friends were never heard from again, nor were their remains ever found. They’re still considered missing persons to this day. That summer was supposed to be their last hurrah before everyone went their separate ways for college. Rudy was still undecided on where he wanted to go, and was debating on going to the same school as one of his friends. Now, he was alone and completely lost on what to do and where to go. 

Rudy had an impressive high school resume, so he sorted through many advertisements from different colleges all hoping to recruit him. But none of them really stood out to him until he saw a mailer from The University of Maine: Wicked’s Rest. The school looked…unique to say the least. It boasted about special programs that wouldn’t be found at any other school, and prided itself on diversity “for all gender identities, sexualities, ethnicities, and species.” Species? Maybe that meant he’d be able to bring his familiar, a silver tabby cat named Tito. He had planned on taking him along with him to college anyway, but this way he wouldn’t have to sneak him in. Still, he found it odd that they’d advertise it that way.

There was something about the school that drew him in, so taking a chance, he went ahead and applied. He was accepted pretty quickly, and the next thing he knew two months had passed and he was packing his bags to move to Maine. On arrival, he immediately got the feeling that something wasn’t right. He didn’t want to be too judgemental, but some students seemed almost inhuman. After what happened to his friends, he was no longer a skeptic. Was it possible that the same type of monster that killed his friends would also be at this school? It seemed unlikely, but he didn’t want to take any chances. He decided that he’d hone his magic more and become the defender that he couldn’t be for his friends. Something was off about some of the students at this school.

And Rudy planned on getting to the bottom of it.

PERSONALITY:

Intuitive · Loyal · Courageous · Determined · Stubborn · Diffident · Obsessive

OTHER INFO:

While most of Rudy’s family tend to be very secretive with their powers, Rudy tends to be much less careful about revealing his abilities. In fact, he sees them as an integral part of his crime fighting persona.

His powers are still unrefined, and without familial guidance he often struggles to successfully use his magic.

His familiar is a silver tabby cat named Tito.