Full Name: Ben Stansfield
Species: Human Un-Cursed Sorcerer
Allegiance: unknown
Religion: unknown
Social Status: 2 (living as a 4 with influence of Nathan Grace), student of Empire Univerisity
Age: unknown
Eyes: unknown
Hair: unknown
Height: unknown
Physical Notes: In his "natural" form, Ben is a moderately tall man with dark hair and green eyes. He is a triple amputee (missing both legs and his left arm) as the result of a car accident. He wears magical prosthetics made of wood and brass fittings.
He is made to shape shift, and these forms will have full use of all limbs. The forms are also beautiful women.
Behavioral Notes:
Supernatural Abilities: Ben is made to change shape on every few nights by the power of a chaos elemental that is somehow bound to him. At the beginning of Dreams of Change he states that he is lucky to get a day or two in his natural form between transformations. It is later revealed that these forms have been linked to the images of women in the dreams of Herb Matheson
Ben is also a sorcerer with a talent for transmutation (and is quite horrid at evocation).
Personality and Appearance
Ben has a very strong will and sense of self, proven in the fact that he is be able to take the constant derision of others (including authority figures) and has a body and magic that is beyond his control, and stay sane. He does contemplate suicide however, at the beginning of Dreams of Change.
He is fairly mistrusting when someone is trying to get to know him. Between years of derision and disbelief, being called a freak on a regular basis, and being the butt of pranks and jokes that range from mild annoyance to serious danger, he will cut himself off from potential friendships because it's hard for him to believe that someone would want to know him (and believe him).
Background
Ben's parents were killed when in a car accident that left Ben scarred and a triple amputee. Ben had already been identified as a potential mage by this point.
He has an uncle that lives in the Flatlands, but for unknown reasons Ben does not want to move there even when things get tough.
When he was sixteen, maybe seventeen years old, he went through his first transformation. This started a long line of problems for Ben. Everyone else was convinced that the transformation was Ben's own doing, as a way to cause trouble and get attention.
The transformation spell can be detected by any mage but normal dispelling to end the transformation will not work. This leads to the professionals (from social workers, teachers, mages, to psychiatrists), to believe that this may be a subconscious ploy on Ben's behalf for attention, or that he wants the transformations to happen. This may be in part to the fact that the transformations also give him back his missing limbs and they work.
The transformations, combined with the fact that he is a sorcerer and not a wizard, cause even more problems for him when he got to Empire University. He is labeled a freak by other students, and his teachers will refuse to assist him because they believe that he's not serious (Dr. Swallowtail in particular).
Dreams of Change
In Dreams of Change, Herb Matheson keeps trying to pressure Ben (in female form) to sleep with him. In an attempt to stop this, Ben meets Androgyne John/Jane Randall, and Theriomorph Natalie Grace. Then it appears that Herb is dead and Ben is arrested for the murder. It is later discovered that Herb is still alive and that the person who died was John/Jane Randall, by Herb's hands when Herb discovers that he slept with an Androgyne and was tricked by John/Jane and Ben. Herb tried to arrange it for Ben to go to prison while Herb arranged through his friends1 for a new life. By the end of the story, Ben is living in a mansion with Natalie and is starting a romantic relationship with her.
In the story it is proven that the transformation magic is getting stronger. When he was fitted for his current set of prosthetics (an unknown amount of time ago) he was put into a mana-dead room and had reverted to his natural form within seconds. However, when he is arrested for the murder of Herb Matheson and put into a mana-dead cell, he does not revert back to his natural form.
It is discovered through the help of fledgling oneiromancer Natalie (via a Ritual of Convergence that they performed after Natalie did a dream reading and realized that something was wrong) that Ben's magic and transformations are linked to a chaos elemental that has bound itself to him.
Known Allies
- Natalie Grace - Ben's friend, and they are developing a deeper relationship. Theriomorph (Bat).
- Nathan Grace - a wealthy and talented lawyer. Natalie's father. Theriomorph (Bat).
- Boom Boom Walters - Ms Walters is Ben's Guildmistress in the Empire University Sorcerer's Guild
- George - the Empire University Sorcerer's Guild drunken doorman
Known Enemies
- Dr. Swallowtail- not a true enemy at this time, but the professor is predjudiced against Ben. For one, he's a sorcerer and not a wizard, yet the fact that he is honestly studying magic theory does not adjust her perceptions of him. Secondly, she sees his random transformations as a sign that he isn't serious and a ploy for attention and will not believe any evidence to the contrary.
- Herb Matheson Now in prison, due to his murder of John/Jane Randall and his foiled ploy to blame Ben for his own apparent murder.
Story Appearances
Sources
Author's Notes
Character created by Nobilis Reed
Voice Actor
Chris Lester as Ben (Primary)
Mae Breakall as Female Ben
