“But your film sounds awesome and now you’ve got secret funding. That’s a good start for a heist, right?” — Spoilers for Grand Theft Sorcery follow.
A young man in Los Angeles doing odd jobs and used to being rock-bottom. He first appeared in Grand Theft Sorcery.
Biography[]
Evan Murphy was thrown out by his abusive father at age fourteen, after his mother had died.[1] His attempts to find help usually ended with him being returned home to new abuse and being thrown out anew.[2] He spent several years squatting and doing petty crime in order to survive. During this he focused on staying in school, and managed to graduate high school.[3]
By age 22 he had managed to have something he called a home, two cats, and gain an associate’s degree through community college.[1][4] His primary income was doing repossessions of high-value cars, and he had performed several high-risk repossessions for Arneson Recoveries over two years as a freelance agent.[4] It however meant very uneven income and very low job security.
“This is all insane. I can’t operate on ‘trust me.’ I’ve been burned too much.”
— Evan, Grand Theft Sorcery, chapter 5
Encountering the Shadows[]
When he attempted to repossess Christian Miller’s Lamborghini at the hill house party he was taken captive, thrown into a cellar, and severely beaten. He was noted by guards only because Anatole had laid a charm on them to help them sense enemies. He was however healed by Mitu, a supernatural being also trapped in the cellar. Despite initial scepticism from Evan they joined forces and Mitu endowed several supernatural powers on him. They managed to escape in the Lamborghini together, after which Mitu left for the stars, and Evan set about to figure out his life.[1]
He was however on the run afterwards, trying to escape Miller’s supernatural boss Anatole and to dodge as many cops as he can. Sunday was the first to track him down, though he managed to escape while breaking the way the demon Nahash possessed her.[5]
He attempted to dispose of the Lamborghini, but was unsuccessful. Instead he was tracked down by Anatole’s muscle, but rescued by—the now dispossessed—Sunday. The two teamed up, but the decision to stay at her home became impossible after the Baldwin Hills fire. Another attempt to gain material aid from Omar and the Los Angeles jinn community also failed. Instead Evan and Sunday planned and executed the hill house heist. As a result of that they also gained the loyalty of Barstow. The two began a mutual romance afterwards, feeling they had gained some safety and breathing room.
After a new contact with Omar in order to dispose of some of their loot from the hill house heist they were recruited by Aminah to investigate the ifrit Uthman. This led to the battle of Westview Tower, the immediately following battle of Fifteen Percent, and the death of Anatole.
Personal[]
Due to his experiences, trust or seeking assistance from other people did not come easily to Evan.[6][2] His natural response to trouble seemed to be to evade rather than confront it.[6] He would however fight when cornered or in order to help someone else. He was used to depending on his own resources and staying low.
He had short blond hair and a slim build.
Relationships[]
Evan lived with two cats, Lily and Flip-Top.[5] He had dated, but never had any serious girlfriends.[7] His mother died when he was fourteen, and he had no contact with his father Aaron Murphy.[5][6]
He began a relationship with Sunday after the hill house heist which developed into a committed relation after the Battle of Fifteen Percent.
He got to know Sofia in college and considered her a trusted friend, enough so that he was ready to entrust his cats to her.[4] He became close with Mitu during their short time together and seemed to have come to view her as a substitute mother. The connection replaced any guardian angel he previously had had.[8]
Abilities[]
Evan was intelligent and had a strong sense of intuition. He was highly resilient, but not particularly physically capable. He was an excellent driver and had good knowledge of the geography of Los Angeles. He had plenty of experience from living on the run and doing petty crime to survive, and was good at surveillance, stealth, shoplifting, and breaking and entering. He also had learned some forgery in order to stay in school.[3]
“Yeah,” she echoed, and waved her half-eaten taco at him. “You’re new at this. Real new. You don’t know your own strength, and you’re strong, ese. Got up from bullets, got up from my demon-powered best. Got away from Anatole. I dunno what that involved, but I bet it wasn’t nothing. And then there’s the stars.” She nodded skyward. “That seems like a big deal.”
— Sunday, Grand Theft Sorcery, chapter 5
He was provided several magical powers by Mitu, enough to be equivalent to a strong Practitioner of many years in power.[1][9] He was however very inexperienced with his powers, with little insight into their limitations and best use.[10][9] Amongst his known powers were self-healing, ability to see in the dark, direct energy discharges as a weapon, magical punches, protection against mundane weapons, telekinetics, the ability to absorb or destroy at least some forms of organic matter,[1] a supernatural guidance and navigation ability,[5] lightning flashes,[10][11] and control over non-magical fires.[2] He started to explore various ways to manipulate light and darkness.[10][11] He could see magical effects and beings, but not necessarily auras.[2][7] He also learned to provide the ability to see in the dark to other people.[12]
His healing abilities went beyond any known mortal Practitioner, and was probably closer to that of an angel.[13]
Mitu also implied that he had the ability to conjure a spectral blade, create blasts of fire, and give visions of the void beyond mortal skies.[1]
Evan’s supernatural abilities were stronger and he recovered quicker during the night and under an open sky.[7][14] At least some use of them could cause the stars above him to twinkle, visible to people with supernatural connections.[15][16]
Possessions[]
Evan rented a small, very cheap, and run-down apartment in a former motel in Hawthorne.[5] The repo’d Lamborghini provided his greatest potential financial asset, but was also hot in every sense.
Trivia[]
Evan Murphy’s relationship with Mitu and some of his abilities mirrors that of warlocks in Dungeons and Dragons, in particular one with a celestial pact.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Grand Theft Sorcery, chapter 1
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Grand Theft Sorcery, chapter 6
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Grand Theft Sorcery, chapter 9
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Grand Theft Sorcery, chapter 3
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 Grand Theft Sorcery, chapter 2
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Grand Theft Sorcery, chapter 5
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Grand Theft Sorcery, chapter 10
- ↑ Grand Theft Sorcery, Epilogue
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Grand Theft Sorcery, chapter 7
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Grand Theft Sorcery, chapter 4
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Grand Theft Sorcery, chapter 8
- ↑ Grand Theft Sorcery, chapter 12
- ↑ Grand Theft Sorcery, chapter 17
- ↑ Grand Theft Sorcery, chapter 24
- ↑ Grand Theft Sorcery, chapter 21
- ↑ Grand Theft Sorcery, chapter 22