Hello, everyone! We’re running a series of interviews with our Player Characters to get to know them as we come up to the beginning of the campaign. Finally, we introduce an amateur magician with little to hide, and plenty to share…

Introduce yourself!

Hi. I’m James – James Hemlock. I’m a student at Luctonside Sixth Form College, just about to enter my second year. Fun fact about me, I suppose, is that I do magic in my spare time.

What do you study?

I’m studying Geography… when your dad’s a geologist, it only makes sense. I did Drama in my first year, but I dropped it; that was mostly just to help with my confidence when performing. I have the circus society for that now, anyway. I also do History and Religious Studies, though really, Geography and History are my main two.

How was your first year of college?

Busy! Really busy… but quite liberating at the same time. I’ve found that I’m enjoying things being less structured, so moving from the more regimented GCSEs to this has been good. It’s been manic, but it’s treated me better.

Who are your friends at college?

There’s this person at circus society who’s always nice to me – Rune. We get on quite a bit, though they’re more into the active parts of circus performing, whereas I’m more about the card tricks and the like. Other than that, I sat next to Keith in Geography last year… one of those good old-fashioned “person you were sat next to in the seating plan and forced to talk to” kind of friends. He was pretty cool, though, and was nice to me even when I was quiet to start off with. I was never very sociable in high school, and he helped me settle into college and open up a bit. I’m grateful for that.

Are you dating anyone? What’s your type?

Whoa, whoa, whoa. I have two – count them, two – secure friends. I’m still pretty far away from thinking about something like that…

What kinds of things do you do in your spare time?

Practice card tricks, mainly. I tried juggling, but it was a bit much for me. There’s this thing called contact juggling, where you, like, run a glass ball along your body, but I’m still trying to figure out how to do that. Me and my dad go on walks when it’s sunny, though he is rather difficult to walk with, because he’s constantly collecting stones that he thinks are interesting. Apparently I’m the same with pointing out different trees, though, so I can’t complain too much.

What do you like to do at home?

I’m a bit of a gamer – I have my own computer setup at home. I prefer single-player games most of the time, though. Long adventure RPGs, that sort of thing, but I occasionally do multiplayer games with my dad. Aside from that, the nice thing about focussing on circus tricks is that I don’t need a big space to do it. I can practice with cards pretty much all the time – even at home – and tend to have a deck of cards on me at all times. I’ve been thinking about taking up sewing. I take my outfits quite seriously, so it’s something I want to look into. That said, I want to build more confidence in the hobbies that I have first.

Do you have an object of special significance?

The coat that I wear for magician performances. My dad got it tailor-made for me, which did a lot for my confidence. It’s part of why I wear it a lot, even outside of performances. It was designed as a performance jacket, but it’s since become my day-to-day clothing – if it’s not raining, that is…

What are your best or worst memories?

Saying goodbye to mum was pretty tough. It was… kind of a long time coming, but still, like… that didn’t make it any easier when the time came. That’s the worst, for definite. Best..? Pulling off a card trick for the first time, and hearing someone genuinely asking how I did it. I’d been trying it for a while, and I was still fumbling, but that morning I was just practising with a classmate, and they were asking me how the hell I’d pulled it off. That was when I thought – hang on, I’ve got a bit of a knack for this. The rest is history.

Is there anything you’re particularly afraid of? What’s your worst fear?

I struggle with particularly bad storms – thunder gets me all jumpy. I used to have a lot of nightmares about spaces between spaces. Have you read about ‘the backrooms’ going around online recently? It’s like that. Also, I know pretty well what it’s like to feel like you’re completely by yourself, and… I’m not sure how experiencing it again, now that I know what the opposite is like, would affect me.

What do you think this second year of college is going to be like?

I’m very excited. I know it’s meant to be more difficult in second year, but dropping a subject to spend more time with the circus society is going to be really exciting. I’m hoping to connect with more classmates this year… when the inevitable group project comes along, I want to make sure I have chemistry with the people I’m gonna be working with. And then… god, university. Gotta start thinking about that… but I’m taking things one day at a time right now. Overall, yeah, I’m excited.