The League
The League was a formation of extraordinary individuals from around the world who first assembled under the leadership of Wilhemina Murray in 1898. They were directed by MI5 to defend England against 'threats of unusual, preternatural, and supernatural natures'.
The first and most notable incarnation of The League was the first 'Murray Group'. It was assembled in response to a wave of vampire attacks plaguing London. It was revealed that Vlad Drakul was slaughtering the minions of the ancient Apocalypse. When Clan Leader Hamilton Slade disappeared, Nathaniel Essex woke Apocalypse from his slumber. With the First Mutant's aid The League routed the vampire forces. Apocalypse destroyed Dracula (albeit temporarily) and returned to his stasis. The League put safeguards in place around En Sabah Nur's crypt to weaken him and suppress his return.
Two years later Essex revived a vastly weakened Apocalypse. Essex attacked London en masse with an army of 'Molluscs', invaders from space that had been driven off Mars by the last Martian communities. The Molluscs were lured by the invitation of En Sabah Nur, who promised them the spoils of war. The League, along with several heroes displaced into 1899 from future eras, routed the Molluscs and forced Apocalypse to flee and go back into stasis once again.
The League remained active until the 1950s. Following the end of World War II the various members of The League dissolved and went on their separate paths. The League represented the beginning and end of an era; the beginning of the Modern Age, as the first 'extraordinary' individuals to come into modernity.
Roster
The core of the team consisted of the following individuals:
Allan Quartermain -- 1825-2009: Quartermain was known as 'Macumazahn' and spent much of his life adventuring and hunting in Africa. He was made immortal after bathing in living fire vented from the Earth below. It has been said that the spirit of Africa itself can recall Quartermain to service if that land is threatened.
Wilhemina Murray -- 1874- ? : Wilhemina Murray's life as a schoolteacher took a dramatic turn in 1894 when she and her future husband Jonathan Harker joined forces with the legendary Abraham Van Helsing to defeat Dracula. During this time she was bitten by Dracula and became a vampire. However they were able to foil Dracula's plot to conquer Budapest and destroyed his castle in Transylvania. Mina was later recruited by MI5 to locate and retain the services of Allan Quartermain, by then an opium-besotted addict. Mina's allies defeated Dracula once more during a titanic clash with the ancient En Sabah Nur in London in 1898. This association of The League would be known as the first 'Murray Group'.
Henry Jekyll -- 1856-1899: Dr. Jekyll explored the chemical and spiritual divide between the 'light' and 'dark' parts of the human body and soul. He synthesized a chemical that divided the two. Dr. Jekyll was a brilliant scientist and chemist who lent his razor sharp intellect to The League's efforts; Mr. Hyde was a violent and brutal ally who was as much threat as aid to The League. He died in Serpentine Park (renamed Hyde Park) in 1899 while defending London against Apocalypse's last bid to destroy the city.
Rodney Skinner -- 1865-1912. A 'gentleman thief' who purloined the Invisibility Formula from the despicable Hawley Griffin. Though a bit of a coward and notoriously self-involved, Rodney was a valuable ally and top-flight spy infiltrator.
Dakkar -- 1834-1910, Prince Dakkar would become the infamous scientist-pirate 'Captain Nemo'. His nuclear-powered ship Nautilus made fantastic voyages all around the world and renewed contact with the ancient cities of Atlantis for the first time in centuries.
