Earl Albert Charles Victor Franz Emmanuel, von Pyria (distaff), van Djorn-Anderstorchter, de Erudis-north-north-east, duke of Aotea 3 (deposed), seneschal-duke-deposer of Aotea 3, prince and high priest of Wyvernhome (continent destroyed), queen of the Amazons (tribe extinct), scion of the ancient and venerable House of Rankgrab.
Known as Franz, nicknamed Rank.
Women will know him as a normal, reasonably pleasant and cultured middle-class-like guy, who freaks out and stutters when men are around. Men will know him as a stuttering freak, and a frequent target of bullies.
Now a man without fear or regard for danger, Franz ensured that he was on the first (and nearly all subsequent) of the forays that the dimension ship made across the worlds. Never afraid to lead from the front, he got the crew out of many a tight spot (admittedly, often after getting them into it) with a well timed manoeuvre of astonishing boldness. He was particularly instrumental in directing the crew in righting wrongs and deposing tyrants wherever they were found.
After a particularly near-miss involving a fistfight atop the Ustarian Tower of Infinite skulls, and a a subsequent plunge (continuing to punch the “Deathless” Tyrant all the way down) only averted by a well timed dimensional re-imagining by Li, the rest of the crew decided to install a mini-infirmary (designed by Aceso) abroad the vessel, keyed to keep their eager companion from an untimely demise. This proved to be a wise decision after Franz attempted to wrestle an Aquan Gigacroc on the next world they visited. The infirmary did its job, though turned out to have the unusual side-effect of altering Franz's physical appearance, such that he was nearly unrecognisable.
Always keen for tales of new worlds, the University frequently engaged Franz to take lecture series on his adventures when the ship was having a stopover. After many years of this, he was granted a visiting professorship. Favouring this earned title over the many others he possesses, he tends, these days, to introduce himself simply as “The Professor”, and it is by this name that he is known in the many, many new legends to which his actions have given birth.
“And this, my dear, is the engine room, where the extremely complicated and improbable high-energy metamagiphysics fires us across the borders of reality.”, Franz exclaimed, one arm on the shoulder of the young local lady he had rescued from certain doom, the other gesticulating expansively at the array of magical components within the bowels of the ship.
“It's amazing!” She replied. “Can we really go to other worlds? Will you take me there?”
Posing dramatically, arms outstretched, Franz prepared to answer in the affirmative, when he was rudely interupted by Tally bursting into the room.
“No.” She shouted. “Not again. You promised us no more”.
Affecting a wounded face, Franz replied “Just one world. Come on. The young lady is so keen. It'll be fine.”
“It's never just one world and you know it! You beg and plead and we take them with us again until bang! Something awful happens to them. Now I'm sorry miss, but I'm going to have to ask you to leave. Trust me when I say it's in your best interests. He. Is. Not. Allowed. Any. More. Attractive. Young. Assistants!”