Thaddeus "Taz" Lehrer - Tess
Stats:
Gender: Male
Age: 34
Nature: Cat
Occupation: Firefighter/Paramedic
Appearance: Appearance: Thaddeus "Taz" Lehrer is 5'10" and weighs 170 lbs, almost all of it tough muscle and pure gristle. His hair is dark brown and his eyes are hazel. A romantic would say they were flecked with green and gold, but then, a romantic would probably swoon from the assault of his abrasive personality before they got close enough to study his eyes.
He's got a killer body, one built deliberately for function more than looks, though he realizes his physique tends to garner him second and third looks from women. Not that he minds. Not that many of them stick around after he opens his mouth.
Taz has a gravelly, hoarse voice that seems to come from somewhere deep in his chest. His voice is one that carries, whether he intends that or not, and he's capable of incredible volume.
The gritty quality is partially a natural tone, and partly produced by irritation from the cigarillos he constantly smokes. "I'm not gonna get cancer or emphysema, so go breathe somewhere else and shut the hell up!"
Shifted Appearance: In his shifted state Taz appears to be a large, stocky tom-cat with a heavy round head and a compact, muscular body.
Gender: Male
Age: 34
Nature: Cat
Occupation: Firefighter/Paramedic
Appearance: Appearance: Thaddeus "Taz" Lehrer is 5'10" and weighs 170 lbs, almost all of it tough muscle and pure gristle. His hair is dark brown and his eyes are hazel. A romantic would say they were flecked with green and gold, but then, a romantic would probably swoon from the assault of his abrasive personality before they got close enough to study his eyes.
He's got a killer body, one built deliberately for function more than looks, though he realizes his physique tends to garner him second and third looks from women. Not that he minds. Not that many of them stick around after he opens his mouth.
Taz has a gravelly, hoarse voice that seems to come from somewhere deep in his chest. His voice is one that carries, whether he intends that or not, and he's capable of incredible volume.
The gritty quality is partially a natural tone, and partly produced by irritation from the cigarillos he constantly smokes. "I'm not gonna get cancer or emphysema, so go breathe somewhere else and shut the hell up!"
Shifted Appearance: In his shifted state Taz appears to be a large, stocky tom-cat with a heavy round head and a compact, muscular body.
His fur is a cloudy, grizzled grey tabby pattern. Not striking, not even beautiful, but excellent camouflage in a natural setting or in urban darkness.
Personality: Taz is candid to a fault-- meaning he'll always tell you exactly what he thinks of you, regardless of your feelings or the consequences. He's capable of compassion and the softer emotions of generosity and affection, but he keeps them well-concealed under a thick veneer of sardonic humor, cynicism and apparent misanthropy. |
Taz in fur.
The owner of the lap prefers to remain anonymous. |
At the same time, if you win his respect, you also win his loyalty. If you win his friendship, you'll have someone who'll literally walk through fire for you, as well as defend you quite viciously against any perceived threat or slight. The other side of that coin is that he is one who tends to hold grudges-- feuds seem a perfectly reasonable response to conflict in his mind-- and a betrayal is a mistake never forgiven or forgotten.
He may be a master at dark humor and sarcasm, but he takes his work very seriously despite the fact that he generally refers to his profession as "frustratin' the process of natural selection." Mistakes in patient care aren't lightly dismissed.
History: Taz is the product of a local blue-collar couple (Felix and Madeleine Lehrer) who struggled to raise four rambunctious sons on two small pay-checks. His father worked as a laborer in the County Works department, and his mother worked part-time as a waitress while Taz and his brothers were in school (or running wild in the woods during the summer) He says he was raised by hand, which meant his parents pretty much let the boys do as they pleased until they got so far out of line that his mother started swinging a switch or his Dad tanned their behinds with a broad, callused palm.
Taz graduated high school with honors, which surprised everyone but his teachers, and joined the volunteer fire department of Stone Mountain. When the station was taken up as a County service, he got officially certified, as well as taking classes at the local community college to gain a Paramedics certification.
Both of his parents have since passed away. His oldest brother Russell died as a teen in a traffic accident, when the steering rod went out on his old car on a bad curve, Gregory died at the hands of persons or persons unknown a few years back, not long after his release from prison after serving a term for armed robbery. Elliot, is working at a Mercedes dealership in Atlanta, supporting a trophy wife. Taz long ago cut ties with his criminal brother Greg, but keeps in touch with Elliot and his wife Brittany, though they generally only see each other on holidays and the occasional summer cookout. Elliot moves in a far swankier crowd now than Taz is comfortable within, as he doesn't care to be perceived as the redneck poor relation. Even though he really is.
How Taz became a Cat is a mystery he refuses to divulge. The most that he'll say is that it was a bad situation all the way around, and that's all he'll say. To anyone, ever. He is definitely in the closet with his human co-workers and family. He schedules his full moons off-duty, and turns off his phone so he doesn’t get called for fill-ins on those fateful nights.
Taz had no ambitions towards lycanthropic leadership, but Nature abhors a vacuum, and Taz abhors the scumsucks from Atlanta who are infecting minor kids right and left all around him. He has become the Tom of a largely underage Colony despite his personal inclinations otherwise.
Abilities: Taz is a talented paramedic and a dedicated firefighter. He does have all the courage of the profession, though his manner may make it come across as bravado and his surly cynicism may make others question why he's in such an altruistic profession at all.
