Maximilian Cross

Sons of Ether
Adventurer Extraordinaire
Senior of the Reckless Guides
Advanced Adept of the Crossroads Chantry

Description


~Max Cross approaches at a steady and resolute gait. The good-looking 30ish Caucasian gentleman doesn't stand out too much but certain characteristics are more evident than others. Max insures his slacks and dress shirt stay uncreased. Suspenders and loafers complete the man's attire, as may a leather bomber jacket depending on weather. His clothing blends in well with the crowd, as he always chooses neutral colors. Max may also adjust a golf cap worn snugly on his bald head. A bright and affable expression shines out to the area as he surveys the landscape. His brown eyes twinkle with shrewd genius and wizened charisma. Max is clearly no body builder but he also lacks fat and dead weight and stands with upright but natural posture. That could be due to the hiker's backpack he often hoists on his back. When Max speaks, his smooth voice carries his great education and confidence. But overall, while above average, Max comes across as a normal local.~

OOC: Appearance 3; Arcane 2

"The proof is in the pudding. So don't take it out of the fridge yet."

History


Nerd!

The truth was out there and Max Cross knew that since childhood. Born in Kansas City in 1972, Max enjoyed a nice upbringing. His parents, James and Rachel, wisely invested a large inheritance. His father also worked as a business consultant while his mother stayed at home as a housewife. She took care of Max and his little sister, Dana. Max got to enjoy a delightful suburban home in a middle class neighborhood. Good moral traditions were encouraged in young Max. And his curious academic mind was supported well.

In school, Max always scored good grades in every subject. An attentive and astute student more than an egghead geek, Max didn't lack for friends or general popularity either. He demonstrated a love for recording the world he studied. He carried a camera everywhere, snapping photos of whatever people and phenomena piqued his curiosity. When he reached high school, Max took a special interest in chemistry. His science grades remained superb, illustrating his aptitude with the difficult disciplines.

Then in 1989, Max attended his usual science fair. He was presenting a fairly standard but wonderfully executed theory about the states of matter. A biochemist named Dr. John Byzantine was scouting the fair and Max's grasp of chemistry with the natural way in which he presented his theory attracted him. Dr. Byzantine took Max aside and posed a new challenge. What was biochemical etheric matter? Max wasn't sure why, but the query hooked his seventeen year old mind.

Ethereal Facts

For the next several months, Max attacked Dr. Byzantine's question. His constant theories and experiments bordered on obsession. Max began to neglect his other studies and friends. His parents became worried. In early 1990, Max decided to try something that was...a little strange. His idea was illogical and without scientific basis. To a formula of volatile chemicals, Max intended to add a bit of his own blood. Intuition drove him to trying this: he had a hunch that there was something to Dr. Byzantine's mythical ether, and he didn't fear the truth.

Daring life and limb, Max added a small sample of his own blood. Immediately, the chemicals flared up bright and blinding white. Despite the pain, Max forced himself to look upon the results. The flare blinded the young man, but through the haze, within the blackened remains, Max viewed a flicker of something more. The most rational scientist would have dismissed the spark of insight as hallucination. But Max trusted his senses and realized there was something else there. Was it the ether of which Dr. Byzantine spoke? Whatever it was, Max knew it was there...hiding in the syntax of real chemical reactions.

So after a brief hospital stay, Max contacted Dr. Byzantine at the telephone number that the gentleman left. With the scientist's help (and recommendation), Max received a special scholarship to an unusual college that a secret society sponsored. And that society of scientists was called the Sons of Ether. At this Tellisburg University, Max studied the precepts of the Etherites' scientific traditions, principles, and history. Max also worked hard at the esoteric and metaphysical sciences he learned, which complimented a more standard (if accelerated) set of collegiate sciences.

Student of Life

Yet the Hidden World, the secret reality of the supernatural, intrigued Max enormously. He accepted the book written proof that vampires, werewolves, and ghosts really existed. But Max yearned to see these critters for himself. He began to slip out of the university every night with a camera and ether detection transducers. Max scanned the human-seeming populace with his advanced technological instruments. To his wonder, he did indeed identify the distinct etheric patterns of such non-human creatures. Max utilized specialized suppression devices to mask his picture taking. And he did all he could to remain unnoticed.

There in the city on several occasions Max saw something much more frightening. The Pogrom, as it was called, was enforced before his eyes. Max witnessed local agents of the banal and autocratic Technocracy summarily execute vampires and other "monsters". The brutality of these Men in Black shocked Max. He managed to avoid notice most times. Once, a close call, Max was spotted. But the agent merely confiscated his camera, failing to recognize an Awakened Etherite. Fortunately also, Max was developing his mind for cramming purposes. With the aid of his personal biochemical etheric transducer device, Max was able to retain the photos he took in the form of photographic memory. And he came to realize that in spite of these dangers, real study derived from life experiences more than bookwork. Later, in 1997, Max's disgust with the Technocracy's draconian beliefs made him decide that they were as monstrous as the creatures they persecuted.

But the late nights took their toll on his class work. Despite his brilliance, it took Max eight years to complete a seven-year program. He skimmed by the final exams and his senior thesis was only passable. However, Max's doctoral dissertation proved masterful. He demonstrated why research on other supernatural creatures was more imperative than ever, for the Technocracy's Pogrom was still active and brutally efficient as ever. With the professors' approval, Max graduated and obtained his doctorate in advanced biochemistry.

Zoology

Of course, with his encounters with those "creatures of the night", Max became worried about his family. He checked in with them when he moved back to Kansas City. All was well with them; his sister was now a radiologist. Relieved, the young Etherite joined the local "chantry" of Traditions, where his kind mingled with old-fashioned mystics, allied against their common enemies. The Crossroads Chantry provided him a steady base from which he could conduct his studies. By staying close to his roots, too, he was better able to acquire grants to continue his life's work.

