Marcus Cornelius Falco
Marcus Cornelius Falco was a Roman Tribune in Claudius's army when he conquered Great Britain in 43 AD. He became involved in the War Chief's plot to interfere with this historical event, helping a group of time travellers to foil the Renegade Time Lord, and possibly joining them as a companion to one or more of the benevolent Time Lords involved.
Biography[[edit] | [edit source]]
Born in 20 AD in Cumae, Italy, Marcus was the heir of a "minor branch of the Roman Cornelian family". His father held administrative posts under Augustus and Tiberius, only to be killed as a supporter of the Praetorian Prefect Sejandus while Marcus was stil a boy. Falco's uncle, a military officer, pulled some strings to kickstart his nephew's career, getting him a posting as a tribune in the Second Legion during the 41 AD campaign in Germany, but he did not see "real military action" until the Roman conquest of Britain in 43 AD. In its course, he "distinguished himself" at the battle of the Medway River. (GAME: "Non-Player Characters" [+]Part of The Legions of Death, Loading...{"namedpart":"Non-Player Characters","1":"The Legions of Death (game)"})
While assisting Legate Vespasian, whom he had come to see as a surrogate father figure of sorts, on a scouting mission ahead of the main body of the army, Falco and his men came upon the Sacred Wood. Vespasian insisted on personally leading a small party of men into it, where he was hypnotised and captured by the war god of the Sacred Wood, in actuality an incarnation of the War Chief. (GAME: "Introductory Story" [+]Part of The Legions of Death, Loading...{"namedep":"Introductory Story","1":"The Legions of Death (game)"}) Falco was left in command of the scouting cohort, which was quickly ambushed and mostly wiped out by a group of Britons actually under the War Chief's command. (GAME: "Falco's Story" [+]Part of The Legions of Death, Loading...{"namedep":"Falco's Story","1":"The Legions of Death (game)"}) Lurking on the edges of the battlefield, Falco and his men witnessed the arrival of the TARDIS or TARDISes of one or more group of time travellers who had detected the energy signature of the War Chief's TARDIS and come to investigate. (GAME: "Field of Battle" [+]Part of The Legions of Death, Loading...{"namedep":"Field of Battle","1":"The Legions of Death (game)"}) The Time Lords may have included any of the the Third Doctor, the Colonel, and Leora, each accompanied by one or more of their companions. (GAME: "Player Characters" [+]Part of The Legions of Death, Loading...{"namedpart":"Player Characters","1":"The Legions of Death (game)"}) Taking them prisoner, Falco was willing to trust that they were not spies, (GAME: "Falco's Story" [+]Part of The Legions of Death, Loading...{"namedep":"Falco's Story","1":"The Legions of Death (game)"}, "Field of Battle" [+]Part of The Legions of Death, Loading...{"namedep":"Field of Battle","1":"The Legions of Death (game)"}) but insisted on having them accompany his men back to Claudius's main camp in an effort to warn him about the new, massing force of barbarians. The journey was long and arduous, and may have involved some members of the party being captured by further barbarian ambushes. (GAME: "Player Options" [+]Part of The Legions of Death, Loading...{"namedep":"Player Options","1":"The Legions of Death (game)"})
Eventually, the group made it to the camp, where, if Falco had not been among those captured, he was able to confirm that the strange travellers were not spies, and secure them an interview with the Emperor. However, due to internal politics of the camp, Claudius was not sure whether to believe their claims of a new army. He agreed to stay the advance for a day or two, however. (GAME: "In the Roman camp" [+]Part of The Legions of Death, Loading...{"namedep":"In the Roman camp","1":"The Legions of Death (game)"}) In the night, the camp was infiltrated by a group of would-be kidnappers under hypnotic control. Recognising some of his men among them, Falco realised the truth of the time-travellers' claim that the locus of the mystery was in the Sacred Wood, and helped them sneak away from the camp. (GAME: "Shadows in the Night" [+]Part of The Legions of Death, Loading...{"namedep":"Shadows in the Night","1":"The Legions of Death (game)"})
