Snip, snip. Chop, chop. Evil lurks in the worm of every soul.

Doctor Eduard Amsel has gone by a lot of names in his chequered past. Since he got the hell out of Houston he’s probably got a new name – something a little more innocuous.

That was four years ago, mind you. He might be dead by now. But that’s kind of unlikely considering he’s a Thanatomancer. Not totally impossible though; he’s got a quite a few people gunning for him, if they ever find him.

The scoop goes something like this;

Back in ’83, Dr. Amsel (he was calling himself Gunter back then, but we’ll let that slide) turned up in New York, flashed his surgeon’s credentials and got himself a job working at Mercy Hill. At first he did what he was meant to do; cutting out tumours, assisting in heart surgery… a real jack-of-all-trades, if you catch my meaning.
Except, within six months he was using his access to patients to get himself mojo. He was a sharp guy – he only picked people he knew could be written off as probable deaths – and he had some weird schtick to get investigations into how the poor fuckers died written off as ‘complications during surgery’.

How did he kill ’em? Simple.

On the operating theatre’s table. During the op.

Didn’t someone notice? Hell yeah. You don’t do an op without a nurse and an anaesthetist and some junior doc like a monkey on your back; but the kicker is they were on his side.

Every last one of them who was on his team knew what he was doing, and they helped him do it. Let’s call it a cult, hmmm? The Cult Of Dr. Amsel.

Who wouldn’t help a crazy fuck like Amsel if he can use his magick to keep you looking like a spring-chicken for another six months.

Then, when the shit hit the fan and Amsel got on the wrong side of a group of punk-ass college kid avatars of ‘the honest man’, he ditched his followers and high-tailed it to Des Moines.

And so the circle continues. Apparently he managed to get a major charge out there. You remember that actor… Ricky Ramzy? Got pointed out for an Academy Award? … Dies on the operating table after ‘complications’?

Yeah. Nuff said.

Anyway, Amsel moved on, skipped across the country. Last I heard he was in Houston, but the Sleepers caught up with him and he ran again. Left one of their boys dead and another in a coma.

Anyway, I’ve got a plane to catch. I get the feeling he’s heading for LA.

And I don’t want him getting no more major charges.

Dr. Eduard Amsel, The Doktor of Death

Personality: A vaguely Germanic Hannibal Lector but with less of the cat-and-mouse games, more of the jovial wit and charm. He can play golf and talk politics with you one minute and still be sizing you up for which cuts he should make.

Obsession: The fine line between human suffering and human saviour. How humans can be so cruel, but yet so kind. Kill with compassion. Save one life, take the next.
(Magick: Thanatomancy)

Wound Points: 55

Passions

Rage: Fascism. Being accused as a fascist; a Nazi or a Communist (which is a form of facism), is the one thing to shake Amsel’s well-honed persona. Even talking about it is enough to get his back up.

Fear: Being Held Captive (Helplessness). Amsel’s strapped enough people down to tables to see the terror in their eyes. He doesn’t want the same thing to happen to him.

Noble: Curing The Sick. Amsel doesn’t hate people, per se. He’ll just as likely help an injured child as carve it up, depending upon whether it’s likely to survive or not (and whether it’s annoyed him). Saving lives gives his killings meaning.

Stats and Skills

Body: 55 (Sunday Jogger)
General Athletics 20%, Slash With A Scalpel 25%

Speed: 45 (Methodical)
Dodge 15%, Drive 25%, Golf 40%, Handgun 10%

Mind: 85 (Hannibal-esque)
College Education 60%, 20th Century History 65%, Surgeon 70%, Psychology 40%, English 60%

Soul: 90 (Insane)
Charm 75%, Lie 65%, Thanatomancy 82%

Madness Meters

Violence: 8 hardened / 1 failed
Unnatural: 6 hardened / 0 failed
Isolation: 2 hardened / 1 failed
Helplesness: 0 hardened / 2 failed
Self: 4 hardened / 1 failed

Modus Operandi:
Prior to the operation, Amsel will bathe himself and his surgical kit in water. He will dress in his scrubs, spending at least an hour meditating and communing with himself in the operating theatre. If he can’t do that, he won’t kill the patient.

Once that’s done, he’ll get on with the next part. Amsel meets and greets all his ‘sacrifices’ prior to their coming into the operating theatre. He explains to them what the operation will be, and asks them whether they still want to go ahead. He will then check them over for any wounds.

The sacrifice will change into their white patient’s gown and will be wheeled to the theatre – Amsel will follow, reciting the Lord’s prayer, in German. Once at the theatre, Amsel will wash himself again, and will annoint (or be annointed) with his scalpels. The anointment consists of cutting two fine gashes across the tips of his index fingers (they’re little more than nicks, but are part of the ritual). The sacrifice by now will have been given ‘anaesthetic’.

The first person to have been brought into Amsel’s cult is the anaesthetist; instead of a general pain-killer, the anesthetist gives a placebo. The patient is wheeled into the theatre awake. Once in, he is gagged using an air tube – some patients thrash about and injure themselves, so Amel’s team strap the patient down.

Amsel will then arrive and explain the true meaning of the sacrifice. The victim will be taken across the veil, to the land of dreams, where they will be healed of their hedonism. Amsel cuts the victim open from chest to sternum with a scalpel and then begins vivisecting them, starting with the least important organs and working up.

The entire process lasts about two hours, but can be dragged out for longer. The anaesthetist sometimes gives local injections if the sacrifice seems to be fading too fast. In the end, there’s a tray of organs on the table, and an empty body – which is promptly sewn up.

Amsel carries out a similar act for animals, but does it in the safety of his own home. Using minor charges, and random magick, he can make coroners think that the death was ‘natural’ (“All deaths are natural” – “Why… so they are!”)

Secret History:
There’s a couple of rumours about Amsel that made the rounds; they’re probably bull but… hell… who knows?

One is that Amsel was a Nazi doctor in Auschwitz. A protégé of Mengele himself.

Some say that he is Mengele himself.

The other thing is that Amsel’s cults don’t die out after he’s gone. They go underground. Start practising it for themselves. Sounds crazy, but… a national cult of whacked out Thanatomancers is only slightly less crazy than the idea of The Freak, ain’t it?

Been a lot of deaths in your hospital recently?