Doctor Disaster
History
More than you ever wanted to know
Dr. Ithiel Astor was not a man to be taken lightly. Nor he was he to be taken too seriously. His demeanor and bearing were so non-descript as to be nearly invisible to passers by. Somewhat on the short side, a little pudgy and balding, Ithiel walks down the street with his head down and his ears closed. Often lost in thought on some piece of research of literary discussion he would be currently engaged in. Consequently he is often oblivious to his environment and runs afoul of hazards that most people easily avoid, subsequently his natural lack of coordination and elan tend to make bad situations worse. Because of this, aside from being the foremost authority on Byzantine literature at Millennium City University, Ithiel has become know as Doctor Disaster. Ithiel is a rather timid individual and suffers the jokes and jibes about his clumsiness in silence, not quite knowing how to respond to them. But deep down he grew frustrated with his own social ineptitude and the jeers of his students and even fellow professors.
Following a particularly disastrous event involving the Deans wife and a large pickle at a commencement party, Dr. Astor was forced to apply for a visiting fellowship at Cambridge University to escape the notoriety. He was accepted but being a professor of little regard, and teaching a subject of even less regard, made it easy to settle into a quiet life. Eventually though his penchant for disaster got the better of him and he was inevitably banned from the University library after causing the collapse of a number of gargantuan book cases 6 times. As time wore on Ithiel retreated further and further from human interaction and fostered a growing resentment at his continual mistreatment and isolation. His primary antagonist was his own department head who disliked having a "Yank" in his department, especially a clumsy one and in spite of the fact that Dr. Astors' research and papers were some of the finest ever to come out of Cambridge on the subject of Byzantine literature. Among his very few friends were Abayankara Dosanjh visiting from Banaras University of Uttar Pradesh and Jill Peterson the department receptionist, though he only counted them as friends because they treated him as a normal human being and not a clown.
To occupy his time and keep himself away from people, Dr. Astor began a new research after literally stumbling upon a set of records from WWII indicating that a shipment of Byzantine manuscripts had been placed in a bunker deep under the University. However all inquiries as to where this bunker might actually be and how to get into it turned up nothing. At this time he became aware that someone was watching him. At first it seemed normal enough seeing the janitor in the halls outside his office and around campus as he searched for the archive but coincidence began to give way to uncanny certainty as it became obvious that the janitor, a tall grim man shunned by others even more than Ithel, was watching his every move. It unnerved him in the dark catacombs he found himself exploring. Finally he again literally stumbled upon the shaft that lead to the storage chamber he was looking for.
The old metal lock practically came away in his hand when he tried it. The chamber had a dry putrid smell of rotting flesh to it. The entire chamber was littered with dead rats, snakes and insects of all kinds. As if they had been lured here never allowed to leave. Ithiel was dismayed to find that many of the manuscripts had been chewed to pieces by the marauding rats but he also found three lead coffins. As he read the names they bore his mood improved when he ready the name Tzorbaneles. This particular coffin appeared to suffer the greatest defilement by the rats and as he traced their scratches and gnawing they lead him to the foot of the coffin. There he saw pictogram of a book and a single number, 1. Ithiel became oblivious to the entire world when he read that. The thought that this coffin might contain the lost first volume of Tzorbaneles was tantalizing. Even though he knew better, Ithiel began prying on the base of the coffin, which he felt almost certainly was separate from the body of Tzorbaneles, eager to see if his prize was inside. The old wooden display table that supported the coffin gave way and Ithiel and the coffin fell to the floor with a crash. The foot of the coffin burst open and there, lying in the dim torch light was the great volume of Tzorbaneles. he was so mesmerized by the book that he almost didn't notice the dull silvery orb that rolled near his hand as lay on the floor. Instinctively he reached out and picked it up. A small bloodied scratch on his hand came into contact with the smooth metal and the orb began to exude it's cold moon like glow. Precisely at the moment several things happened. The grim janitor burst through the doorway and was stopped briefly by the scene before him. With a look of surprise and anger on his face he charged at Ithiel with a heavy crowbar cocked in the air and brought it down to crush his head. Instinctively Dr. Astor brought up the hand holding the orb to ward off the blow. A sharp clang reverberated through the catacombs as the crowbar met the orb and shattered into dust with a brilliant flash. The janitor let out a roar and grabbed for the orb.
