I don't know if I'll be able to do a second servant this month. However, I will at least be able to post this sheet. I don't know quite where it came from but it entered my brain, wrote itself there, and refused to leave so here. I'm going to use it for the monthly since I'm 99% sure it qualifies.
I hope it's an enjoyable read.
Hrmph
He sneered. Staring out the window of his home at the rain outside. He watched as the droplets smacked onto the rocky street and slickened it. He frowned and smoked his pipe more. Surrounded by his works no less. Glistening in the dim light of the overcast sky. Skeletons lined his room. Various dinosaurs and animals.
He took a drink of his whiskey. Ruminated on it and his life. Where he had gone wrong. He regretted several things. He regretted wasting time studying surgery. He regretted dedicating a portion of his life to constructing the National Museum of Natural History. Most of all, however, above all things…
He regretted underestimating that brat.
Charles Darwin. ‘Father of Evolutionary Science’. He growled thinking of the ‘name’. He had been the one to discover it! He had not that upstart! He and Darwin examined the barnacles at the same time. They came to the same conclusions. So why had he gotten all the credit!? It was outrageous.
Finishing his glass he refilled from the bottle.
He sighed as he looked out again, swirling his cup to and fro. His eye happened upon a portrait of his wife. A reminder of happier days. The one person who remained by him despite the slander and defamation foisted upon his character. Even if she was not of science he was proud and happy to have known such an intelligent individual. One who could part the falsehoods with the truth.
He downed his glass again and poured another.
It was early. Yet he felt like drinking. He wasn’t sure why. Was he upset? Of course, he was. He was always upset. No one liked him anymore. His wife was dead and gone and he had been left behind. Then the defamation started and caused an insurmountable rift between himself and his colleagues.
All because of that damnable Darwin.
...If I ever get a chance… I’ll pay him back for what he did to me…
He didn’t know who he was speaking to as he finished and refilled, emptying his bottle.
He was finally vocalizing his discontent and strife. Men normally didn’t do that but he decided to. He had lived ‘dignified’ for long enough. He ‘dignified’ himself and others for so long and looked where he was. Alone and miserable. Only wealth to show for being civil.
If only I had been merciless… I would be the ‘Father of Evolutionary Science’
He downed the glass. Then he moved to stand. He had decided to dissect today. When he wobbled he changed his mind. He was going to lie down. Walking through his house he grumbled. About nothing really.
Looking at his collection in a room he detoured. His prized collection. Not the actual collection, he had sent them to the Crystal Palace. These were recreations with artificial materials. The model skeletons for ‘Dinosauria’. For the first time in years, he felt himself smile at the memory. What a pleasant one it was.
I wonder… what is that old boy doing nowadays…?
Then he decided to go to bed.
Greetings, master. Servant Avenger has answered your call. Please, fret not. I shall not disturb the conference. At least, so long as he dares not appear before me...
True Name
Richard Owen
Class
Avenger
Origins
Historical Fact
(Britain)
Alignment
Chaotic Neutral
Likes
Skeletons, Model Assembly, Dissections, Ridicule of Darwinism, Slandering Others
Dislikes
Darwinism, Natural Selection, Being Written About
Talents
Assembling Skeleton Models and Slandering Others
Enemy
Charles Darwin
Classes
Caster
I understand the connotations of my class but I assure you. So long as Darwin stays away I can remain perfectly calm and reasonable. Now please, fetch me some wine. I'm parched.
Parameters
| Strength |
Endurance |
Agility |
| E |
D |
C |
Mana |
Luck |
Noble
Phantasm |
| B |
D |
D |
I am weak as a servant, yes though far from the weakest. No that honor goes to a certain unfortunate plebian who was simply unlucky.
History
The history of Owens is strife with slander and defamation. Both inflicted by him and as a victim of it. Yet he was not always this way. He began his career as a surgeon's apprentice. He was very talented at cutting and was invaluable. In six years' time, in recognition of his efforts, he was appointed to the Royal College of Surgeons. He would eventually leave and work to become a superintendent of the Hunterian Museum.
Using his position he would move some of its contents to a side project of his that eventually became his passion. What he called the National Museum for Natural History would eventually become the Natural History Museum in South Kensington. Once he succeeded he resigned and would move on to become a knight of the Order of the Bath, a foreign member of the Royal Netherlands Academy for Arts and Science, and a member of the American Philosophical Society.