Weaknesses: This boy is a bundle of negative traits and character flaws. He's got compassion and a capacity to love, but keeps them deeply hidden under a thick shellac of apparent misanthropy, casual profanity and indiscriminate sarcasm. He's a pain in the ass to authority and doesn't think twice about getting up into anyone's face if they tick him off.
He also resents the hell out of the fact that, having the misfortune of being infected with lycanthropy, the insult was added to it of becoming not something powerful and ferocious like a Wolf or Bear or hell, even one of those Cougar posers-- but instead being forced to become a feral tom-cat every full moon.
Quirks: Smokes White Owl cigarrillos unless physically threatened with violence to put the darn thing out. And you'd better be bigger and meaner or at least able to fire his behind, if you do so insist.
Taz has a tattoo that has persisted throughout his conversion to lycanthropy (and probably always will). It reads Ut Vivant Alli (So Others May Live) with the names Captain Robert Kelly and Firefighter Truman Hall listed below.
Character songs: Tommy the Cat, Primus (How he presents himself to the Colony.) Some Nights, Walk Off The Earth, feat. Julie Nunes (How he really feels.)
Weapons: A big mouth and big fists are his primary weapons. In his shifted state, he's a mean and ruthless warrior, but since he's essentially a feral housecat then, he's not much of a threat to anyone but other Cats.
Family
Elliot Lehrer-- brother
Brittany Lehrer-- sister-in-law
Vehicle: Pine green 2010 Ford Bronco. Yeah, it's old, but it runs great, it's paid for, insurance is cheap and he can work on it, so if you don't like it, you can damn well walk.
Home: The Blue Star Inn
He may be a master at dark humor and sarcasm, but he takes his work very seriously despite the fact that he generally refers to his profession as "frustratin' the process of natural selection." Mistakes in patient care aren't lightly dismissed.
History: Taz is the product of a local blue-collar couple (Felix and Madeleine Lehrer) who struggled to raise four rambunctious sons on two small pay-checks. His father worked as a laborer in the County Works department, and his mother worked part-time as a waitress while Taz and his brothers were in school (or running wild in the woods during the summer) He says he was raised by hand, which meant his parents pretty much let the boys do as they pleased until they got so far out of line that his mother started swinging a switch or his Dad tanned their behinds with a broad, callused palm.
Taz graduated high school with honors, which surprised everyone but his teachers, and joined the volunteer fire department of Stone Mountain. When the station was taken up as a County service, he got officially certified, as well as taking classes at the local community college to gain a Paramedics certification.
Both of his parents have since passed away. His oldest brother Russell died as a teen in a traffic accident, when the steering rod went out on his old car on a bad curve, Gregory died at the hands of persons or persons unknown a few years back, not long after his release from prison after serving a term for armed robbery. Elliot, is working at a Mercedes dealership in Atlanta, supporting a trophy wife. Taz long ago cut ties with his criminal brother Greg, but keeps in touch with Elliot and his wife Brittany, though they generally only see each other on holidays and the occasional summer cookout. Elliot moves in a far swankier crowd now than Taz is comfortable within, as he doesn't care to be perceived as the redneck poor relation. Even though he really is.
How Taz became a Cat is a mystery he refuses to divulge. The most that he'll say is that it was a bad situation all the way around, and that's all he'll say. To anyone, ever. He is definitely in the closet with his human co-workers and family. He schedules his full moons off-duty, and turns off his phone so he doesn’t get called for fill-ins on those fateful nights.
Taz had no ambitions towards lycanthropic leadership, but Nature abhors a vacuum, and Taz abhors the scumsucks from Atlanta who are infecting minor kids right and left all around him. He has become the Tom of a largely underage Colony despite his personal inclinations otherwise.
Abilities: Taz is a talented paramedic and a dedicated firefighter. He does have all the courage of the profession, though his manner may make it come across as bravado and his surly cynicism may make others question why he's in such an altruistic profession at all.
Weaknesses: This boy is a bundle of negative traits and character flaws. He's got compassion and a capacity to love, but keeps them deeply hidden under a thick shellac of apparent misanthropy, casual profanity and indiscriminate sarcasm. He's a pain in the ass to authority and doesn't think twice about getting up into anyone's face if they tick him off.
He also resents the hell out of the fact that, having the misfortune of being infected with lycanthropy, the insult was added to it of becoming not something powerful and ferocious like a Wolf or Bear or hell, even one of those Cougar posers-- but instead being forced to become a feral tom-cat every full moon.
Quirks: Smokes White Owl cigarrillos unless physically threatened with violence to put the darn thing out. And you'd better be bigger and meaner or at least able to fire his behind, if you do so insist.
Taz has a tattoo that has persisted throughout his conversion to lycanthropy (and probably always will). It reads Ut Vivant Alli (So Others May Live) with the names Captain Robert Kelly and Firefighter Truman Hall listed below.
Character songs: Tommy the Cat, Primus (How he presents himself to the Colony.) Some Nights, Walk Off The Earth, feat. Julie Nunes (How he really feels.)
Weapons: A big mouth and big fists are his primary weapons. In his shifted state, he's a mean and ruthless warrior, but since he's essentially a feral housecat then, he's not much of a threat to anyone but other Cats.
Family
Elliot Lehrer-- brother
Brittany Lehrer-- sister-in-law
Vehicle: Pine green 2010 Ford Bronco. Yeah, it's old, but it runs great, it's paid for, insurance is cheap and he can work on it, so if you don't like it, you can damn well walk.
Home: The Blue Star Inn