Re: The Unseen Veil - {OOC & Sign-Up}
My apologies for the double-post, but this is a monstrously large template...
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"Who remembers that it was not always so?" Silly question; soon enough, everyone will!
Name: Gwydion Cygfa (“
gwee-dee-awn
keeg-fuh”, sometimes pronounced “
kəg-fuh”)
Age: Several hundred years, having lost exact count some time ago
Gender: Male
Family: Fairy-esque Human
Appearance: Having existed in Faerie for at least four centuries,
Gwydion Cygfa is more often taken to be a Fairy than a former human. His profession, combined with the enchanting effects of the realm, have altered his soul in such a way that he can be considered human in name only.
Mocking green eyes are set beneath a pair of feathery eyebrows, whose points nearly align with the corners of Cygfa's mouth. That curled smile—cheerful, yet mischievous—is so wide that it nearly splits his narrow face in two. His chin, nose, cheekbones, and brow ridge end in sharp points, yet the rest of his face is all delicate contours, like a doll's face. The master of Nether-Hollow possesses only two facial traits that are decidedly human: Cygfa's ears are completely rounded at the tips, and his skin tone is a creamy ivory hue.
The sorcerer has a childishly slim frame, yet his hands seem a touch too large for him, with long, spidery fingers that are perfect for grasping. Although his actual height is only about five feet, his mane of silvery dandelion fluff adds at least two inches to his stature. The hairdo shoots out from his skull like the white crest of a cockatoo, and is just as flamboyantly vain.
As far as attire is concerned, Gwydion Cygfa is famous among the sorcerers of Faerie for his impeccable sense of fashion. However, “impeccable” by Fairy standards generally translates to “bizarre” by human standards....
His high-collared frock coat isn't simply bright green, but is literally made from the same substance as leaves. The coat's thin vascular system can be seen branching across its surface, this way and that—and a real flower blooms on his right lapel. If Cygfa so wishes it, the flower will rapidly move through its reproductive cycle and produce a small, tasty fruit.
Beneath this coat, Cygfa wears an umber waistcoat (with embroidery that seems to move), and a crisp white shirt (with buttons that disappear once buttoned). His trousers, despite their bright green pinstripe pattern, have no remarkable aspect—yet any Fairy gentleman with even the slightest inclination for fashion would know that flashy trousers are quite passé. Completing Cygfa's outfit is a silky black cravat, held in place by a firefly pin. His attire's overall effect is one of magic and nature intertwined—a very popular look that only a few in Faerie manage to achieve.
Personality: Erratic, nonsensical, and easily swayed by passing whims, the Lord of Nether-Hollow appears quite mad to the untrained eye. While his usual disposition is one of cheer and whimsy, the oddest of things can swing his mood in an entirely different direction: Cygfa never so much as batted an eyelid at the magical fire that swept through his estate—but he has been known to throw fits over the presence of green chrysanthemums.
Furthermore (in this same vein of madness), he can be blissfully ignorant of others' needs and opinions, even to the point of laughing during times of gravity and mourning. He is unabashedly open in stating his opinions; he sees nothing wrong with scornfully insulting a woman's weight, then moving on to lavishly praise her dress. However, Cygfa holds a double-standard on etiquette, and will sometimes take great offense at the slightest remark against him.
Alas, such are the eccentric behaviors that some souls in Faerie are prone to develop—but unlike actual Fairies, Cygfa prefers nonviolent magic except when otherwise necessary. Still, some would consider being transformed into a beetle a worse fate than simply being smote by lightning...
While this all paints a picture of an exceptionally mad gentleman, one can be assured that, beneath it all, Gwydion Cygfa is only half-mad. The vestiges of his human personality have gifted him with an underlying moral compass that true Fairies lack altogether. It would be too kind to deny that this compass has become dreadfully impaired—but regardless, every choice Cygfa makes is one that he can ultimately be held accountable for. Another vestige of the sorcerer's humanity is his ability to believe in something greater than himself. Fairies are like spoiled, selfish children, with the intelligence of adults—and while Cygfa can also be called that, he is still capable of keeping a greater good in sight.
