Mentor, Headmaster, Supporting Character - Ryba U

• Headmaster Ryba


• Doc


• Dr. Peter Jonathan Ryba

Male

53

5'10"

Salt-and-pepper, mostly pepper

Fluffy, Curly hair, cut about 2-3 inches from the scalp.

mostly clean-shaven, but keeps a tiny bit of stubble, moreso around the chin/mustache area.

Dark Brown

Polish-American Alphan Alphan

Pale tan

Average build

Comfy suits. Plain rectangular glasses with black wire frames. Shoes are typically brown leather loafers.

• moves his hands a lot when speaking, especially when explaining something.


• when angry: becomes very firm. Movements are less loose, hands don't move as much, if at all. Hands fold often.


• when sad: he doesn't really show it, aside from going very quiet. He might stare off into the distance/zone out a lot.


• when scared: again, doesn't show much, but his eyes do widen slightly, and he starts pleading (or praying, if there's no one for him to plead to).


• when in conflict: frustrated composing-myself face a lot when arguing. Also generally plays the part of leader.


• when happy: very relaxed, slight smile, eyes may close.

He wants to help Alphans learn. Some believe he is also driven by guilt at a failed student, but it is unknown if this is true, or who it could be, as all known records of the student have been destroyed.

naturally secretive, doesn't like to tell his students things. He can also get overly obsessed with some scientific thing he's working on and completely disregard others (thoughts, feelings, existence, etc). Very near-sighted, and not very fast/had already started to lose his mobility by the time his power finally manifested, which means he can't move very fast. Can be a bit stubborn, as well. Also, he thinks out loud a lot, and doesn't always realize how much he's been talking.
Also, while he's very focused and meticulous at work, at home, he is anything but.

He's old enough, and has met enough students, that he's lost any prejudices he used to have.

• Extremely Smart


• Biology


• Alphan Study

Pretty organized, soft-spoken, usually pretty nice. Not an absent-minded professor (though quite a mess at home). Very scientific. Most of his students see him as wise, and go to him for advice.

He doesn't fear death, though some say he does. He meerly knows there's more he can do in this world, so why waste time dying?

He is, however, afraid of failing his students. He's done that once, and he doesn't want to do it again.

No discernible Polish accent nowadays, though he can put one on if the needed arises. Uses large words, and a lot of science-y terms/comparisons.

High intellence, IQ of 137.

Jewish (not practicing)

Democrat, though he's pretty far removed from politics, nowadays. In Poland, he was fairly supportive of the government.

Scientist, Professor, Head of Ryba Academy.

Red/Yellow

He really likes oatmeal, actually, and he likes to fill it with apples, cinnamon, and chocolate chips.

He's working on a neat little ray gun, like the kind you'd see in sci fi movies and video games, which he is particularly fond of. No telling how successful he's been, but he's certainly been having fun with it.

Squirrels

• Inventing


• Teaching


• Model building (out of wood, usually)


• Reading (science books, mainly, though he also secretly enjoys noir and romance novels).


• Studying/Experimenting

• 
  Mr. Calvin: Dr. Ryba is one of the few people Merlin is even MARGINALLY willing to open up to. Their history is thus far unknown. Ryba is technically Merlin's (or, for a student, Mr. Calvin's) boss, but they treat each other like equals (as well they should, Merlin is far older and more experienced than Ryba is).

Occasionally, if he is SURE no one is watching, he will jam out to rap music. He listens to classical while working.

He is part of a scientist's social media page, where he is fairly popular. He makes progress posts of various experiments and projects. He also has a BondHub, though he is not as active on that.

• English


• Polish

March 15th

• Bachelor's in Biology, plus a Master's and Doctorate in Alphan Biology.

Peter Jonathan Ryba led a normal life. Inspired by his father's work, he went to college to study Alphans, and graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Biology, after which he pursued a Master's, and eventually a Doctorate, in Alphan Biology.

He met his wife while working on his Bachelor's degree. She was a junior, a human, at an all-girls college, working to become a psychologist. They married soon after they both graduated, before Ryba went back to school to receive his master's. During his time studying for this degree, and later for his doctorate degree, he took a second job as an assistant at a research facility studying Alphans.

In 2004, Dr. Ryba had a new Alphan student come in, a freshman. No one aside from Ryba himself (and a few other faculty who were there at the time) knows exactly what happened, as all official records of the story have been hidden away or destroyed. Most students know there was some strange thing that happened around that time, but none know the real story, and none who were there will speak of it.

Nowadays, Ryba spends most of his time either teaching (he also teaches classes at nearby universities from time to time), studying/experimenting, or otherwise running the school.

NYC, in a larger apartment in a more spacious part of town.

Him and his wife have a little terrier dog named Max, whom they call "Maxy."

• Wife: Loving in her own way. They like to tease each other. She works as a psychologist, and yet, despite both of their work lives being so busy, they still find time for each other.