The Plot Thickens
Ithiel tried to let go of the orb but was unable to pry his fingers from it as he struggled to his feet fighting for his life. Suddenly he began to feel violent surges of power shoot through his arms and into his chest. It was both painful and exhilarating at the same time. The orb began to give off a blinding light that filled the room like a new born star. the small corpses accumulated through the decades were flashed into dust as a whirlwind of power began to envelope the chamber. The janitor was now raving like a lunatic as Dr. Astor began to feel the the hard orb soften and stretch, as it were being pulled apart by the struggle. the Janitor began to wail in dismay as the power built to a crescendo of destruction. the walls of the chamber began to split and the ground began to give way to the irresistible force. Finally the orb came away in his hands as Ithiel was struck nearly unconscious and he felt an overwhelming wave of pain flow through his body. He landed against one wall with a deafening crash that should have pulped his entire body, but didn't. The room was suddenly quiet and dark. Ithiel was aware of a heaving in his chest, though he did not feel refreshed by oxygen. His body quivered with an undreamt of feeling of power.
A pile of rubble in the far corner of the room shifted and suddenly fell away as a towering black form rose from the dirt and stone. It was vaguely that of a man but it appeared to be covered with a glistening metal skin, gold in some places, black or red in others. The face that turned to him was not human however. A visage of horror met his gaze, a golden skull, rather like a dogs, with tufts of long ragged hair hanging down the back and cold eyeless sockets. It's chest heaved also, but no breath came from it's empty nostrils. An eerie light pulsed from behind it's naked jagged teeth as it began to speak.
A glimmer of recognition sparked in Ithiels mind as he recognized the laugh of the janitor, but deep and cold with a metallic edge that chilled his bones. Dr. Astor began to gather himself up but caught a glimpse of his on body and saw that it too was covered with a hard metallic skin. Silver in some places, black or blue in others. He faced the janitor with a feeling of utter incomprehension. The janitor seemed to smile as he opened his mouth a jet of pure force shot through the darkness and struck Ithiel in the chest. He was pounded into the bedrock of the wall, pinned there by a stream of force like being hit by a monstrous water hose. It stopped suddenly and the janitor let out a braying laugh and muttered, seemingly to himself. Dr. Astor felt only a glimmer of pain from the blast, which in the back of his mind surprised him as he instinctively knew something like that should surely have killed him. But foremost in his mind was a burst of anger. A pressure building in his mind that called for release. He ground his teeth and leveled his gaze at the janitor. The world turned silvery as twin beams of force shot from his eyeless sockets and struck the janitor in the head and plowed him into the back wall of the chamber. The blast rocked the foundations of the bunker and the walls began to give way. A perverse glee entered his mind as he relished the idea of being the force behind this rooms destruction.
His mind snapped back to a more sober stance as the walls and ceiling continued to crumble. Dr. Astor made his way toward the door, by the light of his guttering torch he saw the book of Tzorbaneles lying on the floor, amazingly unscathed. He snatched it to his breast and ran for the corridor. Chunks of the ceiling pounded him as he ran but they did no more harm to him than a soft spring rain. Suddenly up ahead a huge section of the wall fell inward and blocked the passageway. Ithiel through himself at the pile that shuddered with the impact but did not give way. A small amount of panic began to creep into his mind as he saw that he might very well be buried alive. He began to whimper and mutter about wanting to go home, the panic building. A moan turning into a cry, then a shout of anger that was instantly answered. Ithiel found himself standing on an old indian carpet in the living room his flat, the light of a quiet Sunday morning streaming through his windows. In the distance he heard a muffled crack and felt the ground trembling with reverberations as the cave-in stopped. Doctor Disaster absently looked around his living room, slowly looking down at his black clad hands knotted with silver metal, and quietly fainted.