Abilities: A powerful sorcerer in life who rose to even greater strength in death, Gwydion Cygfa is not one to be trifled with, despite his whimsical nature. He commanded a sizable horde of Denizens in life, and absorbed several of their souls into his own so as to gain powers of his own. Invisibility, transfiguration, pyromancy, and the ability to control and converse with plants are among his favorites. His half-insane state of mind is partly owing to the same process, but Cygfa values his powers and his memories much more than his long-gone rationality.
Meanwhile, Cygfa has been able to accumulate thousands of Denizens—although no individual can directly control such a number without shattering their mind. Instead, he keeps their souls contained in tiny vials that occupy an enormous, spire-like chamber at Nether-Hollow. When he desires the company of a Denizen or two, he merely draws his Companions out from the vials, usually no more than five or six in number.
Biography: Long before his death, Cygfa augmented his soul with those of the Denizens in his thrall. As a result, his already willful soul was strengthened even further—which allowed him to lessen the memory loss that all souls at least partially experience. As for the memories that were lost, mostly from his childhood, Cygfa couldn't care less; if they were important, he'd have remembered them, wouldn't he?
His death (postponed by the aforementioned augmentation of his soul) occurred at the crux of the conflict between humans and Fae, at about the end of the Renaissance. Upon entry to the Netherworld, he immediately set to work transforming his vacation estate in Faerie—which had been overtaken by Fairies several years prior—into a more permanent abode. From there, he aided the Fairies and humans in their final assault on the Fae, which was brought to an abrupt end by the completion of the Unseen Veil. Instead of following the few living humans who had been trapped inside, Cygfa returned to Faerie, where the remainder of his existence has since taken place.
With the aid of his friend and manservant, Sedgewick Annwn (who had died during the final assault), Cygfa transformed Nether-Hollow into one of the most prestigious Faerie estates—the only one not owned by a Fairy. He rose to standing among the Fairy sorcerers, and cheerfully idled away a century or two with magical feats and experiments. However, slowly beginning at the turn of the twentieth century, Cygfa began to notice that the Netherworld—Faerie, in particular—was becoming more sparsely populated.
It was a very slight decrease from previous centuries, and the Fairies cared too little for humans to particularly care—but the Lord of Nether-Hollow was, ultimately, not a Fairy. After some hastily-drawn experiments (which were later refined and reevaluated by the more thorough Annwn), he came to the realization that the souls of humanity were becoming weaker with each generation. The Veil was preventing humans from soaking in the spiritual substance that they required to live; only a lifelong dedication to prayer and spiritualism could compensate for it. Because of his natural aversion to religion, Cygfa instead decided to move onto the more direct option: He would destroy the Unseen Veil altogether.
For ninety-nine consecutive years, the entire estate of Nether-Hollow (including the actual house, which is very much alive) retreated from Fairy society, devoting the whole of its resources towards its master's grand designs. Magical components and raw soul-substance was gathered from every corner of the Netherworld by the agents of Nether-Hollow. Some were sent into the Living World through the occasional tear or thinning of the Veil, where they captured every trickle of magic and soul-substance that they could. These would be put towards the creation of temporary bodies, to be inhabited by nine carefully-chosen souls...
In both planes of existence, preparations were made in utter secrecy, with Cygfa and several close associates keeping the massive shifts in energy hidden from the Fae. When the chosen Agents arrive at Nether-Hollow, he will loose the harvested power in the form of a massive bomb—rending a massive hole in the Unseen Veil for an entire night in the Living World. Multiple facets of the plan depend upon this crucial window of opportunity, but Cygfa is confident that the Fae will be too bewildered to even raise a pinkie finger...
Past Life: Gwydion Cygfa was a fairly prominent sorcerer born in Wales during the latter reign of sorceress Morgan le Fey, who controlled the British Isles through several puppet kings—all of them Bogles, precise doppelgangers of the assassinated kings. When the age of Arthur and Merlin arrived (as both were real figures who vanished into myth upon the creation of the Unseen Veil), Cygfa emerged as one of several talented sorcerers of the age. Following Merlin's death, Cygfa and a few others endured the ages through the absorption of souls. He had several Denizen thralls, several Fairy servants, and lived to see the final conflicts between humans and Fae.
Misc.:
Character Theme 1 ("Genteel Lunacy") / Character Theme 2 ("Lord of Nether-Hollow") / Battle Theme ("Court of Madness")
