Marcus Compton
The director of the Malbury Eldritch Anomalies Department. Terse and practical, he possesses the jaded, authoritative manner of one with many years of experience in law enforcement.
Early Career
Compton served in the Comurum police department for sixteen years, during which time he met and married his wife, Rhoda Compton. Though competent on the job, his progress up the ranks was limited by his tendency to jump into problems regardless of their political context and his inability to curry favor from those in more powerful positions than himself. These social deficits sometimes had dangerous consequences; Compton earned the ire of the longstanding local mafia, and made dangerous enemies among the police and Comurum's city officials by going after fellow policemen who crossed the line. Worried for his safety, Compton's wife persuaded him to move to rural Malbury County and take a much less dangerous job as a local policeman—essentially taking an early retirement. His two daughters finished their education and then returned to city life. The local police found Compton to be competent but a little too fast-paced and efficient; he soon garnered a reputation for being overzealous. While the job was much less intense, it did involve the eldritch more often than his job in the city. Compton would often handle paperwork between the police department and the local EAD, significantly improving relations between the two departments. In 1908, five years after Compton moved to Malbury County, the EAD suffered massive casualties while trying to contain an eldritch occurrence at the Lambert estate. The department was left floundering with no director and few remaining officers. Lacking sufficiently trained personnel to promote, Lord Dean Lambert and Lord Benjamin Warison appointed Compton to the position.Director of the EAD
The transition to anti-eldritch response was a rocky one. Compton had to rebuild the department while learning his job; both ongoing processes. His choices are often controversial and his inexperience with anti-eldritch response leads to mistakes. His brusque manner often puts him at odds with other organizations in the community and with officers within his own department. He also has difficulty thinking about the personalities of his officers and how that affects their job responsibilities. He is not popular, but he is increasingly efficient. Unlike his predecessor Charles Foster, he does not prioritize cases arbitrarily or for political reasons, but by the degree of danger each situation offers the community. His past experience on the Comurum police force has become a great strength for the department as it seeks to thin out and eventually exterminate the myriad cultist groups in the area. The degree of success the EAD has seen in its efforts is also controversial among those in power who have ties with cultist groups or who profit directly from them.Views on Corruption and Friendship with Samuel Whitley
At Lord Warison's request, retired Steward Samuel Whitley offered his assistance in responding to the initial Lambert disaster, with strict stipulations about limiting his personal exposure to eldritch anomalies. Compton respected the restrictions and worked with Whitley accordingly. As part of his explanation of his personal limitations for responding to eldritch anomalies, Whitley introduced Compton to new concepts about eldritch corruption that challenged the typical Malgrave stance of 'corruption is there or it's not.' After Compton wrestled the EAD into some semblance of normalcy, Whitley continued to maintain their acquaintance beyond the reports he was legally required to give as a retired Steward. Compton offered Whitley a listening ear, recognizing that, while he did not know why Samuel wished to discuss his past with Compton in particular, he did need to discuss it, and Compton could benefit from the man's experience. While Compton did not initially agree with Whitley's theories, he recognized that Stewards do not often survive to retirement, or survive past retirement more than a few years, and Whitley's continued survival was evidence of some merit in his views. Two and a half years into being director of the EAD, Compton largely agrees with Whitley's contention of corruption being an illness due to eldritch exposure. They continue to differ in opinion about the possibility of rehabilitation for an individual who has once sided with the eldritch.Relationships
Relationship Reasoning
Rhoda is understanding about her husband's change of career, but it’s hard. He’s gone a lot, he’s gone doing things, he’s doing more dangerous things than he did in his sixteen years in the city, and she’s the one who said 'We are moving out of the city because it is dangerous for you.' Marcus listened to her, moved to a better area, but now is in a worse position before, and Rhoda doesn’t have a foot to stand on. And he’s not good at not doing his job over the top. Which means that he’s not at home very much, he’s in even more danger, and if he subscribes to the illness model, he is also exposed fairly regularly. And he has to worry about that following him home.
Year of Birth
1867
43 Years old
Spouses
Siblings
Children
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