Carl Tecumseh Guest

On soft Spring nights I’ll stand in the yard under the stars — Something good will come out of all things yet — And it will be golden and eternal just like that — There’s no need to say another word.
―Jack Kerouac, “Big Sur”

Carl Tecumseh Guest

Statistics
Age 56, Nationality: American, Birthplace: Chillicothe, Ohio 1969.
Song of Ghroth: Second Stanza, Ghroth Points: 11, Mi-Go Conditioning: POW 55.

Combat

Skills
Accounting 5%, Anthropology 15%, Appraise 5%, Archeology 1%, Art/Craft (Photography) 40%, Art/Craft (Drumming) 65%, Charm 15%, Climb 20%, Computer Use 55%, Credit Rating 45%, Cthulhu Mythos 5%, Disguise 5%, Drive Auto 30%, Electrical Repair 35% Electronics 30%, Fast Talk 5%, First Aid 50%, History 45%, Intimidate 15%, Jump 20%, Knowledge (Jazz) 75%, Law 10%, Library Use 45%, Listen 75%, Locksmith 5%, Mechanical Repair 45%, Medicine 5%, Navigate 20%, Natural World 60%, Occult 5%, Operate Heavy Machinery 40%, Operate Radio Telescope 65%, Paranormal Studies 5%, Persuade 55%, Pilot (Boat) 50%, Psychology 35%, Psychoanalysis 1%, Ride 70%, Science (Astronomy) 80%, Science (Astrophysics) 75%, Science (Chemistry) 20%, Science (Geology) 20%, Science (Mathematics) 50%, Science (Physics) 65%, Sleight of Hand 10%, Spot Hidden 45%, Stealth 20%, Survival 40%, Swim 35%, Throw 20%, Track 60%.

Languages: English native

Education
B.S. in Physics and Astronomy from the University of Pittsburgh, 1991
M.S. in Physics from Carnegie Mellon, 1993
Ph.D. in Astrophysical Sciences from Princeton University, 1999

Description

Carl Tecumseh Guest is a stocky but attractive man who favors casual Western wear, cowboy boots, and bolo ties. Even though he’s well into middle age, his thinning hairline has only begun to gray, and he sports a jazzy Van Dyke that sets off his thick black glasses. Guest’s voice is low and neutral, rarely showing any extreme emotions, and his laugh hovers between a bemused snort and a wry chuckle. Guest has a reputation for being genuinely friendly, kind, and personable, and it’s well-known that most visitors to the GPCA prefer speaking to the Assistant Director than to Dr. Neal.

History
Carl Tecumseh Guest was born in Chillicothe, Ohio in 1969. He’s the first child of an unusual union—a former Oakland Black Panther named Oswald Guest and a white reporter named Roberta Starling, originally dispatched to interview the Panthers for a San Francisco newspaper. The two fell in love and moved to Ohio, where Guest helped his brother open a restaurant. Carl was born a year later, and proved to be a precocious boy with an interest in mathematics, astronomy, and music. He learned to play drums at an early age, accompanying his father playing saxophone to vintage jazz albums.

Carl Tecumseh Guest earned a B.S. in Physics and Astronomy from the University of Pittsburgh, then a Master’s in Physics from Carnegie Mellon. It was during grad school that Carl began calling himself “C.T.” After spending six months at home caring for his dying father, Guest relocated to New York City and enrolled in Columbia University’s Ph.D. program for Astronomy and Astrophysics. Settling into a small apartment in Alphabet City, Guest spent a considerable amount of his free time drumming in various jazz groups. Eventually he realized he had to select one path or the other: become a professional drummer or finish his Ph.D. Although his mother favored the former, his more practical sister convinced him to put down the sticks and complete his academic career. Guest relocated to Princeton. Although there were some issues surrounding the transfer of credits, he settled down and was eventually awarded his Ph.D. in 1999.

Having gained the attention and favor of professor David Spergel, Guest’s research included work that would lead to the creation and success of NASA’s Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe. Indeed, Guest’s postdoc research mostly involved the WMAP, work that would often shuttle him between Princeton and the Goddard Space Center in Maryland. Guest’s primary focus involved the craft’s high-electron-mobility transistor low-noise amplifiers, an expertise that brought him into the orbit of the NRAO. In 2005 Guest accepted a position as assistant professor at the University of Arizona, eventually making full professor in 2016. Three years later he was appointed the Assistant Director of the GPCA.

Scientific Work
Guest has published numerous academic papers, mostly involving polarization and signal amplification, the cosmic microwave background radiation (CMBR), fast radio bursts (FRBs), and more recently, brown dwarfs and active galactic nuclei (AGNs).

