Eli Podgram

Eli Podgram
Biographical Information
Real Name	Eli Podgram
Aliases	the Specialist
Homeworld	Earth
Physical Information
Species	Human
Gender	Male
Unusual features	White hairs on his head in the outline of a cross
Fictional Information
Created by	Errol Lecale
First Appearance	Tigerman of Terrahpur
Final Appearance	Blood of My Blood

“	I am the Specialist. I think there is no man living with a broader knowledge of the Twilight World, of that area where the real and the non-real meet, where the physical marches with the psychic.	”
–Eli Podgram

His Excellency, Eli Podgram, Lord of the Valley of Tzgarno, known to many as The Specialist, was a Romanian philanthropist, who, after briefly being turned into a vampire, made it his life's mission to eliminate what he termed the Twilight World, the sinister world of the paranormal and the occult. He worked toward this goal with Hugo, his hulking French servant, and Mara, a young Romanian woman he'd taken under his care and developed a telepathic connection with.

Biography

Early Life

Podgram's paternal grandfather was a Count of Rumanian Transylvania.

Physical Appearance

Podgram was a small man, spare of build.

Personality

While a youth Podgram mocked superstitious beliefs. This changed after his having been turned into a vampire, at which point his crusade against the Twilight World became his obsession. He no longer saw use for his aristocratic titles.

Weapons and Abilities

Inherent Abilities

• Pain resistance: Through sheer willpower, Podgram was able control and turn off pain, having done so for a broken leg, a gunshot wound, and poison. (PROSE: Zombie)
  • However, he was unable to use it against a toothache, which Podgram theorised was the fault of the tooth's proximity to his brain. (PROSE: Zombie)

Magical Abilities

• Seventh Great Injunction: An incantation to ward off the evils of the Twilight World. (PROSE: Zombie)
  • It was entirely ineffective against deities like Baron Samedi, whom even the Brethren of the High Places could not hope to defeat. (PROSE: Zombie)
• Astral Projection: Podgram was capable of astral projection, and used pentacles to protect himself from entities of the astral plane that might attack him there and keep them from manifesting in the real world to attack his body. The surface on which the pentacles were made needed to be absolutely clean; one speck of dirt would be enough for an entity to pierce its protection. He could only remain on the plane for a limited time. (PROSE: Zombie)
• Telepathy: Podgram was capable of reading minds and communing telepathically from several rooms away with Mara. (PROSE: Zombie, Blood of My Blood)
  • Simultaneously, Podgram was capable of closing his mind to intrusion, including by Mara. (PROSE: Blood of My Blood)

Assets

• Crayon: A writing implement of his own devising, whose colour faded upon exposure to light, allowing Podgram to create invisible protective pentacles that would not draw attention. (PROSE: Zombie)
• Esoteric equipment: Podgram kept a doctor's valise filled with amulets, relics, herbs, and powders useful in his war with the Twilight World. (PROSE: Zombie)
• Spiritual knowledge: Podgram, while in the astral plane, knew how to guide the dead in the direction of the afterlife to prevent them from becoming Earthbound. (PROSE: Zombie)
• Wealth: Podgram's father had been a wealthy Transylvanian count, and his mother a wealthy member of an old Boston family. Podgram inherited their wealth, as well as Romanian estates, American land, townhouses in Vienna and Paris, and vast business holdings. Podgram also owned an estate in the Blue Mountains of Jamaica, where his own Coffea was grown. Podgram took no interest in his own riches, using them only to fight the occult. (PROSE: Zombie)

Notes

• Podgram was created by Scottish author Errol Lecale.
• Author Paul Adams compared Podgram to Dennis Wheatley's character the Duke de Richleau.

Appearances

• Tigerman of Terrahpur (first appearance)
• Castledoom
• Severed Hand
• The Death Box
• Zombie
• Blood of My Blood (final appearance)

See also

• John Silence
• Thomas Carnacki