• Mrs. Ryba: She makes sure he takes care of himself. She's also as nosy as possible when it comes to school affairs, and he's often caught her listening in on his meetings with various people. She'll often come in during the meeting and offer them cookies and tea and scones and such (she makes a mean strawberry scone), at which point Peter will suggest she stay, explaining in a light-hearted tone that if he doesn't invite her in, she'll just listen at the door anyway. She still gives him advice, as well, and is always willing to help him deal with any problems he might have, especially related to the school.

Upper class, though they live a fairly average life.

slight trouble walking

Beginning stages of arthritis

Coal Dust (he figured this out the hard way on a trip to PA in his 20s)

Just generic health medications. He has an allergy medication he can take if he thinks he will run into coal dust, though he doesn't take it every day.

"Oh, dear. What on earth...?" And then he'd probably take it in to his wife, and they'd discuss what to do.

He'd chuckle, and say that he's a bit too old for laser tag.

Very well, if that is what you wish. I hope, one day, you will change your ways.

He'd write down the basics of it, maybe play with it a little. If he went through with writing it, it would probably just be a time killer/hobby type thing, not an obsession.

He'd probably squat down and talk to it, maybe check it over a bit. If necessary, he'd take it with him.

Hmmm... he'd try to figure out whether they're being genuine or not, and what they want. If it's not too much, he'll give it to them, no problem. If they haven't changed a bit, then he'll have one of his students or staff secure them somewhere. If it seems they genuinely want to help, he'll hear them out.

He doesn't fight, and he'd politely tell them that. If they asked why, he'd tell them, "Because I'm old, I'm a scientist, and I've got things I have to do. If you're itching for a fight that badly, there's a martial arts studio down the street, or a gym that offers boxing lessons around the corner.

Probably a bit of an awkward (for the stranger, at least) "I'm sorry, I'm married" and show his ring, or something along those lines. He'd wish them luck in finding love and happiness, though.

"Execute an evacuation drill, immediately! Only students who are members of the SSF (delayed note - I assume this stands for "Student Safety Force," or something along those lines. I apparently didn't write it down originally) are permitted to stay in the school. All students, please avoid [locations X, Y, Z] if at all possible.

He'd stand it. Let them listen to what they want to, he can put on something else later.

Raised eyebrows, a "hmm. Interesting costume." Maybe a chuckle. Maybe.

"Why, thank you very much."

"I'm sorry, dear, I don't know what happened." His wife would forgive him, of course.

Of course, the likelihood of that happening is practically zero, simply due to how much money they make from the school.

Get his wife out, first and foremost.

A startle at first, and then an "oh, just a spider." Then he'd go take it outside.

He'd have a little more trouble getting around, but honestly, he'd be pretty okay with it. He's old, a scientist and a teacher, not a young fighter.

"It can't be much different than running a school, right?"

WRONG. It's so much bigger, and there's so much more paperwork, and not nearly as much time, or money, or...

Yeah, he'd stress out pretty quickly if he became the leader of the country.

Maybe a TINY eye roll, or he might chuckle anyway. Or, he might just stay silent.

"Oh, dear." He'd try to find the owner ASAP. If it was on school grounds, he'd probably give it to public safety, or call the owner to the office. If there was no name, he'd simply say there was a wallet found, and to collect it, the owner had to come to the office and describe it.

He'd want to go, being a scientist and all, but his wife isn't really all that fond of the idea of space travel, and he has a school to run, so in the end, he probably wouldn't go unless his wife pushed him to go without her (which would be a real possibility, but they would video chat every night, and possibly during the day, as well).

His sense of smell. All of the other ones, you can constantly experience new things with (except touch, that's just generally useful to have), but, being a scientist, he's smelled some downright AWFUL things in his lifetime, and it'd be nice to be able to avoid those.

He'd actually do pretty well, which would surprise many of his students.

No, he wouldn't. He can eat factory-grown meat just fine, and he likes veggies.

HA. He's not much of a runner. He'll walk a marathon (or, try to, anyway), but he won't get very far

"Is everyone alright? what's going on?" as he's walking over to investigate.

His wife keeps a stash of clean clothes for him in her bottom drawer just for this occasion. He may be meticulous at work, but at home... not so much.

Hmm. He'd probably think it's strange, and most definitely be aware of the dangers/inaccuracies presented in the books. Either way, he wouldn't enjoy it very much.

"If you need a ride, get in."

Pick it up, put it outside.

Dial 911, hit the green button, and THEN say "Leave them alone, I'm calling the police."

Highly unlikely, considering his ability, but if he WERE going to die, he'd probably say something along the lines of "I'm old. It was bound to happen eventually."

Hmm, difficult choice. On one hand, being loved is obviously more pleasurable, but on the other hand, it's difficult to run a school if no one respects you. To have real authority, you need to be respected. But, if no one loves you, is that really such a great existence? Can you even have one without the other?

A bit of sadness, maybe. Honestly, like the crippled thing, he's old, and not that active, anyway, so it wouldn't really affect him that much.