The Unworthy
As the malformed, unnatural product of one of Bronzanti's attempts to clone a new body for himself, Castor is perhaps Bronzanti's most successful failure. For this reason, he became both the object of his master's favour... and his utmost contempt.
Castor was born mentally capable, but ugly, misshapen, and lame. Perhaps this was due to an imperfect process, or to the destructive effects of the magical Warp Sickness that had permeated every cell of Bronzanti's body. In any case, Bronzanti's early experiments in cloning yielded many unviable results... and one marginably viable one. To this one he gave the name Castor.
Judging that Castor's mind was at least a pale echo of his own, and so was capable of grasping some small portion of his genius, Bronzanti made the clone the steward of his subterranean laboratories and sanctum. Here Castor assisted Bronzanti in his experiments, and performed the maintenance of his infernal machines. Here he lived unseen, hidden far underground, and away from the light of the sun.
Castor's physical flaws also cursed him to live within a suit of stout, strangely-proportioned armour. In spite of his stooped frame and mostly useless limbs, this clockwork armour allowed him to move about somewhat normally, and perform the tasks his creator set before him.
This armour also hid his face behind a brass mask -- for even as Castor proved useful to Bronzanti, the old wizard had no stomach to see himself reflected in the twisted mirror Castor represented.
Description
Castor's face is odd-looking, like a human visage distorted by caricature. He has large ears, a beaky nose, and beady mismatched eyes. He is mostly bald with patchy tufts of hair here or there. His skin is thin and shrivelled, but it is difficult to assess his true age -- as easily sixty as twenty.
In his mechanical armour, he stands just under five feet tall. The true extent of Castor's deformation is mostly hidden beneath his brassy shell, but it is clear that his proportions are stunted, with a hunched, bulbous body, and perhaps little more than vestigial limbs.
As with Bronzanti's automatons, there is a degree of finish and flourish on Castor's armour, with particular detail in the design of the hands to allow for the required precision in handling lab materials or attending to Castle Dreist's machinery. As well, the armour likely makes use of a gyroscopic stabilizer, allowing it to ambulate smoothly. It also features a mechanism that permits the wearer to self-wind the motors.
The Fall of Castle Dreist
Taking pity on Castor, the Tyrson Company spared his life. In return, he led them into the old rail tunnels under Donnerquelle, and together they all escaped the final destruction of Castle Dreist in an aging steam-driven rail-engine.
The engine made it as far as a fissure in the Wenden Highlands, some fifty leagues from the Nimmerendes. Offered the chance to accompany the Tyrson Company back to Auspenstadt and begin a new life, Castor declined. He stated that because he was just a failed copy of another being, he would never feel worthy to live among “real" people. Instead, he asked them only to leave him in solitude, so he might ponder the question of how he should live... or die.
