Aleph

Aleph is the the crew’s physician. A Xabron who imbibed the elixir from a Philosopher’s stone and was granted eternal youth, age brought Aleph unparalleled brilliance and a host of terminal health problems stemming from his unnaturally prolonged youth. He hopes to find a way to extend the lifespans of all Xabron so that his kind can attain his level of sentience. In addition to treating injuries, he supplies party members with alchemical spells and also developed a subset of alchemy specialized toward healing called Paeonalchemy, which he is happy to teach to any Corsair with alchemical inclinations.
Aleph lacks the moral scruples of many who practice medicine. Rather, he views death as a common enemy to be fought on all fields, even if it means the occasional sacrifice in the name of science. He is happy to treat any of the Party's allies who fall in battle, but equally happy to run a few experiments on them while he works. Aleph usually communicates with others in truncated sentence fragments that more resemble dictation than conversation. Nevertheless, he is valuable source of information on all things alchemical.

Skills
First Aid 1d12
Alchemy 1d12

Traits and Edges
Attendant: Revives fallen extras at a rate of 1 wound per week.

Trauma Surgeon: Can remove injuries on players that are caused by extras within the last hour.

Lab Assistant: +2 to First Aid and Alchemy all-nighter Tests.

Hermitage: Teaches the Paeonalchemist’s Discipline.

Early Life

As a Xabron, Aleph's actuarial prospects suggested he would live three to four years--likely most of which he would spend in servitude--and never reach a level of intelligence far beyond that of a child. However, fate had a far different path in store for him than most members of his species. At a young age, he was purchased by a Homyn alchemist whose name he would eventually take, Alexi Aleph, as an illegal test subject.
Professor Aleph's career had largely been a failure, but he hoped to turn his fortunes around when he stole a Philosopher's Stone from an advanced pirate organization of physicians called the pox munuds. With the stone, Professor Aleph could syntehsize a potion that would grant him eternal youth. However, he was too cowardly to use his first dose on himself, instead choosing to feed it to his Xabron test subject.
The Pox Mundus found Professor Aleph's laboratory not long after, killing the professor and taking back their Philosopher's Stone. Not ones to let a good experiment go to waste, they took the professor's Xabron back to their citadel for further study. The elixir took effect extending its life beyond that of an ordinary Xabron. However, much to everyone's surprise, as its age increased, so too did its intelligence. By the time Aleph was six years old, his intellect already matched that of the elite physicians studying him.

A Student of Pox Mundus

Aleph's unusual case brought him to the attention of the Pox Mundus's leader, Bastian Kendall. Kendall was a Homyn who had first used the Philosopher's Stone to attain eternal youth. He had been alive for centuries now, and used his long life to form and govern the Pox Mundus to advance medical science.
Kendall took Aleph under his wing, teaching him the arts of alchemy and medicine. He saw in Aleph not only an intellect that rivaled his own, but a shared circumstance of eternal youth that few others could claim. Kendall explained to Aleph that while the power of the Philosopher's Stone could halt the aging process, it was not a panacea against all illness. As such, immortality was not guarunteed for either of them, especially since, as they lived longer and longer past their normal lifespan more of their organs and body parts would eventually fail them. Kendall had founded the Pox Mundus, in part, to advance medical science across the spheres to allow him to stay alive.
The Pox Mundus funded their research through threats and extortion, using a collection of plagues and viruses called the Pathogen Vault to hold a metaphorical gun to the government's head if they failed to meet their demands. However, their morally dubious actions had advanced medical science across the spheres by fifty years. As such, the government unoficially tolerated the Pox Mundus, not that they had much choice given the Pathogen Vault's potential to wipe out all sentient life in the system if all the plagues were unleashed.
Kendall was glad to have Aleph along, both because his talents could help the Pox Mundus's mission, but also because his short natural lifespan would mean that his metabolism of the elixier would eventually overtake Kendall's own in a matter of years. Aleph could act as a proverbial canary in a coal mine, giving Kendall a glimpse of the medical issues he himself might soon face himself.
Before that came to pass, Aleph and Kendall had a falling out over a philosophical shcism. Aleph wanted to use the philosopher stone to extend the life of other Xabron, reasoning that others of his kind would share his intelligence if they could just live long enough. Kendall, however, believed Aleph was special and that the gift of immortality should only be shared among an elite few.
Aleph eventually left the Pox Mundus citadel, taking up in his former master's old laboratory on the trash moon, Skatho. He assumed Professor Aleph's identity to fund his experiments and share his research, delivering his findings to the academy in multi-volume dead drops that inevitably reshaped the science of alchemy as a whole.
He kept the other Xabron test subjects around to use as lab experiments. The Professor's unexpected breakthrough earned him a legendary mystique among alchemists. Of course, the real Professor Aleph was nothing more than a skeleton at this point, one whom the Xabron that took his name hung in his laboratory.
Aleph continued his reclusive career. Occasionally, he would take patients who sought him out free of charge if he found their conditions interesting.