So, Max began to study the vampires of the city first. He always maintained a healthy distance. Max learned that there was a disturbing overpopulation of the so-called Kindred in town. Yet the Crossroads Chantry didn't seem to care and Max was no hunter. Over the next few years of his research, he nonetheless had a few run-ins with the undead. Clearly, they didn't appreciate nosy mortals. But Max wasn't just a nosy human mortal. He was a nosy human mortal that could produce potent and even fiery blasts of energy, and enhance his physical form to match their own "superior" physiologies. The biochemistry was right at his fingertips. Usually, Max used his advanced sciences only in self-defense. Occasionally, the Etherite went on the offense. Four times he intervened in a vampire's feeding session, but only when the creature threatened the victim's life by taking too much blood.

Werewolves, too, Max identified. He determined that they were rare in the city, unsurprisingly. So Max ventured into the woods. Taking warning from the old Verbena witches in Crossroads, Max cloaked his presence by bending light with his energy transducers. Max's observations of these so-called Garou led him to believe that they were no real threat to people. They kept to themselves and the woods and if left alone would prove harmless.

Thus, Max logged, recorded, and condensed all he observed. He published his findings as he worked, thereby earning the grants he needed from his Tradition to continue his research (and buy groceries). Yet he knew he had a lot more to do. He was constantly struggling for grant approval. It was a battle he hadn't lost yet, but the Etherite Masters wanted more concrete results. His focus was "too scattered". Max had to do some part-time teaching as a biology and chemistry professor at Kansas City University. Max even did some freelance photojournalism, mainly for National Geographic, to help make ends meet.

Continental Catalogues

Then in 2003 Max noticed a sudden and steep decline in the Kindred population. Suspecting vampire hunters or worse, the Technocracy, Max decided to let the dust settle. He decided to carry on his research elsewhere for awhile. Wanting to tour the world anyway, Max undertook voyages in order to gain peeks at other supernatural populations.

In Casa Blanca, Max discerned an active urban werewolf population. Though fascinated by these creatures' ritualistic behavior, Max stayed aloof and cautious. Later that year, Max visited Mexico City. He didn't stay long though! The Etherite discovered a hugely disproportionate number of vampires lurking among the squalor. So Max went to the Aztec pyramids instead.

Among his other destinations, Max ended up in New Delhi, too. In the Ganges, Max recognized lycanthropic etheric patterns among the river crocodiles -- weresaurians. Max began to ponder the nature of those placid yet deadly predators along with some Hindu philosophy. Max understood then that war, hunting, and the Pogrom was all bad karma. It provoked a useless circle of blood: violence begat violence. Max knew that that sort of chasing one's own tail was not the path for him. He vowed to only ever use his knowledge and power for defense. Of course, by making that vow, karmic irony struck. In a jungle trek west of Delhi, giant and voracious apes assaulted him. Max didn't know why they attacked but his analysis determined that they were unnatural mutants of some sort. Max just assumed he invaded somebody's territory. He had to blast his way out Congo-style.

Finally by late 2004, Max added one last stop while in Greece. After visiting the ruins of Athens and recording the etheric Resonance of the fabled oracles, Max decided to investigate some Thessalonica cavern ruins. While intrigued by what he found, he was more fascinated by a kindred spirit in fellow explorer Dylann McAndrew. Joining together, Max felt prepared to return home. He and Dylann flew back to Kansas City. The truth? It was right by his doorstep -- Max could feel it.

Significant Other


Max met Dylann McAndrew in the middle of an ancient cave system deep in Thessalonica, Greece. Both mages were exploring and at first didn't want the other impeding (or stealing) their progress. A cave-in, however, forced the two to get close. As night fell and the temperature dropped to freezing levels, they were obliged to get very close. They talked for much of the night, learning about each other's true natures and educations. And then they found themselves attracted to each other. Next thing Max knew, Dylann was helping him stay warm indeed! Once they escaped the cavern, they resolved to stay together. Wild passion had changed into deep emotions: they found their soulmates in each other. Dylann even dumped her (Hermetic) boyfriend once they returned to the States. Max proposed to Dylann, so madly in love was he -- and she accepted! Their marriage date hasn't been determined yet, as they're still whirling in the dizzying flurry of their sudden passion. Children may be in the (distant) future but they're much too busy working their careers out together. Of course, that Hermetic may prove to be the most dangerous rival Max has ever encountered.

But it was not Dylann’s ex- that separated her from her beloved, adventurous Son of Ether. The opportunity of a lifetime arose in 2006: an Ethernaut Expedition to the heart of Horizon and once-lost, ancient Greek mystic sites set up by the Awakened of antiquity! Despite Max being an Etherite, he had no “charter” and none could be extended. There were already a number of Bonisagus Hermetics that were little more than ballast on the trip. There was no room for Maximilian. He was assured the expedition would only last a year, a mere sabbatical for the Ecstatic. Nevertheless dejected, he waited…and waited…and opened a formal inquiry…and waited. And at last, Dylann returned in 2012.

Dylann

Weakness
Cerebral Hunger


Max carries an insatiable curiosity and lust for the facts of the Hidden World. Combined with his adventurous streak for heroism, he tends to get himself into a lot of trouble. So far his cleverness has kept him alive. But his luck may run out one day.

Likelihood of Corruption


Average.

Though very curious about all supernatural phenomena, Max is practical, cautious, and aware. He is not as easy to corrupt as an unAwakened "psychic investigator", for sure.

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