Preston Vincent Astor III's Questionnaire

I live in Princeton, of course! As for why, that's easy, it's the town with the best school on earth, Princeton university. 

As for why Princeton, that's just the opportunity afforded to me. My family connections made this university an easy choice after high school, and it's one of the best universities on earth so. . . why break what isn't broken? Besides, this place has a good, active chapter of Epsiolon Omicron, so I didn't have to do any of the leg work to get that going.

Someday when I'm done with grad school, I'll probably move somewhere else like Manhattan or Florida. You know, somewhere you can brush shoulders with the big important people. San Francisco would also be pretty okay, but it's not really my style. Too much fog. 

Oh, you know, my family has all sorts of holdings and investments. We have land, business interests, commodities like gold and silver, art, and all the usual old money shit. 

Originally, we Astors got most of our money from drug manufacturing and sales. Of course, I have my suspicions that my great grandfather was also a wizard and used his magic to make money and court powerful connections. 

These days it's almost impossible NOT to make money, as long as you know how to use your connections. I mean, I could call just about any american leader of industry, business, or government on the phone. How could you NOT be rich? 

My ambition? Wow that's a tougher question than when I started out. 

Originally, I just wanted to rid the world of evil monsters. I mean, sounds simple and straightforward and virtuous, right? That's what my great grandfather set out to do when he founded Epsilon Omicron.

But I've seen things in the past few years that have made me question that ambition. I've met "people" who have changed my mind, like Benny and Porcelain man. These are non-human, intelligent creatures who are pretty good people overall, and I feel like we would be foolish to close doors to working and living together just because they happen to not be humans. 

At the end of the day, prejudice was just in a different place in my great grandfather's time. I'm going to forge new alliances and partnerships with these inhuman creatures and drive out and destroy all the evil and dangerous ones. After all, America is allies with Saudi Arabia and Isreal and I guess technically Packistan and all of those places are pretty fucked up in their own ways. So I don't really see any reason why we can't also be allies with the occasional monster. For the greater good, of course. 

Probably the death of my mother. 

I know it's not a super sexy, exciting event, but I was really close to my mother. She died in mysterous circumstances, disappeared and assumed dead. No one had any motive to kill her, and she didn't have any motive to run away. We all believe she went out on the yacht and died at sea. No body was ever recovered. 

And miss me with that "oh she's probably a selkie that got away" or whatever bullshit. Not every disappearance is a kidnapping or a fairy tale. Sometimes people just die without a lot of closure, and that's life. 

I think I lived life kinda like it was a dream before that happened. It woke me up. It got me thinking about the big picture, what kind of man I was becoming, how I wanted to change the world, and what I would do to change the world. 

If my mom hadn't died. . . I probably wouldn't have signed the contract.

First one: my father. Yes, he's still alive. He wants me to start working in the family business soon, and I have no idea how I'm going to tell him that I don't want to. It's pretty important to keep that kind of thing in the family, but I simply have a different calling. Even becoming individually wealthy wouldn't make him too happy, but at the end of the day, I just don't see myself running a traditional business. 

Next up: Benny Scappetti. We did some crazy jobs together and grew really close. You have no idea how mind-blown I was when I figured out he was a vampire! A fucking man-eating monster! My best friend! We saved each others' asses so many times, it made me wake the fuck up from my xenophobia when I learned about his true nature. Luckily I was able to convince him to live in Italy. 

Finally, the third person is probably all of my bros at Epsilon Omicron. I don't know if I'm allowed to say that, but fuck the rules, all my bros are one person because we're a frat, and we're gunna stick together through thick and thin. 

My childhood was amazing! 

Mom's just the best. I mean, she lives the housewife fantasy life, sure, but she's not an alcaholic deadbeat like so many other rich wives. She's actually a concert pianist and quite the athlete. She's always there for me when I need some good advice or just a little reassurance. Her name is Cynthia. 

My dad's name is Preston too, obviously. He's currently running one of the world's most powerful investment funds, and he's doing quite well for himself (and all of us!). He's who got me into Princeton, of course, and Epsilon Omicron. 

These days I wonder quite a bit about his monster-hunting days. I wonder just how legit he and this secret society are. I mean, it seems like I'm the only one here with a lick of magic potential about them. Kinda makes me wonder if my dad wasn't a real wizard, maybe my grandfarther was. I mean, this stuff is probably hereditary, just like money. 

I mean, yeah sure. There was Allison in high school. We got pretty close but she ended up being a bit crazy (overly-attached, possessive, jealous). She was big into dressage, and it's true what they say about horse girls. 

In college, well, I haven't had as much luck finding love. That isn't to say that I don't have plenty of sex, and some really good sex with great people too. But between my studies and contracting, I've been finding it really difficult to actually get deep into a relationship. It doesn't help that my name and money kind of sets me apart from everyone else and colors all the relationships I could be getting into. I mean, who's here for me, and who's here for the money? It can be tough to tell. 

