Vanderbilt

### History

Vanderbilt was a Railroad magnate from an unknown A Sphere world until he was recruited against his will to become a member of the Council of 21 for The Arcane Theocracy. It is known he was already a very rich man with considerable financial skill before becoming The Chariot. Even though the nature of his original empire has been lost, it is rumored he was heavily involved in his reality's rail and steam industries.

#### Vanderbilt Becoming The Chariot

Vanderbilt likes to play cards and gamble with enormous stakes, he was fortunate, but he got invited to a card game with the wrong person.

The former Chariot was tired after centuries of villainy and wanted to escape the Arcane Theocracy. Still, the only way to abandon the seat of The Chariot is for someone to willingly accept the master key to The Chariot, a fantastic vehicle that has taken many forms over the eons; in recent years, it has taken the form of a steam locomotive.

The old Chariot learned of this gambler named Vanderbilt, who was quite irreverent and had a lucky streak that would not quit. So The Chariot made sure he used his connections in the Theocracy to arrange to be at the same card game as Vanderbilt.

The stakes got very high, and only two players were left in the final hand, Vanderbilt and The Chariot. Not realizing what was on the line, Vanderbilt put everything he had into the pot. The Chariot said he had a little cash with him, but he did have the title and keys to his train. Vanderbilt, familiar with trains, said that should cover his lack of money.

Vanderbilt had a Straight Flush when the hands were revealed, while The Chariot had a Full House. Vanderbilt was happy to win. But, the Chariot said, my time has come. As soon as Vanderbilt grabbed the title and master key of the train, The Chariot died instantly. Vanderbilt felt a cold sensation and an unshakable desire to head to the train. Vanderbilt grabbed his earnings, left enough to cover all the funeral expenses of the person formerly known as The Chariot, and went to the train.

Vanderbilt had never seen this train before, but he knew its layout for some reason. The door opened for him as if the train were welcoming him home. But instead, the train departed as soon as he boarded, bringing him to a world he had never been to. A woman dressed as a queen or Empress greeted him as he stepped off the train, explained his duties, and told him death was the only way to leave his position, and even that was not guaranteed.

Vanderbilt stayed quiet and learned all he could about The Arcane Theocracy since he was supposed to be on this ruling Council of 21. He threw himself into studying the Enshrined Tenets of Villainy. He made sure to make connections between the houses of The Theocracy and their House Royalty.

Most importantly determined quickly that The Theocracy did not have enough capital to run an expanding organization, maintain the Tenets of Villainy, and keep the operations going at their current levels. Vanderbilt brought this up to the Empress, but she dismissed his concerns as foolish. Villainy will rise to the challenge and provide what they need, she bellowed. She thought this new council member, this upstart, should know his place. Vanderbilt thanked the Empress for her time and lesson but began researching a way to fund this noble enterprise of villainy himself.

#### Vanderbilt, the House of Coins, and Transportation

Vanderbilt realized that if there were a way to move goods and services throughout the C Sphere and the entire Multiverse, they could make money and charge a premium if they could transport it in a way that would not raise suspicion.

Vanderbilt is known for being very clever and lucky, and both came in handy as he discovered a way to make trains travel the Multiverse along specific routes. Developing a new form of Transdimensional travel using trains with teleportation techniques that only he seems to understand. Hidden pathways allow the crossing of the Multiverse along predetermined routes. Not as flexible as airships with Jump Engines but more subtle and secretive. He had a way to move goods and services but had to get the House of Coins and House of Cups to agree to his plan.

Vanderbilt approached the Queen of Cups- The Magister, and the Queen of Coins- The Contessa, to see if they would be amenable to his arrangement. Since The Magister is rumored to be a telepath, she would be able to see through any deception, and he could dispense with the pretense.

Both The Magister and The Contessa agreed in principle that the Empress did not understand that the funding for The Theocracy needed to be improved. Vanderbilt demonstrated his new trains. To the delight of all those invited, he could take them to several destinations in all three spheres in a relatively short amount of time, as if one were riding a train cross country, yet it was across worlds. They all asked him how he did it, and he said it was a secret.

