Kyle Worth's Questionnaire

Kyle lives in Adrian, Michigan. He has lived there his entire life. With his parents. He wants to move out, and they also want him to move out, but he really can’t afford to. His family lives in the suburbs in a nice house. His parents are both retired, and Kyle pays some amount of rent which covers the costs he exerts on them. He hopes to one day save enough to move to the nearby city of Ann Arbor and enroll at the local university. Or anywhere else in the state, really. Anywhere is better than Adrian. Unfortunately, he works retail at the local Goodwill for minimum wage. His room is sparse, with a desktop PC in a corner and a bed in another. The desktop is, however, messily covered in: a variety of TTRPG books; CD-ROMs for ancient RPGs; and empty bags of chips caught between them

Kyle works retail at Goodwill. He has worked retail at Goodwill off and on for the better part of eight years. Sometimes he has worked at other jobs. Sometimes. But usually, he just ends up going back to Goodwill. It demands less of him, and it still technically pays. What little he makes usually goes into paying back his parents for letting him live with them, impulsive purchases of old video games he doesn’t have the consoles for or TTRPG books he does not have the friends to play with, or ends up in his ‘College Fund’, which despite having (give or take) eight years of savings tied into it, is SHOCKINGLY light.

When Kyle was eight years old, he played his first videogame. Since that moment, he has wanted more than anything to become a real life wizard. Unfortunately, Kyle was not born with any special powers. He studied long and hard, put off making friends and socializing and focused on getting good grades. Pushing himself to his limit, all for the sake of possibly, one day, using all he has learned for the sake of discovering how to use magic. This has not worked out for him. It is his one dream. His greatest desire. He would risk much for the sake of learning real, actual magic. He would hurt others, even, if he had to.

Kyle had an older sister. She was always better than him. She was more charismatic and outgoing, yet she was his peer in grades. She was only one year older than him, yet two grades ahead. She had friends. She was clearly their mother’s favorite. Their dad always brought her a gift, when he came back home. She even had a decently large following online.

She was born better than him. In more ways than those, even. She was born with a gift. She could conjure small wisps of light, and move them around within a foot of herself.

She was remarkable. She was extraordinaire. She was exceptional in every way. She was destined for greatness.

One night, Kyle dreamt that in the middle of the night, his sister spoke with a stranger in their room. She shook his hand, and he disappeared into light. The next morning, when the two left for school, Kyle’s sister didn’t get on the bus.

Kyle never saw his sister again.

Kyle’s Mother is a kindly and forgiving woman. She has a slightly plump figure, grey hair and wrinkles — but she has a motherly beauty about her, that radiates an aura of kindness. She used to work a teaching job for Highschool students and was beloved. She is patient, forgiving, and entirely ignorant to the suffering of those around her. She also occasionally suffers drastic, negative mood swings. She loves her son, but she sometimes struggles to empathize with him. He isn’t her daughter.

Kyle’s father was an accountant. He shares the lanky frame and generally unkempt nature of his son. He is good with numbers. He made good money with a big corporation. He did not spend a lot of time with his children as they grew up. He doesn’t really know how to communicate with his son after missing most of his childhood. So he usually just doesn’t. He does not understand Kyle’s lack of success, and is frustrated by it. He has more than enough savings to live comfortably, pay for his son’s tuition at most schools, and still have a very nice sum saved up — but he believes that all good things must be earned, and this charges his son rent.

Dale is Kyle’s best friend. Online, he goes by the screen name ‘Jalapainful’, and tends to be active in RPG forums, communities and websites. Kyle has known Dale since Elementary. The two grew up together, and share everything with each other. Dale is currently working on an English major at a university across the country in New York. He wants to one day write for video games, or if that doesn’t work out — tabletop games. He has a busy schedule, but will always take a moment out of his day to listen to his buddy. 

When Kyle was younger, his parents were loving and kind. When they were around, anyways. His mother was a Highschool teacher who was often busy, and his father was an important accountant who was away from home more often than not. As a child, he knew his babysitters better than his parents. Kyle also had a sister for most of his early childhood, and then didn’t throughout his middle school years and onwards. Those were a struggle. He was never very strong, nor was he very charismatic. He struggled to communicate with his peers effectively. When he was younger he was very reactive, however. This made him a great target for bullies seeking reactions. It also made it very hard to try and make friends. He learned to be more observant. To keep an eye out for trouble and problems from an early age. It stunted his social skills, terribly. If not for Dale, Kyle may never have had ANY friends…

Kyle has had several crushes in the past, but he never really knew love — never dared to act on anything. His best friend, Dale, fell in love once. The heartbreak that ensued had left him unrecognizable for two months…  Kyle instead focused on schoolwork, personal hobbies, and kept himself mostly isolated from anyone he started developing feelings towards. It wasn’t that he didn’t want romance or love — but rather that he was scared of failing it. And a bit scared of the concept in general, really. He assured himself that, once he was older and had more free time or a well-paying job or better circumstances — he could allow himself to try for a relationship.

…It never really worked out.