Professor Walsingham (Adventurers)
Thomas Walsingham (b. 7 July 1876, d. 9 November 1961) a.k.a. Professor Thomas Reginald Walsingham, a.k.a. Professor, is an adventurer, scholar, and military figure from the United Kingdom. Driven to preserve important secrets he knew, he transcended mortal life in the 1960s by inventing a computer system that could scan and store his memories, and then represent that as part of a text-only interactive computer simulation. The magnetic tapes carrying Walsingham's mind and memory was discovered by the 21st century Adventurers in 2019. The Adventurers fed his data into a system at their headquarters, and were able to reconstitute Walsingham as a hologram. Walsingham now serves as an advisor to the Adventurers.
Biography
Early Life
Walsingham was born 7 July 1876 to Lord Raoul Walsingham and Lady Bethany (née Warwick) at the family property, a mansion called 'Portrance Manor' in Essex. Thomas was a descendant of Sir Francis Walsingham, famed spymaster to Queen Elizabeth I. Young Thomas attended the Bayshore School for Boys, which emphasized martial training, nautical sports, and studies of European languages. It was a notoriously challenging school, but the precocious Thomas excelled in all categories.
Upon graduation, Thomas entered the Royal Naval College at Greenwich.
In 1896, Thomas was commissioned at the rank of Lieutenant and posted to the HMS Majestic, a steam-powered battleship. Some of Thomas's earliest adventures came during shore leaves as the Majestic toured the Mediterranean Sea.
In 1903, Thomas solved the 'Mystery on Malta' when several of his crewmates were trapped inside of a labyrinthine dungeon while trying to rescue the beautiful French aristocrat, Chloé Lafaille, who had not returned after exploring inside with an interpreter. But the sailors weren a room meant to hold and kill would-be grave robbers. With ingenuity, Walsingham deduced the working of the mechanism, freed his men, and went on alone to explore deeper into the elaborate tomb and try to find Lafaille. After freeing Lafaille from another trap deeper in the dungeon, she tried to recruit the clearly capable Walsingham into the Order of Osiris of which she was a member, believing that the dungeon might contain an item the Order greatly desired that could change the world forever. Walsingham followed her and considered the offer, but when she desecrated the remains of a long-dead prince in frustration over not finding the Order's prize, he resisted, and battled her. During their fight, Lafaille was left clinging to the edge of a chasm; she pridefully spurned Walsingham's offer of help, and fell to her apparent doom.
Walsingham did not report on Lafaille's true fate for many years after, reporting at the time to authorities that he had tracked her to the edge of a precipice, and that she had probably fallen to her death.
The Classic Adventurers
Now that he knew paranormal activity was real, Thomas found his purpose in life. Thomas concluded his naval tour of duty and pivoted immediately into putting together a team of skilled individuals who would be well-suited for traveling the globe, learning about the unknown, and keeping civilization safe from malevolent forces. He approached the American inventor Aaron Baron as his main partner. They formed 'The Adventurers' and added other allies over time. Walsingham took on the code name "Mr. Adventure" and Baron, "Tank," for his revolutionary electro-mechanical body armor.
In the Canadian Okanagan, while seeking the monstrous Ogopogo, Tank was ambushed by a territorial sasquatch, and badly injured. On the verge of death, locals pointed to a young woman named Addison Markeson who had a rumored miracle healing power. Her powers were kept secret by her community for fear that they would draw too much attention, and take her away from them. She placed her hands on Baron, and he began a miraculous recovery - though it greatly exerted Markeson. Only 13 years old at the time, and an orphan, she hung on Mr. Adventure's every word as he recounted some of his journeys. She pleaded with the Adventurers to take her with them, for her community guarded her and her powers too greedily, and she wanted to learn and see the world. Walsingham appreciated her nascent intellect and wanted to take her on as a protégé, though not without some objection from Aaron Baron, feeling a child - orphan or not - should not be put in danger. Markeson proved herself as a scout, guide, and combatant when she accompanied the men to the secret Ogopogo lair.