The Death Squad
After that fateful day, Ithiel contemplated what to do with the orb he had found. He was a little torn, on the one hand the power he felt while transformed was amazing, but what to do with it? He didn't really have an heroic nature. In fact, he felt a little contemptuous of his fellow man for all the years he had been ridiculed. the orb itself, seemed to have no other purpose except destruction. It craved nothing more than a release of it's pent up energy. He had fevered dreams of laying waste to the entire college and would wake to find the orb glowing intently in the dark, this made him afraid. He began to confide in his friend Abayankara about how disturbed he felt though not the cause, and curiously it always seemed to make him feel much better. Abayankara never seemed surprised by anything Ithiel had to say and seemed to pass no judgment. But it did nothing to end his confusion about what to do. Then came, the Day of Darkness.
A solar eclipse was scheduled to pass over Cambridge on a Friday the 13th which many people found to be amusingly coincidental. The eclipse arrived, and stayed for an entire day, seemingly in defiance of the laws of reality. During this time Cambridge became a bizarre locus of terror and mystification. Ghostly buildings, animals and people appeared about the countryside. At first it seemed like a curiosity, but then the phantoms began to become more solid, as if the two worlds were being brought into phase with each other and then it ceased to be amusing when the phantoms took notice of us.
At first, Ithiel hid in his office, trying to ignore what was going on but as things began to get worse he started to hear the screams of people that could not defend themselves. Suddenly Ithiel heard a sharp cry for help from Abayankara. It sounded like he was right next to him shouting in his ear, it made him jump out of his socks. But Abay wasn't there. Again he heard, or perhaps felt the cry, "Ithiel, we need your help!" Right then he began to hear a chorus of moans begin to mount in the air and a feeling of static electricity in the air. The air felt like it was getting thick, hard to take in. Ithiel's felt a compulsion to run outside to get more air. He almost absently grabbed the Amat Tsonas from his desk as he did so, it fairly blazed with silvery incandescence. As he stumbled outside he was met with a sight of carnage. A host of unseelie creatures were attacking everything in sight and out on the grounds the air itself seemed to quiver and buckle as if something outside were trying to break in. Ithiel tripped down the landing stairs and the Amat Tsonas came into contact with his chest which forced Ithiel to once again become Doctor Disaster.
All fear was swept away, replaced by an unreasoning glee. He let out a roar and flung himself toward the center of the chaos, where he saw 2 forms fighting back the black hordes. At first glance one of them appeared to be a knight right out of the crusades, a white surcoat over chainmail with a yellow plume, but a face that seemed almost skull like and inhuman. Bursts of bluish fire erupted from it's hands burning down spectres and ghouls, their smoldering corpses littered the ground in ever growing mounds. The second was a man clad all in red, beaten and bloodied he wore a mask that was most definitely meant to be a death's head visage with white wings sprouting from the sides. Around him chunks of earth ripped lose from the ground and slammed into the creatures gathering at the distortion. Doctor Disaster let these details pass from his mind as the world exploded in silvery force. He lept into the largest knot of creatures he could find and let lose his awesome power. Those within his grasp he ripped apart by hand, those farther away were blasted with bolts of power from his eye sockets.
The hordes of creatures fell easily but the pressure against the air grew. The ground began to shake as geysers of steam burst from the ground. Meteors began to fall from a sky perpetually streaked with lighting. It seemed to be the end of the world. Suddenly the air broke open and a monstrous visage began to push its way into our world. The three fighters simultaneously turned their power on the being. the Doctor doubled and redoubled his power till he stood in mid air, monsters, earth even air was blasted away from him. Suddenly, a mass of creatures also drove themselves against the monstrosity as if they had lost their minds, and the tremendous adversary was pushed back. At that moment, the sun broke out of it's confinement and instantly the effects of the Day of Darkness began to subside. The remaining creatures turned to ash, the earth quakes subsided and the meteors dwindled. The tree heroes stood facing each other, The man in red, whom Ithiel seemed to know was Abayankara, leaned on his shoulder exhausted. Before any of them could speak, one last meteor fell to earth at a very oblique angle digging up the turf as it plowed toward them. But, as it turned out, it was not a meteor. It was a pod.
