Doctor Strangemeat's page

About Doctor Strangemeat

CN Male humanoid (Orc) Adept 9

Init +2; Senses Darkvision 60 ft, Perception +4

AC 16

hp 48

Fort +5; Ref +5; Will +10

Speed 30 ft.

Melee
+9 Falchion, 2d4+5, 18-20/x2
+8 Greataxe, 1d12+4
+8 Unarmed strike, 1d4+4

Ranged
+6 Javelin, 1d6+4

Str 18, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 14, Cha 8

Base Atk +4; CMB +8; CMD 20

Feats
Alertness
Boar Ferocity
Boar Shred
Boar Style
Craft Wand
Improved Unarmed Strike

Skills
Appraise +3
Handle animal +6
Heal +8
Intimidate +8
Knowledge: local (Holds of Belkzen) +8
Perception +4
Spellcraft +5
Survival +10

Traits
Mammoth master
Outcast

Languages
Common, Orc

SQ
Darkvision
Dayrunner
Ferocity
Summon Familiar

Magic
Spells/day
3/4/3/2

Equipment
Amulet of natural armor +4
+1 Falchion
Javelins
Mammoth mount
Raven familiar
Waterskin

Background
There was a time when Doctor Strangemeat was simply Tsadok. He was born into a tribe in the Belkzen Holds, displayed above-average mental faculties and was apprenticed to the tribe's shaman. His apprenticeship was brutal, but that was normal for an Orc. In time, Tsadok grew powerful enough that he believed he could outdo his master -- and he killed him. This, too, was normal for an Orc.

Then the day came. The tribe's scouts spotted a group of intruders, crossing into Orc lands. They were small, pathetic creatures, fit for enslavement and consumption, so the warriors went out to take them. They did not return. Instead, the little creatures followed the warriors' trail back, and laid waste to the camp, slaughtering the young, the old, males and females alike. Tsadok tried to fight them with his magic, but one of the little things had magic to counter his. Tsadok fought as an Orc does, but he was badly injured and his people were... gone.

He fled.

Tsadok cowered in the first cave he could find, hiding himself from the little things and from the light of the sun, which seemed to be mocking him. More than anything, he wished he could hide from the terrible confusion that gripped him. Orcs can overcome bad memories without effort, but not Tsadok; his mind continued to be filled with terrible images and feelings. He was an Orc, his people were the strongest. How could creatures that barely reached to his hip have defeated him, ended his tribe this way?
In the fetid darkness of his cave, alone with his pain, Tsadok came to a conclusion. His people were the strongest, but they had not been strong enough. His people -- all his people -- needed to be stronger. They needed to be put on the anvil and beaten into a new, stronger shape. He needed to help them become stronger.

When next an Orc saw Tsadok, he was different from who he had been before. His hair bleached pale by the terror, his face contorted in a mad, happy grin and his mouth spewing what sounded like nonsense, Tsadok was the very image of a crazed hermit. The first Orcs who saw him drove him away with thrown rocks and insults. When next outsiders came into the Holds of Belkzen, Tsadok guided them to the Orcs who had ridiculed him. There was no malice in this for him. If his people would not listen to his words, he would use other tools to beat them into shape.

Nowadays, Tsadok is a minor celebrity, even a legend in the making.
He makes a point of befriending outsiders, non-Orcs who enter the Holds of Belkzen; his raven familiar receives news from its kind when strangers try to sneak in, and the crazed Adept rushes to meet them, offering healing, self-made wands, information on the Belkzen Holds and its perils, fully-trained megafaunea mounts, and all at extremely reasonable prices. It is the outsiders who gave him his new moniker, "Doctor Strangemeat", and he has happily adopted it.
Even other Orcs know him by this name now, and Tsadok is forgotten. Doctor Strangemeat is the mad Orc who trains mammoths and other megafauna, who accepts apprentices from any tribe and trains them to be Adepts or else instructs them in the ways of the Boar Style martial arts developed by ancestral Orcs. Those who suspect he is also the one to send adventurers into the ways of Orc tribes either fear his madness too much to hurt him, or have learned to appreciate the chance of plunder and battle the mad Orc provides. With Doctor Strangemeat herding outsiders towards them, they do not need to go looking...

Regardless who he deals with, Doctor Strangemeat is a happy, even charming fellow. He is gregarious and garrulous, more than eager to share his knowledge and sell useful equipment, no matter who comes calling. If he meets outsiders, he offers them the hand of friendship and every bit of aid they need. If Orcs approach him, he does the same, but he always tests them first.

Lair
Doctor Strangemeat still inhabits the same cave he originally hid in after the destruction of his tribe, but as apprentices came and went, he put some of them to work on expanding it. Nowadays, 'Casa del Strangemeat', as he calls it to anyone who asks, is a pleasantly spacious cave complex, with several camouflaged escape tunnels in case of hostile visitors.

Outside the cave, the Doctor has built a stable and training ring for the megafauna his Orc customers bring to him to train. A second, smaller stable is reserved for apprentices who come to him to learn magic or martial arts. Doctor Strangemeat makes a reasonably steady living, training living, moving weapons platforms for Orc tribes, not to mention passing on the deadly Boar Style to eager young bloods.
One of his caves is devoted to the art of crafting wands, with commissioned projects waiting for pick-up and wands the mad Orc makes for his own amusement all neatly organized and labelled.
Three of the caves are devoted to the Doctor's harem and his offspring (currently three girls and two boys); females have also come seeking the Doctor's teaching, and some of them stayed on. For all his madness, Doctor Strangemeat is surprisingly considerate of Orc and Half-Orc females. It is possible that he feels they already face a lot of pressure to excel.
Since this is a semi-permanent dwelling, the Doctor demands that his wives keep the place clean. The Orc-women consider this another sign of their mate's madness, but tolerate it for a life that does not involve any beatings, but instead has a regular supply of food and considerable comforts by their standards.
In case of invasion, the Doctor's harem and young know to flee through one of the tunnels and to a second, more carefully hidden cave complex at a fair distance. Everything but his women and his young, the Doctor is ready to abandon at a moment's notice. If outsiders take his things, they will be a better challenge to the Orc nation. If Orcs take his things, it is a sign that they are showing proper Orc aggression and are eager to become stronger.