The DOCTORS
The Ospedale was founded originally to treat the war wounded of La Serenissima, opening in 1716 on the island of San Servolo. Before that, the island housed a monastery, situated on the ruins of some long-forgotten structure. Treatment of the mentally ill was the primary function of the Ospedale in those early years using well-established techniques to heal. Whilst Dr Andreas Nifo may have established the Doctors, it was his successor Dr Faust van der Kaine who plunged the group into the occult. Now, no longer interested in healing the minds and bodies of their patients, the Ospedale staff instead exploit the sick to further their research and experimentations. The ultimate goal of the Doctors remains unknown.
DOCTORS OF THE OSPEDALE
Disciplines of Research
There are many uses that the Doctors have found for magic, and while many fall within the usual remit of a doctor, there are more still that are only tangentially linked to medicine. The Ospedale has become a source of magical study for any scientific purpose, and although the research is clouded in secrecy from the outside world, San Servolo still attracts keen minds. Through the Ospedale doors, there are many areas of research. Plague Doctors have abused the available magic to heal diseased citizens passed their god-given expiry. Whilst their noble colleagues cure (and create) diseases, the Doctors of the Arsenal have moved entirely away from helping people, instead they focus their time and energies on unstable but devastating weapons. There are many schools of knowledge at the Ospedale with new areas of study not out of the question.
Aether-Psychology
Rather than simply housing the insane, with the aid of magic the Doctors are able to peer into the inmates' minds, catching glimpses of the world through the eyes of a soul that has seen reality stretched to its limits. Doctors of the Mind study the link between insanity, pain and magic on a daily basis. Through manipulating magic they can form changes in a patient's mind, this is nothing short of mind control. It is through mind control that the Doctors command most of their subjects.
When faced with a recruitment problem for specific areas of study, the great Doctor Kaine devised a way to store a person's essential memories and thoughts into a silver sphere that can be inserted into a host. Through Aether-Psychology the Doctors have achieved a form of immortality, even if the host bodies rapidly lose their sanity
Life & Death
The Morgue Doctors are one of the newest additions to the Ospedale. Focused on experimenting with the dead and near-dead, using magical energy to sustain flesh beyond its natural span this imbued dead flesh retains the spark of sentience. Through the combined efforts of the Morgue Doctors and the Doctors of Beasts, the Ospedale has birthed undead creatures in Venice.
Such abominations have been generally psychotic and short-lived, but the specimen known as the Being is an example of a more successful outcome. Following the success of the Being, more and more husk-like undead have arisen and through the use of Strigoi blood, the Doctors have achieved further success in Death studies.
FORCES OF THE doctors
BLOOD STUDIES
LA GRAZIA INDUSTRIAL WORKS
THEORETICAL TRAVERSAL
After Vlad’s attack on San Servolo, a new wing of the Opsedale opened under Dr Lucieta Bollani, with the purpose of perfecting blood studies. What could be achieved by combining blood-particularly Strigoi blood, and madness energy.
THEORETICAL TRAVERSAL
LA GRAZIA INDUSTRIAL WORKS
THEORETICAL TRAVERSAL
During the World's Fair, one of the most popular displays was led by a radical new branch of the Opsedale, given the designation of Theoretical Traversion. Harnessing the power of the rent into handheld switches, the Doctors of the Firmament can manipulate their density.
UNDERWATER RESEARCHERS
LA GRAZIA INDUSTRIAL WORKS
LA GRAZIA INDUSTRIAL WORKS
Having harnessed the power of the Rent for themselves, the Doctors of the Ospedale want to push their experiments to the limits of what is possible. Looking to discover where the monstrous Rashaar come from, a new subsection of the Ospedale has opened, designated as the Tide Research wing.
LA GRAZIA INDUSTRIAL WORKS
LA GRAZIA INDUSTRIAL WORKS
LA GRAZIA INDUSTRIAL WORKS
The Doctors of the Ospedale are always tinkering and experimenting. Whether that's on live subjects or on machinery, the future of technology lies with them. As the turn of the 19th Century looms, the Doctors are going to drag Venice into an age of technological enlightenment, willingly or not.
