John Spencer

**John Spencer** is a "retired" Centurion, currently living in his lavish mansion in Alderley Edge and cultivating Viridimetazoans (bizarre plant-animal hybrids) and other strange lifeforms.

Earlier in his life, however, he was a renowned naturalist and explorer, as well as a capable fighter and philosopher. Like many other great minds of 19th century Europe, his prolonged exposure to nature red in tooth and claw has inclined him in favour of a ruthlessly materialistic Darwinist view, with the addendum that the Centurions are nothing other than a superior part of the human race, evolved as a response to extreme threats, responsible for the species' survival, but at the same time individually clearly superior (and, in light of the bigger picture, more important) to ordinary humans. On the whole those views in no way kept John from risking him own life to rescue inferior human specimens; nonetheless, particularly later in his life, they encouraged him to take a more ruthless view, and grow somewhat careless with the lives of unvaluable humans in his own great experiments, into which he channeled all of the relentless determination that once went into feats of heroism. Likewise, he retained a healthy contempt for magical flim-flam - not denying anything he or a trustworthy witness directly observed, but regarding its manifestations as extraordinary phenomena not yet adequately understood by science. His attitude towards most customs, mores and traditions, whether of African tribes or the United Kingdom, has been that of mostly polite but radical contempt.

Aside from this worldview, John Spencer has always been distinguished by his immense, over-two-meters height (even greater when he was in his prime), instinctively friendly demeanour and booming laughter. A renaissance man in so many ways, he has an encyclopedia-like mind, the knowledge of many languages and subjects, and a particular (if, in the light of his aforementioned quirks, somewhat skewed) expertise on the Centurion phenomenon and similar esoteric subjects.

In the late 19th century he was part of a team with Manfred von Richthofen, Kim Kwon-sung, Rose Hayes and Jacob London. His relationship with the latter two is of some special interest. With Rose, it is widely known (whether it is true or not) that they have been... more than team-mates, possibly quite frequently; and even after she left the team and the Club behind, they remained in touch, or at least more in touch than she was with most of her other former comrades. Jacob, meanwhile, found in John one of the few Centurions that he could call a friend, or at least a reliable ally who never questioned that Jacob was ultimately working towards the greater good. This was no doubt helped by a certain similarity in outlooks. His unflappability to insults and appreciation for natural ability also helped him appreciate Kim, though this was decidedly more one-sided.

It was after the team fell apart that he retired to his estate and his experiments. His retirement was interrupted by a catastrophic combination of events: Dr. Methuselah awakening the Knights in the Cave, said Knights accidentally - or with someone's mischievous nudging - unleashing his creations on the town of Alderley Edge, and finally, the young Centurions arriving into his custody. Forewarned by William Holmgrove, John took advantage of the younglings to sort all of that unpleasantness out before inviting them over for dinner. Much to his regret, some of his priceless children (including poor, sweet Jessica) had to be put down; to his lesser regret, some of the townsfolk died as well. Nonetheless, Lin Tsao was able to persuade him to take in Catherine Langtry, the daughter of a local philologist who was orphaned during the attack.

Subsequently, John began to piece together the events that would culminate in the Saint Haven Incident, realising the broad outlines of Jacob's plan. Further deductions on his part soon proved unnecessary when the man himself arrived at his manor to take the objects smuggled out by the young Centurions and brief them on the plan to liberate their mentors and bring down the Shadow Federation. Accepting this turn of events with ease, John helped "the next generation" prepare for their mission, providing helpful beatings and jump scares and a plane for them to use.

He hasn't been encountered since, though according to Catherine, who continued to live with him after this, he assisted in the recovery efforts in Alderley Edge despite mounting disinterest but later became very ill, a strange occurrance in itself for a Centurion. Somehow this did not keep him, or someone using his name, from acquiring Rzymski Dwor, the Twardowski family manor, and somehow moving most of it to Britain in the middle of the war.