Hyram Westford

> *A raspy voice whispered from beneath the hissing pipes and glowing eyes of the iron mask. Like nails on a chalkboard, it echoed through the dark, empty theater. In an arc around the Doctor stood several Lamplighters, their flintlocks and knives drawn, pointed at the assembly of people onstage. To the Doctor’s right stood Valeria, smirking, eyes glittering, her white shirt perfectly ruffled, her coat ever so slightly messy, her hair just curled enough.*
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> *‘I think we all know where this is going’ hissed the Doctor. But as he raised his gun, echoing footsteps came from deep within the wings of the stage, heels sounding on wood. From behind the curtain stepped a tall woman in an elegant emerald dress, pearls catching the flickering light of the torches. Not a strand of her hair nor a fold of her dress was out of place. She walked softly toward the armoured Doctor, as he visibly hesitated, subconsciously lowering the gun. From beneath his helmet, he muttered her name.*
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> *‘Érmione… Lady Disforza?’ he uttered, proud to have such a friend in a high place, yet surprised to see her here, of all places. As she gracefully stepped close to him, she shushed him with a rosy smile and began to circle him. Everyone on stage watched with bated breath.*
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> *‘Doctor, do you remember what I asked you, the night you took shelter at Leinster Close?’ she asked in her silky voice. ‘I asked if you felt you were alone.’ Érmione stepped behind him, but as she appeared on the other side, her dress was now a rugged leather duster, her hair shaggy and undercut, her face marked with greasy fingerprints. One of her eyes was milky, and she barely held back a smirk. Heavy combat boots echoed on the floor as the woman emerged in front of him. Around the theatre, the thieves’ guns clicked as they pointed them at the Doctor. His iron mask silent, his world crumbled around him.*
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> *‘Well, Doctor… do you feel alone?’ asked Marija Grimes.*
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- Prelude to the Doctor's death.

**Dr. Hyram Westford,** real name **Doctor Edward Darrion**, and also known by the moniker **Iraeus**, was a Waterdhavian doctor of medicine and a man of science, as well as one of the chief scientists in the Oracles.

A half-elven man well past his hundredth year, he had seen much of the world and its secrets. He walked with a cane, owing to a limp inflicted by Morgan Belphane, and was adept with his Cassalanter 1535 Lionheart sidearm.

In his early years, he was introduced to Garrik and Lorelei Belphane at a party, and began to work for them on their projects, including developing the Blackheart Elixir and being a key doctor in the cloning process that created subjects such as Morgan and Torvus Belphane.

Hyram also had a granddaughter, Eva Westford. He was also good friends with Henri Angier.

## After Angier's Death

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> Two purposeful footsteps were followed by the metallic clink of a stick. A figure slowly stepped into the flickering candlelight, silver hair falling about his face. Hyram stepped forward, aiming his Cassalanter Lionheart, light shining off the cold steel. Tracy shivered as Asha stood defiantly in the doorway, flaring up. She bristled, as if to say *not one step further*. As the gun cocked, the good doctor spoke in a low voice.
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In 1567, he and several other people were attending Henri Angier's show Shock and Awe, when Angier was murdered. Hyram joined those first on the scene. He joined forces with the others to investigate the event. He took them to an old hideout he had heard of, 34 Leinster Close.

After that, he staged a break-in at the residence of Angier, and ended up shooting a Thieve's Guild cleaner in the back and planting his body there. The NVÇV found this.

However, suspicion rose from then on. This led to a confrontation at midnight in 34 Leinster Close on the day after, with Asha de Varley and Tracy DeMasque knowing who he was. This confrontation ended with his arrest by Vaurok Shortass of the The Harpers. Whilst marching him to the station, the group had an encounter with Valeria Grimes, Anneliese Tailor and the Lamplighters' Guild. This ended with Valeria 'killing' the Doctor - in reality, he awoke in the Harper morgue hours later from a Feign Death spell. He helped Yalaméda out of there too, before he alone ambushed Luth Salmastrien and killed him with a scalpel, and burnt several years' worth of case files. He fled home, grabbed his gear, and struck a deal with Valeria Grimes in the sewers to ambush his ex-pals in the Valentine Hall. However, she set him up. There, Marija Grimes revealed herself to have been Érmione Disforza's true identity. Val and Mari watched as the group killed the Doctor and burnt his body.