Major Philip Rook

         Major Rook is not particularly noticeable to anyone's first glance. In his private life (as much as he has one), he tends to come across as a somewhat tall but well-built Victorian gentleman with rather bland good looks. However, as an agent of the Foreign Office, he is a consummate actor. Given a few days, he is capable of blending into an astounding variety of social circles. His key skills in accomplishing this are vocal mimicry and the Art of Memory. He will carefully study the accents, social mores, and other details of some group of people. During this time, he is assembling in his mind a careful cover story.

         When not playing one of his roles, Major Rook is a typical professional or military man of Victorian England. He is a bit rough with his fellows, but adamant about proper etiquette and dead serious about his work. What doesn't show so easily is that at his heart he is a romantic, drawn to intelligence work for the allure of the exotic. While as Rook he is very practical-minded and even dismissive of philosophy, his identities and his work are the acting out of this drive in him.

         Upon finding himself in the overtly supernatural realm of Ravenloft, Rook is clinging to the hope that there is some logical (although clearly fantastic) explanation for all this, and that if he can figure out the riddle he can find his way home again.

SAGA Stats

History

         Major Rook was born in 1856 to a distinguished family. His father was a government bureaucrat, efficient and wealthy, who kept a proper and normal household.

         Philip was the third son -- his eldest brother Robert (8 years older than he) became a leading barrister, while his other brother Joshua (5 years older) became an eccentric librarian. He had a third brother, Michael, who died as a toddler of unexplained disease.

         Early on, Philip showed militaristic leanings. He excelled at sports while attending Eaton and Oxford, as well as having some skill in languages. He had a brief stint as an actor, performing minor roles in some Shakespeare plays, but mostly helped his friends on the technical side of production. Upon graduating, he was soon recruited for the Foreign Office. He had been hand-picked for a covert school they were setting up known only as ``The Laboratory''. That was when he first met Ariel Hawksquill.

         He did not know her name at the time, but he quickly learned to respect her teachings. He began to learn the Art of Memory, with a particular eye towards work in espionage. By the end of his training, Rook could memorize documents fairly quickly, instantly recall details of his cover story, and had an early understanding of schemes of disguise and tailing.

         He had several assignments in the Middle East, starting as a contact person for the Suez affair in 1875. Left on his own for long spans, he quickly practiced and set up several partial identities for himself. Successful, he was given several one-shot jobs.

         His long assignment came in 1881, where he was set up to become a member of a criminal group in Cairo with some sort of political backing. They were extremely hard to crack, however, and he ended up doing a lot of straight criminal acts for them -- threatening, extortion, robberies, etc. With this he managed to get some information on them, however.

         Luckily the leader of the gang fell prey to personal problems -- he was arrested and convicted of murdering his wife and her lover. Thus, Rook managed to slip away with technical success on his record, but with his idealism badly scarred. After that he returned to London in 1887 -- where he was assigned back to Hawksquill.

Identities

         In a professional capacity, Rook maintains several cover identities which he uses for various purposes. He is a master of disguise and acting, and each identity has very well developed mannerisms and background information.

• Major Philip Rook: is a respected if somewhat mild-mannered member of the Foreign Office. He was assigned to Egypt for several years, but eventually his health waned and he returned to England. Since getting back, the top has mostly seen fit to give him paperwork (although often important papers). While rarely seen in social circles, he maintains private contacts and friends who mostly consider him a bore.
  He is 5'11'' tall and 175 pounds, age 37. His short brown hair is neatly trimmed, and he is generally rather pale from staying inside and reading a lot.
• David Knightly: is a foppish dilettante, brash and arrogant. His wealthy parents are now dead, but they had many connections in the Home Office. He announced he was packing up for California five years ago, but he has since reappeared in London. Rumor has it that he selling information to the Home Office, and perhaps being sent on occaisional assignments.
  He is wiry at 6' and 170 pounds, with slicked black hair, a sporty tan, and a taste for the ostentatious in dress. He has a habit of smelly cigars but doesn't drink much.
• Achmed Ismael: is an Egyptian who owns a curio shop in Limehouse, ``Sedgewick and Sons''. He spends most of his time wandering about, picking up odd items. He often goes abroad, but also haunts out-of-the-way spots in the East End in search of bargains or accidentally-discarded antiques.
• Michael O'Neill: is an East-Ender devoted to simple means and pleasures. He is a good talker, but without means and prone to drink. Thus, he regularly gets himself hired for odd jobs with anyone he can get a hand to support himself.
  He is burly at 5'10'' and 200 pounds or so. His mop of brown hair is usually covered in a cap, while cheap bulky clothes try to hide his gut.
• David Boswell: is a shadowy figure on the criminal scene, who has hired a good deal of `lamplighters' for unclear purposes. Rumors vary over whether he is an anarchist leader up to some grand scheme, or a conspiracy crackpot with money to burn. Those who investigate generally conclude the latter.
  He is very secretive about his identity, wearing coats and broad hats to cover his features. His hands have bad burn scars on them which he usually covers with gloves.
  NOTE: This is the closest identity to Rook, and a critical one. This identity mixes truth and falsehood a lot such that if Boswell is followed successfully to Rook, they should be hard to distinguish. Boswell's secret agenda is a conspiracy which mixes most of the true figures. His co-conspirators are suspects whom Boswell tries to keep tabs on. Also, Boswell's flat is near Rook's with a secret exit -- Rook generally stops there before going home.