Gentry

Changeling: Gentry

Gentry's Name        Describe the general attitude, approaches, focuses and concerns of this Keeper. Realm: Wherein one defines their realm of the Keeper in question. Common Seemings: Which of the Seemings were quite common. Uncommon Seemings: Which of the Seemings were not very common, or not present. Escapees: The player, with [[ ]] on each side of their name. The August Shrike        This cruel warlord takes a predatory delight in seeking out broken warriors amongst the mortals, taking them at their nadir and twisting them to his will by whatever means he judges fit. Though possessed of cunning, his infatuation is to constantly poke and tear at the boundaries of other Realms, seeking worthy opponents amongst the Gentry and hurling his creations against them until they relent. He seems to care for little else but war and pain, though a few who have betrayed him and survived can attest that he exhibits much the same passion for vengeance - when he isn't otherwise preoccupied. His methods inspire a slavish loyalty, and his soldiers who have escaped typically do so because they have been driven beyond psychosis, comprehending their own loss of self and the inevitable destruction that awaits them in the Shrike's service. Realm: The Thornfields are a land of decaying castles, blood-tainted rivers, and thorny overgrowth, the ashen hills littered with the impaled and burning forms of failed defectors. Between his incessant warring with other Realms, the Shrike runs 'training maneuvers' that are little more than bloody free-for-alls between his own misbegotten wretches. Common Seemings: Beasts, Elementals, Ogres. Uncommon Seemings: Darklings. He's uninterested in those with no great love or ability for physical violence. Escapees: Andréia Behind-The-Curtain Pay no attention, that's how you avoid getting caught. Behind-The-Curtain is both Keeper and Realm, with many associated Titles, many of which are Keepers themselves. It is a dark shadow of human civilization overlaid with the fruits of conspiracy and occultism made real. A world waiting for the stars to be right, for unfathomable horrors to rise up from the seas, where power and madness walk hand in hand and can be glimpsed, can be seized, if one just puts together the right clues, rolls over the right stones. There is always more than meets the eye, always another terrible secret truth, and all of it will hurt you, twist you, change you just for the knowing of it, for the seeing of it. Sometimes just mentally, but sometimes very physically. Those most at risk for abduction have analytical minds. Not necessarily intelligence, but a willingness to pay attention, to examine and extrapolate, to dive deeper beneath the surface knowledge and see how inner workings fit together, how parts come together into a whole and the whole is divisible into parts. It does not distinguish between brilliance and idiocy, so long as they are willing to ask the next question, follow the chain of "logic" to the next step. The neurodivergent are also common victims, as is anyone who's perception of the world is notably different from the norm, either physically or mentally. Common Seemings: Darklings, Ogres, Wizened Uncommon Seemings: None. One can find anything Behind-The-Curtain, though often in unexpected forms. Escapees: Rachel The Crone / The Witch in Shadow        The Keeper known as 'The Crone' or 'The Witch in Shadow' rules from her cottage-maze in the woods. The Crone epitomizes stereotypical legends of the fairytale witch, often embellishing in the imagery and appearance within her dark realm.        She lures and takes children and younger adults, both, with a penchant for focusing on those who feel left out of attention by their own parents. Orphans and middle children are often her favorites! Realm: The Cottage in the Woods is a maze-like realm of cottage rooms, dark cellars, and thorny woods that perpetually exists in darkness. The Crone comes and goes from her realm, often locking her children up when she isn't present. Common Seemings: Darklings, Ogres, Wizened Uncommon Seemings: Beasts, Elementals, Fairest Escapees: Mae Faraway-and-True        Her name is now Faraway-and-True, and she writes her stories in the stars and hangs the suns and planets with reckless abandon. After lifetimes of creative endeavors fell short, she went to the faraway places and came back strong and strange. She's been sharing her vision with the captives collected by her Meteorfen, the chosen kidnappers she holds in such high regard, and those who endure her focus come to suffer isolation, madness and the loss of self-indentity in ways which curdle the soul. She is as pitiless as she is brilliant, and her knowledge is icy and remorseless. Yet she can not stop smiling. After all, she can dance under the moon as often as she wants, wherever she goes. Realm: Her realm, The Astrolabe of Forges, is an orrey of seemingly-endless moons and stars, each one just barely visible and silent to one another, further compounding the terror of the place. When she visits her prizes, they can expect to be modified in cruel, heartless fashions, and sometimes, not often, she has a Grand Convocation, in which the heavenly bodies are aligned, and the real nightmares begin. Common Seemings: Fairest, Darklings, Elementals Uncommon Seemings: Ogres, Beasts, Wizened Escapees: Sebastian The Indulgence        Describe the general attitude, approaches, focuses and concerns of this Keeper. Realm: "Don't take candy from strangers" - especially when they are Gentry. Dissatisfied children on their favorite night as it comes to an end will sometimes run from their own family on Halloween. Once lured to a kingdom of endless sweets, where the crops, the rivers, and sky itself were all made of candy. The gluttonous little goblins are made into princes and princesses of this land, and allowed to feast all of its delicious bounties, as well as its delectable subjects. In the end, they can not resist nibbling on the courtiers they become most fond of, and eventually gobbled them all up. Even their screams were delicious. Such is life in the Big Rock Candy Mountain. Common Seemings: Ogres, Fairest, and Elementals (with food-related themes, such as being crafted from food or served as cookware) Uncommon Seemings: Darklings; Beasts (other than sugar-eaters