Daddy was the new sensation, got himself a congregation,
Built up quite an operation down below.
With the pie-eyed piper blowing, while the muscatel was flowing,
All the cats were go-go-going down below!
Heart of the City: The Zenith of Master Illusionist Daniel Obrove; Or, The Pup Grows Up
What do you do with someone who has played you for a sucker, yet wants to turn over a new leaf? What do you do when that same someone possesses the capacity to turn your entire city-planet against you if you don't treat the situation delicately?
This was the problem Wisteria City's Mayor Grigor Volkstaf faced when 15 year old
Danny Obrove walked into his office. It seemed that with maturity came a disillusionment toward the lifestyle of a liar, a rebel, an urchin prince at the center of a criminal empire. The boy was all these things, but that didn't mean he lacked a conscience! He had grown weary of using his knack for sensory manipulation to bamboozle and rob the public; he wanted a
genuine adoring populace earned through good works and not through magical advantage.
Volkstaf didn't buy it for a second, of course, but he didn't believe he had much choice other than to help the boy. Killing or jailing him meant catastrophic public outcry and social upheaval, plus earning the boy’s good will was advantageous to the mayor's goals.
Volkstaf’s task of creating and maintaining a Utopia had all but been completed. Wisteria had its problems, this was true, but for the most part the mayor had constructed a shining example of civilization's triumph. What he needed Danny's help with was combating the enemies from Without--infernal legions, nameless writhing horrors, and grumpy political ambassadors--all of them drawn to the city, all of them seeking its downfall. Martial strength alone couldn't hold back these threats. What Volkstaf required was surveillance and intelligence to keep tabs on where the next undesirable entity might appear. Danny had been maintaining a shadowy spy network for years while eluding the mayor. If they could work together, they could protect the city they both loved.
Danny agreed. Over the next few years, under the mayor's guidance, he slowly drew back on the illusory subterfuge that he had turned on Wisteria's citizens, gaining their favor simply by being witty and handsome. Supernaturally witty and handsome, but Danny’s appealing qualities were no long boosted to ludicrous degrees by his magic, as they had been during his childhood.
Danny's powers were instead turned on the extraplanar who's-it's and what's-it's seeking to slip through the veil between worlds and disrupt the city. In exchange, Volkstaf saw to it that the expansive sewers and catacombs where Danny and his gang had hidden were converted into a fully developed undercity, a home for Wisteria's wayward and downtrodden and a headquarters for Danny's work.
Now 22 years old and a fully sanctioned pseudo-staffer of the Wisteria City Council, Danny Obrove works within the system to combat what comes from Outside the system. That isn't to say he doesn't still get up to mischief while off-world or when incursions are at a lull. He's still the charmer he was in his youth, just with a little more responsibility and a little more genuine favor from the populace. Life could not be better.
Take the Blue Pill; Or, Putting On the Ritz; Or, Putting Off the Ritz When the Situation Demands It; Or, Powers and Abilities
As Danny aged, he faced a problem typical of all supernaturally-sired teens: He was becoming too handsome. His usual aura of charisma, an expression of the suppressed fae blood inherited from his wayward father, was growing out of control. The glamour was so potent that droves of citizens would follow the boy in the streets, whether he wanted them to or not. Why, at its peak the boy's illusion-augmented visage was enough to make even make Mayor Volkstaf himself blush! Danny had to learn to keep this power in check. Over time he did, learning to suppress the glamour and only deploying it when his spells weren't enough and he needed to be
really persuasive.
Danny Obrove’s otherworldly aura wasn't the only thing to increase in capacity. His command over the senses grew such that he can now, if he desires, plunge someone into a full-blown lotus-eater dream state, a proverbial Platonic cave, a--
He's really good at producing magical simulations now. Persons subjected to this spell are either rendered essentially comatose, left trapped in a mental landscape of the young man's design. Despite its power, Danny uses this ability sparingly. Even with his level of inborn talent, it’s difficult for the young man to construct and maintain elaborate mental prisons. Also, it’s rather cruel. For these reasons Danny usually reserves the spell as a last resort, and even then only for the worst types of villains.
Besides, what's the fun in dropping his foes into a dreamscape when he can mess with them more immediately with his usual magical repertoire? Hypnosis and deception are
loads more entertaining.
Most of the entities that threaten to harm Wisteria City possess a relatively "human" intellect. They are susceptible to the same tricksy magic that Danny has utilized for years. However, because he is dedicated to dissuading destructive intruders, he has begun practicing to work his spells so that they will affect beings that perceive the world in a decidedly less (or more than) human fashion. This goes beyond overcoming resistance to mental and sensory manipulation. Danny wants to see to it that he can distort the perceptions of elder gods and similar parties. He's begun taking steps towards this end, but time will tell how effective he'll become at it.
The Hither and Thither Expanded; Or, Drawing Back the Curtain!
Danny Obrove is the alternate universe analogue of the dissociative identity-stricken multiform Goobrove. He is not the creature's past self, its blood relative, or a close acquaintance. He's the Obrove for a future version of Wisteria City, whereas
the gestalt is a scourge upon multiple dimensions.
Additionally, Urchin is not the same as the younger Danny Obrove you may have seen causing shenanigans. Their timelines run parallel to each other, rather than consecutively. Urchin is one
possible future for the boy, but he is one which the boy has yet to achieve. Savvy?
Other Obroves are revealed on their alt list,
here.
There are more "Danalogues" to come, eventually, so we kindly ask that you...
STAY TUNED!
