Claude Werst's Questionnaire

Claude lives on the outskirts of Boston so that he has an easy commute to his work at Harvard University. Although he did not grow up in a large city, and cities aren't his preference, the amount of knowledge present at a university as well known as Harvard well outweighs the negatives. At Harvard, he is able to find the resources, facilities, and people to pursue the goal of understanding the things from beyond. This includes his observatory which he is able to peer into the unknown void of space. Thankfully, the observatory is also located on the outskirts, away from all the chaos of the city, where he can conduct his research, and not so kosher experiments, in private.

As an employee at the University of Harvard, and a prestigious professor of Astronomy at that, he receives the majority of his income from their payroll. It is not too much money, but enough to live comfortably. However, to fund his more "private" research, he usually has to pay out of his own bank account leaving him with even less money. He has resorted to doing side jobs in order to gain the extra funds he needs to investigate the unknown. These can range from giving talks at random conventions to leaking university secrets. However, it will all be worth it when Claude can uncover the truth.

Ever since Claude came into contact with beings from beyond the stars, he began to see vision of unknown eldritch horrors in his dreams, and it terrified him. If these entities from beyond ever decided to attack humanity, they would stand no chance. So he made it his mission to understand these beings, their intensions, and if necessary, how to defeat them no matter what.

In his mind, there is no cost too great. What is one life compared to saving all lives? He would is willing to risk his body and mind to achieve his goals, even if others would not call his methods ethical. He did not need to be liked, he only needed the proof that these being existed and the threat they possess. Then they too will understand and be on his side.

Claude was up late one evening in his observatory watching the stars. He doesn't normally stay up this late but the sky had a strange slightly red hue that he hadn't seen before. He then noticed a large pinkish mass in the sky that looked to be the size of a planet. it moved across the sky at a speed far faster than any planet should and then suddenly stopped completely. It began to rotate in place, revealing a giant unblinking eye on the surface of the "planet". It continued rotating until it was staring directly at Claude. In that instant, there was a flash of red light and he heard an inhuman scream; his head seared with pain as the scream was accompanied a cacophony of a thousands voices crying and begging for help.

And then it was over. It stopped as quickly as it began. And the entity in the sky was nowhere to be seen.

Although Claude tends to keep to himself after the incident, there are a handful individuals that he trusts.

The first one, and the one he is closest to, is his assistant Bernard. Bernard is a young post-grad that studied under Claude for many years. Claude has never told him about his more private research as he is afraid that this knowledge would break someone so young and inexperienced. Even so, Bernard ties to help Claude in any way he can even if he does not fully understand some of Claude's requests and even if they are a bit unorthodox. Bernard worries about Claude's mental health and the affects of his secret research and makes frequent attempts to help him relax, usually to no avail.

The second person is his contact for illicit goods, Crazy Ivan. Ivan is, as his nickname implies, has an odd personality. He too is convinced that he has "seen things" but refuses to elaborate. Regardless, he has been a reliable source for more Claude's outlandish requests that are sometimes required for his research.

Lastly, is his father, Samuel. His father is the reason Claude got into astrology in the first place and instilled his sense of exploration and discovery. Ever since the incident, Claude has been distant and hasn't called home nearly as often, which has his father woried.

Claude had a relatively uneventful childhood. He grew up in a rural Texas with his parents. He was an only child. His father was always supportive of Claude's sense of adventure and one day bought him a telescope. Regularly, he would gaze up into the stars with awe and vowed to become an astrologist so that he can learn more about space. Unfortunately, his wish came true in a way he did not expect.

Claude performed exceptionally well in school, always at the top of his class. Although his family wasn't very wealthy, he earned many scholarships allowed him to pursue his academic career and attend Harvard where he eventually earn his PhD in astrology. He continued his career at Harvard and accepted a professor position. Growing up, other students were jealous of Claude's intellect and he had trouble making many friends growing. Even still, he found a few friends in the chess club and other nerdy groups.

