High Concept:
Senior partner of the Doone Group and manager of one of the most successful risk-arbitrage hedge funds on the west coast. Doone is reclusive and does not participate in the customary pastimes of the 1% (yachting, lobbying, writing op-eds). He does have an extensive collection of sports cars and his own 3-mile speedway on his private estate in eastern Washington, but spends most of his nights in his suite at the Four Seasons. There is no Doone Foundation. On the nights surrounding the full moon, and whenever he is pushed to the edge emotionally, Doone transforms into a half-man, half-wolf creature driven to destroy anything that opposes him. Such is the life of a WEREWOLF MAGNATE.
Trouble:
On discovering his nature, Doone spent some time investigating the history of werewolves. No great researcher, he has nevertheless learned the legends that shapeshifters are people or the descendants of people who were taken by faeries (the scary Irish kind, not the floofy Tinkerbell kind), modified some way, and released back into the world for reasons unknown. Unable to do anything about it and not especially given to self-reflection, Doone chooses instead to ignore the reality of his HIDDEN FAE PURPOSE.
Background phase:
Henry Elijah Doone would have you believe he manifested out of thin air in 1992 as a newly-minted MBA junior analyst for big-money hedge fund Tahoma Capital (now the Doone Group) and began his meteoric rise propelled only by the force he applied to his own bootstraps. Those who spend enough time with him piece together another story, of an absent father and an inattentive mother who took a series of lovers as a way to feed herself, and when she remembered, her son. Hardened at a young age and disgusted by his mother’s dependence, a young Doone vowed to become self-sufficient and swore he would NEVER BE HUNGRY AGAIN.
Rising action:
Doone spent his early adulthood looking for direction. One of his best-kept secrets is the three weeks he spent in the army before washing out of basic training; he was given a separation under ‘personality disorder’. After returning to Seattle, he threw himself head-first into the local BSDM scene, but failed to find what he was looking for there either; he was eagerly picked up by doms excited at training fresh meat, but dropped as quickly when he proved impossible to communicate with and prone to rage when boundaries were crossed. Eventually, he grudgingly decided to strike out on his own, but he continues to look for a cause or a man to serve, who could keep his instincts in check, DESPERATELY SEEKING CIVILIZATION.
Phase three (Savage Blood):
Doone is twenty-five; he has been working at Tahoma for sixteen months. At two a.m. on a Saturday night, the most beautiful man he has ever seen walks into the bar and promises to take him home to do unspeakable things to him. After the ropes are secure, Doone finds his strength draining away from him; he has no word for a psychic vampire, but only knows that this man means him harm. Enraged, for the first time in his life he manifests his beast form and breaks his bonds, but the vampire escapes. Three days later, for reasons of his own, Kyle Cassidy contacts Doone, explains what has happened to him, and offers assistance tracking down his assailant. So stunned at his new awakening to the supernatural reality of his city, he never thinks to ask how Cassidy found Doone or why he would be willing to help him. Cassidy leads Doone to another associate of his who helps them track down the vampire thinking he is only a mundane killer. With Cassidy in tow, Doone tracks the vampire by scent and corners him; the vampire offers negotiation and explanations but Doone simply transforms and tears out his throat while he pleads, opting as always to ASK QUESTIONS LATER.
Phase four (A Model Crime):
Doone awakens one night in his hotel suite to find a man unknown to him standing over his bed. He tries to attack but finds himself unable to move his limbs. The man accuses him of murdering five people and swears to deliver justice for them, but Doone’s protestations of innocence seem to strike a nerve. The man does…something, and Doone sees a series of his own memories flash before his eyes. The man apologizes, and Doone finds himself able to move again. The man introduces himself as William Harcourt, the famous writer Thomas Singer. Doone has been set up by someone; his unmannerly nature and frequent rages are well-known in the city make him an obvious choice for a patsy. Doone takes Harcourt to meet with Cassidy in the hopes that he can identify the killer, and he leads them to another vampire. Doone wants to kill this one too, but Cassidy insists they instead incapacitate her and takes her off for his own purposes. The murders stop but suspicion lingers around Doone, enhancing what is already a BAD REPUTATION.
Phase five: (The Darkness Inside)
Doone’s assistant comes into his office: does he know a William Harcourt? He’s in the lobby with a young…man. When he’s shown in, Harcourt introduces Alan Reese, who cannot be more than twenty and is wearing fishnet stockings and far too much eyeliner. Reese, Harcourt explains, is suffering from a mild case of possession, and with Doone’s…condition, perhaps he could provide advice on controlling unwanted emotional responses? Doone finds himself engaged in a battle of emotions of his own: annoyance at the ridiculousness of the situation, and an uncomfortable attraction to a man at least twenty years his junior. (The thought that he may be even younger, he forces out of his mind immediately). Flustered, Doone agrees to do what he can and proves surprisingly able to explain the mental exercises he uses to keep the beast at bay, proving an UNLIKELY MENTOR.
