"Outback" Mack Strong
History: Mack Strong (DOB: 1885) was born and raised on the outskirts
of Alice Springs, Australia. His father was a renowned hunter whose
aim with a bow was legendary across Australia. An avid hunter and
outdoorsman, the senior Strong taught young Mack the finer points of
hunting, outdoor survival, and the use of bows, guns, and knives as
hunting tools. As a youngster, Mack spent a lot of time with the
Aboriginals of the area, a group of people his father liked very much
because of their independence and self-sufficiency. Because of this,
Mack is one of the few non-ethnic Aboriginals who is fluent in Kala
Lagaw Ya, one of the many local languages native to the Australian
Aborigines. These people also taught Mack how to use a boomerang, a
weapon he has complete mastery of.
When Mack was 17, his father died in a freak accident during a
kangaroo hunt. Overcome with sorrow, Mack vowed to continue his
father's work as a hunter and defender of his home and town. For the
next 10 years, he patterned his own lifestyle after that of his
father's; day after day, Mack devoted himself to a regimen of
self-control, self-improvement, and the mastering of all elements
needed to be a successful outdoorsman. At one point, he was able to
survive 12 days in the barren Outback with nothing more than a hunting
knife and boomerang. When at home, Mack, like his father before him,
established himself as a town hero with his willingness to take on the
occasional Bushranger who stopped in town to cause trouble.
But then, in 1912, Mack found himself bored with his life in Alice
Springs. The challenge of roughing it in the Outback wasn't much of a
challenge anymore. Every hunting trip became routine, the scenery grew
mundane, and life lost its joy. During his stays in town at the local
bar, Mack had heard stories from the occasional traveler about
dinosaur hunts in Africa, searches for long-forgotten temples in
Cambodia and Vietnam, expeditions to the South Pole, and bear hunting
in North America. Mack heard these stories of danger and exploration
and wanted a piece of the action. So in 1913, Mack packed up his gear,
including the perfectly-balanced boomerang he inherited from his
father, said goodbye to his mother, traveled to Perth and caught the
next steamer to South Africa, all in the name of adventure.
Once in Africa, it didn't take long for Mack to make a name for
himself. Seemingly fearless when on the hunt, he went after the most
dangerous beasts the continent had to offer. He bagged lions, tigers,
rhinos, and even dispatched a fully-grown African rock python with his
bare-hands. Setting up home in Johannesburg, he gained favor among the
city's elites, men of means who were eager to participate in these
hunting expeditions but lacked the valor needed to fully put their
life on the line. For a modest fee, Mack would lead these men on
hunting trips and aid them in killing a deadly beast of their own
(sometimes by doing the killing himself, but Mack didn't care) so they
could put its head on the wall of their den.
But yet again, Mack grew bored with this lifestyle. So in 1918, Mack
caught a freighter to Brazil in order to see for himself this mighty
Amazon River that he had heard so much about. Once again, Mack wasted
no time in making a name for himself among the adventuring community
that had sprung up around the mighty and mysterious river. In 1921, he
gained much acclaim for saving the life of a wealthy young lady, one
Emma Petersen, who had fallen into the river while on a cruise boat.
Jumping into the alligator-infested waters to save this poor woman who
couldn't swim, he fought off two 12-foot alligators while
simultaneously helping the young woman back into the boat. His heroics
actions earned the eternal gratitude of the woman's wealthy father,
Sir Lloyd Petersen, who has arranged to pay a healthy stipend to Mack
every month for the rest of his life as a reward for his selflessness.
Mack's closest brush with death occurred a year later, deep within the
dankest, darkest jungles of the Brazilian rain forests. Hunting for a
legendary 30-foot long anaconda that was rumored to exist in the area,
Mack's expedition was wiped out by an attack from a tribe of
cannibalistic Amazonians using poisoned blowguns and spears as
weapons. Only Mack survived after the attack, but his mates (including
a good friend of his) were killed and later eaten. Steeling himself
against the burning pain from the poison, Mack miraculously made it
back the main river, where he was picked up by a boat of farmers on
their way downriver to sell some chickens. Making it back to one of
the many outposts along the river, Mack clung to life while bedridden.
The poisons ravaged his body, but he held on. Upon recovery, he felt
better than ever before.
Before moving on again, he met a man by the name of Elliot Salter, who
claimed to be a member of a group of individuals known as the Pacific
Adventurers Club. Salter told Mack about his group and suggested it is
just the sort of place for a man of Mack's ability. With nothing
better to do, Mack took off for San Francisco to find the headquarters
of this club. He arrived in town a few months later and dropped by the
club to see what they were about. Finding a group of like-minded
individuals, men who sought to prove themselves against all the danger
and evil the world had to offer, Mack finally felt like he had found a
new home. While his rugged nature and lack of knowledge regarding the
finer points of urbane civility made his integration into the
gentlemen's club difficult sometimes, he quickly became one of the
more popular members of the club for his dramatic story-telling.
It's been 6 months since settling in San Francisco and Mack is eager
to get out again. He has a few things in mind for his next trip:
1. A giant gorilla known by the locals as Kricko Kricko that is
rumored to live in western Africa
2. Expeditions into the great pyramids of Egypt
3. Return to Brazil to track down the mysterious cannibals who
murdered his expedition mates and friend
Appearance: Mack is 39 but looks to be no older than his early 30's.
He keeps himself in excellent physical shape and has a muscular
appearance. He has long blonde hair that he ties back into a ponytail,
the same style that his father used to wear. He has piercing blue eyes
that look to be able to see through anything. He is 6'3" tall and
weighs 110 kg. His boomerang is his most cherished possession.
Personality: Mack is a very outgoing, gregarious individual. He likes
meeting new people and often overwhelms others with his strong
handshake. He has a booming voice and a loud laugh that others have
said can be annoying (though they never say it to his face). He
considers himself to be a gentle, kind-hearted man and can't quite
understand why people find him so intimidating. When on the hunt,
however, he is like a totally different person; the laughing and
good-natured talking fade away and he takes on the manners of a man on
a life-or-death mission (which is exactly how Mack views such trips).
While he respects strength and independence, he thinks very little of
people who take advantage of weaknesses in others. He believes real
shows of power come from taking on someone or something more powerful
than oneself, which is why he travels the world in search of bigger
and badder beasts.
