October 2022 Prep Docs (Adherennium)

Day 3: Protagonist Profile

Born John Edward Maurice Worrell in the early hours of January 1st 1900 to Edward and Mildred (nee Chambers) Worrell. His father was a foundryman who worked in the Whitechapel Bell Foundry and had married Mildred, the daughter of a clergyman. He had met her at a church service to consecrate the recently completed Church of the Holy Trinity, for which The Whitechapel Bell Foundry had supplied its ring of ten bells.

Maurice had a sister named Clarissa, who was two years older than him.

When He was four, his father came home extremely drunk. Investigations found that he had been drinking heavily most of the day, after witnessing the death of a close friend in an industrial accident that morning. An argument developed between Maurice's parents, he was not sure what about, being too young to understand. Frightened by the shouting, he hid under the table, and watched as his father struck his mother with a poker, then beat his screaming sister to death.

Edward was dragging the terrified Maurice from his hiding place when several neighbours, alarmed by Clarissa's screams, burst in and physically restrained him. Edward was subsequently tried and hanged for the murders.

Maurice was then taken in by his uncle and aunt, John and Mary Chambers. John was a librarian, and in his spare time an amateur magician. He was a kindly man, and spent a lot of time with the young Maurice, trying to help him overcome the terror and grief he had experienced. He taught him some magic tricks, for which Maurice showed considerable aptitude. He also introduced the boy to several of his fellow magicians. It was though these friends that Maurice was able to be sponsored to join the Magical Circle in 1920.

Aunt Mary was a devoted Spiritualist, and took the teenaged Maurice to many of the services, until on one occasion there was a message for him from the other side. Purporting to speak in the voice of his mother, the medium made several slip ups that left Maurice in no doubt that the whole thing was faked. He refused to ever go to another meeting. His aunt was disappointed, but not unpleasant or nasty about this.

Maurice had to change school after he had moved from Whitechapel to Marylebone, and at first was picked upon simply because he was the new boy. He quickly learned that if he could make his bullies laugh, they would leave him alone, and he took to reading various periodicals in his uncle's library, to gather humorous material that he could use.

He also read anything he could about the occult, but he read with a cynical eye, and in order to debunk it as nonsense. Whenever he could, he would visit local theatres to watch shows, especially if there was a magician. He picked up more ideas about what was funny from the comedy acts.

One of his uncle's friends was Nevil Maskelyne, who gave Maurice a book for his twelfth birthday. The book was titled Sharps and Flats: A Complete Revelation of the Secrets of Cheating at Games of Chance and Skill, and had been written by Maskelyne's father. Maurice studied this deeply, and as well as learning card tricks from his uncle, he taught himself how to play various card games, and how to spot cheats. He also learned how to cheat, which he sometimes did, when being short of money.

He served two years as an army private in 1918-1920, and spent much of this time working as a clerk. After serving his time in the army, Maurice decided that he wanted to work as a stage magician. He put together an act, and through his uncle's contacts, managed to get a chance to audition at a local theatre. Maurice's carefully rehearsed 'mistakes, and the banter he had worked up seemed to tickle the manager's funny bone, and he was hired to do a short run. When his act had proved reasonably popular with the audiences, Maurice was engaged to join a summer tour of seaside theatres on the East Coast. He was off and running.

Aunt Mary died in 1922, and Uncle John just over a year later. Maurice inherited the house, and a small sum of money. He spent some of this on having new props made, and banked the rest for a rainy day.

Though capable of being very charismatic on stage, Maurice is a quite private person, and has few friends besides those he knows from his work, and none of them close. He is prone to bouts of depression, and these can be triggered by the slightest thing. However, as a result of his traumatic experience, he does not drink alcohol. He does smoke cigarettes.

He craves female company, but also is scared of becoming intimate. His unspoken fear is that he might one day become like his father and hurt any prospective wife or partner. This makes him blow hot and cold, until any woman interest in him gives up in exasperation.

Physically, Maurice is about 5'10", with dark hair. He uses Rowland's Macassar Oil to keep this in place, he has a middle parting. He is clean shaven, and despite living alone, very neat and tidy in his habits. He pays a local woman to come in and 'do' for him, cleaning, laundry, and cooking some meals.

When not practising his magic, or devising new tricks, Maurice continues to enjoy visits to the theatre as a spectator. He reads a lot, and quite enjoys listening to a newly acquired radio. He has a pet cat, named Archibald.

Maurice is disquieted by unexpected loud noises, and can become distressed by female screaming. He is generally perceived as a quiet, thoughtful and pleasant enough chap, though somewhat distant.