R

Species: human
Gender: male
Age: 44 (but certainly still young at heart)
DOB:
Birthplace: Great Britain
Occupation: Council mage (fmr. Queen's Magus, fmr. Assistant Director of the University of Magic)
Languages: English

Personality
Pompous is always the first word used to describe Reginald. He had a major superiority complex. He's good, and he's knows he's good, and he excepts you to know it, too. He tends to walk around like he owns wherever he is. For most of his life, this swagger was justified. He comes from a powerful family and served as Queen's Magus, his brothers are equally as impressively-regarded, and woe to the man that ever crossed a Thrash, especially Reginald. (The family name is the source of the word "thrashing.")

Despite all that arrogance and family reputation, Reginald is a fundamentally decent fellow. He's never struck anyone without very good cause, and generally tries to avoid violence in favor of more creative punishment. (Like giving King Midas the ears of an ass.) He is usually quite reasonable, especially towards people seeking his help. He rarely gets stressed about anything and aside from little verbal outbursts of indignation is quite good at controlling his temper. But again, woe to the man who draws the temper of Reginald Thrash, as he certainly can live up to his name when provoked into it.

In personal interaction he's quite stuffy, expecting a certain amount of acclaim for his achievements. He can also be a bit of a bumbler. While he has a good general sense of propriety, he sometimes gets foggy on the finer details. He simply can't be bothered to remember those little things like proper term of address or which fork is for the salad, or people's names. Such details are beneath the notice of a powerful mage.

Reginald has a bad habit of rushing into things, dashing and brave, mindful only of each step as he is making it. He sees himself as a hero in many regards; he's always happy to rescue people in trouble. It's all part of the Reginald persona. He exudes confidence and even charm, creating a whirlwind around himself that can sweep people off their feet and into an adventure. He loves having adventures, running off to strange places, throwing himself into the thick of things with his wand and spells at the ready. His philosophy is "what's done is done" and he lives without regrets. He simply charges ahead into the next thing, never looking back. He thrives on the excitement of change.

At the same time, in his private life he's very ordered. When he's alone at home (or just with Molly), he settles into a comfortable country homebody mode, enjoying the piece and quiet and reading from his extensive library, spending hours relaxing in his favorite reading chair. He's always ready to jump up and head for an adventure, but he's just as happy with a cup of tea, enjoying the day.

In Reginald, centuries of tradition are fighting against the excitement of modern life. He was raised in a traditional household that was at odds with the newfangled world outside. At home it was all studying and books and magic, at school it was flashy cars and television and music (and even drugs, though Reginald hasn't done any since his early twenties). Reginald and his brothers would step out the front door and be transformed from young mages to modern teenage boys. The clash between new and old is still raging in Reginald's personality forty years later. It's almost as if he can't decide which to be: the dashing adventurous hero or the quiet country wizard. Nowadays, it's more the latter since he has Molly to care about, but all someone has to do is whisper the name of some magical beastie and he's still out the door. Only those who know him best can discern the fact that they are not dealing with two people: Reginald the country gentleman and Reginald the hero are, at the core, exactly the same person. They just live in two completely different worlds.

Beyond all that, Reginald is very good to the people he cares about. He can be a bit impatient, but he has learned to control his impatience when necessary. He's learned a lot of things in his forty years, not the least of which is truly good and loyal friends are very hard to find and should be treasured above all else. He'd do anything to protect Percival and Molly. He believes in learning by experience and throwing yourself out there, but he knows better than to try and force his philosophy on anyone else. (On the other hand, he is a total British imperialist and completely supports enforcing British culture on the world.)

Few people would guess at the breadth of Reginald's sense of humor. He doesn't seem at first impression to be a funny kind of guy, but he is. He has the best guffaw of a laugh, deep and full, and he loves to put it to use. He has a habit of finding the people around him amusing and chuckling at their expense, always good-naturedly. His most frequent source of amusement is Percival. Sometimes people can take offense, but Reginald never intends any insult. He doesn't believe in being serious all of the time. Most of the time, yes, but he firmly believes everyone needs to make time for humor. It's fairly hard to insult him, as he takes insults flung his way in stride, not really caring what others think or say. His humor is probably most evident in his writing.

He's also known for being a party animal. If there's a good time to be had, he's there, and he can go a bit crazy, drunk on his own celebrity and a good supply of alcohol. His brother Gideon is a popular and good-looking actor (in addition to being a mage) so Reginald's never had a shortage of events at his disposal. He's never done anything too crazy, but he can get carried away fairly easily after a few pints and do things that really he oughtn't. He's never to upset by it afterwards, because after all, what's done is done.

Physical Characteristics
Height: 5' 11.5"
Weight/Build: average, a bit to the strong side
Hair: red
Eyes: medium rich blue
Skin: average Caucasian, not too pale or tan
Face:
Attire: Seemingly impervious to heat, Reginald always wears a heavy overcoat, even in the heat of summer, and in winter he really bundles up and lumps on heating charms. He prefers brown coats, and almost always wears a scarf in a hideous sort of brown-olive color, which is his favorite shade. He's VERY fond of insignia and monograms, and all of his his handkerchiefs are emblazoned with the Royal Insignia of the Regent Magus: the Royal Coat of Arms, encircled by an ouroboros intertwined with a banner reading in Latin "All Worlds United in Magic." Under his coats and scarves, Reginald usually has a sweatervest and Oxford shirt, plus a tie of some style. He usually wears drab slacks, but once in a blue moon (and at his wedding) he'll don the Thrash family kilt for some special occasion. He is also unusually fond of argyle socks. While he takes care in his appearance, Reginald does in the end look a bit odd, like he's just missed the mark on style. He's proud of his look, regardless. He wears gold/copper glasses with partial rectangular rims, very unusual. (Custom made, of course.) If you look very closely you can see an R engraved on the arm near the joint.