Throughout it all he pursued his passion for natural history. Specifically, he delighted in dissecting animals to learn more about how they worked. Despite his passion, he was never cruel. He would not take the lives of animals and only took specimens that were already dead. Either by another hand, he was uninvolved in or of natural causes. He preferred the latter specimens specifically to the point that he put the body of a rhino in his house because it had died of natural causes and despite lacking proper storage space went to great lengths to obtain it.
Another passion of his that he pursued was the construction and configuration of skeletal models. Often of natural, modern animals, he had the opportunity to work on the first-ever fossil of a dinosaur. Others managed to acquire all the pieces of what he called an Iguanadon and he worked to assemble the fossils to what he believed was the correct configuration for the ancient creature.
This encounter led him to coin the term 'Dinosauria' which means 'Terrible/Powerful/Wondrous Lizard'. This act would cement him for generations to come, even into the modern day. Afterward, he and his associate Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins worked to replicate this with 32 other sets of fossils, eventually creating an entire exhibit of their work in the Crystal Palace in south London.
Despite the incredible fame he found in himself, he made a series of missteps that would spell his doom. First was his attempt to outshine Charles Darwin by agreeing with him on evolution but delving deeper into what he believed it was. While he was ultimately correct his theories at the time were met with ridicule and slander. While it is unconfirmed, there is speculation that Darwin himself arranged this slander and ridicule. He, or an associate.
His second blunder was the misclassification of man itself. He attempted to state that men descended from fish, not apes. Darwin would contradict his claim in the release of 'On the Origins of Species' by stating that man likely descended from primates. Owen later held a speech about why such a thing was impossible but in that speech was forced to concede that other extinct animals could be the ancestor of man. However, he held that apes were an impossibility. The feud grew to the point where a supporter, Huxley, challenged him publicly and proved him wrong with the fossilized skull of an ancient man.
His first and final blunder was the reveal of his tactics to acquire specimens and fame. By devaluing other scientists so he may use his influence with the royal academies and as a famed scientist to gain the specimens himself. He did such a thing with George Mantell who had actually been the one to discover and realize the full and accurate fossil of an Iguanadon. However, Owen would have anonymous papers published that would contradict, defame, and slander Mantell into silence.
When he tried this with Darwin, it did not work. At least not nearly as effectively as it had on Mantell. At first Darwin attempted to fight the slander directly. While it had results they were middling at best and negligible at worst. However he then employed a new tactic as well; he simply returned fire and with his supporters Joseph Dalton Hooker and Thomas Henry Huxley they released anonymous papers that did much the same; slander, defame, and ultimately silence.
Unlike Owen, who relented when he got what he wanted, the three would continue to state things about Owen that while perhaps true were gravely exaggerated. So much so that in the modern day it is thought that perhaps while there is some truth Owen is not nearly as envious, odious, and horrid of a man as present by the media towards the end of his life.
An end that was ignoble. His career in tatters, alone due to his actions, and ultimately only remembered as perhaps a great scientist but a horrible human. A reputation he does not forgive being foisted upon him.
... Master. I shall only repeat myself once. Do not speak of Darwin to me again. Understood? Good... now come. I am ready to attend.
Class Skills
Avenger
B
The staple skill of the Avenger class. It keeps their rage primed and ready for vengeance when the chance shows itself. In some cases, it even turns the negativity of others into power for them. Owen had his life ruined by evolutionists. While he, even as Avenger, does not blame evolution he despises the individual that heralded its rise. Charles Darwin. Believing he was to be its herald and not him, he despises the idea he created; Natural Selection. So long as it is a popular science taught in classrooms or as long as Charles Darwin is regarded fondly his hatred will seethe.
Oblivion Correction
C
Were it not for his blunder in man's classification, his rank in this skill would be higher. A class skill of Avengers that allow them to use the gaps in memories for critical attacks, he is not as proficient in this skill due to his history of having gaps in memory that others themselves exploited. Even so, as Avenger and one who utilized this technique in life, he has this skill at a middling rank.
Self-Replenishment
(Mana)
B
A skill that utilizes the grudges and hatred and negativity of Avengers to endlessly generate mana for themselves. So long as the object of their hate exists, this skill will not go quietly into the night. Likewise, Owen, who hates Natural Selection and by proxy Darwin, has this skill at a high rank due to his noted bad nature. He was remarked as a vile, contemptible human who was only tolerated due to his immense skill at scientific research. So long as he remains contemptibly spiteful of natural selection, this skill will provide him mana every second.
