Alchemist

Thaddeus Dusek's page

173 posts. Alias of Neirikr.


Full Name

Dr. Thaddeus Dusek

Race

Human (Varisian)

Classes/Levels

Forensic Physician 2 | AC 13 | HP 13/15 | Fort +1, Ref +5, Will +4; +2 vs. poison | CMB +0, CMD 12 | Init +2 | Perception +6

Gender

Male

Size

Medium

Age

51

Special Abilities

Scepticism

Alignment

Neutral Good

Deity

None (Atheist)

Location

Ardis, Ustalav

Languages

Common (Taldane), Azlanti, Draconic, Hallit, Skald, Thassilonian, Varisian

Occupation

Hematopathologist

Strength 9
Dexterity 14
Constitution 13
Intelligence 16
Wisdom 13
Charisma 9

About Thaddeus Dusek

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Thaddeus Dusek
Male Middle-Aged Human (Varisian) Forensic Physician 2
NG Medium humanoid (human)
Init +2; Senses detect poison, diagnose disease; Perception +6

DEFENSE:

AC 13, touch 12, flat-footed 11, (+1 armor, +2 Dex)
HP 15 (2d8+4)
Fort +1; Ref +5; Will +4; +2 vs. poison

OFFENSE:

Speed 30 ft.
Melee sword cane +3 (1d6-1)
Ranged vial of acid +3 (1d6 acid)
Investigator Extracts Prepared (CL 2nd)
1st (3/day)—comprehend languages, cure light wounds, polypurpose panacea

STATISTICS:

Str 9, Dex 14, Con 13, Int 16, Wis 13, Cha 9
Base Atk +1; CMB +0; CMD 12
Feats Skill Focus (Heal), Weapon Finesse
Traits Precise Treatment, Student of Philosophy
Skills Bluff -1 (+3 to convince others that a lie is true), Craft (alchemy) +10 (+12 to craft alchemical items), Diplomacy +4 (+8 to persuade others), Heal +12 (+13 to notice tampering with medical evidence), Knowledge (arcana) +8, Knowledge (history) +8, Knowledge (local) +7, Knowledge (nature) +8, Knowledge (nobility) +7, Knowledge (planes) +7, Knowledge (religion) +7, Linguistics +8, Perception +6, Profession (mortician) +5, Sense Motive +6, Spellcraft +8, Use Magic Device +4
Languages Common (Taldane), Azlanti, Draconic, Hallit, Skald, Thassilonian, Varisian
SQ alchemy (alchemy crafting +2), inspiration (4/day), medical expertise +1, poison lore
Alchemical Gear alchemist's kindness (3), antiplague (2), antitoxin, bloodblock, bodybalm, smelling salts, soothe syrup (2), tindertwigs (10), vapors of easy breath, vermin repellent (2), vials of acid (2)
Magical Gear physician's spectacles, potion of cure light wounds (2)
Mundane Gear alchemy crafting kit, belt pouch, bottle of wine, broken pocket watch, chalk (3), cologne, courtier's outfit with jewelry (50 gp), doctor's bag (masterwork backpack), doctor's mask, doctor's outfit, earplugs, empty flask, empty vials (3), formula book, grooming kit, healer's kit (10 uses), inkpen, journal, padded armor, pipe smoking kit, Sarkorian ankh, sheets of parchment (3), soap, stick of charcoal, surgeon's tools, sword cane, various books, vial of ink, 23 gp, 2 sp, 3 cp

abjurant salt, crowbar, cold iron dagger, grave salt, hammer and nails, holy water (3 vials), shovel, silver dagger, silver holy symbol of Pharasma, old holy book (Parables of Erastil), silvered mirror, string of garlic, spiritbane spike, sunrods (4), wooden stakes (4)

Current Encumbrance: 59 lbs. Light Load: 30 lbs. or less (with Masterwork Backpack)

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DESCRIPTION:

Height: 6′0″ (183 cm), Weight: 154 lbs. (70 kg)

Thaddeus is a middle-aged human man of Varisian descent, with the calm and reassuring demeanour of an experienced medical practitioner. He is of average height, with a narrow build and a straight posture. Once a dark shade of brown, his close-cropped hair and meticulously trimmed sideburns have gone almost completely grey. Otherwise, he seems to be quite youthful for his age, having maintained a mobile lifestyle. Clad in well-tailored but humble accoutrements—a cream-coloured frock coat, a waistcoat of brown velvet, and a white ascot—managing to appear simultaneously both approachable and dignified. He wears a pair of small round spectacles to help with his near-sightedness, and carries a travel-worn cane of yew with a knob of tarnished silver. Though the doctor prefers to travel light, his bag of remedies is never far from his side.