It is believed The Magister did know because of her telepathic ability, but she filed that away for a time when she would need that leverage. The Contessa agreed to the plan but needed the support of the other House of Coins royalty to pursue this avenue of making money. The House of Cups was happy they could fully support the organization unassumingly without jump engines when there were railroad tracks. If not, they could still use Airships with jump engines. The Magister used her influence on the rest of the house royalty to get them to support the plan.

Now Vanderbilt had the means to become a transportation magnate of The Arcane Theocracy, bringing in much cash, support, and hidden worlds wanting to join this new movement.

#### Conflict with the Empress

The one thing that stood in his way of fully funding The Theocracy was the Empress.

When the Empress heard about this arrangement, she was happy at the opportunity to expand her influence but furious that Vanderbilt went to such lengths to start an enterprise that she thought was beneath The Theocracy. Business like that was not an enterprise for the elite. On the contrary, Vanderbilt countered the organization's recent success due to being able to discreetly arrive on site and avoid the peering gaze of E.N.I.G.M.A.

The Empress, though not pleased, agreed that the accessibility and additional funds would make The Arcane Theocracy more powerful and influential but asked Vanderbilt to handle things with a bit more finesse. Vanderbilt told The Empress he had no time or inclination to get bogged down in such a caste system. He knew how to run a successful organization; if she could not get on board with the new way of doing things, she should step aside. The Empress did not let anyone speak to her like that, so she had Vanderbilt locked into a stasis dungeon for a week for him to know his place. The rest of the Council eventually pressured the Empress to let Vanderbilt return. After he promised to treat the Empress with tremendous respect, he was released and, since that day, has looked for a way to counterbalance her influence on the Council.

### Personality

Vanderbilt despises caste systems and formality; it can hinder his proper objective, making money. Though people are close to him, **very few** can call him Cornelius; some are close enough to call him by his nickname "Corny." He does not stand on formalities, so if you try Mr. Vanderbilt, he may ignore you. Just call him Vanderbilt.

Vanderbilt can be hot-headed and short-tempered, especially when formalities are getting in the way of a meeting, making money, or progress in general. He does understand certain formalities cannot be omitted, but he has a disdain for them. He has an uneasy truce with The Empress and will treat her with civility to keep the peace; the rest can be damned if they think he will do the same for them. (Save Warmaster Barabbas, that guy is just plain scary.)

Vanderbilt is genuinely about the Tenets of Villainy, making money for the Theocracy, and lining his pockets from the overflow.

### Known Agenda

Vanderbilt is determined to modernize the Arcane Theocracy into a profit-driven force for villainy, believing that the days of power and magic are the past and that industry and finance are the future faces of wickedness.

### The Occularium and The Shuffling

Vanderbilt talked to the House of Rods to find out more about the rules and regulations of The Arcane Theocracy. Through his research, he found out that when the C Sphere is dominant, it is time for The Occularium and The Shuffling, meaning vacant positions can be filled, and those in current jobs can be shuffled out. If Vanderbilt can find someone to take the role of the Emperor, he can balance the Empress and continue funding the organization as he sees fit without interference from her. Or so he hopes.

### After the Occularium

Vanderbilt could not get his candidate for Emperor into position, being one of the Red Fork Empire's monarchs, Tobias. Nevertheless, an Emperor was crowned, and the Empress was deposed and sent away. The Empress will return, and it may take her some time to build the forces she needs to return, but she will be back.

Once the Council of 21 approved his plan to move against the Pirate Fleet, Warmaster Barabas took the initiative. The ape forces are engaged in open warfare against the pirates; I don't know how long they can hold out against such forces. Vanderbilt will support the ape forces with logistics. Rumors are starting that the pirates may need to consolidate troops to survive. Vanderbilt wonders how they will accomplish that, maybe a wedding.