Dr. Anton Karswell Valkusian, 1829—1899

Anton Karswell Valkusian was born in 1829 in the tiny hamlet of Pigniu, in Switzerland's Graubünden canton.  An extraordinarily gifted child, he was also profoundly quiet and unsociable, preferring the solitude of his mother's garden to the company of other children his age.  By the age of four, he had yet to utter a word, prompting his worried mother to consult with a physician in Geneva.  After a brief examination, the doctor pronounced the boy mentally deficient and recommended institutionalization, whereupon young Anton reportedly swore at the doctor in four languages and unfavorably critiqued his most recent monograph on the topic of ringworm.  Thus cured, he nonetheless remained quite taciturn well into adulthood, despite his rare talent for language.

When Anton's parents enrolled him in the village school, he astonished his teacher by completing all of his lessons for an entire school year in one evening.  The teacher took the precocious child under her direct tutelage, schooling him with her own library of books and with a variety of texts ordered by mail.  He was a brilliant student, but as the unquestioned "teacher's pet," Anton's interpersonal difficulties with his classmates intensified.  He became an accomplished fighter through multiple schoolyard scraps, many of which arose from unkind words regarding Anton's family.

The Valkusians were unusually isolated in their small village, sullied by rumor and shunned by all but a few.  Valkusian's mother Ladina Valkusian had dismayed traditionally provincial villagers by marrying a man from outside the village.  Worse, he was not even Swiss.  Egidius Valkusian was a gruff Dutch merchant who rarely missed an opportunity to alienate neighbors and potential customers with coarse anti-Swiss remarks.  He delighted in flaunting his Dutch-made pocket watch, and horrified acquaintances by publicly scorning local chocolates and cheeses.

As unpopular as Egidius Valkusian was, his wife was held in even greater contempt.  Not only was Ladina Valkusian blamed for marrying a brusque foreigner, it was rumored in the town that little Anton's true father was another man, an itinerant poet, possibly Ambrose Spenser.  The family business eventually withered and folded, and Anton's father abruptly left one day, never to return.  However, Anton and his mother remained ostracized in the otherwise close-knit community until, in 1840, Ladina Valkusian took a job in Bern as a governess and left Pigniu for good.

Anton Valkusian's love of languages served him well as he began to interact with his new friends in Bern and travel with his mother throughout Switzerland's French-speaking districts.  He attended university at an early age, studying history, philosophy, and religion.  Soon, he began an independent study of Eastern mysticism, prompting him to leave school at the age of 21 and embark on a series of Asian expeditions in search of ancient wisdom.  He was rumored to have experimented with opium and occult phenomena, and seemed disinclined to deny such speculation.  A fragment retrieved from an unfinished memoir revealed that he spent at least two years among Tibetan monks, but the remainder of his itinerary and activities remain the subject of much conjecture to this day.

When Valkusian reemerged in the West, his insightful facility with language served him well.  His knowledge of dozens of ancient scripts and dead languages earned him a position at the British Museum where he was given free reign to study a wide range of priceless ancient artifacts.  Valkusian stayed on at the museum until 1859, when he was discharged after a visit by Prime Minister John Russell, then Foreign Secretary in the Palmerston cabinet.  Witnesses claimed that Valkusian had lunged and assaulted Lord Russell when he absentmindedly set a cup of tea on a display case housing the Rosetta Stone.  Lord Russell declined to prosecute, but Valkusian was summarily dismissed.

Almost immediately after returning to Switzerland, he was consulted by Dr. Yngve Hogalum and François Boileau of the newly founded Hogalum Society and aided them in deciphering an ancient coded document from the Tang Dynasty.  Shortly thereafter, he was inducted into the Society.  Valkusian also returned to university, eventually receiving his doctorate degree, and began publishing his work between Hogalum Society missions.  His Hebrew professor Samuel Preiswerk introduced Valkusian to his daughter Emilie and son-in-law Paul Jung.  Valkusian reportedly began a torrid affair with Emilie Preismark and was rumored to be the true father of her son, Carl Jung.

Valkusian's flowing dark blonde hair, gray eyes, and lean frame lent him a natural charisma despite his characteristically antisocial demeanor.  He was frequently somewhat unkempt in his dress, wearing rumpled tweeds or exotic costumes still dusty from undisclosed explorations.  Nevertheless, he could always be counted upon to present himself as a dapper gentleman, typically appearing in public shrouded in his signature black cape and silk Gibus top hat, and occasionally donning a monocle for reading.  He was rarely seen without an intricately carved walking stick (a gift from a Tibetan sherpa who died while guiding Valkusian on one of many adventures), and an equally ornate pipe carved from briarwood and Grecian sepiolite.

As one of the original three members of the Hogalum Society, Anton Karswell Valkusian was a guiding force, introducing much-needed intellectual rigor to the Society's formerly rather whimsical and disorderly flights of fancy.  Although secretive, he was wise, patient, and generous in his advice.  Unfortunately, the frequent friction between Valkusian and Boileau eventually erupted in a volcanic battle, prompting Boileau to betray the Hogalum Society in spectacular fashion.  In the end, Boileau was ejected, Valkusian restored control, and he and Dr. Hogalum worked tirelessly to build the Hogalum Society into a disciplined squadron of talented and intellectual adventurers.

After Dr. Hogalum's death, Anton Valkusian adopted a leadership role within the Hogalum Society, but remained true to his ideals of direct democracy within the often fractious group.  In addition to his knowledge of dead languages, Valkusian reputedly spoke some thirty languages fluently, and his knowledge of foreign cultures also made him an invaluable asset to the globetrotting Hogalum Society.  He often served as navigator aboard the Luftigel airship when Cerebelli was otherwise engaged.

He was fond of quoting reciting obscure proverbs when he felt a situation called for coolheaded wisdom, although his precise meaning often evaded onlookers.  Before grappling with a difficult task, he often remarked that "a peasant will have to stand on a hillside for a long time with his mouth open until a roast duck flies into it."  One of his most oft-quoted utterances from shortly before he was killed in an 1899 duel was "A tiger leaves its skin when dead, but men live by their fame instead."

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