A gentle and good-natured man, Thaddeus finds fulfilment in helping others. Having fully dedicated his life to healing the poor and needy, he requires little in the way of fame or fortune. The hospitality of the simple folk he seeks to aid is reward enough. Despite his altruism, the doctor is not one to let his emotions guide his actions. He has learned long ago that he cannot help everyone, and carefully considers who is truly in need of his talents to conserve his limited resources. Self-sufficiency is one of his core precepts, something that he does his best to instill in those that come under his care. Someone who dies due to not being able to afford care or goes into debt to pay for expensive cures will not be able to benefit their community in the future. By helping them retain their dignity, he hopes that they will be able to better themselves and their surroundings.

Thaddeus sees his years of study as a rare privilege, allowing him to help those without access to such luxuries. As a result, he spends much of his time honing his skills, both by keeping up with new developments in his field, and revising what he already knows. As befits a man of academic leanings, he makes decisions based on logic and empirical evidence, doing his best to educate others when he can. He meets even willful ignorance with unflinching patience and reason. All sorts of con artists have long ago earned the doctor's ire, and he will go to great lengths to debunk anyone who spreads misinformation while wrongfully benefitting from the trust of others. This scepticism, cultivated during his long years in the academia, extends to other fields as well. Thaddeus is equally distrustful of both nobles and politicians, as well as anarchists and revolutionaries. Conspiracy theories, superstitions, urban legends, and anything else having base in conjecture rather than scientific fact undermines any advances made by committed researchers, and must be stamped out for the good of all.

Though he enjoys interacting with his patients, Thaddeus is an introvert at heart. He spends most of his free time in solitude, either reading or writing, or sometimes indulging in a bit of fencing practise—though never against a live opponent. Like many other students at the University of Lepidstadt, for a time Thaddeus took up duelling. He earned his "Lepistadt scar" in a drunken bout at one of the city's many ale houses, an encounter that nearly resulted in the death of his opponent. Afterwards, his interest in the avocation waned. As his studies progressed, he gave up on duelling entirely, increasingly seeing violence for the sake of entertainment as immoral, especially for someone studying medicine. Aside from the few inevitable cases where he has had to fight in self-defense, the doctor has remained a staunch pacifist for most of his life.

An equally committed atheist, Thaddeus declines from placing his fate in the hands of a higher power, no matter how benevolent they appear to be. Unlike the militant anti-religious stance held by the Rahadoumi, he maintains this standpoint purely on a personal basis, neither judging or praising those who decide to put their trust in the gods. Believing in self-sufficiency, he tries to make sure that the people he heals will be able to stand on their own, without being preyed on by snake oil salesmen or greedy clerics. In his mind, people who trust too much on magic become incapable of surviving without it, turning to expensive miracles where mundane alchemical and medical methods would be sufficient. When needed, Thaddeus is not above cooperating with the clergy of more benevolent deities, placing the welfare of his patients above any personal misgivings he might have. If it means saving a life, he grudgingly cooperates even with less altruistic priesthoods.

BACKGROUND:

Thaddeus was born in Ardis, the largest city of the County of Ardeal and—at that time—the capital of the Immortal Principality of Ustalav. Being orphaned at birth, he grew up with his cousins on his uncle's estate. His uncle was a freeman, existing in relative comfort in the narrow socio-ecological niche between the serfs of the surrounding countryside and the land-owning nobility. The first decade of Thaddeus' life was filled with prosperity, his sharp mind stimulated by dwelling amongst the cultural and intellectual elite of Ustalav. He filled his copious free time by reading the famed Ailson Kindler's novels, and treatises on myths and legends of his fog-shrouded homeland. These tales filled his young mind with fanciful tales of adventure. He often wandered the streets with his friends and cousins, eagerly exploring the streets of Ardis outside the more respectable—and boring—neighbourhood where his uncle resided. His curiosity occasionally got him into trouble, but he would later count those years of blissful innocence amongst the happiest of his life.

