Doctor Sanguinaire Polidori

*"For those who are gone, I shall light a candle against the darkness."*

## History

Sanguinaire came from a Victorian England somewhat similar to our own, but one steeped in far darker occultism and alchemy. One where the words 'Physician' and 'Ratcatcher' became synonymous centuries ago.

As a small child, Sanguinaire lived at the Infant Orphan Asylum at Wansted, an orphanage outside London. It was at this orphanage that a Doctor Joseph Lister attended to Typhus outbreaks amongst the orphans due to poor living conditions as part of his duties as a Ratcatcher. Sanguinaire, one such patient, whose parents had abandoned him, likely because he was the 'son of a Italian mistress', proved to be a eager student

Doctor Lister paid for his apprenticeship fee and took Sanguinaire personally as a student, the two developing a close mentor and mentored relations along with two other students, Doyle MacFere and Lily Waters. Together, the trio served underneath Doctor Lister to protect Queen and Country from the scourges of modern man: sickness and vermin. He received his title of Doctor for his thesis on his theory of hemodialysis, further enhancing the work of former Ratcatcher Thomas Graham.

An incident that Sanguine takes personally is an accident involving his former partner and sweetheart, Lily Waters, who was bit by a rat and infected with rabies. She dutifully recorded her suffering in exquisite and technical detail for the betterment of science.

In his early thirties he was given three new apprentices to teach as the next generation of Ratcatchers, Misters Renwick Chandler, Thomson Balister and Wilson Wordsworth who continue to faithfully follow their mentor to this day.

Six months ago, there was uncanny whispers from other branches of the Ratcatchers Guild: how the alchemical wastes from London's hundreds of labs were being poured into the sewers. How these concoctions were mixing and mutating what lived down there. Of invisible rats, intelligent rats, rats that could use magic, rats almost as big as a man, rats that could speak, and plot, and think.

When the rats struck, the Most Honorable Guild of Ratcatchers were not ready. Ratcatchers all over London were ambushed and cut down in a purge, as the vermin spread across the streets of London like a plague. Parliament was overrun and Windsor Castle laid to siege, while the Guild was put to the torch. Whether by luck or by skill, Sanguine and his apprentices fled underground into the sewers and connected with the remnants of their fellowship. Those same sewers have led them into a new world...

With the same old problems.

Well... when in doubt, call a professional.

## Appearance

Sanguinaire may physically be a man in his late thirties, but the stresses of his position and career have led him to appear almost a decade older than he actually is. Grey hairs have begun to crop up in earnest amongst messy black hair and their is a perpetual look of weariness within his grey eyes.

Frequently dressed in the dress of his trade, Sanguinaire prefers his leather suit and boots boiled in wax, many buckles, a rubberized canvas cloak and hood, Ratcatcher's mask, and broad rim hat.

## Personality

Despite his first impressions to be a suave, gentle Doctor, Sanguinaire has demonstrated on multiple occasions he is very calculated, cruel and fanatical in his mission to purge all sources of pestilence, such as his decision to flood the London Sewer Ways in an attempt to drown out the rodent colonies that were cropping up, despite also murdering innocent people who were living within the sewers and underground. His zeal for this purge mentality might have come from his ambition to prove himself to the guild, due to being unloved and orphaned as a child, and he further embraces the goals and ideals of the Guild that took him in, such as meritocracy, a betterment of education, and the advancement of the medical sciences.

## Loves

A successful quarry, the smell of antiseptic and rubbing alcohol, the laughter and playing of innocent children. Has a certain fondness for mulled spice wine, saffron rice, and spicy foods.

## Fears

Sanguinaire has a general dislike for most magic, it being something he has little understanding of and is practiced by darker and more sinister figures of society in his world. He feels it is a force that is rarely controlled for good, and the exploration of such knowledge leads to unethical paths.

## Hobbies

When not doing research or work related things, Sanguinaire actually enjoys going down to the pub and singing a few ballads while playing some bars on the piano. They are charmingly dark and morbid and nature. He's not very good at it, but seems to take great amusement at it, as do his fellow guildmates.

## Family

Remembers little of his mother and father despite the age of his induction, and instead, chooses to embrace his fellow Guildmembers as brothers and sisters.

## Friends

Doyle MacFere - One of Sanguinaire's fellow classmates while studying in the guild and the current Quartermaster for the organization. They served as apprentices together under Doctor Joseph Lister, and while the Italian and the Irishmen frequently butted heads on differing views, they remained steadfast friends and comrades (as well as drinking buddies).

John White - One of Sanguinaire's mentors from the Guild and the now current Head Physician for their number

Misters Renwick Chandler, Thomson Balister and Wilson Wordsworth - Sanguinaire's personal apprentices for the past four years. The boys, 17, 18, and 20 years respectively, have been under his care and tutelage since their induction into the guild and are one of the few surviving Ratcatchers from the London Purge. He is quite fond of the three, though he doesn't appreciate their occasional bickering.

## Enemies

As a member of the Ratcatchers, Sanguinaire has a whole host of natural enemies and will make no small effort to thwart them whenever they go.

-Vermin, rats in particular, are loathsome, filthy creatures that spread disease and the plague and must be stamped out wherever they are found. This includes most insects, particularly the bloodsucking kind, but will apply to almost any that feed on decay.

-The undead, which he views are a particularly loathsome sort of disease. Whether it be Vampires, Zombies, Ghosts, or simple reanimated skeletons. Sanguinaire finds the entire concept of undeath to be a mockery of Life and an opposition of that Natural Order, something that he and other Doctors work hard to preserve. For more transmittable forms of undeath, such as Vampirism, he sees as nothing more than a disease which must be treated if caught early enough, and stamped out if it proves to be dangerous to a community no different than Cholera. Rarely has he come across patients who have tried to manage their disease, and he has gone to great lengths in order to help them as far as they were willing.

-Necromancers, for the above reasons. Nothing worse than a disease of the spirit than one who would cause it.

-Lycanthropes as a lesser foe. Once again, he see's it as a disease first and its afflicted as a patient first and foremost. As long as the patient is willing and cooperative, Sanguinare goes to great lengths to ensure their comfort and treatment. Should a patient willingly choose to give into and embrace their bestial side, Sanguinaire takes little joy but puts them down no differently than a rabid dog.

-Anyone who would willingly or knowingly spread disease or put others in its path through neglect or malicious intent.

- ***SKAVEN*** - ~~Those rat bastards have much to answer for. They will be repaid with interest.~~

## Aspirations

Sanguinaire wishes to leave his mark on the medical world for the better. While every member of the Ratcatchers seeks to stamp out disease and pestilence wherever it crops up, Sanguinaire acknowledges it is an endless war and thus wishes to give the next generation as much ammunition against their hated foes while he still draws breath. If he can more as Guildmaster of the Ratchcatchers, then he will carry that burden.