[hider=Albert Barton]
[img]https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--INxzCfrx--/c_scale,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_800/nfazfkszf5nbcmpc70ee.jpg[/img]

Name: Albert Barton

Age: 36

Super Name: Often goes by the alias Mr. Scratch

Powers: Albert is a practitioner of the hermetic sciences and ritual magick, mainly the arts of Alchemy, Astrology, and Theurgy. Alchemy, the Royal Art which has for the most part fallen out of favor compared to Chemistry and Pharmacology, is no less powerful because of the ridicule it receives. Spagyric elixirs and tinctures, the transmutation of base metals, the creation or perhaps the imitation of life, and the transformation of the immortal soul are all possible through this ancient and esoteric practice and the pursuit of the Magnum Opus.
	Astrology in the modern world is often seen as the ignorant precursor to astronomy, and dismissed by the scientific community, as well as many 'serious' practitioners of the occult and arcane. Albert sees astrology as the study of the energies of the universe, radiated by the countless heavenly bodies which surround us. These energies influence our behavior and the world around us in subtle ways, in a sense creating a psychological outline of an individual the moment they become one with the universe at their first breath. Despite this free will is very much a thing in Albert's mind. Destiny is not the antithesis of free will, but rather the fulfillment of it. Aside from being used for divination or as a psychological tool, astrology can be used to note the times and locations in which certain rituals and rites will be their most potent. The energies of the spheres and stars working together with the will of magician towards a greater end.
	Theurgy is the Operation of the Gods, the communing, summoning, and binding of spirits (typically elementals and angels). Goetia is the practice of theurgy to call upon low forces such as demons. This is not the same as making Faustian pacts (though Albert has been known to broker such contracts for others) or prostrating oneself before these entities, it is the use of true names, ancient oaths, and the power of the supreme creative force to bring these entities into submission and service. Much like Solomon did, Albert can use this art to bind spirits into objects as well, creating enchanted objects with power greater than the more common sympathetic tool or focus. 

Technology: A .38 special, switchblade, and a cellular phone are the only items mechanical or electronic the magician keeps on his person.

Acquaintances: Irrelevant relatives, distant pen pals and business associates, and Galatea.

Personality:  Albert is a man with a deep urge to create, explore, and understand. This is what has lead him to study the occult and conduct so many experiments. To fuel his passions, Albert has become a shrewd businessman and negotiator, always looking to get the most out of any deal he might make. Looking to great men who came before, he has aspired to become a good if not great man himself. Mercy, integrity, dignity, and other such values are ones he aspires to have as an integral part of his being. Despite his effort though there are times when they come into conflict with his needs as a businessman. 

Bio: Born to a middle class family in the American South, Albert Barton grew up with a great love of literature, legends, and all manner of folk and fairy tales. Coupled with a strong religious upbringing, this lead Albert to explore all manner of philosophical and religious texts and documents outside of school. When it came time to leave for college, these passions followed him as he studied chemistry. Using what little money he had from various odd and part-time jobs, the initiate began to build a lab of his own outside of the campus to pursue his own works in Alchemy. After a few years however, these experiments began to interfere with the lab work at the university. Due to various... setbacks in his work, and quite a few chemical fires, Albert was expelled. Taking his own equipment, and whatever resources he could, the young novice began to travel the country and continued his work. He began to delve into experiments with hallucinogens during this bohemian phase in his life, funding his way as he went by selling his wares where he could. 
	After years of such a simple existence, the alchemist had managed to scrimp and save enough to lease a living space and shop where he could properly sell and expand his merchandise. It was here that his focus shifted to the study of astrology and theurgy, subjects which he had known in some small way to augment the potency of his elixirs and the like. Countless hours were spent poring over grimoires, charts, and books filled with information on the movement of the stars. The first summonings were rough to say the least. Feeble, mindless spirits of hunger and spite were drawn to the new theurgist's inexperience and the possibility to claim his soul. But eventually with practice his rituals became grander, more effective, and more powerful. He learned the names and oathes of entities long forgotten by the world of man through the whispers that traveled across the astral plane. His mentors were angels, demons, and elementals alike, and each time he would draw more and more from the spirits till they would whisper no more. 
	Wanting to expand his reach further, the magician began to make contact with other magi and sorcerers through the country and abroad. He traded in trinkets, scrolls, tomes, manuscripts, anything and everything he could get his hands on that might reveal more of the nature of the soul and the glory of creation. As this continued his skills as an alchemist and in forging pacts and magickal contracts became the talk of the magickal community. Along with his regular contacts, the magician was flocked by new age posers, aspiring sorcerers, and rich folk looking for something that money can't normally buy. In one instance it was life, Albert signing a contract to cure a man's illness in exchange for enough money for him to retire comfortably. Along with an island to retire on. Using his new found fortune, the magician built himself a proper home, lab, library, and ritual space on his land. Within months the money dried up, Albert being free for the first time in his life to indulge in all manner of strange and costly experiments. For him money was merely a means to an end, one which he would share with mankind at its own pace, with those who were ready to learn.
	Back to his old trade of selling, buying, and brokering contracts, Albert's business was shaken by the chaos caused by the death of superman and the collapse of the US government. Some big mess of politics and sophomoric ideological revolution or some such nonsense. Aside from personal distaste towards the whole conflict, it wasn't really his to join in on. At least not till he was approached, rather unceremoniously, by a representative of the Government in exile of the United States, and an organization called Cadmus. They offered influence, power, but more importantly: resources. The kind that would allow him to continue his experiments for the rest of his days, the kind that would surely hasten his creation of the Magnum Opus. Providing his services as a magician, and his home as a center of operations for a new task force, Barton now finds himself as a coordinator of sorts for all manner of heroes, metahumans, and hired guns.
[/hider]