Master. Please refrain from using my status screen. I know that is asking for a lot, but I cannot stand being written about... much less by some 'system'. It may, after all, print slander and that will not do at all.
Personal Skills
Innocent Monster
B
A distortion rooted in perception. Richard Owen is the victim of one such thing. It is undoubted that he engaged in duplicitous, unethical acts to attain fame and specimens. Yet much of what was attributed to him and he was accused of was never truly proven. In the modern day, historians wonder how true their statements regarding him were since his opponents (Darwin, Huxley, Hooker) engaged in the same tactics as him. Even if he used them first the act of using them throws into question the veracity of the claims on his character. This skill exists to distort him to this image as, despite this, the popular image of Richard Owen is that of a contemptible, jealous, vile man who will stop at nothing to achieve fame through the science of Evolution. It forces him into this image even should the truth not comport to it.
Surgical Procedure
(Dissection)
B
Despite not being what he is famous for or his profession, it is a skill he developed in his early years and one that stuck with him for the rest of his life. The capability to surgically and precisely cut through a specimen and learn how it works through careful observation. Not hacking them up but precise cuts that only reveal.
As a skill it allows him to make extremely precise attacks and draw information from the resulting injuries. While the attacks themselves are nothing special and so resistible, the secondary effect is not. He will learn something with every cut he attempts and it can even culminate in him realizing the true nature of the individual he is attacking. Even their true name, from this, might be revealed.
Anonymous Papers
B
A skill that allows the servant to discreetly and secretly spread rumors, gossip, and falsehoods through a community with no effort and no risk of exposure. The servant determines the method of informational spread, but in Richard's case, he sends papers anonymously to news stations and papers who then become compelled via mental interference to spread them in the most viral way possible.
The papers may contain all sorts of information or requests. However regardless of what is actually contained the sole effect begins and ends at the papers themselves. Once the news station/paper writes viral content based on them and publishes them, this skill simply prevents them from actively removing them. The content holds no special value.
The danger arises in the information his papers contain. He can instill falsehoods to cause disinformation to spread but alternatively, he can also spread truth. Further, once the seed has been planted it is difficult to remove and requires outside intervention to do so. Even if a magus were to attempt to hypnotize the staff into doing it, the mental interference would simply cause them to leave.
He has this skill specifically due to the tactics he used to acquire fame and renown. He would anonymously publish papers that would slander and defame his opponent until their reputation was thoroughly ruined or they were successfully silenced. He only has it merely at a high rank due to a single fact; he was not the best at it. Thanks to Charles Darwin and his supporters adopting his tactics and utilizing them against him, he now receives this skill a rank lower than what he would have without Darwin's interference.
... Master here. Take these to those nice people over there. Hurry now. They'll be very interested... ah and you simply found them on a table, yes? Good. Now off with you.
Personality
Richard Owens might have been a decent man. He might have been a brilliant man. He might have been somewhat egotistical but at the end of the day someone who anyone could call a friend. However, now he is not that man. He isn't even someone that one can be proud of knowing. He has become what the rumors and slander claimed him to be. A vile man who would do all manner of evil to accomplish his goals.
What separates him from simply vile and true evil is a simple thing; He ultimately has limits. He is not the kind to simply gun for his objective. He is careful, and methodical, and will not involve other persons unless necessary. The worst he would do is use another to draw Charles Darwin to a location before confronting and killing them. He would be willing to let the witness leave alive or would charade a debate until the witness was gone.
Despite these few glimmers of goodness, Innocent Monster keeps him contemptible. Even if he is fixated on Charles Darwin he will turn his gaze to anyone who espouses praise of Natural Selection. He will, at first, attempt benevolent debate to make them reconsider. He will then escalate until he begins slandering them to others in order to prevent them from praising Natural Selection publicly.
While his hatred is of Charles Darwin he believes that the theory of Natural Selection was the sole reason Darwin became famous. He thinks that without it Darwin would not have amounted to much. It is, as a result, his goal to score Natural Selection from the history books. Failing that, he is content to take credit for it as he did the discovery of the Iguanadon.
Lies! Slander! I won't stand for these accusations! Master, silence that servant immediately or I will!
