Ted Westwood's Questionnaire

Ted lives in Los Angeles, California, thanks to an invitation and a job offer from a fellow Contractor. He used to live New Hampshire, where he inherited his grandfathers house following his passing, and found his Lucky Belt Buckle in the attic, but moved for the connections and financial stability (relatively) offered by his new career as a Private Investigator.

Ted lives in an apartment that he was just about able to afford, along with a garage he rents for his Motorbike, Stallion, and so that he can do maintenance work on his gear. His apartment is a fairly plain place, but his room has a fair bit of Western Movie paraphernalia, including posters for several classics like The Lone Ranger and The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.

Ted works as a Private Investigator in Los Angeles, in the employ of Tyler, AKA Tyrion the Reformed Demon. He mostly serves as the muscle of the operation and boots on the ground, for when Tyrion isn't getting involved himself. Most of his money goes towards paying for his apartment and the garage he rents for Stallion to live in, actual maintenance being fairly cheap given his power to just fix anything by pulling material out of nowhere.

He has yet to abuse his powers for profit, but does do some home repair and DIY stuff using his mundane crafting skills for his neighbours to help make ends meet.

Growing up, Ted loved Western movies. He watched them with his Grandfather, growing up, and idolised the protagonists, their charisma, their presence, and just how cool they could be. He's always dreamed of being able to just walk into a bar, get into a firefight, and walk out unscathed like a badass, with his trusty horse partner waiting to carry him into the sunset, but unfortunately, the world doesn't work that way. Ted needs somewhere to sleep, a way to get food, a way to earn money, so much stuff keeping him from the free roaming wild life of his dreams, and the cops definitely wouldn't take kindly to him shooting up a bar. He wants a way around this. He wants a way to live his dreams, free from the consequences, like a cowboy from one of his movies, but he also wants to be like them. When the chips are down, Ted will take the heroic option if possible, he will fight the monster, or the bandit, or whatever, to protect innocents, even if it's more dangerous, but when his job puts him in opposition to the law, he won't hesitate until someone innocent is actually at risk of getting hurt. In D&D terms, he'd be closer to Chaotic Good.

The most defining moment of Ted's life was finding his Lucky Belt Buckle in his grandfathers attic. He'd just inherited it from his grandfather, after his passing, and their relationship was very close. They loved watching western movies together, so Ted decided to take it as a keepsake, only to find that it could unfold into a sizable, badass revolver, like something out of a movie. That was the day Ted began to believe that he could be special, that his dreams could be more than just dreams, and that all he needed to do was fight for them, like in the movies he loved as a kid.

Ted's Grandfather, Jebediah Westwood Senior, was one of the most influential figures in Ted's life, Ted often visited him growing up and the two would watch Western movies together. Ted inherited his build from Jeb, tall and fairly muscular, like an athlete or a male model, but the old man started to wither away when Ted reached his mid teens, quickly becoming small and frail. Ted is secretly terrified of ending up like his grandfather did, seeing it as a vision of his future.

Tyler (AKA Tyrion) is Ted's boss in his PI job, and is the one who assigns him work and hands him his paycheck, he's also Ted's fellow Contractor, and has worked with him before. Ted considers him a good guy, which is a good thing given the man is absolutely huge.

David is a grieving father and Tyler's receptionist, as well as another fellow Contractor. He has a phone which can make calls to the dead. Overall, decent guy.

Ted had a fairly mundane childhood, his dad owned a laundromat and his mom was a stay at home mom. He attended school, where, being handsome and athletic, he was pretty popular, and spent a lot of time with his grandfather, who lived fairly close by, where he developed a strong love for the western movies they would watch together.

As he grew older, it stopped being cool to like cowboys, so rather than talking to his friends about his favourite movies, he kept them and his fantasies of being a cowboy more to himself, blending in with the shallow shared interests of most teenage boys, only mentioning his favourite genre to his close friends. Between this and a few seasons as a moderately successful football player, Ted was one of the popular kids during his time in high school, though he never got more than average grades, and ended up working with his father at the laundromat for a time after graduating.

