Charles Reed

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**Charles Winfield Reed** is the main character in the game *The Sinking City*. He is a private investigator from Boston who travels to the secluded fishing town of Oakmont at the invitation of Johannes van der Berg to discover the cause of a mysterious Flood in the city and the terrifying visions that affect him.

## Background

During World War I, Reed served as a sailor aboard the *USS Cyclops*. The vessel sank under mysterious circumstances, and Reed was the only survivor of the incident. Since then, Reed has been plagued by visions of a sinking city and a looming presence, but he also gained supernatural powers of observation that allowed him to work as a private investigator.

## Personality

Charles’ demeanor is perfectly characterized by his grizzled past. A veteran Navy Diver of the First World War and Boston Private Eye, Charles is intuitive, brave and able to keep calm (sane) in terrifying situations. Despite facing eldritch monsters beyond human comprehension, he maintains a dry, sometimes sarcastic sense of humor, such as jokingly asking the grand wizard of the local Ku Klux Klan to perform a magic trick for him. Unlike many people of the period, Charles does not hold racist views towards others, including Innsmouthers, and treats nearly everyone he meets as an equal. His training from the military and his insight as a private detective make Charles a formidable opponent to the horrors experienced in The Sinking City and extremely helpful to the residents of Oakmont.

## Powers and Abilities

* **Psychic**: As a side effect of his visions, Charles has been blessed, or cursed, with psychic abilities, serving him well in investigations.
	+ **Clairvoyance**: By tapping into his mind's eye, he can spot caches of supplies, find hidden clues, track people of interest and dispel illusions.
	+ **Psychometry**: By focusing on parts of some objects, he can recall its recent history and anyone involved.
	+ **Retrocognition**: When enough evidence has been gathered, Charles can look into the past to determine what happened at a crime scene.
* **Marksmanship**: Charles is skilled with various firearms of the period, including handguns, revolvers, shotguns, sub-machine guns and bolt-action rifles.
* **Sleuth**: Enhanced by his psychic prowess, Reed is a seasoned detective, able to solve mysteries in a short span of time, earning him the ire of the Oakmont Police Department.
* **Survivalist**: Being cut off from the mainland has brought Oakmont back to the barter system, forcing Reed to build what he needs to survive. Luckily, he is capable of crafting items from any supplies he finds, ranging from med kits, ammo and anti-psychotics to traps and hand grenades.
* **Veteran Diver**: His time in the Navy has made Charles a master of the sea, able to operate motorboats and handle diving equipment.

## Diary

Parts of his diary can be found in his hotel room.

My diary, part one : *I don't know what exactly sank the USS Cyclops. Only remember the screams and the metal creaking, water filling the deck, and my headache... the worst I've ever had. I found myself among the floating seaweed, drowning. A nearby piece of a boat helped me survive, and reach the shore of a small island. They found me on it later, starving, half-mad and babbling about the ancient ruins and their denizens. The officials said none of what I thought I'd seen was real. But my memories are true. My strange powers, gained after that ordeal, prove it. I found something horrible on that island, something old and dark and slithering. And it still haunts me.*

My diary, part two : *The doctors at the Boston Asylum were looking for a way to fix me. Proved to be a tall order. At first they'd ask me questions. I thought my story would be reported to the officials, but they were just making a list of things to fix. I feared water, so they swaddled me in drenched sheets. I told them about the things in the darkness, so they kept me in dark rooms, blindfolded... No progress, until they brought the electrodes. They kept my thoughts jumbled. Only the words of the doctor held my mind together. He told me who I am and how to think. He gave me concoctions to keep me sane. It seems I'm getting used to it. Question is, for better or for worse.*

## Trivia

* The information found in Reed's room at the Devil's Reef Hotel early in the game suggests that his character is based on the unnamed protagonist of H. P. Lovecraft's short story, *Dagon*. The similarities to that character including:
	+ Served as an officer during World War I.
	+ Got stranded at sea. His ship was attacked and he escaped in a life boat, eventually getting lost.
	+ He awoke on a small island not found in any map, and theorized that it may have recently emerged from volcanic activity.
	+ He found horrors, ruins and a creature (Dagon, a Deep One) in that island.
	+ His rescuers didn't believe his tales and dismissed him as delirious.
	+ Since the incident, he's been haunted by horrific visions.
	+ He's addicted to morphine (laudanum, in Reed's case).
* Reed is a detective, like Edward Pierce from *Call of Cthulhu*, or Jack Walters from *Dark Corners of the Earth*.
* The motorboat provided for Reed by Johannes van der Berg is called the "Cyclops II".
* Reed hates being called "Charlie" by others, preferring to be addressed by his formal name.