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Medicine

Methuselah is a good doctor. Better than good: he is exceptional. Even so, he is relegated to treating people only in the seediest parts of the city, and very few people recognize his skill.

Blind Eye

It is practically a skill, the way Methuselah manages to keep his mouth shut even when treating the most illegal of patients. Anyone is welcome in his clinic, and nothing told to him in confidence will ever find itself repeated.

Shapeshift

An ability that all Phuzos have. Methuselah's shapeshifting abilities aren't anything to write home about, and he almost never has reason to use them. If he did, he could only change about 25% of his body -- with great effort.

About

Methuselah is an intelligent, highly skilled doctor, and spent many years working as the personal physician for a very powerful family. But his wealthy employers sabotaged his reputation, and it quickly became impossible for him to find work amongst the upper crust of Praque. He is still prideful and confident in his skill, but the only people who will hire him now are those who have nowhere better to go -- so he spends his present life giving dubious medical attention to dubious people, and tries to be happy with his lot.

He will work with anyone and do anything as long as he is paid appropriately for it, so he has become a popular doctor among criminals and mutts. He has experience with chip transplants, and his skill is enough that he doesn't bat an eye at even the strangest requests. He has an unpleasant personality, and is especially sensitive to false rumors about himself. He finds it very hard to make and keep friends.

Before Praque's Fall

Methuselah began his life on the fast-track through medical school, which he graduated from with honors. This got him hired by a wealthy family who wanted a private physician on hand for any aches or scrapes they might acquire -- a boring job, ultimately, but a secure one which paid very well. Methuselah's life was comfortable for a time, until the family decided they were displeased with his service; they fired him and sabotaged his reputation, effectively destroying any chance that he could get an equivalent job. Bitter and angry, Methuselah retreated to the shadier parts of Praque and opened a shabby clinic there. He would still be a doctor; he would never recover his good name.

The years made Methuselah quite bitter, except to his few close friends, but he proved himself especially valuable to the criminals and mutts that still wanted to make Praque their home. He gained experience with chip transplants and patching life-threatening wounds; he gained a reputation for being tight-lipped and trustworthy. It wasn't what Methuselah had wanted from his life, but it was what he had.

After Praque's Fall

Methuselah had been in his clinic when Rhecka's hack fell on the city. He was lucky not to be hacked himself, though one of his patients was. Forced to defend himself without inflicting any harm in return, Methuselah fled his clinic. He was lucky to encounter one of his friends, Admir, who had an exit plan.

Together, Methuselah and Admir made their way underground: below Praque, to where rebels, criminals, and mutts made their home. They would be joining Paragon's Fall: a group led by a Phuzo named Yuki, where Methuselah could offer his medical skill to those remaining in the city to resist Rhecka's control. He would be hunted, and in constant danger, but it was still a better option than leaving the city entirely. Methuselah had grown up here; he would die here too, if that was his fate.

Now, Methuselah takes point on any efforts to gather medical supplies or to treat unusual wounds. He also makes a token effort to train young medics in the group; it is too useful a skill not to teach. He is prickly and strict, but his sheer depth of knowledge makes up, in part, for his poor personality.