Salem Poe

"There is darkness in light, there is pain in joy, there are thorns on the rose." —Cate Tiernan

## Physical Information

### Physical Flaws

Martial scars littered over his abdomen and arms.

### Tattoos

SPQR tattoo; Ten notches of service; arcane-like, witchery tattoos.

## Powers / Magic Items

Mist Control/Resistance

Magic Sense

Dark Magic

### **Overview**

Salem is a somewhat antisocial, curt individual. He carries himself with the maturity of a veteran of war, and with the discipline of a soldier; and yet his disturbed past and morbid experiences cause him to essentially grow detached of emotion. Nevertheless, the son of Trivia is extremely intelligent and well-versed in the arcane, as well as generally experienced in both strategic and military warfare.

### **Biographical Information**

Born on the 30th of April of 1998, in New Orleans, Louisiana, a young Salem would be inducted into his father's coven and exposed to Wiccan and pagan practices, as well as traditional Louisiana Voodoo.

At the young age of ten, however, the young witch would be taken from his parents and made into a Legionary, sent to Lupa in order to fight in the war against the Demititans; and that is where he has lived since then, serving Camp Jupiter as a battle-hardened Legionary.

### **Physical Information**

Resting upon the man's lightly-tanned features is a head of messy, raven-black hair; as well as a pair of emerald-green eyes that seem to always shimmer with arcane energy. He supports a rather well-built physique, a result of extensive toil and martial training.

Littering his body are scars; mementos of the extensive combat experience the Legionary possesses, though those are not the only indications of the demigod's experience and morbid lifestory: He possesses a stare that invokes simultaneously an air of authority and the heavy, battle-weary look of a tired warrior.

Branded upon his right forearm is an SPQR tattoo with the symbol of his mother – A torch. Under it are ten notches, signifying his decade of service under Camp Jupiter and New Rome. His nails, however, are oft painted black, and he possesses tattoos that litter his body portraying arcane and witch-like imagery, such as the Wheel of Hecate and pentagrams, as well as the phases of the moon.

### **Powers and Magical Items**

#### **Mist Control/Resistance**

Like most children of Trivia, Salem possesses the ability to utilize the Mist in order to create illusions, and can easily sense other illusions and visual abilities related to the manipulation of the Mist.

#### **Magic Sense**

Salem can passively sense the arcane around him, acknwoledging when something is magical in nature almost instinctively.

#### **Dark Magic**

The son of Trivia has bound his soul into a Grimoire; a dark magic book that affords him several inherent abilities, such as the lack of a need to sleep, being replaced instead with light activity and alertness, the ability to see through all illusions and an immunity to charm-related abilities, as well as spells related to necrosis and necromancy; as the demigod possesses the ability to both raise the dead and exhale decay in order to decompose objects and even flesh through his foul spells.

### **Life Before Camp**

Growing up in the bustling town that is New Orleans, a young Salem was inducted into his father’s witches’ coven. Since the time of Marie Laveau, the magical cultural fringe of New Orleans became more encompassing of Wiccan traditions alongside the voodooist aspect of the Acadian people; that, partly, was due to his own father’s influence in the city.

Nevertheless, his upbringing was far from what one would consider “natural”, rather being extremely alienated from what other children would consider normal childhood activities. Instead, he was raised to be the successor to his father’s leadership in the Coven, and although he did not discover his demigodly heritage until the age of ten, he was still rather familiar with the arcane; learning about its existence through the tutoring of his father in the arts.

### **Life During Camp**

All of his spellcasting techniques and insatiable curiosity of the arcane would be ripped from him rather swiftly as he was suddenly and rather forcefully taken by a posse of Legionaries; with the ongoing war, they could spare no manpower. And thus the young heir of the Coven was taken from it just as swiftly as he was inducted into its practices, sent to Lupa in order to shape himself into a warrior.

Not a year later, did the demigod emerge from her cave as a different person; though the insatiable curiosity of the boy that was Salem still remained, imbued within him was a sense of discipline; one befitting of a soldier. This only grew as he was thrust into the frontlines of a war he knew next to nothing about, a war against the Demititan forces of Camp Othrys; one that forced him to mature and witness the horrors of war and strife.

The world’s arcane mysteries and secrets could no longer concern the demigod, the son of Trivia whose name had turned into a mere number, a Probatio infantryman whose purpose was to fill a shieldwall, to keep the enemy behind his Scutum. In the midst of such merciless, terrible war, did Salem still yet make friends. Friends who did not survive the horrors that ensued.

He’d learned how to fight with a blade from Lupa, but he did not know how to take a life. Nobody would have taught him that; until he found out himself. The magics he learned from his father were used as tools to slay as many Demititans as he could, bringing glory to the Twelfth Legion.. And darkness into the demigod’s soul.

### **Present Day**

Now, the war is over, and Salem is left behind. Still yet a member of the Legion and considered a veteran among most, he struggles with the PTSD that ensued from such horrors and immerses himself in research of the arcane, antisocial and unwilling to make friends – For the bonds he shared were all but destroyed by the fire and brimstone of that war.

The Coven he was once made to lead has moved on with its own leader, though Salem still occasionally visited out of respect; given breathing room after the end of the war and intrigue among Demititans and Demigods. Meanwhile, Salem was stationed in Camp Half-Blood as garrison to assist in the rebuilding efforts by his Centurio.