ARS PACTUM: Basil Payne

Name: Basil Payne
Type: Magician
Contracted To: To his wife, Hanna. His pactum mark circles around his left wrist which he covers up.

Affinity: Earth [Primary], Fire [Secondary]
Specialties:

• Goes around to fix the infrastructure of Concordia when there are reports of cracks or uneven terrain. Students can spot Basil outside of class trying to make the roads even by fusing some gravel together and checking the surrounding areas for signs of weathered down paths. It's dangerous to fall off a ridge!
  

Age: 39
Gender: Male
Birthdate: September 21, 1926
Height: 6'2" (?????), 188cm
Nationality: English

Personality: 

• Apparently, Chris inheritted Basil's poor fashion senses. Basil's soul is that of an old man with a suit to match. He spent most of his life in uniforms, after all. He can't seem to understand modern fashion trends, keeping his coordination rather conservative. 
  ➝ It hurts when his son said his mustache looks dumb.
• Quite sensitive—thanks to his rebellious son—and is becoming a pushover when it comes to the child's needs. He can understand the author's intent for their fictional characters; however, that is because he has ample time to process. In a real-time setting, he awkwardly stands around, unsure on what to say. If you ask him a rather stupid question, Basil first is baffled before trying to answer you.
• A bit gentle with children as he tries to learn how to become a better parent. However, he is a lot stricter with the older students when it comes to grades and appearances. Respects those passionate in their field of study and careers.
• Awkward. Who gives a textbook as a birthday present???? Attempts to change his anti-social ways by watching films with his students but worries if there will be no reaction during the film.
  ➝ Some students appreciate that he tries to have some modern technology such as the overhead projector (DOES ANYONE REMEMBER THIS).
  ➝ Sometimes he asks the graduate students if they're dating anyone and are considering marriage. (The average age to get married was around 20-22 in the 60s!) Believes that it is because he married and had a child so late that the relationship between Chris and himself is so strained. 
  

History: 

• Basil had a relatively normal upbringing; his family is of modest backgrounds who helped paved pathways (like literally) for the bustling cities in England as infrastructure engineers. He has one older brother—died in the Second Great War—and one younger sister who is a normal housewife with two children. His parents had passed away a long time ago.
• He attended Concordia College as a lad (school fees were way cheaper then) but transferred to another college after his second year when the Second Great War started. After graduating in 1943, he enlisted in the army until the war ended about two year later. As a soldier, Basil assisted in providing cover for medical staff to tend to their patients. It was during the war that he experimented with fire magic to combat against the cold nights. 
• Thanks to his veteran status, Basil had some of his fees waived when he pursued undergraduate and graduate studies. All the meanwhile, his family traveled around the country to improve road conditions after the bombings from the war.
• During the war, Basil encountered many people of different origins with tales of their own strange entity myths. (India was especially interesting!) He started to enjoy recording these folklores more than exploring his capacity of wielding magic. 
  
• Basil and his wife met around 1952; Basil was getting his Ph.D while Hanna was finishing up law school. They awkwardly dated for a while and formally married in 1954 when Hanna found out she was pregnant. (The Payne family were just happy that the son found someone finally.) They lived in Glasgow until Basil was hired as a Lecturer for Concordia College. 
  ➝ Which resulted in Chris' preference for his mother. After all, wouldn't you like the parent who was around more and gave you cool-looking rocks? 
  ➝ Basil and Hanna married late at ages 28 and 26, respectively. Then again, they are the sort that rather study than have kidsm, even after the war.
  
• Basil teaches Advanced Literature for the upper levels, occasionally picking up a Core Literature class when staff is running thin.  (Don't ask me about which room his classes are in. Looks at Kimi.)

• I mean, films are pieces of literature, so he occasionally has film nights to discuss the importance of visuals, dialogue, etc. He would require students to go write reports on plays but what theater house is around...
  ➝ Now he tries to invite his son to watch the films with him but Chris nopes out.
  
• One of his classes involve writing a short story: whether in novel format, script, or even a short film if you can afford the equipment!
• His office is cluttered with books and film reels, ranging from American classics to translations of Russian literature.
• Favorite book is the Heart of Darkness. But he strangely likes the plays Pamela's mother writes for their...eccentric storylines.
• Hanna's family immigrated to England after the First Great War.
• (IT'S SO WEIRD TO WRITE OUT THE PARENTS' BACKGROUND FOR ONE KID AND NOT THE OTHER. Pamela and Filomela were born right in the baby boomer era so their parents had to bang a lot.) I don't draw old people.