The Vox

Background:

Blake Sexton is the son of Professors Kendell and Samantha Sexton, the globe-trotting American anthropologists whose celebrated field research introduced the world to hitherto unknown peoples and places, such as the Tirentu of the Andes and the Antarctic Pygmies. As such, his youth was one adventure after another, and he received an education that no mere school can possibly provide. It soon became apparent that young Blake had inherited the intellectual curiosity, mental prowess, and academic aptitude of his parents. While most other children his age in America were playing hopscotch, Blake was shaking hands with primitive cultures in the undiscovered corners of the world.

Aspects: Citizen of the World; Son of Scholars

War:

When Blake was a teenager, he traveled with his parents to Kathmandu, Nepal to study the culture of several remote Himalayan villages that had gone unnoticed by the world at large. While there, the Great War broke out, although news of this epic European conflict barely reached these snow-capped peaks of Central Asia, especially in the tiny village of Bhantu, where the Sextons spent two years researching the natives and learning their odd dialect of Nepali (which Blake, perhaps owing to his youth, picked up much more quickly than his parents). As a young man, Blake loved listening to the stories of Lama Samteng, Bhantu's spiritual leader and a masterful teller of tales. It was during this time that Blake first heard whispered stories of "the Voice of Shakti," which, as near as he could piece together, seemed to be either an esoteric language or a way of speaking. Blake sometimes pressed Lama Samteng for details, but received nothing but a knowing smile in return.

Eventually, the War did indeed reach Nepal, in the form of a militant faction of isolationists calling themselves the Teeth of Nakara. Their opposition to the ruling Rana government's support for Great Britain took the form of riot and rebellion, plunging the country into chaos. Their demon-masked agents seemed to be everywhere, and not even the rural villages were spared. The Sextons' peaceful existence in Bhantu came to an abrupt end when these enemies of order burned half the village to the ground, driving its inhabitants further into the mountains in search of safety. In a desperate bid to buy time for his family, Blake's father gave his life for those of his son and wife, falling in hand-to-hand combat with the bloodthirsty rebels. Lama Samteng led a handful of survivors higher into the Himalayas, to the sacred temple at Muktinath which, he was certain, not even the Teeth of Nakara would dare defile with bloodshed.

Blake, of course, brash young American that he was, burned with desire for vengeance, but the wise old lama convinced him to bide his time at Muktinath to care for his mother... and to learn a closely guarded secret of the Himalayas. "I am its last keeper," Lama Samteng confided, "but it shall not die with me. If you would learn it, and vow to use it well and rightly, I shall teach it to you. But you must put aside your thirst for vengeance. Only a calm soul, at one with the universe, can know the Voice of Shakti."

Aspects: Collector of Stories; Old Wounds Never Heal

Mentor Novel: Blake Sexton in... The Riddle of the Ice-Ape!

On the roof of the world, Blake Sexton learns the esoteric secrets of the Himalayan monks from Lama Samteng, granting him near-supernatural powers over body and mind. When master and student come face-to-face with the legendary Ice-Ape of Nepal, however, they'll need more than meditation and mantras to survive. But is it really the vicious beast it appears to be? And what is its strange connection to the sinister Teeth of Naraka? It will take all of Blake Sexton's wits and new-found mystical powers -- not to mention his fists -- to solve the Riddle of the Ice-Ape!

Aspects: "Om mani padme hum"; Mind Over Matter

Novel: The Mysterious Vox and the Man Who Never Existed!

[At this point, under pressure from his publisher, the author gave Blake Sexton an adventuring pseudonym -- "The Vox" -- and moved him to America.]

After a decade under Lama Samteng's tutelage, Blake's mother Samantha reveals that his late father was a member of the Century Club, in America, and that the time has come for him to claim his legacy as a Centurion. Bidding the lamas of Muktinath a fond farewell, with promises to return, the Sextons make the long journey back to New York City and the Century Club--only to discover that the Club claims never to have heard of his father, Kendell Sexton! What foul mesmerism holds the noble Century Club in thrall? Only Blake Sexton, in his guise as the Vox, can bring the evildoers to justice and save the Centurions!

