Appearance[]

Tall 6'3", Black Hair with gray streaks through it, green eyes, a worry worn face full of deep wrinkles and he wears a goatee. He often carries a sword cane and wears a gold talisman with a ruby in the center, to focus has magic and clasp his cape. On the job he typically carries a magnifying glass, a notebook, a small first aid kit, a small laboratory kit with fingerprint powders sampling jars and chemicals. Although he does not know how to use it that well, he keeps a Derringer in the inside pocket of his vest mostly for intimidation purposes.

He prefers to wear formal attire and rarely dresses like the common folk. He often wears a silk top hat with black cape and fine linen shirts with a red vest and silk tie. He also wears gloves, black leather boots, and a silver pocket watch.

Character Goals[]

As for goals, he wants to solve the murder of his wife and avenge her death. He has a detailed written account of the incident as well as crime scene photos and various clues kept safe. No one has been able the solve the crime for several years. He has found lore which suggests it may be possible to summon a Demon that will barter information about any murder, but it is incomplete and requires information from many other books of sorcery. Therefore his immediate goal is to contact his mentor Dr. Blume and discover if he knows a way in which this might be done. He has had incidents where he noticed people watching him and his daughter from a distance, always shadows that vanish without a trace. His secondary goal is to ensure his daughters survival at any cost.

Character History[]

Dr. Orpheus was born in London, England and spent much of his youth there. He was born the third son of a successful merchant family and was provided a luxury lifestyle. He was sent to a private school when he was eight and it was then noticed by one of his instructors that he possessed talent. Dr. William Blume began mentoring him for the next 2 years of his life, and at ten he was sent to Blume's order, The Golden Dawn, for continuing education. Due to an uncanny innate talent for magic, and an eagerness to learn, Byron quickly outpaced all his fellow novitiates and attained a journeyman status in just 4 years, and by age 15 was making a living in English society with the help of his mentor Dr. Blume.

For the next 3 years of his life he spent much of his time aiding Blume with his studies of human physiology and the influence of magic on the recently deceased and he perfected the lore of his order mastering all the tomes the Golden Dawn had to offer. He expected that his natural talent and knowledge would land him a mastership and perhaps a grandmaster title before he was thirty, but he had already begun to make many of the masters and grandmasters in the order jealous of his natural talent and they were less than impressed with is non-noble status. He was turned down every time he came up for vote by an almost unanimous vote, only his mentor and friend Dr. Blume would speak on his behalf.

By 25 he became increasingly frustrated and decided to distance himself from London for a few years and traveled the world. He visited India, China, all of Europe and finally the united states. In the united states he met the woman that would soon become his wife, Vivian Lanore Haines. They were married in 2 years and had a daughter Trianna when he was thirty. He stayed in America and was interested in finding a practical, non mob inspiring, use for necromancy when he happened to be contacted as a consultant for a murder case in New York. He was able to use necromancy to quickly solve the murder which had been given up as a lost case. This earned him a bit of fame in New York and he became interested in criminology and attended school in New York. He soon became a detective and obtained license from the free masons for limited use of necromancy for solving crimes. Byron began designing many spells of his own, and the Freemasons became increasingly interested in his talent. The U.S. chapter of the Freemasons is based on a capitalist society, and noble status are unimportant to them, it is a true meritocracy and they recognized the talent in Orpheus.

Dr. Orpheus was finally contacted as a consultant with a high profile death of a grandmaster Freemason in New York, while it was a difficult case, Orpheus was able to solve it with amazing speed and the culprit was quickly found and sentenced. Orpheus was made an honorary member of the free masons for his service and began courting the high ranking members of the order for a full membership. The order requested custom designed spells from him in return for a full membership, and while not disclosing the lore of the Golden Dawn, he was able to give the Freemasons spells they could use to aide the police in detective work. He was given full membership, but had only partial access to lore.

While the US chapters of the Freemasons and Golden Dawn were on friendly terms, their European counterparts where very upset with Byron's actions and the French chapter of the Freemasons sought to block his access to lore, and the Golden Dawn in London became cold towards Byron for joining another order, even if he had kept their lore a secret. He had made many enemies and someone at some point conspired against Orpheus, and sent an assassin to kill his wife and 3 year old child as a message. They were successful in killing his wife, whom was attending a charity ball for wives of civil war veterans, and they decapitated the head making it impossible for Orpheus (had he been in the right frame of mind) to find the culprits behind her death. His daughter was incredibly lucky and escaped death because a friend of the family, whom was attending the ball with Lanore, had left her daughter with trianna and the nanny on a play date. The assassins murdered the nanny and the other girl and did not know Triana was in the house. A case of mistaken identity spared her life.

Orpheus returned to New York from free Mason business later that evening to find his wife murdered and his daughter spared by another woman's misfortune. Despite a thourough investigation by Orphues, the free masons, and the police department the murders remain a mistery. Orpheus brooded over the loss of his wife for many years bemoaning the loss of his sweet Lanore(yes like the Raven) and resolved to find the murderers at any cost. He became obsessed with magical research and at the age of 45 he stumbled upon an interesting piece of lore regarding summination. A Demon could be contacted that may know the true identities of the murderers, the Demon would likely ask for a high price, but would know what became of his sweet Lanore's murderers. The problem was that the summination is extremely complex and required him to obtain a copy of a few forbidden pieces of lore, not just from the Golden Dawn and the Freemasons, but from a number of other scripts in the hands of other orders. He first resolved to return to London with his daughter and contact his old friend Dr. Blume for advice and to obtain a copy of Golden Dawn texts he did not have access to.

Orpheus's story continues just as he arrives in London with his now 15 year old daughter Trianna. Trianna and Orpheus are still in danger for whomever sent the assassins after his family has sent a death threat to him upon his arrival in London. He must contact Blume as soon as possible and find a way to discover the culprits if he is to avoid having his daughter share the same fate as Lanore.