This changed, however, after Prince Valislav Ordranti made his controversial decision to move the capital to Caliphas. The city had already been a shadow of its former self, having barely regained a fraction of its glory after the defeat of the Whispering Tyrant. Now, the ancient city was ready to crumble. The sudden economic downturn and political turmoil forced Thaddeus and his cousins to grow up more quickly than they otherwise might have, as they needed to find professions to support the estate. Possessing little in the way of physical strength precluded him from a military career, and there was no overabundance of apprenticeships to be found. As such, he ended up being apprenticed to a local mortician. Thrust into a world of macabre discoveries, Thaddeus' young and malleable mind quickly adapted to circumstances that most would have found disagreeable. Moreover, as he assisted his master in her duties, he found himself fascinated by the intricacies of human anatomy. The boy used most of the allowance he received in second-hand bookshops, purchasing old medical manuals and dusty grimoires about the basics of alchemy to better his craft.

Once Thaddeus became of age, his uncle encouraged him to pursue a career in medicine. Ironically, the man died soon after of an illness of the lungs. This had a profound impact on Thaddeus, who, even with all his newfound knowledge, had no way of truly helping his adopted father. All his practical skills had to do with the dead, not the dying. Respecting what he saw as his uncle's last wishes, the young man forsook a promising career as an undertaker, instead putting most of his savings and his share of the inheritance towards relocating to Lepidstadt. Though he had his apprehensions, he soon found the change of locale to his liking. On some level, Thaddeus was glad to get out of Ardis. At the time, it felt like an adventure, a step towards the more innocent days of his childhood. Yet by that point, he had matured, and directed his inherent curiosity towards his studies. Years of perusing old manuals had done much to prepare him for the gruelling entrance exams, and it did not take long until the bright young man had earned his place in the prestigious University of Lepidstadt. He threw himself fully into his studies, embracing his chosen vocation.

For a brief time after his graduation, Thaddeus remained at the university as a as an assistant professor. However, he felt restless. Though he had enjoyed his time as a student, the young doctor had also grown disillusioned with his peers, most of whom went to open private practises or received patronage from nobles or wealthy merchants. Declining the highly paid and prestigious position his education otherwise would have offered him, he instead decided to dedicate his efforts to helping those who could not afford a proper physician. Shocking his colleagues, he chose to live directly off the gratitude of those he helped on his travels. Along the way he uncovered mysteries, unmade conspiracy theories and countered superstition wherever he went. Curiously, his travels rarely brought him back to Ardis: though he wrote relatively often, he only saw his cousins a grand total of two times in over forty years. Though he might not be willing to admit to himself the reasons for doing so, the worsening decay of the once glorious city of his childhood filled him with an intense melancholy.

As he has started to get on in years, Thaddeus has finally come to consider settling down and opening a practise of his own. Though he still feels the call of the road, slowly but surely it has become apparent that he might do more good by choosing a community in need and concentrating his efforts, not to mention the possibility of taking on apprentices that could continue his life's work. Still, the choice of where to settle was a daunting one. Were he a superstitious man, he might have taken it as an auspicious sign when old friends in Ardis reached out to him, summoning him to the place of his birth. Were he one to believe in ill omens, he might have taken his sudden, inexplicable unease as divine providence. Regardless, the thought of indulging his nostalgia—not to mention seeing his dear cousins after so many years of separation—warmed his heart, causing him to ignore any lingering doubts he might have had about returning to the Old Capital. After all, if there was anyone in Ustalav that required his attention, it was the long-suffering people of the decaying county of Ardeal.

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FORMULA BOOK:

1st:
comprehend languages, crafter's fortune, cure light wounds, heightened awareness, identify, polypurpose panacea

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