the wizard;
Name: Quentin Elias Ambroise
Age/Birthdate: December 5th, 1980 / 27 years old
Sexuality: Heterosexual
Occupation: Philanthropist.
Previous Occupations:
At the age of 22, Quentin authored his first book, Ribbon. It tells the story of the Lemniscates, a secret society of people who have gained immortality via perpetual reincarnation. Told from the stream-of-conscious POV of an unnamed Leminscate, the book examines the nature of humanity and immortality. Over the past five years it has gained popularity in some literary circles, especially among college students and cynics who cite the Lemniscates' cold indifference to the rest of mortal humanity as a clear reference to the self-worshipping individualism of modern society. Anyone from the Pentamerone would realize very early on that it is a direct reference to the ongoings of the Tale community, though the characters are not based on actual Tales.
When he was 26, Quentin was offered professorship at New York University. He took the position, but his tenure as a professor of anthropology only lasted a year; Quentin resigned, citing a 'conflict of interest.'
Shortly afterward, Quentin made headlines when he announced his plans to hot-air balloon across America. A book about his experiences is expected to go on the shelves June 2008. All profits from the book will go to Habitat for Humanity.
Fairytale: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, from the eponymous story by Frank L. Baum.
Ability: None.
Status: Quentin sees no reason to hide who he was, but it's not a frequent topic of conversation by any stretch of the imagination. In other words: if you ask, he'll tell you.
Personality: Quentin would be sad to know that he is best remembered for his intelligence rather than his philanthropy. A former child prodigy, his thirst for knowledge and understanding has never died and likely never will. However, it should be known that Quentin is a far cry from a bookish, asocial creature; his knowledge comes from experience, not from solitary hours spent pouring over books. Instead, Quentin thinks of himself as a man with a lot of dreams, and knowledge is the tool to achieve them.
Outwardly, he's a vaguely social person. Quick to smile and quicker to laugh, he is jovial, but impersonal with all but those who deeply identify with his cause. He is inquisitive, but not indulgent: He looks for intelligent conversation, not therapy sessions. In retrospect, this may be why he has sometimes been reluctant to pick up his Compendium in the past. Quentin's life philosophy follows a kind of gestalt, with the overall picture outweighing the sum of its parts, so small, everyday problems are often brushed off as meaningless. Because of this, Quentin's reputation ranges anywhere from easygoing to heartless within the Tale community, depending on who you ask.
That said, when the few people he is genuinely fond of fall upon hard times, Quentin doesn't hesitate to help. His wisdom and past experiences are helpful, and the way he imbues advice is never condescending. If the truth was to be known, Quentin really does care about people-but, he thinks that self-sufficiency is a very important thing to have, which is why his help is so seldom administered.
His relationship with the Tale community itself, though, is rocky at best. It isn't so much the 'reincarnated fairytales' that he has trouble with, so much as the philosophical aspect of it all. Effectively, all tales are immortal-though they die, they always return. Yet despite having eternity, the Tales continue living their selfish, day-to-day lives. Quentin isn't asking that everyone drop what they're doing and head to the Salvation Army, but imagine what a different place the world would be if one, even two tales devoted a lifetime to helping others every generation. There would be another lifetime for them to do those selfish things they have always wanted to do-likely, a dozen lifetimes to do all of those little things. Ultimately, humanity is the very reason that Tales exist in the first place-and if they should disappear from the Earth, so will Tales.
When I was talking with Allison about his character concept, she said something that I thought was poignantly Quentin: "[Quentin is the way he is] because individuals tend to be messy and selfish, but humanity is something he celebrates." This is so very true. Quentin loves humanity as a whole; people and their experiences are the most precious thing this Earth has to offer. This is why he is so prone to fly to third world countries to help those less fortunate, but hesitates to play therapist for another Tale. It's not that he doesn't care. He just looks at his responsibilities in a worldwide sense, rather than the neo-tribalized view of modern society.
History: Quentin's earliest memory is from the view of his mother's shoulder, being lead into the cellar away from the tornado that would inevitably rip their small home in Kansas to pieces like it was made of paper. It was this moment that Quentin remembered things he shouldn't have, of a life as a man before-of the story of a lion, a tin man, a scarecrow, and a little girl he once knew.
A week later, the family was visited by a man who claimed to represent their insurance agency. That was, of course, a lie; he was from the Antheneum, and Quentin was the Wizard of Oz. He was only four years old.
