Cedric Paddock

Cedric Paddock is a member of the Fraternity of Shadows, and the avatar of real-life Fraternity member Mephisto. He first appears in the article Conch Shell of Sorrows.

Background

Cedric Paddock was born in the Zherisian countryside in 717 BC to a middle-class family. His father Matthew Paddock was a zealous adherent of the Divinity of Mankind and a racist, who had strict expectations and rules for the raising of his children. In spite of this, he always forgave Cedric's younger brother, River Paddock, all of his trespasses - meaning that punishment would sometimes befall Cedric for supposedly being responsible for his younger brother. Cedric found little comfort with his mother Agness, as she doted on River.

Unknown to Cedric's parents, their favoured son River was actually the spawn of a Dread Doppelganger. Cedric tried to warn his parents after he witnessed River undergo one of his first, uncontrolled transformations, only to be ignored. River destroyed Matthew's library while wearing Cedric's appearance, which resulted in the furious patriarch sending both his sons to boarding schools - River to Zherisia's own Gracebridge, but Cedric to Dementlieu. Cedric managed to secure a scholarship at the University of Richemulot, where he wound up studying anthropology under Professor Erik van Rijn. Van Rijn eventually started tutoring Cedric as his apprentice in the art of Transmutation.

Nightmare Lands

Cedric was initiated in the Fraternity of Shadows after earning his degree, and took up a study of the Abber Nomads and the Nightmare Lands. He followed a tribe of Abber for a time, but grew frustrated with their acceptance of what they did not understand. He left the tribe and apprenticed himself to a Shaman named Powah, who taught him how to harness the power of nature and how to explore the world of dreams. During a guided dream, he came to understand River's true nature - and developed an obsession with the power of transformation, particularly the transformation of the self. Cedric returned to the University of Richemulot in 742 BC. By the time he returned, his family had vanished into the Mists during the Grand Conjunction. He did not grieve for them.

Ripa

Contrary to what Cedric believes, his dread doppelganger "brother" is still alive. The creature, which now identifies as Ripa, was visiting with its mentor in Paridon in 740 BC, and thus avoided being devoured by the Mists. Unknown to Cedric, Ripa has based its imago on him; it has assumed many forms over the years, but none have satisfied it so much as imitating Cedric. Ripa has been searching for Cedric, but his migratory lifestyle has saved him from what would no doubt prove to be a very unpleasant family reunion - so far.

Fraternity

Cedric's report on the Abber Nomads earned him the titles of lector of Anthropological studies and Abber Nomad philosophy at the University of Richemulot. Unfortunately, his obsession with internal change through external transformation, not to mention his more materialistic experiments, placed him in a fringe in the Fraternity of Shadows. When van Rijn betrayed the Fraternity in 759 BC, Cedric fell under suspicion and scrutiny, and his progress in the Fraternity has been stymied.

For the past two years, Cedric had been investigating strange events in the small Dementlieuse town of Ravienne, which were connected to the Reality Wrinkle of a terrifying Fiendish item.

Shapeshifter

Exposure to the reality wrinkle has caused transformations in Cedric, particularly his eyes, which are round and black like those of a fish. This does not distress him; his experiments have already transformed him permanently, and his true form underneath it all is an amorphous grey mass, like an ooze. The changes from the reality wrinkle are reversible. Moreover, as an ideal shapeshifter he can easily hide any involuntary changes to his appearance.

Statistics

Neutral Evil male human master sage 2 / Transmuter 4 / Druid 5 / Fraternity of Shadows 1 / Master of Many Forms 3