Thadeous Vander, as he calls himself now, was born Nevard Bombledorp to a middle-class merchant family in Korvosa. His father and mother owned an exotic goods store where Nevard learned how to appraise unusual items and antiques. While working in the store as a youth, he discovered an interest in the rare books that sometimes made their way through the store, especially books on magic, languages, and the planes.
When Nevard was sixteen, he applied at The Academae and was accepted by virtue of his academic acuity. His parents, however, were unable to afford the steep tuition and he was instead sent to the less prestigious but much more affordable Anomanexus College.
After earning a basic degree in General Arcane Science, Nevard did his graduate studies in Planar Research and Languages. At twenty-two, with two degrees in hand, Nevard proudly went to The Academae to seek a position as a professor of Planer Languages.
Because Nevard was not schooled at the prestigious Academae, he was not accepted as a teacher. Instead, he was hired as an assistant librarian in charge of acquisitions.
In his spare time, Nevard wrote several treatises on planer languages while fate and life passed him by. He practiced his magic occasionally, but without a teacher’s access to the labs and with little need to learn advanced magic, he was unable to move forward in his magical studies.
Nevard tried to sell his books to The Academae, but was ridiculed by Toff Ornelos, the headmaster, who refused to even read a word. Because Nevard knew his books were good enough to be used as textbooks and because he was responsible for all acquisitions at the library, he secretly placed his books with new acquisitions under the pen name, Professor Thadeous Vander.
Nevard’s books were an instant success with the language professors at The Academae, but he never made a copper from them since he had slipped them in. Then one day, a member of the Pathfinder Society came by looking for Thadeous Vander.
Since ‘Thadeous’ was unavailable, and Nevard was the only person who knew ‘him’, Nevard took the Pathfinder’s message and assured him that Thadeous would be interested in a position with the society.
At the age of 51, feeling that fate was finally rewarding him after all those years, Nevard immediately quit his job at the library, shed the name Nevard Bombledorp, and travelled to Absalom to apply at the Pathfinder Society as Professor Thadeous Vander, Researcher.
His first assignment: Katapesh. Thrilled with the hope of finally browsing through the fabled markets, Nevard, now Thadeous, set out for Katapesh. On the way he pulled his dusty spellbook from his pack and began studying his long forgotten spells.
Thadeous was delayed on his journey, stopping at every library he found along the way to read up on Golarion history, magical theory, and languages, but finally arrived in Katapesh.
Books written:
The Analytical Lexicon of Infernal Languages
Vander's Essential Abyssal
Infernal Made Simple
