Conrad Vaajar

*“The Padishah may have started the monarchy, but the Homunculi was the one who carried it out. The greatest ruler in the world is one who does not fear death.”*

-Conrad Vaajar

## History

The greatest alchemist in the old world, and the director of a famous laboratory in the city of Varas. Vaajar rose to prominence through a series of medical advances, curing many virulent diseases and discovering more about the human body in one decade then in the entire previous century. He became a household name following a catastrophic pandemic that nearly destroyed large swathes of the land. Placed in charge of containment, as well as the team responsible for discovering the cure, Vaajar predicted the path the disease would take, and shrewdly quarantined populations in advance. It was he who developed an ingenious counter-virus, a bacteriophage that only preyed upon the virus itself, leaving the human cells intact. Though the world did not know it yet, the nation’s savior had created the first homunculus. Vaajar would become obsessed with eternal life, pouring more and more resources into the creation of the Philosopher’s Stone, as well as dabbling in necromancy, soul gems, and the connection between mind and body. Along the way, he created many artificial life forms; homunculi, and tested the limits of the law of equivalent exchange. He found a powerful patron and ally in Sabahattin, an adventurer and priest of the maker, who was eager to utilize both the creative and destructive powers of the Stone to fulfill his messianic ambitions. A breakthrough came when, with the help of his assistant, Shaarabahn, Vaajar was able to draw a ruinous transmutation circle around the entire nation. Activating it, he annihilated the majority of all life, and turned the once biologically diverse swamps and forests into hellish desert wasteland. The resulting exchange was enough to the object of his desire - the Philosopher’s Stone. For a time, he lent the Stone to Sabahattin, who used it to amass a number of followers and rebuild civilization in the form of a new country, Aglazdere. For two years following the ascension of Sabahattin to the title of Padishah, Vaajar bided his time, collected genetic samples and psychic imprints from a collection of individuals, so that he might create living homunculi in their image. Among his first successful subjects was Sabahattin himself. Vaajar captured the Padishah, took back the Philosopher’s Stone, and killed him in a transmutation that brought the homunculus - Experiment #216 - to life with all of the memories of the Prophet. For five more years, Vaajar ruled Aglazdere through the Homunculus, which he controlled through the Stone. During this time, he amassed the materials necessary to replicate the process on Angon, Shaarabahn, and Sylviane, as well as several other individuals. Vaajar’s plans came apart when Sylviane stole the Philosopher’s Stone from him. No longer under his control, his Homunculi rampaged through his laboratory, setting it on fire and collapsing entire sections of it. Vaajar was killed in the blaze, and his Experiment #216 vanished into the depths of the waste. It would be years before the chaos wrought by his laboratory was brought to a halt, though the ramifications of his plans are still felt to the present day.

## Personality

In his youth, Vaajar possessed a certain dignity, and exuded a calm, if somber manner that reassured his patients and inspired trust. The horrors of the Great Plague eroded his stability, making him obsessed with the fragility of life. He began to blame himself for the lives he could not save, and then blamed his patients for dying. As his sanity deteriorated, as did his manner and appearance. At first he became menacing, manipulative, and secretive, but before long, he would fluctuate between fits of manic self-aggrandizement and long periods of solipsistic silence. Consumed by delusions of divinity, he became repulsed by natural life forms, and saw other people as tools, stepping stones, and necessary sacrifices for a perfect world populated by homunculi. He was briefly married, but had no children. He was outlived by a brother.

## Modern Relevance

Brennen of Alara was said to be fascinated by Vaajar's work, and during the wedding of Padishah Rick and Triniana Arikas, he visited the Laboratory of Varas. It is likely that his idea of "Project Genesis," namely the creation of the two androids Adam and Eve, were closely inspired by Project Hero's Journey.

Rebels against the rule of Padishah Shams al-Din Samara, Ithiel Onesiphorus foremost among them, would turn to the writings of Vaajar in pursuance of Projects Revenant and Revenge. Indeed, the mad alchemist's flagship scheme, Project Hero's Journey, seemed enlightened in hindsight.