Tw for: mention of corpses, testing/murder, drugs, degrading mental state 

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The first thought someone would think upon seeing Ellis would probably be utter confusion. A curio looking as weird and as uncurio as him was quite the uncommon sight. However how surprising it may seem, Ellis didn’t always look like that. He used to be quite simple in fact; a child that wore dull colors and features that would get him lost in a crowd in a small moment of inattentiveness by his parents. A simple kit who had some complex obsessions.

His passion for chemistry came to him almost as quickly as his first bead, and grew even bigger with the next ones. A child with a strong auric aura and deep potential for science, he was curious, bright and unafraid of the unknown. Nothing was too much for him at school, you could even say that the teachings were not enough, not fast enough, or not deep enough. Ellis would explore the lands in his free time, taking personal notes of his findings, his school lead growing steadily with each of them. One thing that fascinated him most was the biological changes one living creature experimented thorough their livelihood.  Those changes, and the ones made by the outsiders forces to reverse or accentuate certain traits, Such as the poisonnus proprieties of the living beings surrounding curios. How a simple creature such as a varmint could paralyze the biggest of curios given the right dosage, how a flower could kill if ingested by the being who was much bigger, much stronger than a frail plant.

In time his expertise grew, and he found himself prized by the archaeologist guild for his findings, while patting themselves on the back for teaching such a gifted curio. He spent years working on analyzing the strange vials and bottles found here and there on the island, decomposing the compound and trying to decipher what was left by the ancients. The more he worked however, the more he started thinking of how the curios could reach the same high of the now hypothesised extinct beings. How could he bring curiokind into a new era, how could he change the process of evolution to gift enlightenment to the masses. Going so far as to think how a curio could become an equal, or even completely alike, to the ancients.

He found himself commonly around the ruins discovered by the archaeologist, noting all he could about the now late race, taking even the danger of going in and findings old scripts and vials to study. At first the others found the chemist fun to be around, offering new perspective on the hypothesis made of the past, until he went to far and brought a ruin to the ground, wildly destroying his beads in the process.

The event personally showed to him how weak curios were, and how he needed to find something to make them greater a soon as possible. He grew more hectic, more obsessed than before, mixed with spurts of strong emotions he didn’t know he could have. Ellis grew more distant, the once proud eyes of his peers now uneasy, darting away as he tried to share his knowledge. They even went as far as to call him lost, even mad, and he despised it. They didn’t know what he knew, they only stopped themselves from achieving scientific breakthroughs. His once praised ambitions turned into obsession, on how he could achieve the end goal of his work by himself. Fundings were cut, encouragements were gone.

Now free from grasp of the guild,he felt himself free to experiment with any methods he desired, however questionable they were. Ellis only had his notes and some vials he was working on a the time. He found a secluded, abandoned house where he transformed into his own makeshift lab. Even with low money, he would keep working on. The one annoying problem that came with it was the lack of transcripts from the curios who undertook testing. Would it be for poisons, for common hereditary traits or ingestions, he couldn’t get them. The wildlife around him wasn’t compatible with the vials, with his research. The corpses from the bog were of no uses either, he needed them alive and cooperative. All the ones he tested on made it all the more difficult; they were all so feisty, or worse, too weak to endure everything. He failed again and again on those subjects, it was all their fault. In time he realized that only he could help himself the way he wanted, he knew the risks, and he took them with him freely like an old friend.

He changed, marveling with each new features, immunizing himself with poisons and learning even more so than before. His mind racing wildly and clouded with the strong wild auric powers the beads barely contained, he found himself experimenting with more dangerous substances and with higher doses. With time, his lucidity grew weaker, dissociative episodes breaking his chains of thoughts and experiments. His memory grew weak, although he could still work, it made it more difficult. Errors were pilling up, something was wrong, it angered him.

Breaking his secluded lifestyle to find someone he could use for what he had troubles with, he found himself to be quite the center of attention. Curious curios were mixed with ones displaying disdain; It made travel difficult. His frantic mind did not have time to explain to such frivolous curios. Brown, dull attire was a must, but the most important of all was to hide his face.
   
 He sought the help of another Hermit, specialized in Aumnar and poisons. But really, they both knew deep down how far gone he now was.  

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