William Grey

William Grey is a warlock from The Mortal Instruments continuum. Due to an accident caused by trans-dimentional magic, he transported himself to the PPC HQ and eventually joined the DMS and became partners with the recently transferred Agent Jones.

He is written by Matt Cipher.

Appearance
William is a quite tall and slim, with red hair and green eyes. Like all warlocks from the continuum, he has a demon mark – a unique body trait which identifies him as a non-human; William's marks are his ivory skin and a black tongue, slightly longer than a normal human's. His red hair is middle-length, covers the back of his neck and often obscures his eyes. He has no characteristic scars, body markings, or tattoos, but he does have a small, pointy goatee.

Because of his longevity, William has been through many different styles of clothing and appearance; from tiny pencil moustache and tail coats, to full beard and cut-off denim jackets. Currently, he prefers wearing various types of t-shirts (v-necks, stretched, torn, etc.) which often have magic-related puns printed on them, dark tight-fit jeans, knee-high boots, and a brown frock overcoat he had when he first happened upon the PPC. Occasionally, he wears accessories such as rings, necklaces, gloves, or hats.

Personality
William is quite a laid-back character, and he remains neutral in most cases – if there isn't something that interests him, or it cannot bring him any benefits, he won't get involved in it. He also refuses to do favours for free, and charges heavily even for the smallest of spells and potions. William has something he likes to call a ‘selectively eidetic memory’: if something, or someone, interests him, he will remember it. The smallest bits of canon trivia, the colour of his first girlfriend's petticoats, or the lyrics of every song from The Fiddler on the Roof – he can recall it whenever he likes.

He speaks in a politely sarcastic manner, and is often seen as being more cocky and rude than he intends to be. However, he hates people with a superiority complex, and being ordered around; and he will even go as far as mocking and ignoring people who try to force him to do something that, in his opinion, doesn't make sense. He also doesn’t appreciate people putting on ‘masks’ and hiding their true feelings. William is a thinker, he doesn't rush into action, but calmly waits for an opportunity. This also makes him a perfectionist of a kind; he is determined to complete missions thoroughly, even if a chance to assassinate the target appears way before the story ends.

He likes spending time at Rudi's – drinking, playing cards or flirting with both men and women. If he's not there, or in his RC, he will be in the General Store looking for some stuff to experiment with (he's a regular patron of Jane's Alchemical Shoppe).

Background
William was born in the mid-1860s, in London, to a French-English woman and a Greater Demon from Hell. He was born with ivory skin, but it didn't raise a lot of suspicion – people tended to think he was just another sickly child. He was raised by his mother and her family in a middle-class setting, and was treated with love and care, until he was seven. At that time his magic manifested along with his other warlock mark – the black, slightly longer tongue. The first noticeable symptoms were small. Cutlery moving on the table. Plumes of smoke and sparks coming from his fingertips. Toys and small objects vanishing and reappearing in different places.

From the very beginning, because William’s mother was the only one raising him, the family was the main subject of the gossiping neighbours. Finally, when the rumours started spreading about William being cursed and ‘marked by the devil’, his mother decided to give William to a shelter run by the local church. She didn't know the true identity of the child's father but she believed the Lord and His teachings would absolve the boy of all that was wrong with him. It was in that shelter that William met another warlock, Isaac, who decided to raise him and provide him with the knowledge and training he needed.

When William ceased ageing, as every warlock does eventually, he decided to travel the continent to further develop his knowledge. He has acquainted himself with various cultures and, at one point, even became quite wealthy. It didn't last very long, however, and since that day, money has continued to quickly escape his grasp.

In 2015, William decided to experiment with spatial magic – his goal was instant, intercontinental travel without a need to spend a lot of money. While testing his portal, he carved the wrong runes by mistake and the Gate turned into a plothole, which sucked him in and transported him into PPC HQ. Having had the Organisation’s purpose explained to him, he decided it would be fun to join. After learning the basics from one of the agent trainers, he was assigned to Venus Jones, a new DMS agent recently transferred from the Department of Intelligence.

Powers & Abilities
William exhibits levels of strength, speed and stamina appropriate to that of a healthy young adult who exercises on a regular basis. In terms of unarmed combat, he knows the basics of self-defence. His weapon of choice is his swordstick – a blade concealed in a hollow walking stick, popular in the Victorian Era. Although William was never properly trained in fencing, he knows how to perform basic thrusts and slashes effectively.

As a warlock, William has an innate ability to perform magic. Because of his demon blood he is able to harness energy from his surroundings, and can use this with his own stamina (or life force, if the spell is more powerful) in order to reshape reality. His powers are stronger in the continua where magic exists, and he is at his most powerful in his home continuum. William's magic usually manifests as sickly green sparks, or plumes of thick smoke. Although it is a powerful ability, magic in The Mortal Instruments can be easily cancelled by water – running water and holy water work best, but even casting spells near large bodies of water is extremely difficult, and there are only a handful of warlocks who can do it. William is not one of them. Here are his powers, while in the HQ:
 * Glamour: A type of concealment magic, used to alter the appearance of people and objects. In terms of living things, glamour will only work if the disguise is close to the size of the wearer (i.e. a human cannot glamour himself as a cat, or a small inanimate object). It also doesn't work on non-humans (vampires, werewolves, etc.). William uses it mostly to alter his clothes, or to give his skin a little more colour.
 * Summoning: William is capable of transporting objects through space without a need to use any magical items or circles. It is worth noting that he does not create the objects he summons, but merely changes their location (e.g. if he summons a plate from the cafeteria, one plate will be missing from there). For summoning living beings, a ritual is required.
 * Protective Wards: Basic barriers, preventing physical and spiritual attacks. Different wards require different methods of casting (e.g. glyphs placed in a specific formation, an object acting as a ‘core’ that keeps the barrier active, etc.), but all of them drain a warlock's stamina if used continuously.


 * Potion Brewing: William can create substances with magical properties such as enhancing physical and mental abilities or healing, depending on the kind of potion that is made. Some potions come in different forms of liquid, such as jelly, stew, brew, or even soup. They can also be made into solid form: often pills, powder, candy, and possibly drugs. Potions require a base (usually alcohol, or water), ingredients, infusion of magical energy, and – naturally – time to brew.

Souvenirs

 * Wardrobe – it used to serve as the armoury for Dumbledore's elite crew of assassins. Its powerful enchantments allows only the Headmaster of Hogwarts, and his hitmen, to open it. Currently, William is working to modify the enchantments so that only he, and VJ, would be able to access the wardrobe.

August 2015

 * Accidentally appears in The Marquis de Sod's office. Joins the PPC.
 * Partnered with VJ.

September 2015

 * Completes his first mission with VJ.

Partner: VJ

 * 1) "Angels and Demons" (Harry Potter)
 * 2) COMING SOON