For the most part, Claude has been hyper focused on his studies and then his research. He did not allow himself time too much time to go out and meet people. However, there was one time around 5 years ago where he did meet a girl at a astrology conference. She was smart and also had a passion for astrology and academia. For the first time in his life, he allowed himself to enjoy life outside of his work. Unfortunately, it was short lived. 4 months after dating, Claude had his encounter with the entity. He redoubled all his effort into his research making up excuses for why he could not hang out with her. Eventually, they stopped talking altogether and the relationship fell apart. To Claude, this might be for the best. He couldn't afford distractions.

After witnessing those otherworldly creatures while at his observatory, they quickly became his greatest fear; and his obsession. Should those creatures decide to invade the earth, humans would be powerless to stop them. Everything he knew and loved would be gone. And to that end, he will do anything to stop them, even if it means crossing boundaries that many believe should never be crossed.

What is even more tragic is that he is seldom able to relax and escape his fears. Every night, he dreams of these terrible creatures, of places that defy the laws of physics, of memories that are not his own. 

However, Claude strongly believes that the only way he can defeat these monsters to learn from them and face them head on. Even if witnessing these things from beyond the void would drive most men mad, he will have to endure, he has to. For he believes that no one but him is strong enough to defeat the creature from beyond and is willing to sacrifice everything to that end. In the end, he's fears have completely consumed him and has become his entire life.

For if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.

Previous to his encounter with the great beyond, Claude was a simple man who didn't care too much about material objects. As long as he had his job as a professor, the funding to continue researching, and his observatory to study the stars, he was perfectly content. After witnessing those mysterious monsters in the sky, his access to be able to view the stars became that much more important. Without his observatory, without access to university resources, he would be extremely limited in what he could do to find those monsters again. Being a professor, he is able to disguise his obsession with understanding these creatures as mundane research and most staff would not ask too many questions.

Another possession that Claude holds dear, are his drawings from his nightmares. When Claude would experience his usual nightmares, he would attempt to draw them from memory. Unfortunately, many times he would forget details about what he saw and would have incomplete pictures but a rare few times, he would be able to draw complete, horrifying depictions of his visions. These pictures end up being the focus of his dark research.

Well, Claude has quite a bit of problems at the moment with the nightmares and the monsters from beyond potentially wiping out all of humanity. However, the biggest most immediate problem is trying to keep his occult research a secret from those who do not understand. There are many within the university that would not understand the important work he is doing and would call him crazy and worst case scenario, get his professor status revoked. Without university resources, he would not be able to continue his research and find a way to beat those hellish out worldly beasts.

He must keep most of his notes in his home, away from prying eyes, while making it seem like he is performing regular astronomy research while at the university or at his observatory. One day he will make them all understand, they may even join him, but today is not that day. Not yet.

Claude usually has a habit of staying up late so that he may properly observe the stars at night and write down anything he saw. In addition, most nights are not very restful on account of the nightmares of void beasts and alien planes of existence that plague him. As a result, Claude wakes up fairly late in the morning. If there is something interesting from his nightmares that he still remembers, he will quickly write or draw them in his journal. Afterwards, he will go to his favorite coffee shop down the street and order something with a double shot of espresso and a pastry. Finally, he drives to work, which could be either the university or the observatory depending on what work he needs to do that day. Unfortunately, he can't do most of his work during the day since the stars aren't out yet, but he can still review his notes.

Claude doesn't really like to go to large fancy events where there are a lot of people. He much prefers the peace and quiet of being alone or with a small group of people. If he has to go those large events, then he prefers to wear something low key and doesn't really want to stand out much. Claude owns a single black suit that has seen too much use. The only bit of flair he adds to his outfit is a tie with many planets on it. The tie was given to him as a gift from a former student that complained that Claude's outfit was too boring.

Since Claude doesn't really care much about his appearance, it doesn't take him too long to get ready. He kinda just shows up as he is and doesn't really care what other people think. He'll just show up for the minimum amount that is needed and leave.