Professor Excelsior
'''Professor Eustace Montaghue Excelsior'''
Background: Blemely Excelsior, and his wife, Helene, were not wise people. Members of an effete upper-crust, they squandered their patrimony with wanton abandon, taking up whatever craze took their fancy, be it horse-racing, music-halls or sponsoring geographic and scientific expeditions. At the height of Victorian splendour, one could do no less. As luck would have it, however, they were two of the principal sponsors of Dr. Mordecai Pius, inventor of the remarkable electromagnometer, which Pius claimed would bend the flow of time. The tragic accident was inevitable, and Blemely Excelsior was killed in the ensuing explosion. His pregnant wife, Helene, lived only long enough to give birth to their only child, Eustace. Dying, she left the boy in the care of their manservant, Bromhead. Growing up, the boy discovered that his brain had been bathed in electromagnefic radiation, creating a vast intelligence never before seen amongst humans before! Aspects: Impossible Mind, Upper Crust
The War and Entry Into the Club: By 17, Eustace had mastered every field of science he had encountered, showing an aptitude for machines and physics. When the Great War broke out, he was in his early 20’s, a scattered, grease-coated youth too absorbed in his research and inventions to take not of the political sphere around him. When contacted by a member of His Majesty’s to join his genius to a government think tank, Eustace was all too happy to comply. Here, he met several fellow scientists: Dr. Gabriel Pollock, Dr. Hilton Isaac, the high-profile defector Dr. Kilmore Kraven and their leader, that wonder of science, Dr. Prometheus: the super-intelligent ape. The ape would become his mentor, and recommended Excelsior for the Century Club. Although they developed wonders that thrilled the world, the foremost amongst them was Excelsior's own discovery of SOLARNETRICS! The Mysterious Harnessing of the Latent Energy in Sunlight! Disaster struck when Kraven was revealed to be a triple-agent, wounding Dr. Prometheus as he escaped with the think-tank’s findings. The other scientists, led by Excelsior, tracked him across Europe, finally reaching him in an abandoned Alpine Schloss, where after losing the plans for a ‘tank-suit’ to his pursuers, he seemingly fell to his death down the rocky cliff-side. Aspects: Genius Of His Generation, For The Future!
Novel: Professor Excelsior and the Insect Fascists!
After the war, Excelsior became further absorbed in his research, seeming to vanish into his lab without a word for weeks on end, barely pausing to eat or sleep. A visit from his old mentor, Dr. Prometheus, brought him out to share his discovery. Deep within his lab, he developed a remarkable "sun-ship" utilising Solarnetric energy, not only to create increased celerity and security, but also rendering the ship able to permeate time and space itself, projecting him into alternate dimensions. He and his mentor, gripped at the prospect of adventure, travelled into an alternate dimension where a race of Alien Insect Tyrants known as the Hive ruled the Earth. Overthrowing humanity from their clutches, Dr. Prometheus was fatally poisoned by Mo-Kal, the Hive Queen - although she perished, the use of her sting resulting in her death! Excelsior travelled back to Earth, horrified by what he had seen of the dark possibilities for humanity, but electrified at the possibility of further adventure to come! Aspects: Science Knows No Boundaries, What A Terrible Waste
Novel: Professor Excelsior and the Armada of Aether!
Taking the fabulous sun-ship to heights undreamt of by men, Excelsior discovers a lost civilisation, with futuristic technology beyond his wildest dreams. Entire cities held aloft above the atmosphere, encased in crystal domes, unanchored from earth. Although he makes a tenuous and excited contact with this civilisation, he discovers he is not the first modern man amongst them - they are led by his old nemesis, Dr. Kilmore Kraven, and that they have a sinister plan to rule the Earth! Aspects: Behold The Wonders Of The Universe, Oblivious Luck Guest Starring: Prince Antonius and Blake Sexton
Novel: The Black Mantis and the Armies of the Night!
