Infobox
Lionel Caldwell
Information
Race Human Class Rogue Origin Crystal Ville Resides Nyvara Affiliations Druecian Ministry of Colonial Advancement Alignment Lawful Evil
Overview
Lionel Caldwell is a disgraced medical researcher and alchemical theorist with a dark vision of controlled human evolution. Once a brilliant student of medicine at Autumngrove, he now travels as a self-styled doctor and field scientist, hiding behind a mask of clinical detachment and professionalism. His obsession with perfecting the Concord Formula—a serum designed to chemically impose order and strength upon the human body—drives him to conduct dangerous and unethical experiments under the guise of healing.
Appearance
Lionel is pale and lean, his posture subtly hunched from an old injury. His eyes are calculating, always searching, and he moves with the careful precision of a man used to scalpels and silence. He often dresses in a modified medical coat repurposed for travel, with belts of vials, syringes, and field tools neatly arranged across his chest and waist. Beneath the coat, his body bears the lingering scars of the childhood accident that left his musculature underdeveloped—a fact he hides with rigid composure.
Background
Lionel was raised in Crystal Ville, a human colonial town rooted in labor exploitation and social hierarchy. Though not born into nobility, the Caldwell name carried enough influence to grant him an elite education and a deep-seated sense of superiority. A traumatic childhood incident involving a rampaging ogre laborer left Lionel physically impaired and deeply prejudiced against non-humans, whom he now views as erratic, inferior, and dangerous.
At Autumngrove College of Medicine, he excelled as a student, gaining notoriety for his surgical talent and radical theories. His downfall came with the development of Concord, an injectable compound meant to “perfect” the human body. After the serum caused the death of a non-human test subject, Lionel was brought before a tribunal. He showed no remorse, famously stating, “Medicine cannot be constrained by lesser anatomy.” He was expelled without honors, but took his notes and his ambitions with him.
Current Activity
Operating as a traveling physician and alchemical consultant, Lionel continues to refine Concord in secret. He embeds himself in adventuring parties under false pretenses—offering battlefield care and medical expertise while using companions as test cases and data sources. Though many of these companions are non-human, Lionel rationalizes their use as necessary trials for a greater cause. His ultimate vision is the imposition of chemical order upon the chaotic nature of the flesh, with himself as both architect and arbiter of that future.
Known Associates
- Sylas Thorne – A fellow student and unwitting collaborator in Lionel’s earliest Concord experiments. Provided key reagents and rare poisons. After a mysterious incident involving a fire in the college lab, Sylas was expelled. Lionel blames him for his downfall and harbors a deep-seated grudge.