Charles Rowland

* Biography
* Threat Assessment
* Trivia and Notes
* Gallery

**Date of Death:**
November 29th, 2016

**Place of Death:**
Gotham City, New Jersey

**In Life:** Brown

 Biography

(*Submitted by Oracle*)

### Charles Rowland: 2000 - 2016

When Charles' father got a new job managing the Empire Hotel, the Rowland family moved to the Coventry neighborhood of Gotham.

### Charles Rowland: 2016 - Present

Adjusting to Brentwood Academy was rough. Faring particularly bad for Charles, he had the misfortune of catching the attention of a rather terrific threesome: Amanda Lydecker, Wendy Lawford, and Reiner Hardwicke. Spoiled brats and bullies to boot.

Just two months into his academic stay at Brentwood, Charles was walking the grounds when he saw an old, rusted plaque at the base of one of the school's fountains. As he read it, Charles felt sad to learn the fountain was dedicated to the memory of a boy who drowned in its waters. Hitting hard, the boy shared Charles' birthday (albeit a full century before Charles) and the hundred year anniversary of the boy's death was coming up and his memorial plaque had been so neglected.

As Charles was doing his best to clean the plaque, his bullies arrived on scene and began to pester him. When the three bullies moved on, Charles sat down to eat his lunch by the plaque when he heard a voice speak. As he raised his eyes, the last thing Charles expected to see was the ghost of the Brentwood Fountain.

When a soaked and dripping Charles fled to his dorm room, the ghost of Edwin Paine was pulled behind him. Something had tethered the boys together and it was up to them to make the most of it. Though it took a week for Edwin to convince Charles he wasn't crazy, the two soon became friends and decided to solve this mystery together.

Investigating strange occurrences in Gotham, the boys found on the same day they were tethered, there was a man murdered on Cherry Hill. On the corpse were occult symbols. Edwin's journal identified these marking as sigils of the "Cult of the Cold Flame, the servants of Barbatos". Edwin's own murder had a parchment with these same symbols left behind on his corpse. Further investigation revealed that there was a similar murder in Cherry Hill on November 25th, 1916.

Several weeks after their first meeting, Edwin was reviewing case notes while Charles was listening to music on his brand new MP3 player, doing his homework, and thinking of asking Edwin's strange friend Suzy to the upcoming "Snow Ball". Edwin had just figured out these murders and his own were connected to the new moon. Edwin went to look for a calendar to discern the next new moon as Charles went to answer a knock at the door. While Edwin looked for a calendar, he glanced out the window to see the new moon staring at him. A loud gunshot broke the tranquility of the dorm room. Charles was on the floor with Amanda Lydecker standing over, smoking gun in hand.

Rushing to Charles' side, Edwin pulled out his journal. Edwin urged Charles to read the incantation. With his last breath, Charles did.

Edwin next saw Charles on the next moonless night following his death, materializing as a sentient ghost. When Charles asked what happened, Edwin filled him in, explaining that while a bully had pulled the trigger they'd only done so after a mysterious figure had given her a gun loaded with bullets inscribed with the symbols of Barbatos.

Charles knew this sounded like a case for the Dead Boy Detectives!

### Supplemental Reports

* (*Submitted by Four-Eyes*) Let's talk fetters (anchors to the mortal world). Charles Rowland's fetters appear to be vengeance (common among recently murdered ghosts), his buried remains in the Coventry Cemetery, and possibly his friendship with Edwin Paine. Though he's unlikely to have built a fetter with Suzy Linden already, the two seem to be rather close.
* (*Submitted by Radar*) When their investigation was impeded a few times by Charles' bullies, Edwin decided to manifest his spectral form in the most grisly and macabre manner imaginable. His intent was to scare the bladders of the bullies loose and it worked. Both Edwin and Charles hoped the bullies would leave Charles alone after that... but alas...

## Threat Assessment

### Resources

* Spectral Physiology
	+ *Astral Perception*
	+ *Corporeal Manifestation*
	+ *Enhanced Strength & Speed*
	+ *Environmental Attunement: Brentwood Academy*
	+ *Invisibility*
	+ *Naturally Incorporeal*
	+ *Passive Electromagnetic Interference & Thermokinesis*
	+ *Poltergeist Rage-Induced Telekinesis*
	+ *Teleportation*
* Trappings
	+ *Yellow MP3 Player*

### Weaknesses

* Requirement: Spectral Fetters
* Salt, Iron, Magic, Holy Relics, and Nth Metal can harm him

## Trivia and Notes

### Trivia

* Other people shot with Barbatos inscribed bullets are James Starlin and Lee Travis.
* He's under the patronage of Death.
* Charles' bullies are the children of the lawyers who run the Law Firm of Lydecker, Lawford, and Hardwicke.

### Notes

* Amanda Lydecker, Wendy Lawford, and Reiner Hardwicke are characters from *Gotham Academy*.
* In the comics he was murdered by three ghosts who escaped Hell.

## Links and References

* Appearances of Charles Rowland

1. ↑ Network Files: Charles Rowland