In retrospect, it's likely a good thing that Quentin discovered who he was so early on in his life. If it had waited too much later, it was unlikely that Quentin would have believed the message that the Antheneum Representative had to offer him. After all, men of science and magic hardly ever mix, and it was obvious from an early age that Quentin was destined for a life of learning.
Though he had always been bright for his age, after learning he was the Wizard Quentin really began to shine academically. By the time he was old enough for kindergarten, he was reading books intended for children twice his age. (One of said books was The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, which Quentin had been intimately familiar with since the day the representative from the Antheneum left his life and changed him forever.) At first, his teacher was incredulous about the precocious boy's advanced reading skills, but after countless tests and examinations, it was clear that Quentin was too advanced for kindergarten.
At first, he was only promoted to first grade as an experiment-after all, too much promotion could cripple the young boy socially, but first grade wasn't a good match for him, either. He lasted in that class for a little over a month, and then, with more testing, was placed in second grade. That was when the bullying started, but Quentin's dedication to his studies was tenacious. Two months later, Quentin approached his mother about being home schooled, and to be honest, Mrs. Ambroise was so astonished that her son even knew about the concept of home schooling that she couldn't say no.
The next seven years of Quentin's life were uneventful. Home schooling proved to be very good to him: he was able to study at his own pace, while spending sunny afternoons playing with children his own age, who didn't know or recall the reason he had been withdrawn from school. It was only when he turned twelve that Quentin once again considered public schools. After so many years, Quentin longed to talk to someone who was on his level academically.
...He was quick to learn that public highschool was not the place to look for such conversation. Still, the bullying was not as bad as it had been when he was younger-and between the teachers who admired his potential and enthusiasm, and the few friends he managed to make a long the way-highschool was not such a bad experience.
There was a lot of press when it came close to graduation day. Dozens of interviews and flashbulbs foresaw the flurry of college representatives that would come flocking to his door shortly afterward. Quentin had the pick of any college he wanted, but eventually, he decided Pennsylvania University was a good fit. Besides, it was closer to the Pentamerone-and a community he had long since ignored, saved for those rare check ins with a representative.
Once again, Quentin flew through his studies, but he found as he grew older that academia did not satisfy him the way it used to. He wondered if what he was missing was a of community with his fellow Tales, and so in his third year of undergrad studies decided to pay a visit to the Pentamerone. Unfortunately, it was like trying to fit a round peg in a square hole: Although he tried, Quentin just didn't fit in there, either. Cutting his two-week visit short, he returned to Penn just six days later to continue his studies.
He would not return to the Pentamerone for another four years, after he received his degree in sociology, and his doctorate in anthropology. By then, a 21-year-old Quentin had a slightly better time of fitting in. He moved into the Pentamerone while he did research for several financial backers, establishing his name in the field. By the end of the first year, he felt unhappy with the Tale community at large. The result of his melancholia was, of course, Ribbon, a plea for Tales to come together to help humanity. The plea, of course, went widely ignored-sometimes, it was even attacked by Tales who mistook Quentin's desire for peace and philanthropy as malicious slander against the Tale community. In the outside world, the book became a wild success.
Ultimately, Quentin moved out of the Pentamerone shortly after the publication of Ribbon. Four years of research later, he was offered a teaching position at NYU, which he accepted. At first, Quentin thought he finally found his place in the world, but it was not meant to be. Quentin's fascination with anthropology was earnest and his findings were humble in presentation; his colleagues were obsessed with tenure, influence and grants. He left after the first year.
Shortly afterwards, Quentin made headlines again with his plans to hot air balloon across America. That was six months ago; his journey completed, he plans on returning to New York City in hopes of giving the Pentamerone one last try.
Played-By: Josh Groban
The Obligatory Bit
There are a lot of parallels between Quentin and his former self. Beyond their mutual interest in hot air balloons, both Wizard and Quentin have gained followers who do not necessarily understand them; for the Wizard, it was the people of Oz, for Quentin, it is his fans who have wrongly misinterpreted Ribbon and have come to regard him a champion of cynics. They are both examples of the "wise man on the mountain" archetype, however unlike the Wizard, Quentin's knowledge is entirely genuine.
Because he has been aware of his Talehood for such a long time, any maladjustment Quentin felt has disappeared long ago. He is still mildly ashamed of the fact that the Wizard was revealed to be fraudulent, and that he sent a group of inexperienced misfits to do his dirty work for him, but likes to think that he's a better person this time around.