Though ambushed by the Britons, they did end up back at the Sacred Wood when the hypnotised barbarians opted to drop the prisoners there as tributes for their god the War Chief. Upon realising that there were members of his own kind among the party, the War Chief was eager to gloat, and explained the nature of his scheme, whose ultimate aim was to take control of the entire Roman Empire by capturing and hypnotising Claudius, then outfitting the brainwashed Roman army with laser pistols. (GAME: "In the Briton camp" [+]Part of The Legions of Death, Loading...{"namedep":"In the Briton camp","1":"The Legions of Death (game)"}, "The Sacred Wood" [+]Part of The Legions of Death, Loading...{"namedep":"The Sacred Wood","1":"The Legions of Death (game)"}, "The War Chief" [+]Part of The Legions of Death, Loading...{"namedep":"The War Chief","1":"The Legions of Death (game)"}) Dumped in a containment cell within the War Chief's TARDIS until it was time to brainwash them, the time-travellers managed to escape, possibly with the use of the non-brainwashed Briton Branimandua, (GAME: "Escape" [+]Part of The Legions of Death, Loading...{"namedep":"Escape","1":"The Legions of Death (game)"}) and the War Chief's plan was foiled when his hypnotic machines were destroyed, though he himself managed to escape. Vespasian was then safely returned to the Roman camp, allowing history to go back on track. (GAME: "Ending the Adventure" [+]Part of The Legions of Death, Loading...{"namedep":"Ending the Adventure","1":"The Legions of Death (game)"})
Subsequently, both Falco and Branimandua may have become a companion to any of the Time Lords involved. (GAME: "Non-Player Characters" [+]Part of The Legions of Death, Loading...{"namedpart":"Non-Player Characters","1":"The Legions of Death (game)"}) Indeed, by one telling, after taking off in the Colonel's TARDIS, the Colonel and Leora realised that Falco had stowed away onboard. The Colonel was initially reluctant to let him stay on, intent on wiping his memory, but Leora convinced him otherwise with Falco's own help, with the Roman recounting the Sibyl's prophecy from when he was young, of which he believe TARDIS-travel to be the fulfillment. He had been assured that Vespasian's safety from this point on was a historical certainty, freeing him of his concern about his mentor. (GAME: "The Sibyl's Prophecy" [+]Part of The Legions of Death, Loading...{"namedep":"The Sibyl's Prophecy","1":"The Legions of Death (game)"})
Physical appearance[[edit] | [edit source]]
Falco was a "small, handsome man" with dark hair and a "handsome" face that was rugged, but aristocratic. As a tribune, he wore "ornate, finely-crafted armour" including a breastplate, backplate, helmet, and greaves, as well as a red cape. (GAME: "Non-Player Characters" [+]Part of The Legions of Death, Loading...{"namedpart":"Non-Player Characters","1":"The Legions of Death (game)"})
Behind the scenes[[edit] | [edit source]]
The notes prefacing the "Non-Player Characters" section of The Legions of Death explained:
Three characters are, however, more fully detailed. One is the War Chief, the renegade Time Lord who is the villain of this adventure. The other two, the Roman tribune Falco and the warrior-princess Branimandua, are not only important to th estory as a whole, but could potentially become new Companions to the Time Lord leading the players' group. A player whose character is killed or a new player who cannot otherwise be introduced into an ongoing campaign might wish to complete the adventure with one of these characters rather than trying to introduce a completely new one.
Due to the multiple-choice nature of The Legions of Death's plot, not only is Branimandua and Falco's eventual graduation to companionship optional, but so is the identity of the Time Lord protagonist to whom they would become companions: any combination of the Third Doctor, the Colonel or Leora were available as possible Time Lord protagonists. Thus, each of Marcus or Branimandua may be considered a potential companion to all three including the Third Doctor, although the prose epilogue "The Sibyl's Prophecy" [+]Part of The Legions of Death, Loading...{"namedep":"The Sibyl's Prophecy","1":"The Legions of Death (game)"} commits to Falco becoming a companion to the Colonel and Leora.
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