Creations of Flux, Part VIII

Originally published February 10, 2014

Years ago I ran a Promethean: the Created game called Pandora's Tomorrow. As one might expect from the name, I created a large number of Pandorans for the game. In this series I will be sharing some of these failed creations, their history, and some story seeds for their use.

This week we will look at one of the creators of these monsters, a major antagonist of my game:

The Doctor

Concept: Disturbed Creator

Background: Created by a harsh and traditionalist Nephri in 1953, the Doctor saw the universe with a cold but analytic eye. He judged that the road to freedom from his condition was not to become human but to become more than human. He focused first on his inner nature following the refinements of Mercury and Iron. When that work failed to yield the result he sought, he journeyed to the wastes to study Copper and later to the product of the wastes, disorder and Flux.

In 1976, his creator confronted him about his downward spiral toward Flux and in the struggle the Doctor destroyed him. This caused a major realization for him. He saw that perfection must come from progeny. He would need to create his perfect being before he could become one. So he began his experiments. His is still unsure if perfection comes about by ideal in mind or body, or if it requires a perfect mixture of Pyros and Flux.

Sure that he needed to learn new methods of creation to complete the process, he sought out Dr. Frankenstein's notes. In the process he worked temporarily with Verdant Technologies, a corporation bent on breaking down the barriers between life and death. They financed two of his greatest creations, the Prometheans Patia and John Smith as well as the Pandoran known as Sibling.

In the end however he judged them failures. When the company sought to terminate his contract and his existence, he destroyed the retrieval team and then tortured their lead scientist for the information he sought.

Several years ago, his crimes caught up with him. John Smith along with another creation of his, a Wretched known as Smithfield, found his lair in Virginia and defeated him. To stop him from reviving, they sealed his remains in concrete. His whereabouts remain unknown.

Description: A middle-aged man, balding with graying heir. He wears a thick goggles or sunglasses as all times to hide his missing left eye. He typically wears thick leather gloves. While at work he wears a white lab coat though in the field he wears simple but functional clothing.

His disfigurements reveal him to be a desiccated corpse, its leather skin stretched and sewn back together. Beneath his gloves, his hands end in bony talons tipped with an oily residue.

Storyteller Notes: You are focused. Your pilgrimage is one of perfection. When you create the perfect physical being you will then be able to ascend to a more perfect state.

Lineage: Nephri Refinement: Centimani

Mental Attributes: Intelligence 4, Wits 3, Resolve 4
Physical Attributes: Strength 3, Dexterity 3, Stamina 3
Social Attributes: Presence 2, Manipulation 4, Composure 3

Mental Skills: Academics 2, Computers 2, Crafts 3, Investigation 3, Medicine (surgery) 5, Occult (Pyros, Flux) 4, Politics 2, Science (biology) 3
Physical Skills: Athletics 2, Brawl (Claws) 3, Firearms 1, Larceny 2, Stealth 3, Survival 3, Weaponry 2
Social Skills: Expression 1, Intimidation 3, Persuasion 3, Streetwise 2, Subterfuge 3
Merits: Direction Sense 1, Holistic Awareness 3, Resources 3

Willpower: 7 Humanity: 2 (Meglomania, Fixation)
Virtue: Faith Vice: Pride
Initiative: 6 Defense: 3 (GMC: 5)
Speed: 11 Health: 8

Azoth: 4
Bestowment: Revivification
Transmutations: Corporeum: Regeneration 2; Mesmerism: Suggestion 2; Pandoran: Armor 2, Mantle of Lordship, Perfected Bezoar (sharp weapons), Claws (Poison 5); Vitality: Fist of Talos 1, Might 3; Vulcanus: Sense Flux, Sense Pyros

Story Seeds

Seeking Knowledge: Since the Doctor was one of the last to see Dr. Frankenstein's original notes as well as the insides of Verdant Technologies research materials, he would be an ideal source to learn about the creation of Prometheans. The only problem is his death. But as a Osiran, if he was released from his prison he should revive. Of course that requires finding his lair amid Pandoran infested swampland, avoiding tipping off his killers and then dealing with a possibly murderous Centimani.

The Creator Returned: Nothing lasts forever. Not even concrete. Eventually the Doctor will escape, returning to life. Perhaps the characters are among his many creations, ones he decides to use to re-acclimate and learn what his killers are up to. Alternatively perhaps they are the first to run across the new horrors he has built either for revenge or as part of a breakthrough realized in his long period of "death".

Servants Deceived: Perhaps the characters have been contracted by someone they believe to be the Doctor, serving him in gathering raw materials in exchange for the promise of the hints they need to complete their Pilgrimage. But he is a fake. Are they serving one of his creations, a Pandoran of unusual intelligence and mimicry? Or something else seeking to use the outcast as a convenient disguise?