Interactions
Master
Bond 0
An interesting gathering. Sharp minds all around. You could do to take a lesson or two, master. Not of the contents, I'm afraid its all much above your level, but of how we got this knowledge.
Master
Bond 5
Hmmm? Me? Teach you? Perish the thought. I do not 'teach'. I 'learn', I 'construct', and I'll even engage in 'field work'. I do not 'teach' however. Do not ask again, master. Ask another to. Perhaps they'll be more receptive.
Master
Bond 10
Tonight has been a fine night master. No Darwin, brilliant minds to meet my own and expand it. I've been able to do likewise with other guests. Truly, truly, a fantastic night. Yet I notice you, master. You've been asking around... and keeping up. Consider me impressed. Join me. I was about to have a most exhilarating debate. Let's see if you've learned enough to follow along.
Barbara McClintlock
Interesting research. To think it came from corn. I recall when women were just entering the field of science. It helped that they truly were bright and bold. Quite like yourself.
Ibn Wahshiyya
A foreign star... yet it is so similar to our own. Curious, that. It almost seems intentional. Well if you'll excuse me, I wish to discuss more about the science of our star...
Helen Beatrix Potter
Hmmm. I wonder why you're here. Aren't you merely a writer of children's fantasies? No matter. If you are here then in some capacity you are a scientist. So then lets hear it. What did you study and what do you wish to learn from me?
Kossel, Meischer, Crick
'DNA'... aha... ahahahaha... AHAHAHAHA! OH YOU FOOL, DARWIN! HAHAHA! TO THINK SOMETHING LIKE THAT SLIPPED BY OUR FINGERS!... Oh if only I had discovered it... but alas... thank you, gentleman. You've brought me unbridled joy!
Edward Drinker Cope and Othniel Charles Marsh
Ah, our honored hosts! I am grateful to have been invited. Thank you, gentleman. Let's see you research fossils no? I happen to be quite acquainted myself. Might I interest you in my Iguanadon? I promise it's genuinely the first!
Friedrich Wilhelm August Fröbel
Ah, the other host! Thank you for the invitation. I'd have arrived sooner but our master you see hadn't the saint quartz earlier to summon me. Thankfully, he found some to do so. I hear you created a method to teach children... quite an accomplishment. I'd never have imagined it as uncontrollable storms of disaster they tend to be. Kudos!
Charles Darwin
It's him... it's really him... hehehe... hahahaha... HAHAHAHA! That fool! Coming here!? What an absolute idiot! Minds greater than he are here! I am here! What is that fraud doing, showing his face? He's a disgrace!... I should kick him out myself. I won't however... my hosts have been gracious. I shan't make a scene... here. I'll watch. I'll wait... and I'll strike when the time is right. hehehe... count your days you toad... they are numbered!
Noble Phantasm
Terrible, Powerful, Wondrous Lizards!
Dinosauria
Type
Anti-Army
Rank
D
The term he coined after the completion of the Iguanadon skeleton model. Constructed from several assembled pieces of the fossil. It stands as what he is most famous for in spite of the truth regarding the discovery of the Iguanadon belonging properly to George Mantell. It was he, Richard Owen, who constructed the fossil first. Not even the revelation of his actions to take credit cannot take that from him.
In addition to the Iguanadon however, he assembled with another 32 other skeletal models to be put in an exhibit in the Crystal Palace. Each was completed and eventually sent. Encapsulated in this noble phantasm, he can now call upon the 32 model dinosaur skeletons he assembled by hand as well as the Iguanadon skeleton. Each act as his familiar and each is quite powerful.
The rank is so low due to a simple fact. As Avenger, not Caster, his resources are limited. He cannot utilize every one of his skeletons at once. He must instead simply use at most five or his powerful Iguanadon skeleton. On the other hand, however, his familiars are much more powerful than if he were Caster. Empowered by his grudges and hate, each skeleton is wreathed in hateful flames that seep into every strike.
Each of his skeletons tends to be capable of holding their own in a fight and his strongest, Iguanadon, can easily take blows and deal damage to even high-end servants. While a victory would be still very difficult he is confident he could defeat even the likes of King Arthur in the right circumstances. Naturally, as they can strike with hateful flames, they naturally can breathe these flames too.
There. Done-... gah these flames. Apologies, men, these aren't normally part of it. As Avenger my skeletons come wreathed in fire. Apologies, again. Other than that they are on model for what I originally constructed. Impressive, no?
Originally Posted by Random
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