"A Fistful of Gods" - The Great Scientist

The other gods presented have been mostly good, or at least
neutral, so at least one evil god is reasonable. However, some
would claim this god is more insane, than evil. For DMs, priests
of this god may be very useful, if they want melodramatic
villians, given to rants and speeches, and entirely willing to
put characters in Death Traps.

The spec of this god is still being developed, so it can't be
guaranteed that there aren't holes in it.


The Great Scientist - ROM, 29/Sep/05

The god known as The Great Scientist, or occasionally Tegus, is
the ultimate experimenter, with no care for ethics, morals, or
even sanity. Many say that self-preservation is ignored as well,
and it is clear that a major focus for the god is finding the
answer to the question "What will happen if...".

Tegus is usually represented as a neatly dressed, average build,
short-dark-haired and moustached, caucasian man, in a white smock
or lab coat, which if encountered at the wrong time might have
some nasty stains on it. Those who have seen him, and are in any
condition afterwards to report, say that there is something wrong
about his face, almost as if it is a mask, with something hideous
just out of sight behind it.

There are tales and stories of 'great heroes' meeting a person
resembling this description. Unfortunately, many appear to have
lost their minds, and could only relate the terrible experiments
that were described by this man. Some of them even had
experimental work done on them.  It is said that a hero known as
"Hrun the Barbarian" is one such person.

Some legends say that The Great Scientist experimented on
himself, or something went really wrong, and in consequence, when
he is being social, he wears an almost life-like mask, of his
original appearance. Of quite what happened there is no clear
story. It is also claimed that he is driven to restore to life
his wife, an unnamed dead goddess (Virginia?), who is his one
true love. But, that he has been cursed so that he will never
succeed, while the universe lasts (he does not believe this),
though he is often accompanied by a beautiful, highly skilled,
but mute, construct, who closely resembles her.

Many believe this construct to be the original robot/homonculus/
simulacrum/mannequin etc. It is believed, by some, that this
wonderful device is actually buried somewhere, where adventurers
might be able to find it. However, not that many are known to
have looked and, as far as is known, no-one has succeeded.

Tegus is also noted for being vengeful, though usually only if
there is a major and significant (to him) reason; trivial things
like deadly insults and attempts on his life are not enough.
Insults to his wife on the other hand... Or to the quality of his
work... His cunning and elaborate plots are said to strike fear
into the hearts of quite a few gods, and their worshippers, and
it is said that one of his greatest (though very rarely used)
powers is to slay mortals and gods so that there is no way to
restore them to life, within the same universe (except possibly
by him...).

Again, it is known that priests of The Great Scientist often have
several complicated plots on the go, at once. The reason, it is
thought, that they do not pose a greater threat is because they
over-complicate things. A priest who was completely concentrated
on one plot...

In the universe of Tim Deacon's "Gods" campaign, the adventurer
Fibes (Erasmus Phibes, a relative of Anton) became the god called
"The Great Scientist", and is believed by some to have invented
this divine role. Fibes was quite clearly not altogether sane,
and appeared to be an assassin who mixed together the magical,
alchemical and technological arts, to produce worrying, and often
very nasty, results. In this campaign he is generally considered
the evil face of the gods of technology and construction. It is
not clear if he has a dead loved one that he is attempting to
restore to life, and if anyone ever found out, they don't appear
to have survived to report back.

It is difficult to predict how the powers of The Great Scientist
or his minions will manifest themselves. His interests span
social engineering, through engineered diseases, to (induced)
abnormal psychology and mutation. His servants may seem quite
normal people, but the disappearance of animals, children and
those living alone, may be traced back to their need for
"experimental subjects", for the glory of their god. They are
often armed with strange weapons, alchemical dusts, or perversely
enchanted weapons (such as the weilder injures themselves, so as
to inflict harm on their opponent), and may well have strange,
mutant, abilities, as well as (hidden) deformities.

Many of their powers are poorly controlled, and it is possible
that the highly random nature of their results is in some way
pleasing to their God. However, it is more likely that their
increasing insanity is to be blamed. Thus, as a priest rises in
power within the temple their sanity tends to decrease. In fact,
if a High Priest was to emerge who was sane and rational, then
the world might well be in very serious trouble.

Even more difficult to predict can be the servants used by
followers of The Great Scientist, as they tend to be subject to
experimentation, to 'improve' them. Some of the most terrifying
are the monstrous blobs, each of which weighs several tons, is
hideously strong (frost-fire giant STR on average, cloud at
best), and are probably originally based on some sort of Ooze or
Trapper. The only good side to these is that they are nearly
mindless, only move a quarter of the speed of an unladen man, and
while their normal vaguelly humanoid form is highly resistant to
blunt weapons, it is almost impossible for the priests to direct
them in a precise way. All attempts to give these a more useful
level of intelligence have so far failed.

Clockwork automata, more normally used for distraction and colour
rather than offense, are another possibility, as are flesh golems
(but most priests consider them too easy); the highly varied
results of 'experiments' (e.g. a 'hydra' with the heads of many
different sort of creatures) are most likely. Most dangerous are
likely the custom 'specials', made by high priests, which might
look like perfectly normal creatures, even humans, but in fact
have all sorts of interesting abilities, like those of a Blink
Dog or a Phase Spider or a Troll (or all three, and more) -
fortunately almost all of these are not too (mentally) stable.

Priests of The Great Scientist, particularly powerful ones, tend
to be quite uncommon, outside their hidden temple-laboratories.
They are almost always ... changed in some way, though this may
be concealable, and the changes are more extreme the more
powerful that they are. Some hide behind remotely operated
constructs, such as simulacra, homonculi or robots, and are never
seen except by other priests. It is said that not all the priests
are evil, and some even believe that they are working for the
overall good of mankind, or even all beings. Though most priests
are male, a female one might be possible.

It should be noted, though, that temple-laboratories will be
abandoned without a second thought if it becomes necessary, and
all have at least one very well concealed emergency exit method,
and often a self-destruct mechanism. It is said that the greater
miracles of the god allow quick construction of new temple-
laboratories, and on occasion a secret backup may already exist,
in a very carefully unused state.

Though many consider priests of The Great Scientist just to be
self-made inhuman monsters, they follow their god in having an
interest in the finer things in life. These include music,
dancing and gourmet food. Many are fine musicians, in particular
in playing the pipe organ, skilled dancers, and brilliant cooks.
Though, on occasion, the uses they find for these skills may be
considered a little strange, or even macabre.

Asking a priest for the honour of a final meal cooked by their
hand might be a good delaying tactic, but the consequences if you
are still around for the feast... It is important to realise that
the priests will act as gentlemen, with style, politeness and
savoir-faire, while subjecting you to the most hideous death, all
in the name of scientific experimentation, or, revenge.

Note: see the film "The Abominable Doctor Doctor Phibes" (1971),
and "Doctor Phibes Rises Again" (1972), starring Vincent Price.
There are no other known sources.

--
Dreamer
dreamer@??????.?????.??.uk
http://www.romsys.demon.co.uk/