Simple Unicycle
Name: Benjamin Obadiah Babbage
Title: Professor
Moniker: Inquisitive Researcher
Age: 32
Race: Human
Appearance:
Professor Benjamin Babbage is as stuffy as his name would imply. Of average height, the professor doesn’t cut a striking silhouette among his peers and colleagues. He does sport a rather dashing mustache that is tended to with the utmost care and consideration. His black hair is a bit shaggy but above the collar, parted on the side and paired with short sideburns—a bit of a departure from what is considered stylish, but, as many speculate, is due to the considerable effort he puts into his mustache. He might be silvering on the sides, rather young for it actually, but the temples of his glasses and tendency for hats makes it hard to tell. The professor has dim gray eyes and a noble nose, meaning that it’s a prominent feature on his face.
He dresses well, and while it is mostly utilitarian he does enjoy his odd splashes of color. Usually, he adorns himself in a black or gray sack coat, top button fastened while a bright waistcoat—complete with a pocket watch—shows itself. And this choice might come from years of scholarly endeavors where he sat more than he walked. Those choices showing themselves in the roundness of his middle. Though the professor had taken to sports at a younger age, so he’s not entirely without musculature—so says the professor, but we've seen him, and he's failry rotund. From there, his outfit doesn’t take any more consideration to be unique.
The professor enjoys standing with his feet apart and his lips set in an inquisitive twist. He usually is touching whatever he’s researching. But when his hands are by his person, they cross over his broad chest, gently stroke his mustache, or fiddle with his spectacles. In social situations, he talks with his hands if he’s enjoying himself, and if he’s not, he places them on his hips. He has very telling body language.
Primary Attribute: Watchful
Secondary Attribute: Persuasive
Connections:
The Masters: “I wouldn’t be a scholar if I didn’t exhaust all my possible resources, and the Masters are a rare and grand one. I don’t overstay my welcome, neither do I prod where one does not need prodding. But I have spoken in long berths with Mr. Wine and Mr. Pages.”
Bohemians: “They think of themselves as the forward innovators of our time when they’re actually petulant children living off the money of their parents.” He adjusts his bowtie. “Do not give me that look, I’m not being hypocritical. I’ve established my own income, and I’ve actually contributed to society.”
Constables: “If you ask me, they could do a better job of keeping the urchins from swarming me like the dirty pestilence they are. But I have no qualm with them.”
Criminals: “I am a man of importance and intellect. I gather my information from reputable sources.”
Hell: “I may have gotten drunk a few times and gladly tittered along with them, but I don’t deal much with Devils. I like my soul where it is.” He pauses and strokes his mustache. “Wherever that is.”
Revolutionaries: “A group of unorganized heathen gyrating in agonizing ineptitude. The Masters are an infinite fount of information. Would you so readily scrape away knowledge and wisdom?”
Rubbery Men: Benjamin considers it for a moment but doesn’t say anything. When asked about it again, he shrugs. “I have no quarrel with them. Though, from a scholar’s standpoint, I have so many questions. Unfortunately, they don’t have the means to answer.”
High Society: “I was born into low nobility. While I tend just fine in Society, High Society is not somewhere I shine from a noble’s standpoint. Though, I have been called to many intellectual parlors to discuss the Fourth City as a professor.” He looks proud and gives a sly smirk.
Church: “My eldest brother is a clergyman, and I attend regular service.” Benjamin looks like he has something else to say about the subject, but he remains quiet.
Docks: “I’ve taken a few trips across the zee for research purposes. That being said, I do not have a jovial rapport with the docks men and zailors.”
The Great Game: “I do not participate or have interest in the Great Game. But I’m not so daft as to not know that I’ve not been silently maneuvered within it.”
Tomb Colonies: Benjamin leans back, apparently having many a tale to regale about them. Unfortunately, he’s been asked to condense it. “I’ve used them as many a source in my research. They’re wise, intelligent, and a great resource. I respect them, and I don’t quite understand the vitriol set against them. Then again, if we based our interest and fondness upon appearances, I’m afraid we’d be led by daft lunatics.”
Urchins: “They’ve stolen my pocket watch five times. Jokes on them, after the second one was fenced, I’ve only purchased ones that are barely worth a penny.”
Background:
Benjamin Babbage was a child born with an unfortunate alliteration, that polite society nodded and accepted, and everyone else—with a thinking head on their shoulders—snorted at. He was born into nobility, but nothing of note. His family the social equivalent of that cousin you know nothing about, and so you buy gloves for them on their birthday. So, as such, his family does not just get by on being noble, they have careers and positions within society. Though, these positions are ones of clout. Many of the Babbages have taken to be clergymen. Benjamin’s eldest brother among them. Benjamin, on the other hand, was gifted with a great and grand need to be smarter than everyone else.
As such his fascination for the Fourth City, and not moving for long periods of time, bloomed at a young age, leading him to attend University—Summerset College of course, as he is not learning alongside upstarts and radicals. He’s participated in numerous archeological digs, but only ever funded three as his pockets are not infinite and sometimes half full of candies. From that he produced fine literature about the architecture and layout of the city, and from conversations with Tomb Colonists and zailors that have seen Khanate, he also wrote of their culture. Those immense books, possibly too dense to be door stops as one would never get their door closed again, never brought up anything groundbreaking but they did become a resource for many researchers to cite. And if one stacked the volumes up chronologically, they’d have a nice footrest. Though, the one thing they do offer is intricate drawings of places, things, and people. Benjamin, in another life, would have made quite the artist. In this one, he’s a stuffy intellectual that teaches and sometimes gets charcoal on his favorite white waistcoat.
As someone who usually tosses letters for various noble galas, Benjamin paused at one. He opened it up only to discover he’d been invited to a masquerade ball. With his parents leaning on him harder for marriage, as his brother wasn’t about to take up a wife and a family name, he accepted. Anything to get them be silent. Knowledge was his only lover, a thought he had in quiet and chuckled about.