The three men hastened away from the inquiring public that had begun to come out of hiding and introduced themselves. The man in red was indeed Abayankara. He explained that he was a psionicist, from a long line of psionicists, and had known what was troubling Ithiel all this time and tried to help as best he could. The other man, spoke only German and explained, through Abayankara's telepathy, that he was also a professor for the University, at Trinity College. He had had an accident involving quantum negativity which had turned his body into anti-matter and that it was a side effect of his containment suit that allowed him to project beams of intense heat. Ithiel realized almost immediately that this was Professor Magnus, a foreign Fellow like himself. Everyone on campus was aware of what had happened to the poor man, but no one knew that he was also capable of such feats. The three men made a pact that day to work together whenever the people of Cambridge would need them,which was more often than one might think ;) It was Abayankara that noticed they all had a deaths head visage and said rather facetiously, how happy people would be to see a Death Squad riding to the rescue. Between them the name stuck. And when they met the occupant of the space pod, they knew it was fate.
Leaving Earth
Stub
The Death Squad accept The Harrower into their group. He tells them he will be rescued by his compatriots, members of an interstellar mercenary force known as the Red Guard. He convinces all 3 of them to go with him.
The Return
Stub
After Lord Xanadu abdicates leadership of the Red Guard, Doctor Disaster, Magnus, Baron and The Harrower decide to return to Earth. They land in Canada and make their way to Millennium city.
Powers and Equipment
Transformed
Ithel Astor is a very ordinary human being with below average speed and reflexes. He can lift (press) 65 pounds. When activated, the Amat Tsonas sinks beneath the skin of Ithiel's chest and seemingly consumes him from the inside out. Tendrils of a metallic substance burst out of his skin and peel it back to reveal his new form. Ithiel has said that this transformation is extremely painful, so much so that he rarely initiates it on purpose. Once transformed though, Ithiel has described feeling nearly euphoric and unable to concentrate on any one thing for very long.
In his transformed state, The good Doctor has super strength allowing him to lift (press) 50 tons. He is immune to most moderate damage up a high powered rifle bullet. Beyond that, his body seems to have no inner organic structure, he appears to be composed of an homogeneous bluish substance. If his surface is pierced, or a limb is severed this material gradually oozes a dark blue "blood". If he looses too much of this substance he will lose consciousness, as if it really were blood. the Doctor has on occasion lost a limb and was able to stick it back on and it reattaches almost instantly. What would happen if he returned to normal in this state no one knows, it is possible he would die as a result of the injuries.
Doctor Disaster's main offensive power are beams of pure force that he typically emits from his hands and/or eye sockets. He tends to emit this force at levels in excess of what is necessary. Ithiel has said that his control over these powers seems rather tenuous at times. He can also emit this force unilaterally from himself or he can project blasts from his feet which allow him to fly.
He is also able to teleport, but this ability creates such a large flash and thunder clap that he rarely uses it.
Another curious ability is that Doctor Disaster appears to be able to super-charge the spells of sorcerers by channeling his power into them at the time of casting. He must be touching them in order to do this.
The Amat Tsonas
A Drop in the Ocean
In 1096 AD, a young Byzantine scholar by the name of Tzorbaneles is captured by the army of the first crusade lead by Peter the Hermit. The young scholar is conscripted by Peter to chronicle the advance of the crusade and his victories. Tzorbaneles secretly keeps 2 records. One he shows to Peter, suitably modified to feed his ego, and another truer account that he keeps for posterity. This later book also contains his notes on esoteric volumes he encounters in the cities sacked by the crusade, as well as his personal thoughts. At the battle of Nish, Tzorbaneles is forced to flee for his life as the Byzantines over run the main encampment of the invading army. The young monk is forced to run into the countryside clutching his secret volume and comes upon a ravine that ahs been ravaged by fire. With pursuit hot on his heals, Torbaneles plunges into a burned out grotto of thick thorn bushes and bramble. In the center of the charred foliage he finds the charred corpses of all manner of diabolical creatures, snakes, frogs, wolves, owls and even spiders and scorpions in great abundance. Had he been forced to hide here before the flames, he surely would have perished. At the heart of it all, nestled on a small bed rock that seemed melted and scorched, lay a smooth silvery orb. As he stood over it, a bit of blood dripping from his many cuts, lit upon the globe and it began to glow softly. Night was setting in and, fearful of discovery Tzorbaneles quickly hid it beneath his robes. Days after the battle the young monk struggled to make his escape across the lands of Byzantium. Near death, Tzorbaneles falls into the hands of a small band of monks belonging to a secret order that had built their monastery far from the prying eyes of the laymen. their order was dedicated to the preservation of knowledge and truth, and after reading Tzorbaneles accounts of the recent battles, they knew they had found a kindred spirit. In the dark evenings since that time, secluded from his fellow monks, Tzorbaneles would work well into the night by the illumination of the curious orb made to glow by drops of his blood. In his personal volume he eventually named this orb, the Amat Tsonas.
