Thom Payton
- The Forsaken -ChiTown- Sabbat -ChiTown- City Gangrel
Sobriquet: Pay-less a nickname Thom has acquired through years of petty theft.
Appearance: Thom is a good looking kid with an easy smile and mischievous eyes. He has red hair, green eyes and the pale skin of the Irish. Thom always dresses well, in style, and expensively.
Behavior: Thom is a smart kid, perhaps too smart for his own good. Seemingly relaxed and easy going, Thom's studied calm hides his fears, insecurities and fearsome temper. Despite these personal difficulties, he can turn on the charm with a ready compliment or pleasantry. But the only thing smoother than his palming technique is his glib tongue which can get him into and out of trouble at light speed.
History: Thom was born and attended school (some of the time) in Sigourney. The son of a construction worker and stay-at-home mom, his life should have been decent, if not ideal. But Thom's parents had conceived him in the backseat of a Pontiac fire-bird and ended up married before they even graduated high school. Thom's dad went to work for his wife's father as a laborer and never achieved his life goals, as a result, he often took out his feels of inadequacy on his young wife and son. Thom's mom turned to drugs to cope with an abusive husband and the drudgery of young motherhood. As often as not, the family lived from paycheck to paycheck and Thom was often left to his own devices. Things got worse in Thom's early teens when his mother finally took off with her drug-dealer and Thom became the sole recipient of his father's rages. It is from this period of his life, that Thom's delinquency really took off. To avoid further beatings, Thom began to runaway from home, and of couch-surfing a fine art. Initially, Thom's father reported his disappearances, but after run-in with social services, he ceased to care. Thereafter, Thom would only return to his father's house if caught by police. The town sheriff (Kizzie's father) quickly realized what was happening and more often than not, he would simply take Thom home with him where he could watch him and ensure he got a decent meal. Thus, Thom became an unofficial stray at the Sand's household and stayed out of Juvenal detention (most of the time). While light-fingered with strangers or those he disliked, Thom never stole from his god-parents.Eventually, he graduated (just barely) and like his peers, he immediately began looking for a way out of town. Unfortunately, Thom saw grand-theft-auto as his passage to better things and spent a week in jail until the sheriff convinced the townsfolk to drop the charges. Deciding at this point that he needed to keep a lower profile, Thom hitched a ride with Kizzie to Chicago and hung out with her until the Sabbat took all of them for a terrifying joy-ride.
Recent Events: At the time that the Sabbat stole his life from him and buried him alive, Thom was on a one way trip to prison. But since his Embrace, Thom has finally found a place where he belongs. He has never felt so beholden to anyone as he does to Bill Butler and that is the strangest thing of all, because Thom doesn't do what he is told, ever. Still, Bill has treated him a lot better than his dad and the Sabbat isn't likely to runaway and leave him holding the bag, so he is hanging out for now. The fact that he couldn't leave even if he wanted to hasn't occurred to Thom yet, but it will eventually and then there will be hell to pay.