Aspects: Centurion Legacy; The Voice of Shakti

Guest Star: Professor Excelsior and the Armada of Aether!

When fellow Centurion Professor Excelsior requests his anthropological expertise, Blake Sexton hardly expects it's for an expedition into the void of space itself aboard the Professor's fabulous Sun-Ship--and with a Martian prince, no less! Anticipation turns to terror, though, when the ominous agenda of the Armada of Aether, led by Dr. Kilmore Kraven, is revealed. Thanks to the heroics of Professor Excelsior and his companions, including a few choice words from the Vox, Kraven's plot is foiled... but for how long?

Aspects: "Now I've seen everything!"; A Friend in Need

Flashback Novel: Wilhelm Wilhelmsson and Blake Sexton in... Mystery in the Monastery!

Before they were the Black Mantis and Vox, they were boys in over their heads! When young Wilhelm Wilhelmsson journeys to the tiny village of Bhantu to learn from Doc Leviathan's old friend Lama Samteng, he's shocked to discover an American family living among the Nepalese! Being the same age, he and Blake Sexton become fast friends, but a trip with the Sextons to visitthe famed monastery in Pokhara quickly takes an unexpected turn--to murder! Who killed Lama Daksha, and why? Blake and Wilhelm are on the case! Some simple sleuthing soon leads to a thrilling chase through the narrow streets of the city, uncovering the roots of an ancient curse as old as the Himalayas themselves, and culminating in a harrowing showdown atop the treacherous Hell's Falls!

Aspects: I Love a Mystery; In the Service of Justice

Skills:

Superb (+5): Mysteries

Great (+4): Resolve, Academics

Good (+3): Endurance, Survival, Alertness

Fair (+2): Athletics, Fists, Empathy, Might

Average (+1): Intimidation, Rapport, Stealth, Contacting, Investigation

Stunts:

Mysteries: Mesmerist, Hypnotic Speech, Mind's Shadow, Enthrall

Academic: Scholar (Anthropology), Linguist

Resolve: Inner Strength

Contacting: Walk The Walk

Reactions to the Other PCs:

Prince Antonius: Only one thing could have made my extra-atmospheric journey on the Sun-Ship even more incredible, and that was the Martian Prince. For an anthropologist, encountering royalty from an undiscovered civilization is a unique thrill, but meeting Prince Antonius was an academic and personal pleasure far beyond my expectations. Noble, brave, and intelligent as any Earthman, this visitor from the stars has much he can teach us.

La Maupin: Of all the world’s wonders, none is so mysterious as Woman. I haven’t had the pleasure of making Ms. D’Aubigny’s acquaintance, though I have caught her eye around the club on a few occasions. The Professor claims there’s nothing that can’t be explained by science. La Maupin is my counterargument.

Professor Excelsior: A shining paragon of academia, the Professor. We may not see the world through the same eyes, but I have learned a great deal from his perspective—and, I suspect, with all due modesty, he from mine. With the Great War behind us, it is visionaries such as he who will lead us through the twentieth century. A respected colleague and a good friend.

Black Mantis: I still chuckle when I remember Wilhelm and I and our youthful adventures in Nepal. Little did we know at the time how those experiences would set the tone for the rest of our lives, or that we would later find ourselves pitted against one another. We share much in common, not least of which is the grim knowledge that what lurks just out of eyesight is at least as dangerous as that which we can see. I trust this masked avenger with my life.

Spring Heeled Jack: When I was his age, I never would’ve imagined boys like him existed outside of the pages of a Penny Dreadful. Our childhoods could not have been more different: mine was spent in the far corners of the world, his torn by war and under the tutelage of an infamous rogue. And yet I find myself strangely envious. Imagine, to be 14 and a legend! But I have my path, and he his. A truer ally I could not have asked for in bringing Brother Od to justice and freeing the Century Club.