Tzorbaneles stayed with this band of monks and over the years compiled a body of work consisting of histories and literary commentaries that in later centuries became regarded as priceless works of Byzantine scholarship. When he died ( at the age of 121) Tzorbaneles was laid to rest in the catacombs of the hidden monastery and interred with his private volume, which he had never allowed to be copied, and his silvery talisman sealed in a lead coffin. The volume he had penned for Peter the Hermit had been saved and persevered also and was well known in Byzantine literary history when other volumes of his work began to be found in Greece and Egypt. Eventually all of his books were collected and the glaring discrepancies between his supposedly first book and his later volumes caused much consternation and debate amongst scholars. Over time a fable grew about a lost book that would be the true first book of Tzorbaneles, which in turn became a sort of holy grail for scholars of the Byzantine era.
In 1915 as British troops languished on the shores of Galipoli, the hidden redoubt of the old monastery was uncovered by artillery fire. The British troops had no idea of what they had found other than a hiding place, and looked on the great treasure of books and manuscripts as little more than fuel for heat. One young officer recognized what was happening and, with the aid of a few like-minded men, was able to secure 8 trunks full of writings and 3 lead coffins. Later the young captain secreted the treasure on a minesweeper that was being piloted by his brother-in-law that had stayed behind after the naval withdrawal. After the final retreat from Galipoli, the minesweeper made for Britain where it's cargo was presented to officials at the British Museum. Being war time, the officials in charge at the time were not inclined to be overly concerned about Byzantine artifacts from an undetermined period and locked the stash away in a wartime preservation bunker north of London.
The Nitty Gritty
Over the years the good Doctor has had various types analyses run on the orb to determine exactly what it is. Scientifically it seems rather oblique, it cannot be sampled in any physical way. It's weight and mass make it appear to be similar to titanium. Other than that it is an enigma. Mystically though, it appears to be a powerful magical amplifier of some sort. An avatar of wild magic that few wizards would dare try to tap.
The battle with the diabolical janitor split the orb into 2 pieces, both now appear to be smaller orbs than the original. How or why this happened no one has hazarded a guess since the orbs have never shown any sign of activity in anyone elses hands. For Ithiel the orb transforms him into a monstrously powerful entity that seems to have no organic life. He is seemingly transformed into a living talisman of mystical power. This happens when he wishes it too or when he is under considerable stress. He tries to leave the orb behind when he goes out but invariably finds it in his possession when he least expects it.
| Secret Origin (Spoiler) |
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| The 11 artifacts of the Sephiroth. The artifacts were originally in the keeping of the Hands of Fate, who went on to become the Rune Lords and Hex Lords. The crown of Ket had been sacrificed in the sealing of the gate. All of the original wielders of the artifacts sacrificed their lives to seal the gate, one from within (Ket) and 9 more outside, 3 for each of the 3 doorways. The last artifact, the Orb of Malk, served as the focus of the combined power of the Umbra of the Sephiroth. The power consumed the wielder of the orb, which was then cast adrift in the Cosmos. The remaining 9 artifacts were collected from the wielders that had become part of the gate itself. They would be used as the keys that would open the gate again when it was necessary to retrieve the crown of Ket. During the following millennia, as the Hands of Fate declined, the artifacts were lost or stollen and their true power forgotten but still sought after by the Rune/Hex Lords as the keys to the Gate.
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Affiliations
Member of the Death Squad
Associate of the Rune Lords
Former member of the Red Guard