Recruitment

Aleph caught the attention of the information broker, Clay, who provided the Party with a dossier on his accomplishments. Of course, the Party did not know of Aleph's true nature, but traveled to Skatho anyway in hopes of recruiting him for their crew.
It seemed, however, that the Corsaris were not the only ones after Aleph. While Kendall and the Pox Mundus had always kept a respectful distance from Aleph's new endeavors, it seemed Kendall's tune had changed, and he had already sent his men to find Aleph's laboratory.
The Corsairs found him first, following a blind girl Aleph had been treating to his laboratory. Aleph agreed to join the crew but asked that they attack the Pox Mundus so he could find out why they were after him and also take a look at the Pathogen Vault to find a cure for his latest ailment; a failing immune system.
Party agreed to the terms and began planning a strike of the Pox Mundus Citadel. Upon arriving, they found that the Pox Mundus forces were in disarray due to infighting. Royce deduced from an equation on Kendall’s blackboard that Kendall was dying from a failing immune system, the same one Aleph sought to cure in his own condition.
Kendall had summoned Aleph in an attempt to pass on control of the Pox Mundus to him. However, smelling blood, Kendall's subordinates attempted to usurp the citadel and control of the Pox Mundus out from under him. Members of his elite unit of alchemists--known as the white cells--had turned on him and stage a coup.
Aleph refused to accept his inheritence, and set to work in an attempt to save Kendall’s life. He may have been a monster, but he was also responsible for accelerating medical science by fifty years. The Party agreed to help Aleph fend off the mutinying Pox Mundus and serve as medical assistants during the operation.
After a long battle that required the Corsairs to scavenge the citadel for alchemic essences, they managed to save Bastian Kendall’s life. Before the man could sit up from the operating table, Royce took out his pistol and threatened to kill Kendall if he kept threatening the system.
Kendall explained that his threats were a regrettable, but essential part of his operation. He offered the Corsairs a patronship out of gratitude for saving his life if they allowed him to live. The party decided to allow the Pox Mundus to carry out their mission but brought the Pathogen Vault onto their ship as collateral.
Aleph kept his promise to join their crew, but the party returned to the ship uneasy about the acquisition that arrived with the new doctor.

Adventures with the Corsairs

Aleph established a new laboratory aboard the nomad, adopting the infirmary as his quarters. He also makes use of the ship's alchemical equipment which, much to his chagrin, is kept in the same room as the ship's dojo.
During their adventures, a former student of Aleph named Kassandra briefly visited him on the Nomad. While they kept their conversation private, the Party was able to glean from their interaction that Kassandra was on the Rim providing medical assistance to Aleph's mother.
Nevertheless, Aleph has continued to perform his duties with little comment on his personal life. He provides the Party with spells and healing, allowing them avoid permanent injuries if they can be brought to his infirmary in time. Aleph has also had opportunity to add a few new samples to the Pathogen Vault, including the bacterial symbiote helioschosis and the alteri virus.