Albrecht Falkenrath

**Albrecht Falkenrath**, also known as the Hanged Man, the Amethyst Wizard, the Fulcrum of the Pyramids, the Saviour of Rome, the Wall that Broke the Wave... and so on, and so forth, is yet another one of those 19th century Centurions who have decided that, their century having been done, they were well within their rights to retire and seclude themselves from the world. He took it to an even greater extreme than most, however, selecting as his place of refuge a remote mountainside site in southeastern France that was not fully part of this reality, sheltered by the amnesia of outsiders and extreme parochialism of its native residents, and other such subtle magical forces. There he lived in his cottage, dedicating the greater part of his time to lazing around after nearly a hundred years of hard work and the lesser to bossing around a small child.

But once he was a hero, if perhaps not of the most straightlaced variety. He learned magic from an obscure hedge wizard somewhere in Italy, before running away to have adventures and earn money, only resuming his studies on his own rather later. He once was found hanging upside down from a tree, and his participation in the armed conflicts of the early 19th century was perhaps not of the most heroic variety, all in all, but he has fought... resourcefully in less overt clashes and has come away with some lasting... associates, such as Teodoro Galba and Ariadne Rikskjold. More importantly, he has later singlehandedly thwarted numerous supernatural threats throughout the Mediterranean, ensuring that sleeping dogs would sleep and not stir (as someone had confusingly put it).

Despite his great deeds, however, Falkenrath never quite fit in with most Centurions, partly because of his fiercely individualistic (not to say wholly self-absorbed) nature and partly because of rumours about friendships with certain members of the darker side of the magical underworld, particularly one Madam Czarna, a Shadow Centurion. Though he protected civilians from them just fine, he also obstructed the efforts of others to bring them to justice, whether out of affection or self-interest or some queer code of honour. Or perhaps it was just a coincidence brought on by conflicts with other Centurions, which he stumbled into easily. Whatever the truth of this, it seems there was some truth about the talk of him and Czarna, considering that he went out of his way to pick up her great-great-niece, Seraphine Ziemniak, from her disgusted parents, and raise her as his own in his exile. Of course the fact that Seraphine happened to be a Centurion, and a natural magicial of incredible innate power, may have had something to do with it. Despite mostly using her as a tiny servant in between strenuous (for her) magical training exercises, Albrecht did at least show enough vaguely parental-ish affection-like feeling to put up with her own insufferable tendencies and also kept a careful eye on her magical development, hoping to teach her to control her powers before she either self-destructs or destroys a large part of France.

It was this last concern that finally drove him out of his exile, combined with the Century Club finally managing to track him down in time to pass on an invitation to the 1917 Stockholm meeting of the Conclave of Magicians, to which he still technically belonged. This invitation was delivered by his friend Galba, who also pointed it out to him, and Seraphine, that whatever he was trying to do with her might be beyond his individual ability and that the assistance of his colleagues in magic might be needed. In spite of petulantly rejecting this invitation at first, he later spontaneously changed his mind, coincidentally after hearing about his pupil's latest way of bypassing his intended course of training. So they set out for Sweden, via Portugal, arriving shortly before the meeting of the Conclave could begin and allowing Falkenrath to resume many old acquiantances and rivalries, as well as indulge his long-dormant hunger for petty bickering, insults and intrigue. His true agenda remains unclear; he has associated with all manner of suspicious characters, not least of them "Magister Sparks", whom he appeared to both see through and yet nevertheless publicly support in his not-too-subtle hints at being none other than Jan Twardowski. He did show some concern for his pupil, first by asking her not to burn down the city, and then by shoving her into a magical refridgerator.

Albrecht was - and still is, of course - a highly capable magician, specialising in stasis and the power of the Pyramids. His barrier technique is known to be unmatched, and he has many other tricks as well, not to mention a respectable colelction of magical knick-knacks. His quick wits and daring, not visibly diminished with age, may be a greater asset of his than any of his magical powers, however. On the other hand, his outrageous, flamboyant, sometimes petty and childish personality may also be a flaw, certainly inasmuch as it makes him highly proficient at making new enemies.

Despite retaining a rather youthful appearance, Falkenrath had made sure to grow out his beard long and dye it and his hair white, only shaving and washing all that off during the Conclave.

Apparently his father was a jeweller, which he uses to justify his gaudy tastes.