damien is a bit on the introverted side, but what he lacks in social finesse, he makes up for in style and a compulsion to cause problems on purpose. having endured years of peer abuse throughout elementary and middle school on account of his facial deformity, damien grew to be exceptionally diffident. he's never made friends easily and, due to the way people viewed him while he was growing up, he wanted to be noticed for something, anything else besides his birthmark, so he turned toward garnering attention by getting into trouble.

nowadays, he's still quite the miscreant, though he's far craftier with his antics. his vandalism and pranks are often used to make statements that reflect the beliefs he's come to adopt over the years. he's less concerned about getting caught and more concerned about getting his point across. he isn't afraid to share his opinions and can be considered "outgoing" in this regard, though he's still reluctant to engage with other people casually. as he grew older, of course, his peers were less cruel about his appearance, but the damage had been done.

the few friends damien does make, however, are held near and dear to his heart. once someone proves their trustworthiness to him, he becomes fiercely loyal and protective. he isn't afraid to start a fight with someone mouthing off about those he holds close ( not that he's afraid to start a fight period, really ) and he will do everything in his power to keep them safe, even going to far as to put himself in harm's way.

being a witch, damien is well-versed in various kinds of incantations, rituals, and potions.

due to naberius's connection with ravens, damien is able to communicate with corvids.

naberius's demonic aura grants him the ability to influence others with his speech to a certain degree.

born to two witches known well to the church of the eclipse coven, damien was a "fated child". the coven's resident oracle predicted that a babe would be born on the night of the wolf moon eclipse in the coven's moment of need. during the weeks leading up to this event, the church of the eclipse was being terrorized by the demon known as naberius—called upon by a scorned witch who had been excommunicated from the coven for her heresy.

damien was delivered within the desecrated church of the arcanum institute, a church that already housed a host of infernal energy due to the massacre that had taken place inside it before it was set aflame and subsequently claimed by the church of the eclipse. the demon naberius arrived on the night of damien's birth, intent on slaughtering the family of witches as he was summoned to do, but thanks to the oracle's prophecy, they were prepared for his arrival.

with the combined magicks of evander and beatrix maverick and the coven's high priest silas abernathy, they were able to seal the demon inside the maverick child, placing the markings of the binding spell on his back.

sadly, damien's mother was killed in the process of sealing naberius in her son. her spirit lingered just long enough to complete the ritual, channeling the last of her energy through her husband before she dissipated forever.

normally, a mere infant wouldn't be nearly strong enough to contain a demon like naberius, but damien was of maverick blood, a long lineage of witches and warlocks whose magic was particularly attuned to hosting demons, those hosts called malum arca. the binding spell with which naberius was sealed was nearly as ancient as demons themselves. rather than banishing infernal spirits back to hell, the mavericks learned to harness their energy to enhance their own power and became one of the most powerful witch families in the world because of it.

this ritual was kept secret from damien throughout his childhood, his father intent on revealing it to him after his dark baptism in order to keep him from abusing his latent power until he could learn to control it for fear of naberius breaking free once more. instead, damien was raised, at first, like any other warlock, allowed to lead a relatively normal life under a mortal guise until he turned sixteen. he was told his mother had died protecting the coven and that he had a sacred obligation to one day sign his name in the book of the beast so that he may carry on her legacy and that of the entire maverick family in her honour.

the burden of expectation weighed heavily on damien as he grew older, which was part of the reason he began to act out. the bullying aside, he felt that his father, evander, expected nothing but absolute perfection out of him, that the slightest deviation from the image of his own mother that had been imprinted on him would lead to his father's disapproval. this was proven true, of course. each of damien's spiteful transgressions drove the wedge between him and his father even deeper. rather than looking between the lines to find the root of damien's behaviour, evander only became harsher and more strict. they were at an impasse.

eventually, however, damien was more or less convinced to sign his name in the book of the beast exactly as his father and the rest of the coven desired, if only in the interest of his own pursuit of power. once he had signed away his soul to the dark lord, damien felt the surge of magical energy that came with the promise of his devotion, as well as the rattlings of something even more sinister from within himself.

it was then that evander revealed the truth about how his mother had died not only protecting the coven, but while sealing that infernal creature inside of her own child. damien was appalled that his own father would keep something like that from him, no matter his reasons, and henceforth denounced any and every dream evander had crafted for him. damien had no interest in becoming father abernathy's apprentice to one day ascend to high priest, nor carrying on the maverick legacy, nor whatever else his father expected of him. instead, he threw himself into his own magical studies, now subject to the diabolic mutterings of the demon who had been awoken by his dark baptism.

damien is still a "student" at the arcanum institute in the way that the faithful and devout are always students of their sacred scriptures. he belongs to the church of the eclipse coven, but damien also travels as a journalist, paying special heed to up and coming serial killers and obscure hauntings. all this to serve as a cover for his true goal: finding a way to break the seal that holds naberius within him.

while he has grown fond of the demon poisoning his soul—kind of like how an ugly shirt starts to grow on you despite not matching any other outfit you own—both he and naberius want to be rid of each other so that the demon can go back to commanding his legions in hell and damien can prove himself a powerful witch without the help of any demon.

in life, damien was just a normal guy who went to college for para-psychology and just so happened to practice paganism. you know, like, just casually. a few hexes and blessings here and there, maybe one or two rituals, just little stuff. evidently, however, that was enough to damn him to hell, so here he is, surrounded by murderers and rapists and human traffickers in a place that always reeks of week-old rotting intestines and has a strange, but not unwelcome penchant for sudden musicals.

here, he simply goes by maverick, a raven-esque demon with intimate knowledge of the occult. he runs a small corner shop where he buys and sells mystical and supernatural artefacts. plenty of odd characters pass through his doors, so he's accumulated quite the laundry list of secrets and tasty little tidbits. now, if only he could find a way back to the realm of the living...