EXPERIMENTAL PLASMA ANALYSIS
EXPERIMENTAL PLASMA ANALYSIS
EXPERIMENTAL PLASMA ANALYSIS
"The necromancers of the Ospedale San Servolo are ceaseless in their pursuit of this dark science. The study of blood itself consumes those that aid in the creation of the Elixir of Death."
MYTHICAL BEASTS
EXPERIMENTAL PLASMA ANALYSIS
EXPERIMENTAL PLASMA ANALYSIS
"Gather 'round...Gather 'round. Prepare to feast your eyes on creatures of myth and legend. Don't scream, you might... provoke them". What the Doctor revealed was truly a scene from myth and legend. Creatures both peculiar and majestic, exactly as the tales of their appearance describe. It was almost too magical to be true.
UNHOLY UNION
EXPERIMENTAL PLASMA ANALYSIS
SLEEPLESS UNDEAD
This thing was like nothing he'd seen before... All arms, claws and teeth. With bubbling tanks of orange liquid feeding directly into open wounds carved open with a heavy hand, the monstrosity was a nightmare made manifest.
SLEEPLESS UNDEAD
EXPERIMENTAL PLASMA ANALYSIS
SLEEPLESS UNDEAD
The study of necromancy is whispered in hushed tones... everywhere except the Ospedale San Servolo. Headed by doctors on the bleeding edge of their field, an Elixir of Death is used to bring souls back from the other side... with mixed results.
ESOTERIC INVESTIGATIONS
ESOTERIC INVESTIGATIONS
ESOTERIC INVESTIGATIONS
It takes an inquisitive mind (and a lack of morals) to become one of the Doctors of the Ospedale. Once employed though, each doctor is given mostly free rein to explore their studies. From thaumaturlogical research to active poisoning, all doors are open.
LA GRAZIA RESEARCHERS
ESOTERIC INVESTIGATIONS
ESOTERIC INVESTIGATIONS
The tiny island of La Grazia is owned by the Doctors of the Ospedale. The experiments done on the isle are unknown to most, but explosions can be heard all the way across the lagoon, and bright arching energy crackle from there, lighting up the night sky.
DOCTORS STARTER
ESOTERIC INVESTIGATIONS
DOCTORS STARTER
Sociopaths to the person, the Doctors of the Ospedale care not about any of their patients. Any benevolence they have is only a cover for their own wicked agendas, kidnapping the sick and torturing them to further their own magical research.
BEAST TAMERS
ESOTERIC INVESTIGATIONS
DOCTORS STARTER
The docks of San Servolo are constantly moving, exporting medicine and technology off-site, and importing all sorts of strange beasts. The Doctors use their magic to control these animals, perverting them to be single-minded in following orders.
AETHER -PSYCHOLOGY
MORGUE DOCTOR & THE BEING
MONSTROUS MENAGERIE
Deep in the depths of the Ospedale San Servolo, the screams echo from the walls. The Doctors probe the very depths of the human psyche, tapping into the minds of their patients to cause madness, all under the guise of scientific progress.
MONSTROUS MENAGERIE
MORGUE DOCTOR & THE BEING
MONSTROUS MENAGERIE
The Doctors of the Ospedale San Servolo have spent many hours experimenting on animals in the most inhumane ways. Led by the Master of Zoology, they cut open and “improve” these beasts, all the better to herd to battle.
MORGUE DOCTOR & THE BEING
MORGUE DOCTOR & THE BEING
MORGUE DOCTOR & THE BEING
One of Grand Master Faust's grandest plans for the Doctors of San Servolo is to find a way to reverse the passage of time - the key to immortality. The Being is the first step on the way to that goal.
UNLEASHED MADMAN
MORGUE DOCTOR & THE BEING
MORGUE DOCTOR & THE BEING
Deep in the depths of the Ospedale San Servolo the Doctors run experiment after experiment. Tapping into primal magical energies, they have found a way to mutate patients beyond their wildest dreams. Masses of fanged tentacles emerge from the victim, turning into a host for an otherworldly possession.