Dr. Lionel Benton, Neurologist

Crooked Mile Valley    Crooked Mile Portmanteau    Demographics Desk with Louise McCallister      Dr. Lionel Benton, Neurologist

Dr. Benton shares many secrets with his support system, the Blood Moon Cult. He is a Gloomstalker who lives in the shadows, collects shadow maps and takes every opportunity to snare Faireland residents in the shadows he finds. One of his favorite places to cast shadows is in the Coastal Caves. The Crooked Mile Circle considers Dr. Benton and the Blood Moon Cult their adversary.
Lenny Garamund, Lionel's employer at Seasways Stables and Present Auto Cart Partner

Nels, the nickname that Lenny called Dr. Benton in his youth, worked for the Garamund family. He groomed horses at the stable during the day and stocked the kitchen and coal furnace during the night. In between, he studied what Lenny studied. He wrote Lenny’s papers, stole tests from Lenny’s governess desk, so that Lenny could cheat without being caught, and vouched for him when Lenny bullied other children.
Dr. Benton’s parents worked for the Garamunds too. His father worked in the secret casino dealing cards and his mother escorted wealthy older men to gentlemen’s club in the Old Red Lamp district of South Soffit. Nels resented every bit of what they did for the Garamund family. He saved every nickel he made selling Lenny’s test papers, and every tip he made signaling card sharks in the casino. At the start of the war, he ran away, joined the Otherwhere assault and spied for them. Awarded a scholarship, he vowed to return to what was left of South Soffit and the Seasway. To his delight and dismay, he returned to ruins. He spent his time waiting for the chance to destroy taking in patients he could experiment with at Grayslate Sanitorium.
Lenny Garamund has no reservation about seeing Dr. Benton for any of his many health afflictions after the war. They made treks to the Crooked Mile Coastal Caves, where they experimented with uses for a diving bell and decompression sickness. When Lenny required a financial rescue, Lionel left the country for two weeks and returned with enough cash to satisfy Lenny’s debts to his family. Because a Percheron horse threw him during his childhood, Dr. Benton loathed riding or caring for horses. Dr. Benton secretly invested funds in Lenny’s Stanwit Steamer automobile business.

Jason Garamund, Lionel's Seasway Hotel Resort Parole Officer & Youth Supervisor

Jason Garamund knew Lionel too. Jason came from a wealthy family who owned the resort. Jason introduced Lionel to his brother Lenny, who supervised work at the stables. Neither Jason nor his parents approved of Lenny's and Nels relationship, but there was no job he refused to do. On more than one occasion Nels responded with anger to customers who criticised their care or the care of the Garamund horses. Nels ignore Jason’s opinions and grew weary of him. He chided Lenny for letting his parents fawn over his older brother, Jason.

Dr. Dean Quincey, Lionel's Oft Honored Briarbank Undergraduate College Roomate

Once Dr. Dean Quincey’s Briarbank College roommate. Not knowing Dr. Benton’s past or membership in the Blood Moon Cult, what Dr. Quincey doesn’t know is that appearances can deceive when it comes to Dr. Benton. Dr. Benton is now a Candela Obscura adversary. They were both studious pre-medical students who shared philosophical notions about mental and physical health. After they graduated, the junior doctors went their separate ways. Their views changed, but they continued to respect one another’s hard work and research.
To please his leaders in the Red Moon Cult, Lionel subjected himself to an extreme surgery. Students removed his pre-frontal cortex. The cortex was in the cult’s way during the war. The cortex protected Lionel from making hostile and compulsive decisions to kill. With the context mostly whittled away, he lost any reservations to attack enemies who disagreed with their inhuman values. During his hyperactive state, Nels, the child of 14, remembered only the worst of how he was treated at the stables. He resented his treatment and reacted like the monster the cult expected.
A headline article written in the Fairelands Herald reported Dr. Benton's military badges earned for heroic triage acts during the Six Year War were an outcome of his superior training. Dean didn’t press him further about the matter, and their relationship fizzled.

Dr. Lionel Benton, MD.NpS

Dr. Lionel Benton Neurologist by ROD w/Midjourney

Gloomstalker Before

Gloomstalker After

Nels Benton Reaction by ROD w/Midjourney

Gloomstalker by ROD w/Midjourney

Gloomstalker is a creature from Native American mythology that is said to be the embodiment of darkness. It is often described as a tall, thin figure with glowing red eyes. The Gloomstalker is said to be able to control the shadows, and can use this ability to create illusions or to attack its enemies.