Appearance

Dr. Vincent is a tall, gaunt man.  He wears a long hooded cloak that he is never seen in public without, and keeps his face covered with a scarf in addition to the hood.  He seldom speaks, and when he does, his voice is a hoarse rasp.  The scarf, hood, and cloak hide terrible burn scars that cover his face and most of his body.

He is usually accompied by his companion, a very attractive, silent woman whom he calls Etellia.  She acts as his servant and seems to regard him with affection.

History/Background

Dr. Emil Vincent was a brilliant and well respected doctor.  He was perfectly content with his life, and lived quietly with his wife Victoria, whom he adored utterly.

Then came the fire.  Someone set Vincent’s manor ablaze in the night.  The few servants he kept fled unharmed.  The doctor and his wife were not so lucky.  They were trapped inside, and by the time the fire died down enough to contain it, it was too late.  They found Victoria, barely alive.  She died within a day.  The good doctor couldn’t be found at all.  He was presumed dead.

Unknown to any one, Vincent escaped the fire.  He was alive, but his face was burned beyond recognition.  He had also lost his mind, driven mad by his injuries and the death of his beloved wife.  In his madness, he decided to punish those he deemed at fault for her death: the ones responsible, the servants who fled, and the local village doctors who let Victoria die.

He waited, and he planned.  He planned the most fitting death for each of his victims, and he gathered as much information as he could about each of them.  The arsonist was a local drunk, who had had an arguement with Vincent a week previously.  However, Vincent was convinced he had been paid to do so by a rival doctor.

In the midst of his planning, Vincent met Etellia, a beautiful, silent woman, who quickly became his companion and servant.  She tended to his few needs, and was an integral part of his plans, usually acting as bait for male targets.

Authorities were shocked and disgusted when the deaths started.  The first was the man who had been the butler.  He was found in a locked room, with thousands of bees that had stung him to death.  Soon after, another servant was killed, this time by a golden unicorn statue that had literally been catapulted across the street, impaling him.  The maid was killed while she was sleeping, after her face was covered with a plant mixture and her room filled with locusts, which ate her face down to the bone. 

It didn’t take long for the authorities to make the connection, and they tried to protect the others from the mad doctor.  However, Vincent was always three steps ahead of them, and had a way around every precaution they took.  He was impossible to find, or to stop.

Vincent’s murderous activites were not restricted to those he’d planned to kill; anyone who got in his way died as well, and in terribly imaginative ways.

Possibilities

Perhaps one of the future victims knows they’re on the list, and wants protection.  The PCs could be bodyguards, or could be hired to do what the authorities could not and find Vincent.

Perhaps one of the people killed was a friend or relative of one of the PCs, and they don’t want to take this lying down.

One of Vincent’s targets has died or fled beyond reach, but in his madness he doesn’t acknowledge that, so he’s fixated on someone else… say, a PC or important NPC.

The PCs have gotten in Vincent’s way, one way or another.  Maybe they’ve been investigating too closely, or are trying to foil one of his plans.  Or perhaps they just offended him without even meaning to.  Either way, now they’re marked for death.

Vincent has completed his revenge, but it has not satisfied him, and he’s been going ever crazier.  So he’s found another group that needs to be ‘punished’ in his own special way. 

Roleplaying Notes

Dr. Vincent is very, very smart and very calculating.  He’s also completely obsessed with his revenge.  All of his crimes are well-planned in advance, and demonstrate his imagination.  The murders he’s been planning for revenge are all fitting in some way, those who just get in his way are killed in amusing ways. 

He’s a type that plans for every contingency, so GMs will have to do the same.  His plans are very elaborate, but take preparation.  At the very least, he will always have an escape plan.  (Riff cards may prove useful.) 

He himself is not much of a threat, physically; the danger is in his cunning.  Etellia can be as much of a threat as necessary, as she does all the heavy work required.

As long as the PCs don’t actually see him die, they can defeat and “kill” him, and he can come back later to torment them.

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• Hisa, the Sorrow of Vengeance    NPCs     By: Ria Hawk