The Wife
The wife is the highest-ranking Bell, the organization that captured the widower and keeps him and his cries silenced. The Wife ensures that the order works correctly and according to their principles, as well as guiding them.
A wife to the widower, least he dooms the fields and everyone living on them again.
Requirements
The Bell's order must be ruled by someone who carries the memories of the tragedy suffered by the widow, and then the tragedies enacted by the widow. Only one who carries the memories in their soul can hope to keep the order's mission true.
Appointment
When the previous Wife dies, each Bell who meets the requirements will be sent to spend one day cycle with the widower. Those that are still keen on becoming the Wife after the experience, put their name forward. All of those names are etched onto a tree's seed and planted in the orchard. The first fruit that the tree produces will have etched in their seed a single name. The named fey becomes from that day forward, the Wife. In the interim, all of them share the duties and responsibilities.
Responsibilities
A Wife's main responsibility is to keep the widower in a good condition. The worst that could happen would be for the widower to die and their tormented soul return to the plane's energy, spawning new terrors. They are also responsible for the behaviour of the Bells, and to make sure they are keeping up with the maintenance of silence in Pindrop. The order also has an impressive bakery business, but this requires a lot of attention itself, so the Wife is not responsible for overseeing it.
Accoutrements & Equipment
The Wife's dress is adorned with hundreds of silent jingle bells and they carry with them a large staff which resembles a stiff snake.
Grounds for Removal/Dismissal
In the history of the order, there has never been a need to remove or dismiss a Wife. The few times that the widower died (or the single time he managed to escape), the Wife in charge dedicated her life to recover him; every single time, they lost their lives in the process, so the order never had to deal with such a process.
Plot hook
With the murder of Tyrialjee, many will look out to the Wife to provide some stability until a new overseer is pronounced. Jull, however, has her hands full trying to figure out who is stealing their silent jingle bells.
Alternative Naming
The Widower's Wife
The order of the bell
The Silence Keepers are in charge of keeping the magical silence in Pindrop. Their building, a stone shaped like a coiled snake, stands right in the middle of Pindrop. Its members can be distinguished because they all ride in flying snakes whenever they leave their building.Edicts
Protect Pindrop and The Cloud Fields against the corruption of the widower's influence and maddening cries.Keep the widower ensnared within the confines of their building, at the cost of their own life if necessary.
Jull
The current Wife's name is Jull. They are a Brownie, although they used to be a Mimih when the widower roamed freely. Jull has a passion for gardening, and under their direction, the orchard of the order has grown in size and variety. This serves the order well, as it increases the quantity and variety of fruits at their disposal for filling their baked goods.
Oh no, the jingle bells! Who is stealing them? This is a really interesting article. I like the idea of silent jingle bells. It makes me shiver a little, though I'm not sure why. Is there more than one widower? You say he dies and one time escaped. Or is it like a resurrection thing? I think the alternative name should be 'widower's wife' rather than 'widow's wife'.
I already have ideas for who is behind the thefts, but I'm not sure I'll develop them much if my players do not engage with the Bells. I love to know it makes you shiver a little. That means I made a good fey article ;) There is only one widower, but death is temporary in the fey plane. Their souls are simply recycled and they are born again. The article hints at this happening in the past, with bad consequences, but maybe I have to make it more clear. And thanks for catching that, I only learned mid-article the difference between widow and widower XD