Russell Blackwell

Russel is a bookish, somewhat shy and conservative academic type so his views of the supernatural world are colored through the lens of historical and cultural accounts. That being said, Russ is a complete geek when it comes to scifi and fantasy books and games. So part of him looks at the myths and legends scattered throughout the historical record as simply a non-material, cultural element. However, the other part of him /wants/ the stuff of legends to be true. Specifically, he /needs/ to find out what hidden truth of the world has been lost or buried over the centuries.

## Motivations

* **Grail Diary**
 Russ found a hand-written account of a hunter's investigation into Vampires. Originally believing it to be a work of creative fiction, he took it from the shelves of the university library and read it. When he attempted to return the book, finding it a good read but too full of questions and not enough closure, he discovered one of his professors trying to find it. Curious why a professor would want it, he held back the journal to investigate further. When the campus police searched his room for drugs and the journal was taken, his curiosity was piqued, more so when he saw one of the cops handing it over to the professor. This is how he started his path towards discovery.

* **Sherlock Holmes**
A fan of the movies and the modern, British series, Russ loves a good mystery. He even has tried his hand at fencing and playing the violin. Thankfully he's better at the former and only practices the latter when he's out of the dorm. He's a bit of an antiquarian, preferring hand-written letters to email, fountain pens to disposables, etc.

* **9th Gate**
 Similar to the story of Dean Corso in the movie, Russ is a bit of a book hound who focuses upon collecting journals, common place books and diaries of the 'strange and unusual'. He's somewhat aloof, like Corso, but means well and is generally honest when it comes to dealing with others - at least until they start lying to him.

## Background

Russell was the typical book nerd all through his early years. Books could take him to places that were far better than his perfectly planned, adolescent life. Being gifted with an affinity towards languages, specifically, Latin, was a handy thing growing up in the catholic church his family attended. Not exactly the most athletic of young men, he mostly kept his head down, pretended to be part of the walls and said nothing while at prep-school until he got to college. With his family name behind him, Russell was able to get into nearly University. In truth he didn't care exactly where he went to college so long as it was far far away from the reach of the family.

University was everything he wanted it to be. He was able to expand his mind, break out of his shell. It was in his second year at University that Russell started dating; a guy named David. While in High School he was lucky to go to anything resembling a social event - prom or homecoming dances - but he was not really interested in the girls he had classes with. He just didn't dare admit the reality of his feelings until he was one of the anonymous freshman at NYU. David was replaced with Thomas who was replaced by Ed, Larry, Michael, Nelson, and eventually Brian. By the end of his first year - Russell was definitely 'aware' of his sexuality - and his thirst for physical affection.