Excelsior, drawn out of his lab with the promise of a Nobel Prize, is kidnapped at the prize giving ceremony! A mad Russian dictator wants one of his inventions – the Electro-Animation motor. The sinister Soviet intends to bend the machine to a dark purpose, to give animation to an army of the dead! Languishing within a dank prison, with no hope of escape, only one man can save the Doctor, and save the world. The Black Mantis! Aspects: Never In The Wrong Hands!, Echelons of the Mind! Starring: Black Mantis. Guest Starring: Prince Antonius, Professor Excelsior!)
Novel: Spring Heeled Jack and the Thieves of Time
The Century Club is on the trail of the fabulous CHRONOMETRON, an invention Professor Excelsior has postulated cannot possibly exist! But when the world's greatest criminal minds hatch a cunning sting to recover the device from Dr. Diabolous, it's a race across continents and dimensions, and action is the word of the day! But as they grow closer to their elusive goal, Professor Excelsior discovers a terrifying secret about the alter-ego of the rogue scientist - a devastating revelation that may have made them too late! Aspects: Buck up, Chums - It's An Adventure!, Not The Red Button! Starring: Spring Heeled Jack. Guest Starring: Scarlet Fleet and Professor Excelsior!
Superb: Science!
Great: Academics, Engineering
Good: Resolve, Pilot, Resources
Fair: Leadership, Investigation, Rapport, Empathy
Average: Guns, Athletics, Stealth, Gambling, Art
Mediocre: Alertness, Burglary, Contacting, Deceit, Drive, Endurance, Fists, Intimidation, Might, Mysteries, Sleight of Hand, Survival, Weapons.
Scientific Genius (Solanetrics!) (Science), Scientific Invention (Science), Weird Science (Science), Mad Science (Solarnetrics!) (Science), Universal Gadget (Engineering), Personal Gadget (Engineering) x 2, Inner Strength (Resolve)
The Sun-Ship
(A Dirigible Upgraded with MAD SCIENCE!)
Speculative Science (Air-Force One), Unbelievable (Dimension Shifting), Armored, Special Effect (Solar Powered), Independent, Additional Capacity (All Environment Vehicle).
Appearance: The Professor is an avuncular, hearty man with a clear proclivity for heavy meals. Broad across the waistband, he's tall enough to wear his weight relatively well, and powerful muscles push the heavy frame along. Rich dark hair covers his head, neatly parted, matched by a heavy beard. Rarely seen out of his trademark tweeds and waistcoat, he wears a gold pocketwatch and a matching tie clip. He matches these with small golden pince-nez. Possessed of a rich, booming basso profundo voice and wall-shaking laugh, he's a truly tiatinc tour-de-force.
La Maupin: I can't say I know the lady. All the chaps speak very highly of her though...very highly indeed.
Black Mantis: Ahhhh...the Mantis. Forever will I owe that dark avenger a debt of gratitude for everything he's done for me. Although terrible tragedy has scarred his life, one can't disguise that nobility of spirit, that hearty desire to do good that sets him apart from the common vigilante. Although he may be enigmatic and melancholy at times, with his background, who wouldn't? I'm proud to call him a friend.
The Vox: My fellow wanderer amongst the hallowed halls of academia! At heart he and I are kindred spirits - on the road to adventure in the strange places of the world, following the siren call of our respective disciplines. Of course, the man has encountered many strange things that he claims as yet inexplicable by SCIENCE! For my part, I agree, as long as he leaves that 'as yet' in his equation. My first port of call when my craft takes me on an adventure to some strange and wonderous place!
Prince Antonius: What a wonderous world Mars must be to produce such a stalwart as its champion. A scholar, a gentleman, an athlete and a born leader, the Prince has more in common with Blake than he does with I, and more in common with the Mantis than either of them realise. With a rich warm sense of humour, and a constant readiness to leap into the fray, what's not to like about this Martian Royal?
Springheel Jack: Ah, that beamish boy! That young fellow-me-lad is a mischevious devil if I've ever met one, but there's a heart of gold underneath. He needs to learn a healthy does of respect for the dangers of touching other people's property - some of the things he 'notices' around my lab could have dire effects, but still boys will be boys, eh?
