Carl Stanford

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**Carl Stanford** is a British magician and founding member of both The Cult of Transcendence and The Lords of the Silver Twilight.

## Appearance

Carl Stanford is an average-looking, unimposing man. His meek face is pudgy and entirely unforgettable. He habitually wears glasses, but the lenses are actually just plain glass, without optical prescription. His brown hair is thinning. He usually wears a suit and tie. He looks 35 or 40 years old, but chronologically is some 300 years old.

## History

### Early Life

Carl Stanford was born in London in 1612 to an important family in the royal court. His father was a magician and advisor to King James I of England and his mother was a member of the royal choir. His father taught him magic from a young age, and he took to it quite quickly. By the age of eight, he was already one of the most sought-after magicians in England, and due to his connections to royalty he was able to stay more-or-less under the radar with regards to the general public while building up a high profile in the magical world. By the age of eighteen, he was widely considered to be the most talented magicians in the world. Yet his thirst for knowledge could not be so easily quenched.

At the age of twenty he was visited by the Outer God Nyarlathotep in a dream. In this dream, Stanford was given knowledge of Transcendence, a process by which it was believed that he could transcend the bounds of space and time and join the Outer Gods in the court of Azathoth. In the dream he also met the other founding members of the Cult of Transcendence, and together they agreed to plunge the world into war so that they might achieve the Transcendence spoken of by Nyarlathotep.

### The Silver Twilight

Several years after founding The Cult of Transcendence, Stanford set out to create a British chapter to the Cult of Transcendence. Joining forces with powerful local Magician Anne de Chantraine, Stanford founded the Lords of the Silver Twilight, a powerful fraternal organization that sought to control British politics from the shadows. Over the next eighty years, Stanford and Chantraine worked to develop a following within the British parliament, eventually controlling a majority of seats in secret. They also helped to usher in the Glorious Revolution, and eventually put the German house of Hanover on the throne of England, a house secretly controlled by The Silver Twilight in order to keep a check on Zweihander.

Having gained control of the British Parliament, Stanford and Chantraine held a stranglehold on British politics that would last for hundreds of years, maintaining on the surface an opposition to both the German Zweihander and the French Philosophes, despite secretly working with both as a member of The Cult of Transcendence. Conflict between the three organizations built throughout the eighteenth century as their stated ends grew more at odds with each other. Eventually, the surface tensions between the three groups exploded with the Seven Years War and later with the Napoleonic Wars. Yet Stanford and the Cult of Transcendence remained in control behind the scenes, pushing the three organizations further into conflict and war to further their own agenda.

### Zenith Of The Silver Twilight

During the eighteenth century The Silver Twilight was arguably the most powerful member of the four European proxies of the Cult of Transcendence, having defeated The Philosophes and establishing a new world order at the Conference of Vienna. Having exited one era of war, the Cult of Transcendence sought a new avenue in which to breed conflict on earth. Zweihander and the Philosophes worked together during this time to rock the foundation of the Silver Twilight's power. Their efforts culminated with the Franco-Prussian war, a conflict between Zweihander and The Philosophes which led to the unification of Germany.

During this time, Stanford worked tirelessly to fan the flames of conflict between The Silver Twilight and its counterparts, claiming that a unified Germany would mean a shift in the balance of power away from The Silver Twilight. These renewed tensions between the three European proxies would ultimately lead to The First World War. He also worked with John Scott and Anne de Chantraine to found a branch of The Lords of the Silver Twilight in America, called the Hermetic Order Ot The Silver Twilight. This group would fund the *Frontier* Expedition, which would ultimately lead to the downfall of The Lords of the Silver Twilight.

## Abilities

### Spells

* Shriveling
* Mindlbast

### Skills

* Archaeology 75%
* Astronomy 20%
* Credit Rating 60%
* Cthulhu Mythos 49%
* Dodge 50%
* Fast Talk 85%
* History 55%
* Library Use 95%
* Listen 60%
* Persuade 90%
* Sneak 80%
* Spot Hidden 87%

### Languages

* Arabic 80%
* Classical Greek 95%
* English 95%
* Mandarin Chinese 80%