Over the course of his life, Ted has been in several casual relationships, though nothing that lasted past high school. His truest love could probably be said to be his motorbike, Stallion, he loves that thing to death. He frequently heads to the garage he rents for her to do maintenance, and will regularly take her out for rides around the city, as well as out past the outskirts to let her drive along the freeway. He considers Stallion as an actual member of his family, having gone so far as to kill people for wrecking her before. She's about as smart as a dog, and can be a bit spoilt, Ted treating her to all sorts of fancy fuels and polishing her.

Ted's greatest fear is old age. He saw his once-strong Grandfather, from whom he inherited so much of his own appearance, wither and eventually die from the passage of time and the wear and tear upon his body, and Ted saw in that a reflection of his own fate in the future. He generally doesn't like thinking about it, and in fact will avoid thinking about his future too much at all.

Apart from that, Ted is afraid of death itself. A natural fear, one found in most living beings, but to fail and die is something that, deep inside, terrifies Ted, after all the hard work and all the dreams he has put into his Contractor Career.

From his experiences as a Contractor, Ted has learned to fear the things that lurk in the dark, as they are many and variable in their form. Even following his therapy sessions to help him overcome this fear, Ted has retained a sense of caution when it comes to dark spaces, and will routinely carry a light source on him, preferring a headlamp to keep his hands free. Sometimes, at night, he hears a clacking sound from the shadows, like fingers tapping on his window.

Ted's most prized possessions are his Lucky Belt Buckle, and Stallion, his motorbike. His Lucky Belt Buckle is an heirloom from his grandfather, that Ted found in the attic when he inherited his Grandfather's house, and makes him preternaturally lucky. He considers finding it the moment his life turned around, and thinks of it as one last gift from his favourite family member.

Stallion, meanwhile, is Ted's living motorbike, and is honestly his closest friend and family member. Ever since he first got her up and running, Ted has spent hours working maintenance on her and learning how to work with engines and motorbikes, and has had his life saved by her many times. Ever since his first Contract with her, where she was wrecked protecting him from a particularly stupid decision by a teammate, Ted has known that he would kill for her, just as she would die for him.

The biggest problem in Ted's life right now is trying to keep up with payments on his apartment. PI work with a whole team of supernaturals makes a fair bit of money, but it's still pretty expensive to live in LA, as well as to pay for the upkeep on Stallion and her garage. His finances also have to go towards his groceries, and tools for his Contracts, and a rainy day fund, in case he ever gets put out of commission or otherwise forced to take time off, and it can get stressful managing that. By contrast, the dangers of PI work, mostly irate spouses caught cheating or other such mundane risks, is pretty relaxing for him to deal with, his skills and gifts from his work as a Contractor letting him get through mostly unharmed whenever these problems come up. A big reason he works as Tyrion's muscle.

Ted gets up bright and early, picks up his Lucky Belt Buckle from under his pillow, and goes to the bathroom to brush his teeth. After that, he takes a shower, dries himself off, and gets dressed, always wearing his Lucky Belt Buckle, regardless of the outfit. Next on the agenda, he makes himself a simple breakfast, either toast or cereal (he prefers rice krispies, for the pop) and heads out. He walks down to the garage, checks in on Stallion, and gives her a polish and a bit of a fuss. After that, depending on if he has work that day, he will open up the garage, roll Stallion out, and either ride on over to Tyrion's detective agency for assignments, or take Stallion out of the city to ride freely on the roads, let her get some fresh air. Seeing his trusty steed so happy is one of the best feelings in Ted's life.

To go somewhere special, Ted would wear a white button up shirt, with black trousers and smart black lace up shoes. He would shave his stubble down, to make sure it doesn't get out of control, and then he would use hair gel to slick his hair back and down, pressed close to his scalp. His Lucky Belt Buckle would be polished, to keep it clean and shiny, and he would then wear it pride of place on his belt, the four leaf clover symbol on display to the world. He would also take Stallion out to a professional Car Wash tog et her polished and waxed, as well as personally going over her to make sure she has no dents or scratches, and that her tires are in top shape. All in all, it would take a good part of a day to get properly prepared for his outing.

For his next birthday, Ted plans to meet up with his surviving Contractor buddies, and to share his homebrewed Moonshine among the group. After that, he's going to let everyone take turns riding on Stallion, just because it's a special occasion, and so long as they promise not to scratch her, and he will let Stallion take his friends up for a flight through the air. After that, he plans for a quiet afternoon making a barbecue with his friends, trading stories round the grill of what they've been up to, and will send them home with some party favours of his own making.