Well first and foremost: ghosts. 

I wasn't always afraid of ghosts. It all happened on one of my earliest contract jobs. We almost died to one, and thankfully Reed saved me. After that, I made the decision to stop admitting that they even existed, and you know what, it totally worked! I haven't seen another ghost since then. Benny was there, but I'm not sure if he was affected in the same way. 

I'm afraid of losing everything. Look, money is not something to be taken for granted. I was lucky enough to be born into it. And now that I'm a wizard supreme, I am probably pretty damn set on making myself money if I ever lost what I had. But it's like dad always says, "'rich' is always a dollar away." It doesn't matter how much you have or how secure you actually are, that fear runs deep in everyone who sees how awful it is to be a have-not. 

Finally, I guess I'm afraid of losing more than my money. I'm afraid of losing my family and friends. I mean, Reed. I decided to look them up a while ago and learned that they fucking died. They were just a kid! Same with Alexis, Jeremy Wesley, Jules. . . this is a dangerous line of work.  Especially for kids.

We're all pretty alone. 

Look, there's a ton of awesome momentos that I couldn't part with no matter how hard I tried. There's the photo of Allison laughing at me when I fell off that horse. There's the stuffed tiger I had as a kid. There's that family photo of my parents and I after we went heliskiing and I really truly felt like we were all genuinely happy all day. 

But nothing has carved out a bigger dent in my heart than my quick-collapse wizard hat. I've had it with me since the very beginning. I made it myself! Can you believe that in all these missions and through all this shit, I never lost it?

It's the chin strap. Key innovation, there. 

But now the thing is all dusty and worn, and I still keep it around. The fact is, it feels like a part of me. Sometimes I think it's the only thing reminding me of who I was before I made it too. And that's scary.

Probably figuring out what to do next. 

So I've risked my ass countless times to get awesome powers, right? And now I have the awesome powers. Now I just need to figure out what to do with them. 

I don't want to kill monsters anymore. Epsilon Omicron's original goal is dated as fuck. Hell, there was slavery when that charter was written, let's not ignore the elephant in the room. So I have to change it. 

You know what else is weird? I graduated. Yeah that's right, I have a bachelor's in arts of mythology and religion, and a bachelor of science in economics. And now I'm done with the frat part of Epsilon Omicron. Sure they let me in from time to time, but I can't just leave it behind the way my dad did. It's my secret society, dammit!

I know, I'll found a new Epsilon Omicron! And I'll teach people to become wizards or equip them with gear that helps them. And we can make a new vision for non-humans in this country. One that's a lot less racist and more economically viable!

But where to start. . .

Usually the sun's been up for a while. There's usually either an empty drink or empty bottle of wine somewhere. Most of the time there's a hot chick or two laying next to me. Last night's "conquest" as we used to call it in college. Though these days I'm not about objectifying the women I have romantic flings with. They're all badass bitches in their own way. 

Anyway, breakfast downstairs. Am I making it? Of course not! It's the private chef. I've got the paper (a physical one, WSJ and NYT) because that's luxury. Coffee (I prefer blue mountain), and of course a nice relaxing sunny view in the arboretum. 

Once I'm done eating, I get dressed and head off to the wizard tower (that's what I call the secondary property on the coast) for some practice. You can't just be a wizard, you have to work hard at that shit. Plus, I've got to be in peak physical condition, so the workout happens before the wizarding, usually the row machine these days, or working with my personal trainer. 

Wow, uh, can you be more specific? 

That's what my tailor says whenever I tell him this kind of thing. 

Look, if it's just a simple black tie fundraiser dinner kind of thing, I'll just get my suit. Business meeting? I've got another suit for that. Both of them are tailored to extend into a robe if I need one, and I'm trying to bring the smoking jacket back into style so that I can do that. Also, each one's got a hidden pocket for a wand in the sleeve and my collapsible hat. 

But you know, if I'm going to the Met or some sort of ball or red carpet thing, it's all about making a statement. Then you have to contact the fashion people, get them to make you something bespoke, and play model for their designs. It's honestly a ton of fun, and it's great for keeping up relationships. 

Birthdays. Ugh.

They feel more like an obligation than something I actually enjoy these days. If I didn't have a party, people would ask questions and start whispering.

No, the birthday party is a production. It's at the finest house with all the biggest names invited. Everyone's there to get wasted and network, and I have to exude confidence and success every fucking second until around midnight when it's fine to disappear with a fling for the evening. 

Honestly, I can't remember the last time I fucked anyone on my birthday. Probably freshman year. 

These days, I usually end up chatting with the girl. Once they know the game is up and I'm not going to fuck them, they can relax too. That's probably my favorite part of the night.