"He who controls the past, controls the future".

Had fickle fate not, our of nowhere, picked him for a greater purpose, Alexander Mordington would have done nothing particularly exciting. He'd have continued writing paper after paper about the minutiae of everyday life in Rome from the rise up until the decline and fall, he'd have continued boring students with his lectures and he'd have continued dreaming of the glories of Rome, everything after which had been misery and disappointment, echoes of this lost age where peace came from strength and civilisation flourished.

Everything changed for the Professor on a trip to Rome. He'd been suffering headaches for some time, almost seeing things, but he put it down to stress; stress that would no doubt evaporate on his arrival in the Eternal City, as it always did. And indeed it did, his head was clearer than it had been for years as he wandered the streets, trying to see past the shopfronts and crowds of tourists to the ancient architecture beneath, straining to hear the sounds of the old city above the cars and bustle of a thousand tongues.

And it was just after the car hit him that, through everything, he percieved it.

Following this feeling, he struggled to his feet and stumbled through the busy avenues and alleys of the city, feeling it close in around him. The crowds changed, their dress and mannerisms altered as he ran, as did the street signs. Were he thinking straight, were he not half-disabled by pain, he might have recognised some of them. Fascist uniforms came and went, replacing suits and then being replaced one more, the cars changed, then became horses, the shopfronts altered one by one. And through all the changes, the City was a constant. And it was through the heart of this ever-living, impossible city he ran, eventually finding himself in a vast arena, like the Colluseum but bigger, far bigger than he remembered. At the centre stood a tower. At the foot of the tower, there stood a pedestal. And on the pedestal, a book, a tome, a scroll. He could, on the very edge of vision, see a group of figures staring down at the arena, awaiting his next action. He did what was expected. He signed.

Some time later, the Professor is back at his old job, almost as if nothing'd changed. But everyone who knew him sees the difference. The most obvious change is the cane he now walks with, necessary after some accident on his trip to Rome. But his character has changed even more dramatically. He's a far more interesting person, full of new and controversial theories about Rome and most of history afterwards (and always finding evidence to back them up), and he's a far more genial, approachable person. "Grandfatherly" is a word sometimes thrown around, but never to his face. Even the people who disagree with his ideas, find themselves warming to him.

The truth is, Professor Mordington found many truths on that visit to the Eternal City. He saw reality as it really is. And he saw that Rome wasn't the only thing that was Eternal. Whether he found them through his own research, or whether they found him, he can never quite remember. The important thing is who they were and what they represented. They had always been there, the structure of the world, the strength that held it together, the civilizing influence. He'd been so distracted by the shopfronts and crowds of life he hadn't seen past them to the architecture that bound humanity together. And now he was part of them, part of this Eternal order, this pax magica. They'd been around since Rome, and before. And all of history took on new meanings because of it. And they needed him.

Deep down, Professor Mordington is a supreme egotist. The one person who matters is himself. He isn't stupid though. He realises that one way or another, he has found himself as part of a conspiracy that shapes the world, and he'd rather be on the winning team. He'd rather not get his hands dirty, but will do if his orders require it. He still remembers those figures watching as he signed his name, waiting for him to step out of line from what they wished, and he doesn't want to find out what happens if he does. For now, he's happy doing their work much as he's always done. Ideas have power. Ideas about history even more, since they shape how people view civilisation as a whole. Professor Mordington, Tacitus in Mage circles, along with certain other colleagues in the historical fraternity, helps to shape and guide humanity's collective view of its history, introducing the ideas the Seers require into the mainstream through books, the odd TV series, and academia in general.