Ted's greatest regret is his failure to save the life of Ferb, a fellow Contractor he met on his first job. Although Ted didn't know him that well, they had saved each others lives several times over the course of the jobs, and Ferbs last act was to go back for Ted, after Ferb himself had almost escaped from danger. Ferbs decision cost him his life, but saved that of Ted, and Ted will never forget that.

Said incident is also the origin of Ted's fear of the Dark, it being his first real encounter with the spooky things which are out there. The thing which killed Ferb managed to beat Ted half to death before his escape, and ever since he has kept an eye out for what could be hiding around the next corner, under the floorboards, behind the nearest bush, or wherever else his vision fails him.

Ted's gifts are best described as realised Fantasy. Ever since he first picked up his Grandfathers old Lucky Belt Buckle, Ted has been connected to the "Spirit of the West", a metaphysical embodiment of the sentiments which made up the culture and customs of the old Wild West, somewhat watered down by the effect of Hollywood and the cinematic takes on the period. As such, Ted has developed the ability to, through his link to the Spirit of the West, warp reality to a limited degree to be more in line with a Western Movie, such as not having to reload his gun, "Miraculous" escapes from danger, and, of course, his trusty steed, Stallion.

As a side effect of his frequent interaction with unnatural powers and supernatural artifacts, Ted has developed a knack for figuring out how to repair and replace parts from them when they get damaged, aided by a sliver of innate connection to the Spirit of the West.

Ted, as an individual, does not consider himself to be particularly spiritual. His parents were not particularly active in practicing religion, though they were technically Christian, while Ted himself has never seen the point in investing himself in Religion when all his needs can be met in the world of screens. However, throughout his adventures as a Contractor, Ted has met many individuals of various faiths and spiritual beliefs, all of whom are capable of drawing on these beliefs to manifest some manner of power of their own, from a Catholic Priest who could hold back the undead, to a man who can transmit cell signals to the afterlife. As a result of this, Ted has come to the conclusion that, while he doesn't consider himself a particularly devout adherent of any one faith, all of them must have at least a grain of truth to them in order to provide powers in the way he's seen.

Ted has developed something of a "keep on keeping on" attitude, when in doubt, just keep moving, and sort things out when you get through to the other side. Ted used to think of the world in a sort of black and white, good guys and bad guys way, until the first time he killed another Contractor. While he wouldn't change his decision, he was shaken by the realisation that his team could be as much of a threat to him as their foes, though was buoyed by the support of his other team mate at the time. In the end, Ted simply has to keep moving and get out alive, he has time to break down and freak out later, once he isn't about to be dinner for some hungry abomination or another. Except if you touch Stallion, nobody hurts Ted's ride and gets away with it. No. Body.

The Most frequent encounter in Ted's Contractor Career is Charlie Blackstone, a Were-Malamute and social activist for Were-creature-kind. She wields a yoyo with enough power to break skulls and skill to use it as a grappling hook, and can turn into a hybrid between a Human and a Malamute Dog, or completely turn into a Malamute. She is very fluffy in dog form. Ted respects her determination and planning skills, but also somewhat resents her willingness to threaten him with shared secrets, as it makes it kind of hard to trust her.

Another repeat encounter for Ted is Albert a.k.a. Dominic, a weirdo in a van who, through the power of hacking, knows everything that's going on before Ted does. While Ted is always glad to have someone as competent as him on side, he is also kind of paranoid and off-putting. Still, Ted would rather deal with a crazy conspiracy theorist than go in blind any day.

a wide, wooden panelled room, with a rather rustic vibe. On the wall is mounted an oxen skull, with a thin crack down the nose, with a pale yellow wallpaper until halfway above the floor. In the middle of the room is a large wooden table, set for a group with wild pig, turkey, and all kinds of fruit and vegetables, with wooden chairs seated all around it. Along the walls are a wooden grandfather clock, old and majestic, alongside rows of shelves and smaller side tables, except for the furthest wall from the door, where a small bar is set up, bottles of whisky and other assorted drinks glistening on the shelf behind the counter. The doors are wooden, of the panelled sort seen in old western movies, though no smoke hangs in the air, and the dull roar of a motorbike mixes into the background noise of horses neighing.