SINGLE-MINDED , OFF-PUTTING , ECCENTRIC  , DISENGAGED
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HOPEFUL , ENERGETIC, INQUISITIVE , DILIGENT

PERSONALITY

• Matsuda is the kind of researcher who treats their science as an art. Far from coldly analytical, they are openly passionate about their work (and distressingly passionate about its subject matter).
• Matsuda loves to observe any sort of transformation, especially those that are a little frightening if you think about it. They like to watch butterflies and moths, frogs, beetles, etc as they change their bodies and take new forms.
• Matsuda likes to look fly, but their fashion sense is not exactly mainstream. They like to think of themself as a trend-setter, despite the more outlandish elements of their style (carefully-integrated monster specimens) being reserved for appearances far from where the Order can see them.
• Despite being a registered Order mage who continues to do field research for the Order, their focus is primarily on their work studying Monsters. Every choice they've made in life is means to this end, and they tend to be blind to the more political aspects of the Order.
• Matsuda spends a lot of time by themself. It makes them a little kooky. That said, they're not a complete introvert and they like to party! They enjoy music, dancing, and conversation -- sometimes they just say weird shit.
• Matsuda is a frequent purveyor of Wyrdweed and other mind-altering substances. They don't sell but they absolutely do buy. Like I said, they're alone a lot.
• Matsuda is very mindful of the patrons, and there is a spiritual element to their research. Their process is ritualistic, and they have a mind that Corruption is somehow connected to the forces they and their parents have always believed in.
• Matsuda does their own anatomical sketches. They have books full of monster drawings, as one does.
• When confronted about the destruction sewn and lives ruined by Monsters, Matsuda has a difficult time responding. They know the issue is complicated -- maybe to them, it's more complicated than it should be -- but they can't bring themselves to decry the beasts entirely. However, they also have a hard time defending Monsters, or even explaining their predilection for them. If you're looking for a deep dive into a scientist's psyche, prepare to be disappointed, because you'll likely get a surface-level answer made of math and poetry that really just amounts to a fun fact instead.
• It is a diversion.

[393 words]

HISTORY

body horror cw

• Aki Matsuda was born to farmers who tilled the humid wetlands of Ivras's mid-East coast. They had an average upbringing; they were close with their mother, who made jewelry as a hobby. Both parents were devout in their rites to all three patrons: Grace, Destiny, and Fortune.
• When Matsuda was a child, around ten years old, they began to experience bouts of excruciating full-body pain. At first sharp and brief, these periods of pain increased, sometimes lasting for several minutes. Their parents, believing them to be ill or injured, brought them to a healer in Mead. 
• Once traditional healing measures began, whatever was happening inside of Matsuda's body became something else -- what started as slight changes in their facial structure became horrifying, uncanny angles as their bones began to grind and press. Antler nubs prematurely burst from the top of their head; their tailbone stretched, elongated, and nearly perforated their skin. New, sharp tusks erupted from their gums. Their ribs, visible against their skin, strained as if to be released.
• At this point, the healer was at a loss, and, as magic was suspected, an Order official from Namarast was called in to assist. With great effort, this mage was able to stop the progress of whatever had begun. Though Matsuda's antlers and tail were never the same, everyone present suspected that this intervention had saved the child's life.
• Since Matsuda was now clearly a mage, their parents allowed the Order official to bring them back to Namarast to be initiated into the Order. They were permitted to heal, then began the rigorous work of learning to control their magic. Once they had done so, they were allowed to begin studies with other young mages.
• Matsuda became a highly-motivated, inquisitive student, both of magic and of biology. They excelled in academia, quickly being identified as something of a savant (though the real explanation may have been that they had no hobbies, made time for few friends, and completely blew off subjects that did not interest them). 
• Although they were an outgoing young mage who seemed to be well-adjusted, Matsuda would never forget what had happened to them as a child. In an earnest attempt to grapple with the fear, pain and disgust they felt about their own body's capabilities, they leaned all the way in, becoming completely engrossed in the transformations of other creatures. For a time, they kept caterpillars in their room at Namarast, documenting their stages, sometimes cracking open their pupas, and ultimately watching them emerge.
• Their independent research, while impressive to their professors, was focused on transformations initiated by magic; Matsuda could never escape the feeling that their discipline was not enough to keep their own bones at bay, and they longed to discover what force it might be that could magically change a body in such a disgusting, spectacular way. 
• Matsuda's doctoral thesis, which they presented at age 24, was on the correlation between magic, the body, and the soul: the idea that magic can be altered by one's state of mind and spiritual wellbeing, and that therefore, those factors can influence the changes magic can manifest in a mage's body as well. It was received as a brilliant but eccentric piece of speculative science, and it launched their career as an Order professor.
• Matsuda was placed on the Order's Corruption research task force during Hagia's tenure as Archmage. However, this placement was a means to an end for Matsuda: they didn't want to study Corruption. In their field research during a trip to the Sunless Jungle, they had found archaeological depictions of Ivratian figures transforming gradually into megafauna. Convinced that this indicated something relevant, they prepared data on these findings, only to be chastised by the Order for wasting resources.
• When the first Monster attacked the Faline harbor, Matsuda did not say I told you so. 
• Following the first monster attack in recent Ivratian history, Matsuda's request to have their findings revisited was granted, and they were given grants to research these abominations carte blanche. At this, they were madly successful; they traveled across Ritha, collecting data and dutifully sending it back to the Order over the course of several years. 
• Matsuda was willing to put themself as close to a Monster as possible and investigate magic others daren't touch. While they maintained that this was their professional obligation, it would be a lie to say they derived no pleasure from it. They have yet to understand the ways in which their proximity to Corruption has changed them, but they are eager to see.
• Following Hagia's transformation into the worm that destroyed half of Faline, Matsuda was recalled to Ivras to study the samples collected from her remains. In the time it took Matsuda's ship to arrive at Faline, they missed the selection of a new Archmage, and found that the Order was about to change drastically under the oversight of Archon Miriam. They reported back to Namarast, did what was asked of them, and once again petitioned for field study under the pretense of continuing Corruption studies while the Witchfinders worked to segregate mages to the Order. They're not exactly in hiding, but they're not hanging out in the teacher's lounge either.

Matsuda can now be found doing field work all over Ivras, and rarely, at their office in Namarast.

[879 words]

METAMORPHOSIS

Costs

• Magic use is painful for the caster: Matsuda's bones and cartilage reshape when they use their magic. Even minor external changes (such as antlers) are somewhat painful, but more extensive transformations can be excruciating.