Personal Life
Dr. Guest was introduced to Peggy Loman at an Arizona University fundraiser. A wealthy socialite with an interest in astronomy, Peggy sent two sons to the University of Arizona, and was recovering from a messy divorce. A friendship blossomed into a romance, and C.T. and Peggy were married in Tucson in 2010. They settled onto the Loman ranch, where Guest developed an unexpected interest in fishing, hunting, and riding horses. When Guest was offered the position at the GPCA, the couple purchased a small ranch near North Platte and renamed it “Tecumseh Ranch.”

The happy couple lived an idyllic, middle-aged life until Peggy was killed by a drunk driver in 2020. The loss devastated Guest, and changed his personality from a genial expansiveness to a quiet, pensive brooding just shy of depression. These days he keeps largely to himself, enjoying the quiet pleasures of horseback riding, big game hunting, and the occasional fishing trip. He owns a Jeep Cherokee and two dirt-bikes, and since Peggy’s death he’s developed a need for speed, often tearing up the roads of McCaine County with no particular destination in mind. Guest also enjoys fine dinners, good wine, and barely-listenable jazz. (His claim to fame is once “sitting in” with Brian Blade.)

Notable Possessions
Guest has many “toys” at his ranch, and he favors well-built things designed to last. He owns several rifles, shotguns, and handguns; but his favorite is a Weatherby Mark V Apex .338 hunting rifle he keeps in his Cherokee.

Reactions to Nemesis

Dr. Guest has yet to decide what he thinks of Nemesis—it could be a brown dwarf, it could be a technostructure; only time and data will tell.

Guest’s Delusions
So far Dr. Guest has not developed any Ghroth-related delusions. Indeed, he’s almost moved in the opposite direction, and has been experiencing worrisome feelings of self-doubt. What if so much of our so-called knowledge is just….wrong? While these feelings have not reached a crisis point, Guest finds it increasingly more difficult to focus at work, and finds himself enjoying weekends spent cleaning his guns, brushing his horses, and tying flies while listening to Art Blakey LPs. On the other hand, he really enjoys Thursday night sonifications, and damn if Jenny’s “music” isn’t waking something dead inside him. Why, a few weeks ago he began drumming again, picking up a particular rhythm he’d like to discuss with Jenny…

Episodes
Guest’s Ghroth-related episodes tend towards anxiety, lethargy, and melancholy. He is not prone to violence. If Guest accumulates enough Ghroth Points to push him to the Third Stanza, he may begin hearing—or even seeing!—the ghost of his dead wife. And just what Peggy has to say is between her, C.T., and the Keeper.

GPCA Relationships
Guest has become increasingly more troubled by Neal’s growing monomania, and has adapted by stepping in to handle more day-to-day affairs at the GPCA. These additional administrative duties have come into conflict with his own increased desire to unplug and spend time at the ranch. The overall effect has been pushing Guest towards a quiet melancholy—at times, he feels like he’s just fading away. Guest likes Harlan Bennett just fine, but feels envious of his colleague’s happy family. He avoids Mancini—the woman is just too intense—but enjoys talking to most of the operators. He’s struck up an easy friendship with Freddie Pike, who’s helped Guest “get into” the Beats, and has even visited Tecumseh Ranch. Mason’s a little much and Jackie’s an annoying jerk, but Jenny’s not so bad. Electronic music might not be his cup of tea, but Guest enjoys talking to Jenny about music. He’s even familiar with her aunt’s work with John Zorn!

The Role of C.T. Guest

Of all the members of the Nemesis Team, C.T. Guest is the one most likely to be persuaded that something is very wrong at the GPCA. He’s not suffering from any particular delusions, he has no real stake in Nemesis or SETI, and his recent fascination with the Beats has opened his mind to more outré ideas. If the player characters can penetrate Guest’s feelings of lassitude and melancholy, they may find a useful ally. On the other hand, if they push him too far, Guest may start viewing them as “additional worries” best removed from his already burdened soul.

Notes and Inspirations

If Bible Black were a movie, Carl Tecumseh Guest would be played by the great Jeffrey Wright, who’s pensive scientists Beetee and Bernard Lowe were both inspirations for Guest’s characterization in this scenario.

Bible Black > NPC Profiles
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Author: A. Buell Ruch (Based on work by Kevin A. Ross)
Last Modified: 3 November 2025
Email: quail (at) shipwrecklibrary (dot) com
Bible Black PDF: [TBD]