Teodor the Savant

Even from a young age, Teodor was most charitably described by others as ‘different.’ With an intellect matched only by his obsessive behavior, the child attended one of the most prestigious universities in Anhelt but, in the first of a number of sad and ironic twists, was expelled due to his fixated behavior. Teodor was initially enrolled to study medicine, but refused to only attend the lectures he was assigned. He sat in on classes on alchemy, astronomy, the natural world, and the arcane arts. He wrote essays on subjects he was not enrolled on, undertook projects for the academic staff that they had not requested, and continually pestered everyone from his tutors to the institution’s librarians about an endless array of topics and theories. It was not long before he was also refusing to sit particular tests or ignoring assignments because he believed they were beneath him or unnecessary for one of his obvious abilities. It became too much for the university to control and so, with regret, the ruling council of scholars had Teodor banished. Such an act, in his formative years, had a devastating effect on Teodor’s psyche, and lay at the root of the horror that was to come. Embittered and enraged, Teodor foreswore the university and academic institutions in general. He embarked on a quest to become the perfect scholar, one that all other so-called men and women of learning would look to with envy and awe. While his interests spanned an incredibly broad range of subjects, it was in biological matters that he eventually found his greatest passion. He trained as a physician, but considered the desire to only heal the body to be short-sighted. He wished also to delve into the mechanics of the soul itself, to cut to the core of the nature of existence. Considering nothing to be off-limits for his superior intellect, he soon strayed into the study of necromancy. It was around this time that he first came across the concept of soul gems and, via it, the Cult of K’Leth. Teodor sought out a Soul Shepherd of the Knights Revenant named Mastrix, and asked him to take him on as his apprentice. Mastrix initially refused, until Teodor conducted a perfect soul transmission on two cultists, right there in front of him. Shocked at Teodor’s potent mixture of intellect and natural ability, Mastrix reconsidered. It wasn’t long before Teodor was inducted as a Soul Shepherd, securing, at the same time, his own immortality. One of Teodor’s first acts as a Knight Revenant was to return to the university that had expelled him. On a dark and terrible night, Teodor stalked the corridors of the revered institution accompanied by a pack of whooping K’Leth cultists who, on his orders, kidnapped each and every single academic they could lay their hands on, while leaving the shocked students untouched. The terrified scholars were taken and confined to what would become Teodor’s secret laboratory, which he had established since fleeing the academy on the outskirts of Narbuk. There they were kept like cattle as the deranged Knight Revenant’s plans for them slowly became apparent. While most Knights Revenant choose to have their souls transferred to bodies that are young, strong and healthy, Teodor derives twisted delight from claiming the bodies of those academics who once rejected him. Nor does he show restraint when it comes to using said bodies as part of his own, eternally-ongoing research. Constantly seeking to break the bounds of the scientific and the arcane, he happily experiments on his own stolen flesh and blood, knowing that no matter what happens to his physical form, his soul is safe with another unwilling host waiting. Quite what he intends to do once the last of the despairing scholars is used up, remains unclear. Teodor is now known as the Savant among his fellow Knights Revenant, and is viewed by most as a dangerous madman. His brilliance is undeniable however, and he continues to perform the role of Soul Shepherd to the cult. Down the years he has found the battlefield to be a fascinating trial ground for his experiments, especially regarding physiology, the impact of deadly arcane magics, the sundering of bodies from the souls that inhabit them, and the development of poisons and toxins. The lattermost he views as something akin to a hobby, and his laboratory is full of dire brews and bubbling, stinking cauldrons. For all of these reasons Teodor will happily pack his vials, lift his staff, and accompany his fellow adherents of K’Leth into the maelstrom of combat, where he puts the latest body he has stolen from those who once rejected him to good use, annihilating the foes of the cult and indulging his own warped curiosity at the same time.