Gavin Kothman

Waifish

Hodgkin's Disease

Depends on the situation.
Everyday wear: Tweed suit jacket over t-shirt, slacks.

Social Events: High fashion men's clothing that he looks extremely uncomfortable in.

Gavin Kothman has always been a bit of an odd duck.  A scion of the wealthy Kothman family of Octant Aphrodite, his grandfather Hubert and his grandmother Agnes were both pioneers in cyberware anti-rejection pharmaceuticals and both his father Edgar (Cybernetic Engineer) and his mother Martina (Surgeon) work as professors in the Department of Medicine at the University of Apollo.  For all the medical training in his family, complications during his pregnancy left him chronically ill, sickly and wan.  

As a child Gavin always had an odd fascination with Elves, Dwarves, Orcs, and Trolls, probably because he was so sick and they were always so strong and healthy.  He spent countless hours pestering the ones working for Kothman Industries asking what it was like to be one, particularly the advantages that they had over humans.  It earned him no small amount of scoldings, a few cuffs about the head, and one near beating when he got a little too aggressive in his questioning.  Luckily, being small and pitiable played in his favor.

As he grew older, he began to formulate theories about why these adaptions had occurred.  As he learned, he grew more and more swayed by the proponents of the Follies of Man theory of The Change.  The Follies of Man provided a theory that had actual, measurable, and testable theories that could hopefully be reproduced with enough study and experimentation.  Genetic markers and changes triggered by environmental or experimental factors was the simplest and cleanest hypothesis.  The Fundaments of Magic theory provided no actual testable hypotheses, just "Vibes" and "Feelings".  The Flaws of Memory was even worse, being little more than a romanticizing of fragments and hazy retellings of Ancient literature.  

His theories led him into genetics.  Finally given real freedom to pursue his own scholastic desires and a bonafide reason to avoid his social obligations, he threw himself into academic life at the University of Apollo.  While the vast majority of his time was spent working towards his Medicine major, he did manage some time to take a number of seminars and classes relevant to metahumanity, including one on the Fundaments of Magic theory (*gag*), one on the Faults of Memory theory (*hurk*), a few on Horrors (origins, theories, and impacts), and some general magic theory.

These days, Gavin runs a small lab at the University of Apollo with his assistant Marisa, searching the genomes of metahumanity.  Their goal is to discover the genetic triggers for the various physiological advantages some metahumans possess.  If they can, it should be possible to trigger that mutation with the right therapies.  With enough data, we might be able to trigger the markers for the genetic advantages without triggering a transformation to a full variant genome.  This is not entirely altruistic, as he hopes that one day he can cure his disease by triggering the appropriate mutations.

After reading a number of ark runner expedition accounts, Gavin has decided that some of the secrets of metahumanity may be secreted in the ruins of the Arks.  He's embarked on a training regimen so that he won't be a complete liability if he can find an Ark exploration team willing to let him tag along.

Recently, Gavin’s parents have reminded him that the Kothman name is not just money and privilege.  He has social responsibilities that he has been ignoring for far too long, and they require him to attend to them.

Male

Heterosexual

Doctor of Medicine from the University of Apollo

Geneticist, University of Apollo

Highly focused

Ethical in experimentation.

Discover the genetic triggers for metahumanity adaptions

Likes:  Metahumans, Fellow Scientists, people willing to listen to science.

Dislikes:  Fundaments of Magic zealots, Flaws of Memory militants

Immaculate

Father - Dr. Edgar Kothman - Professor of Cybernetic Engineering at University of Apollo, Kothman Industries board member.

Mother - Dr. Martina Kothman - Professor of Surgery at the University of Apollo.

Follies of Man - Good theory, with actual testable hypotheses.

Fundaments of Magic - Vibes and Feelings. No actual data.

Flaws of Memory - Baseless romanticization of Ancient literature fragments.

Minimal.  Gets by in high society functions talking about his work until people either become engaged or get bored and leave.

Filthy Rich