Professor Twig

Concept: Professor of the Arcane

Brief
Professor Horace W. Smallwood is a scholar of history, the occult and most things that few academics would consider a serious path of study. Known as 'Twig' by many due to his small physical appearance, professor Smallwood is a giant of intellect, possessing three different doctorate degrees in Archaeology, Ancient Languages and History. As a traveling scholar, Professor Smallwood had a near perfect cover for his work for his arcane research; visiting any museum, library or archaeological site necessary to track down a lead.

History
Growing up in a family of New England academics in the early 1910's, he was too young to enlist in World War I and considered an inappropriate candidate for military service. He was the youngest child of three siblings though he claims never to have grown overly attached to any of them. His parents died young leaving him in the care of an uncle for the remainder of his time in secondary school; his older brother had already graduated and was at Oxford and his sister had been married by the time of their parent’s death. His uncle, a professor at Cambridge, saw the potential of Horace’s intellect and encouraged him to pursue his interest in history and antiquities (the forerunner of Archaeology).

While at the university he continued to impress his professors with the ease at which he grasped difficult and foreign concepts of ancient religion, language and the ‘truths’ of the ancient world. This eventually lead him to being tapped by one of the scholastic groups on campus.

By the time that World War II had come up, he was already a world-traveling lecturer on antiquities.

Now known as 'Twig' to only his close friends, professor Smallwood was a seasoned field scholar of the arcane. Though not assigned to a research team himself, he was accompanied by a small group of other Arcanists who assisted him with his research objectives.

Artifacts
Horace isn’t much for material possessions - he prefers the simpler things in life but a few items have stuck with him over the years. He still carries the pocket watch that his uncle gave him when he started Cambridge.