1. On the Surface, he...
1.1. was nobility
1.1.1. who lost everything
1.1.2. who still has a fortune stashed away somewhere
1.2. wandered the earth and never stayed in the same place for long
1.3. lived for years as a recluse
1.4. experimented on corpses
1.4.1. and that's why he lived alone
1.5. kept a prisoner in his house for /three whole years/
1.5.1. and eventually killed him
2. He came to the Neath because...
2.1. he was arrested
2.1.1. for murdering a client
2.1.1.1. because he couldn't solve the case
2.1.1.2. because he'd committed the very crime he was investigating
2.1.2. for killing a man in a barfight
2.1.3. for his experiments
2.1.4. wrongfully
2.2. a case led him here
2.2.1. and he's still trying to solve it
2.2.2. but he gave up
2.2.2.1. and he stayed because he's hiding from his old client
2.3. he needed somewhere safe to conduct his experiments
2.4. he wanted to study it
2.5. he was fleeing his family
2.5.1. half his relatives play the Great Game!
2.5.2. no, no, I'm quite sure his parents are dead
2.5.2.1. and I'm quite sure he killed them
2.5.3. his twin sister's been sighted, with her redheaded maid
3. He has worked...
3.1. as a consulting detective
3.2. at the University
3.2.1. and he left after a scandalous liaison with the Provost
3.2.2. and he left after a romance with a fellow scholar turned sour
3.2.3. and he still takes work there when it suits him
3.3. at the Labyrinth of Tigers
3.3.1. and he left after drinking himself insensible on laudanum
3.4. as a mad scientist
3.4.1. because really, what /does/ he do in those rooms?
4. His lovers include...
4.1. The Pugilistic Historian
4.1.1. hugging! on the streets!
4.1.2. I hear he has a taste for dead men
4.1.3. I /saw/ them through a /window!/
4.1.4. and his husband /watches/
4.2. The Italian Epicene
4.2.1. they were seen on a park bench!
4.2.2. but then who /hasn't/ had the Epicene?
4.2.3. are you sure that wasn't his twin sister?
4.3. the Historian /and/ the Epicene, at the same time
4.3.1. no! really? you don't think, surely--!
4.4. The Lovelorn Actress
4.4.1. and he broke her heart
4.4.1.1. and she threw him out of the house after months of charity
4.4.2. and she broke his heart
4.4.2.1. and he left as soon as he found somewhere else to go
4.4.3. and they're still together in secret
4.4.4. nonsense! /everyone/ knows they're really the same person!
4.5. the Cyclopean Seamstress
4.5.1. until he rejected her
4.5.2. when he realised he was mistaken to have rejected her in the first place
4.5.3. to pay for the rooms she lets him
4.6. a circus performer at the Carnival
4.6.1. whom he rejected
4.6.1.1. and who took his own life at the rejection
4.6.2. who is now a lover to the Lovelorn Actress
4.7. a colleague at the University
4.7.1. and they broke it off over academic differences
4.7.2. and they ended it for the sake of her career
4.8. the Provost
4.8.1. in a desperate attempt to save his University career
4.8.1.1. which backfired
5. He's really rather strange...
5.1. he won't set foot inside churches
5.1.1. and the scent of incense makes him ill
5.1.1.1. because he's a devil in disguise
5.2. he collects cats
5.2.1. and have you seen the little white one? so dear--!
5.2.2. and the ginger one's like to scratch out your eyes just for looking at her
5.2.3. because he's going to build a feline army!
5.2.4. for experimentation. what, you didn't think he actually /liked/ them?
5.3. he almost never leaves his rooms
5.3.1. because he's using them for his experimentation on corpses
5.3.1.1. and kittens!
5.3.2. because he keeps a menagerie of eldritch abominations in there
5.3.3. because he's compiling dossiers on the Masters
5.3.3.1. and if he sets foot outside he'll be arrested
5.4. he never drinks at parties
5.4.1. and that's when he goes to parties in the first place
5.4.2. but that doesn't stop him from /crying/ at parties
5.5. he's a closet Bohemian
5.5.1. ...you say you saw him buying a /negligee?/
5.5.2. what do you mean, 'closet?' I heard he showed up to an All Hallows soiree in a gown!
5.5.2.1. that wasn't him, silly, that was his twin sister
5.6. he's paranoid
5.6.1. he writes all his letters in elaborate cryptographs in case they're intercepted
5.6.2. he's always armed
5.6.3. he can't stand to be touched
5.7. He's got no heart
5.7.1. not emotion-wise, but really, no physical heart.