Profile

Player name: Scy
Characters played: Michael Brennan 10♠, Iollan Chives 2♠, Caleb Caustello 8♣ & Nicholas Lancaster 6♦
Character Name: Caleb Caustello
Age: 65
Suit/Rank: 8♣
History: Caleb was born on Deck, the eldest son of three to a pair of Clubs by the name of William and Beatrice Caustello. The Caustellos' affiliation with the Clubs go back a few centuries but unlike his parents, Caleb was more enthusiastic about the family history and traditions even from a young age - he saw being a Caustello as less of a duty or a burden and more part of his identity - and it was not something that William discouraged.

He became acquainted with Elizabeth in his early 20s after successfully challenging to 8 and they got married a few years later. They had been deeply in love with each other and even after they had a daughter, Rachel, she didn't draw their complete attention away from each other.

They had been the picture of a happy family until Elizabeth was killed in a challenge in 1986. Caleb had drowned himself in alcohol and busied himself with his publishing work to cope with the loss, neglecting the girl that looked and sounded and acted and laughed too much like her mother. His misery didn't seek for company; he underwent a personality shift that alienated him from family, relatives, friends and his fellow Clubs. The siblings, he had felt, were unsympathetic; he didn't expect much from them when they had their own families to worry about, but while he mourned Liz's death they had busied themselves making children. All it took was one argument between an inebriated Caleb and his siblings, and they left him to the wolves.

Elizabeth took the warm, loving husband with her the night she died and left an empty shell of a man, who would have drunk himself to death were it not for the bitterness and anger that drove him on. His estranged daughter saw that same bitterness and anger when Caleb ousted her from the Caustello family after she declared she was leaving the Clubs. He could single-handedly destroy the family by drinking himself to oblivion, but for whatever reason Rachel's transgression had seemed much worse at the time.

The years that he had spent drinking were a blur. Endless days blending into endless nights, where he was blinded by his despair and everything just continued to go on around him as if Liz's death hadn't stopped the world from turning. Ambitious and opportunistic Clubs took advantage of his vice and Caleb dropped five ranks to 3 before he started pulling himself together and adapt to living life without Liz or relying on the bottle.

It took him a long time to try and fail to disentangle himself from the bottle, but when he eventually became a functional alcoholic and re-integrated himself back into the land of the living, everything started coming together again. He worked his way back up to 8 and has kept the rank since, with no desire for anything more - or anything less - than what he has.

Personality: Caleb was a very different man before his wife died. He had been on good or at least neutral terms with family and relatives, and with an amicable personality he had many friends before he devoted himself completely to his wife. He had been a good father to Rachel - not as strict as his own had been, but firm and fair - and he would have died a personable, happy Caustello.

Liz's death and the drinking changed him. Rachel was painful to look at - a reminder of a life cut too short, of happiness truncated, of all that could have been and all that never will be - and he cared very little for her wellbeing. He became perpetually agitated and was difficult to talk to. He'd be the type of person you'd snap at and say something like 'if you have nothing good to say, don't say anything'. He wasn't a talkative drunk but when pushed he was very capable of vicious words, and he could become quite belligerent after a few drinks.

Even after he started getting his act together, he has not returned to the Caleb Caustello he used to be. Most of his relationships that he hasn't managed to break after losing Liz continue to be very strained. What family honour he has destroyed he has done his best to restore, and that meant being fairly picky with what he did, what he would say in public and the kinds of people he became acquainted with.

As a high-functioning alcoholic he still drinks a lot - not as much as he used to, but much more than the average drinker - yet he manages to appear to have put his life back on track, at least on the outside. Save for a couple of incidents every once in a while, Caleb isn't trouble anymore. In fact he can talk, smile, even laugh - not as often as he used to, granted, but it's progress, isn't it?

Appearance: Caleb is an older gentleman who's about 5'10 or 5'11 and he dresses formally. He's gone grey and if he hadn't started at least appearing like he's moved on from Liz's death, he'd look a lot less tidy and a lot more like an unshaven drunk who never changes out of that one worn suit jacket. He's not about to go back down that road, though, so he remains fairly neat.
Character PB: John Slattery
Writing sample: Here
Why this Suit? Caustellos will always be Clubs.
How did you hear about us? Already here.