Collective History:
 

Individual History
Reginald is the second son of the legendary Thrash family, one of Britain's great mage families. He has an older brother, Simon, and a younger, Gideon. His childhood was an unusual one. he went to school like any other child, but at home he was schooled in quite a different matter. It was clear early on that he was the most magically talented of the brothers. He had a real knack for performing spells without scroll components, even wandless, and he could absorb spells into his arsenal quite easily.

His parents were quite strict at home, so he and his brothers made the most of their freedom outside the house, getting into all sorts of trouble both magical and otherwise. They also fought like caged cats, especially Reginald and Simon. Simon was the most book-learned of the brothers and resented Reginald's ability to learn spells without working so hard, plus the cavalier attitude with which both Reginald and Gideon approached magic. Their fights would often spill onto the street, creating vortexes of magical energy that caused all sorts of terrible problems for their neighbors. The teen years were the worst. The boys' magical abilities were reaching full potential but they hadn't yet learned great control. Add to that hormones, girlfriends, and experimenting with illicit substances in the late Sixties. It was a lucky miracle they never killed anyone.

But as boys so often do, they grew out of it. Simon even seemed to grow out of magic, pursuing a career as an engineer. Reginald applied himself to mathematics, working the math into his magic, spending his time from the age of twenty-three to about thirty doing lots of research and expanding his abilities. When he wasn't partying, that is. Little brother Gideon was dashingly good-looking and went into acting, quickly becoming the hottest young actor, and he had the skills to back it up. Gideon and Reginald went to tons of A-list parties, Reginald unquestionably being the more wild of the two. His antics made him a celebrity in his own right. He was in the tabloids at least as much as Gideon, and more often than not the stories about him were true (whereas Gideon was the subject of a lot of silly lies). At first, he was just seen as the weird brother of the movie star, but that weirdness soon became regarded as a sort of wacky personal style.

This isn't to say that Reginald wasn't dead serious about his magical studies during this period. He would work hard all day on magical and mathematical theorems and then go out at night, pursuing both aspects of his life to their fullest. His powers truly came into their own as a result.

Then, when Reginald was thirty-three, the Queen's Magus retired. Suddenly the highest position of honor in the British Empire for a mage was open. Mages young and old scrambled to compete in the trials for the position. Reginald just grinned to himself and with characteristic flair jauntily strode into the middle of the trials. While the other mages scrambled with their books and scrolls, Reginald created, with a wave of his hand and no spell aids, a tree from seed to fruit. He then presented the fruit to her majesty (who informed him she disliked satsumas but appreciated the gesture). this unprecedented demonstration won him the post.

Britain's favorite tabloid mage was suddenly Britain's greatest mage, with mixed results. Some of Reginald's mistakes were positively scandalous, but more often than not the things he did were wonderful. he singlehandedly defeated the Crolloins on Cathaxis IV, he quelled the Ternese rebellion, he was very good at his magic. (He just slightly sucked at all that courtly rubbish.)

As amazing as it all was, it was taking its toll on Reginald. The time he had for his own magic was limited, and he was at the Queen's beck and call for whatever she needed. That's when he was approached about joining the University. He visited, and the next day resigned his position as Queen's Magus in favor of a chance at this new life. (he also pulled brother Simon out of engineering and convinced him to try in the trials, leading to Simon being appointed Court Mage, and doing a much better job of it all.)

Post-Extraction
The University was unlike anything Reginald had even seen before. A purely magical institution where he had the freedom to do whatever he liked. He discovered whole new braches of magic he had never known existed. Every day brought new knowledge and learning. Best of all, he was at no one's command. When he wanted to close his door and refuse all visitors he could. His colleagues were a truly eccentric bunch and he fit right in. Instead of being a tabloid headline he was respected for his magic by people who understood what his magic actually was.

It was at the University he was introduced to his dimensional alter, Percival. It took a bit for Reginald and Percy to accept the whole "me in another universe" concept (they had very little on the surface in common), but they clicked. It was as if they had known each other their whole lives. Reginald then accepted a post as Assistant Director at the University, and Percival worked alongside him on the more administrative details.

Reginald also made the acquaintance of a witch named Molly Morris. She possessed a rare antimagic ability that interested Reginald. He convinced the shy, mousy young woman to work alongside him. Several months of coaxing her out of her shell, he was quite smitten and convinced her to go out on a date with him. Reginald had dated a lot of very pretty girls, but Molly had a special quality. She wasn't pretty, but she was sweet and clever and totally endearing. After courting her for a year, he finally convinced her to marry him, since she loved him as much as he loved her. They were married June 2006 and are expecting a daughter November 2007.

After the Conference the University of Magic was suspended indefinitely and Percival helped to form the Council, on which he currently sits. He splits his time between that and a quiet life at home.

Oh, yes, and every so often an adventure!

Percival Prowley - Reginald's dimensional alter, best friend and more. They're two peas from the same pod.

Molly (Morris) Thrash - Reginald's wife, she comes from a long line of great warlock and witches, but she's terrible at magic. She only found out after she joined the University that her dismal magical ability was the result of a rare innate antimagic. Reginald was intrigued by her antimagic and convinced her to work with him. Shy, bookish, and often insecure, Molly never expected anything out of her seemingly cursed life, but Reginald was her turning point. He developed great affection for her, and eventually asked her to dinner, and after a few months of invitations she finally accepted. It took another year and a half before she was ready for Reginald to propose, and of course he did. They were married two days after the Conference. Most people wouldn't look twice at Molly, but Reginald loves her and wouldn't even think of looking at anyone else. They're expecting a child in November.