If you were to ask the average citizen who knew Doctor Gunther Totenburg during his life, they’d likely say he had always been around. On further reflection, they might concede that maybe not always, but certainly for several years at least, before admitting that they couldn’t recall exactly when the eccentric scientist had first turned up. It was as if one day he was simply there. In truth, nobody could say for certain when Doctor Totenburg had arrived in Lordaeron, nor could they say from where he came. His strange accent and mannerisms were as enigmatic as the events that were to follow in his wake.
Doctor Totenburg had always been considered somewhat of an oddity amongst his peers in the scientific/medical community in the Eastern Kingdoms. Known as much for his brilliant mind and unconventional medical and technological discoveries as he was for his peculiar mannerisms and way of speaking, the extent of his peculiarity would not be revealed to the general public until the events of his malpractice trial.
Doctor Totenburg had always been fascinated by goblin technology and science, unlike the majority of his human peers who regarded goblins as little more than money grubbing charlatans. Doctor Totenburg would make several trips to Kezan during his lifetime where he spent his time among the leading goblin scientists and engineers studying their mechanical and explosive innovations. In particular, Doctor Totenburg seemed to develop a fascination with kaja’mite and the mental and physiological effects it had on goblins. This fascination would play a significant role in his later malpractice trial. It was during this time that he would meet his goblin laboratory assistant and future codefendant, Professor Hoggle.
Upon his return to his laboratory in Lordaeron with Professor Hoggle, the eccentric Doctor began attracting the wrong kind of attention among the citizens as his behavior and mannerisms became ever more peculiar. There were loud sounds of explosions that would rattle neighboring buildings late into the night, and the neighbors frequently complained of foul smells coming from the building. Things finally came to a head when Totenburg and Hoggle were found digging up a freshly buried corpse in the dead of night, and they were both taken into custody.
After Dr Totenburg’s arrest, the true horror of what had been going on inside his laboratory was beginning to leak to the populace. The police served a search warrant on his home and laboratory and would later testify that the conditions inside were a “house of horrors”. The police reported bodies strewn throughout the lab in various states of composition and decay. Many of the corpses had been outfitted with mechanical augmentations, and some were being kept “alive” via experimental machines and electricity. Several local missing persons were found to be among the “test subjects” in addition to the corpses dug up from the graveyard.
Additionally, there were so many explosives and weapons prototypes found that a special Dwarven bomb squad had to be called in from Ironforge to secure the scene and render it safe for police to begin cataloguing the grotesque experiments. There were indications Doctor Totenburg had been experimenting with kaja’mite on the human brain in order to replicate effects he had seen in goblins. It was unclear as of this writing whether or not the brains were still living when they were removed for experimentation. There was also evidence that Doctor Totenburg had been dabbling in the occult as several banned books on the subject and demonology texts were found inside the house and lab.
During the trial, Doctor Totenburg remained defiant, and insisted he had done nothing wrong, despite the damning testimony of the police and growing outrage amongst the citizens of Lordaeron, many of whom had friends and family among the Doctor’s test subjects. Doctor Totenburg insisted on the stand that he had been acting to advance human understanding of medicine and science and scoffed at any accusation of ethical violations.
As the trial went on, the plague began to sweep through Lordaeron and the trial venue and prison facility housing doctor Totenburg had to be changed several times. Afgter the events at Stratholme, it became apparent that the trial could no longer continue as normal and it was suspended until the plague and scourge could be brought under control. Dr Totenburg was secured to house arrest and under strict orders that he was forbidden from engaging in any continuation of his previous work, but given the situation, the guards were stretched too thin to enforce the ban, and Doctor Totenburg was able to set up a makeshift lab in his quarters.
By this time it was apparent that tainted grain was the main vector for spreading the plague and Doctor Totenburg began experimenting with samples of plague infected grain. He deliberately infected himself, knowing he was facing the gallows if convicted of his crimes and hoping to control his affliction through scientific intervention, but even with every medical precaution, he was overcome by the Lich King’s power and served the scourge until the Lich King’s will was broken and the forsaken emerged to reclaim Lordaeron, and upon regaining his contienceness he was delighted to discover his newly undead state.
Since the rise of the forsaken, Dr Totenburg has reunited with Professor Hoggle and continued his work. He has augmented himself by surgically replacing various parts of his body with mechanical constructs and devices, including his right eye which functions as a camera with a lense that works independently of his “natural” left eye. He is currently working on developing new chemical and explosive weapons technology in addition to experimenting with augmenting biological and mechanical life forms.