or vermin types); Wizened (other than cooks and servers) Escapees: Candy The Jarl of Blood and Snow        Brutality above reason, honor above merit, and his will above all else. A tyrant in every sense of the concept. Realm: Jotanheim, the hoarfrost hellhole realm run by the Jarl of Blood and Snow, is a place where death and cold come in equal measure and severity. The memories who are most often retained by escapees are of endless winter, harsh combat and brutal living conditions. Common Seemings: Just about any seeming is possible there, but it will be the most brutal version, such as Worg Beasts, Ice and Snow Storm Elementals, alfaer Fairest. Uncommon Seemings: Any of the "softer" formats, such as Antiquarian and Rabbit Beasts. Only the tough are likely to survive long. Escapees: Kase Queen of Feathers        The Queen of Feathers is a decadent ruler concerned with her own pleasure and surrounding herself with the exotic and beautiful. Ruling from her palace in the sky, the Court of Birds, she considers herself above most of the petty politicking and rumormongering. Though she does enjoy it when it happens at her frequent balls and parties. She is a Lady of excess, hedonism, and egocentrism and her chosen are beaten down to serve her and always see themselves as far beneath her.        She takes those who she feels can add to the overall beauty of her realm, and seeks those with some natural talent. Either good looks, an artist's skills, or even those who would make particularly good servants and know how to stay out of the way. As her name implies, many of those taken by her display feathers or avian features in some manner, and bright sometimes garish colors. Realm: The Court of Birds is a palace of gold set among the clouds, with beautiful gardens, wild menageries, and extravagant art. Those who dwell here either add to the beauty, or take care of it. Common Seemings: Beasts (Avian or Avian-like), Elementals (Air, Light), Fairest, Wizened Uncommon Seemings: Ogres, Darklings Escapees: Elias, Loreley The Swarmkeeper        Hunger and spite, wrapped in chitin, with a swarm of legs and mandibles, surrounded by a ravenous horde of once-humans. This is the Swarmkeeper, and its domain is all dark tunnels, moist primordial forests, and filled with the constant hum of wings, and the gnawing of the jaws of the Swarm. Realm: The Deeps are an endless maze of dark tunnels, broken occasionally by primordial landscapes: ancient forests, fungal meadows, sullen magma pools, and eternal night. Insects and arachnids of all types - real and unreal - scuttle and hide in every shadow. It is a bug-eat-bug world in the Deeps, and the once-human here learn to hunt and kill and eat...or be hunted, killed, and eaten in turn. Of course, even being devoured doesn't end their imprisonment; when the Swarmkeeper desires, all the dead rise again to begin the cycle once more. It's a primal, vicious, competitive place where the residents are reduced to their basest natures. Common Seemings: Beasts are by far the most common. Darklings and Elementals on occasion. Uncommon Seemings: Fairest are entirely unknown, and Wizened are vanishingly rare. Escapees: Solomon The Wildwoods Aunt        All she ever wanted was the perfect day. Realm: The Cottage is a sprawling maze of half-finished hedges in need of further trimming, lapsed projects and endless chores, all of them subtly deforming the landscape. The perimeter is guarded by the Grand Hives, which serve as both listening posts for surveillance as well as working spaces, with her subjects forever collecting honey from bees disinclined to allow it often or for long. Common Seemings: Beasts (especially feline), Wizened (for focused work), Elementals Uncommon Seemings: Darklings, Fairest (she loathes competition), Ogres Escapees: Kellas The Game Master        The Game Master wears many faces, but all seek to draw in those who will provide the best challenge or entertainment to their favorites or their guests. The realm shifts appearances depending on the Game. Sometimes it is a foreboding forest. A lonely isolated stretch of road with darkened dwellings few and far between. The alleys and rooftops of a strange city. A decrepit but large house. Some are taken because in their heart, they’ve always wanted to Hunt. Others are taken because either outwardly or in some hidden way, they won’t be easy quarry. But it’s the fear and pain and terror, along with the wild abandon of victory, that feeds the Game Master of the most dangerous game.        They’ll play it over and over again, changing the place where the hunters stalk and give chase and the hunted seek to make it through to the dawn. Sometimes the Game Master even joins in to prowl and pursue alongside his favorites, and rewards them slowly with honing them physically and emotionally into the ravenous and hungry predators or the tireless companions that they wish their attendants to be. Others that impress the Game Master by their will to survive are rewarded by shaping them into quarry that lures only to turn the tables on the predators–or will give the greatest sport. Shadows and lurkers that lead the prey astray, or harry the hunters. Those to become the environment of the game itself. The Game Master has need for many, to sate the desires and bloodlust for their guests. And they keep the tally of their triumphs and endings writ in ledgers of paper, flesh, and stone. Common Seemings: Beasts, Ogres, Darklings, Elementals Uncommon Seemings: Fairest, Wizened (neither are impossible) Escapees: Razi, Fiametta, Ted Timber Sledge        His domain is an endless market, wherein the Slaves to Fashion and the Peasants of Plenty must march through endless heaps and piles of discarded clothing, skins and bones, assembling the New Bargains. At the end of every day, the New Bargains are either destroyed and returned to their component form - or used as dressing dummies for the next round of punishments to be inflicted, guiding the hand of Timber Sledge to mutilate his newest captives. Realm: The Salt Hills Forever Mines - inaccurately named with the intent of making the situation of finding the place all the worse. Just another of Timber Sledge's "fun" lies. Common Seemings: Darklings, Wizened, Beasts. Uncommon Seemings: Ogres, Fairest, Elementals (except for fabric-based examples). Escapees: Sonny, Ben