Jack Hawthorne

Real Name: Jack Hawthorne
Renegade Name: N/A
Title(s): Moonchild, Master of Doorways, Shadowbringer, he has too many to count.
Alignment: Neutral Good
Age: 37
Gender: Male
Race: Human
Hair: Black, shoulder length
Eyes: Inhumanly purple
Height: 5’10”
Weight: 170lbs
Blood type: AB






Jack Hawthorne is a man with one foot in reality, and another in everything else. He has a burning curiosity about the way of the world, and a deep fascination for the mysteries of the universe. Always the ominous one in the room, Jack evokes an air of mystery and gloomy serenity wherever he goes. He is perpetually unthreatened or unbothered by the unknown, and often welcomes something new to change his day. He has an astoundingly inquisitive mind that pushes him to learn the things that human beings simply were not meant to learn. The weight of unfathomable knowledge is that of an anchor to some, but only a grain of sand to Jack. He plunges into the unknown, no matter how horrible the horrors lurking there may be, because it brings him comfort to set foot in places that others shudder at. The old saying that knowledge is power fills him with purpose.

This does, of course, come with a heavy amount of confidence and pride in himself. The easiest way to get Jack to do something is to tell him that he simply can’t. That’s impossible, or beyond him. Beneath his cocky demeanor, and the sense of optimistic nihilism one gets from talking to him for long enough, one finds a man who sees the world as something to be cherished. He is kind to the people he meets, enough to uplift those who cannot uplift themselves. Humanity and life itself is a wondrous thing, and he finds great fulfillment in passing on what he knows to improve upon the lives of others.



For as long as Jack could remember, he had a fascination with the world of magic. From a young age, he dove deep into old books on spellcasting and the cosmology of the universe. He taught himself how to create something out of nothing, to trespass into areas no one would expect. Jack’s childhood was full of study and practice, and one day, he set out into the real world to learn and explore. He developed a fascination with interdimensional travel, and amassed a wealth of knowledge on places outside of Earth. Other planets inhabited by sentient beings, wild landscapes where magic was in every square atom of the ground, and unexplored realities most could never dream of. They all enraptured him as a young man. And with no one to stop him, Jack made countless journeys to these places.

In his travels, Jack has seen many things. He has been to almost every country on his home planet, and saw the ways in which the world has shifted and changed. He has met people on both sides of conflicts justified and not, and though he doesn’t have any credentials, Jack could pass as a PhD-level educator in a university on the subject of metahuman powers. The life of a nomadic scholar suited him well, but as Jack grew older, he began to desire something else. Most of the people he resonated with most were displaced in a way. Their families shunned them for entertaining notions of “witchcraft,” they struggled to balance one life of simplicity with another life of heroism. He knew the value of doing good, so Jack set out to create a place where he could pass on his knowledge to others, and give them somewhere to live in peace.

And thus, the Graymoon Institute was founded in secret. It wasn’t easy, but with enough of his old connections and a few underhanded actions, a school for the universe’s Empowered now stands on a deserted island somewhere out at sea.



Master of the Dark
Jack is a master of shadow-based magic. Some might call him a wizard, others might call him a magician, but his supernatural abilities put him up there with the likes of superheroes and wizards of legend. In his travels, he has honed his magical abilities to distract, sabotage, and navigate places in ways most cannot.

Umbramancy: A simple but broad-reaching spell. Jack creates magical darkness from thin air, and shapes it to his preference. The darkness that Jack manipulates can be given substance, to act as physical matter. This can range from simply rendering a room pitch black, or forming weapons and barriers out of literal nothingness.

Jack virtually always has this spell in use, as his left arm is made entirely of this magical darkness. Years ago, he was gravely injured in a fight, and had to compensate for the lack of a hand ever since.

Moonblade: An extension of Jack’s Umbramancy spell. Jack forms a magic scythe out of thin air, weightless and sharpened down to the width of an atom. The Moonblade is capable of cutting through metal and stone without effort, and serves as Jack’s answer to practical problems that require a firm hand.

Twilight Passage: In any dimly lit area, such as a rooftop just before sunrise or in an abandoned building, Jack can teleport through the shadows to appear virtually anywhere. In order to properly arrive somewhere, Jack must either be able to visually see the destination, visualize it clearly in his mind, or have been there previously. The endpoint of this spell must be dimly lit, and if the exact area Jack is going to is not, then he will automatically teleport to the nearest suitable area.

Darkvision: Jack imbues himself or another with the ability to see through all forms of darkness, mundane or otherwise. In darkness caused by a metahuman power, or a magic spell, Darkvision only allows one to see in black and white. Otherwise, they see in full color.

Ebonveil: Jack envelops himself in shadows, taking on the appearance of something inhuman. In this form, he blends into dark environments like a ghost. The shadows that cling to Jack do not offer much protection from incoming magic, or even bullets. As such, this spell is mostly a trick for sneaking around in highly populated areas, though it also tends to scare the shit out of people if he gets caught.




Photophobia: Most of Jack’s magical capabilities can be countered by light-based magic or metahuman powers. Using mundane light sources such as a floodlight is inconsistent at best, but a spell that fires blinding lasers, or a power that involves vomiting UV light would render Jack powerless. One could add insult to injury and expose him to enough of this Empowered light to take away his magical hand. Jack couldn’t even open a jar if he lacked magic.

Cut and Run: Jack isn’t built for rough and tumble fighting. In a fight, he’s more suited to striking at weak points and keeping someone distracted. If he got into it with a martial artist or something who could throw cars around like baseballs, Jack would be dead to rights. He’s more comfortable in thoughtful, strategic fights.


https://www.superhero-rpg.com/t13228-graymoon-institue-of-the-empowered#130881


See: Stareater