Hermes Swift
Hermes Swift
Hermes Swift if an author from Zenxon. He and his co-author, Olive Newell, are famed for their "nonfiction novels," which read like novels, but are are heavily researched to maintain historical accuracy. Swift is also secretly works for Seth, the Calistian god of death, to ensure the balance between life and death is maintained.
Due to his severe burns, he was hospitalized, where he fell in and out of a Temporary Death State, common for fatally injured death witches. After being told of his situation by Seth, Hermes' aunt, Natalie Carter, removed him from the hospital and brought him to her home, where he was allowed to stay in the temporary death state until his body healed. Due to the constant back and forth in the hospital, however, he sustained extensive nerve damage in his left leg, and lost feeling in it below the knee. This gave him a slight limp and a difficulty balancing, which he counter-acted with his natural gift for wind magic.
Hermes was an usual child. Interested in the grim fairytales his parents had loved and frustrated by the pointlessness of their death, he took to telling morbid stories. Always soft-spoken, he quickly developed an authorial voice that could be as disturbing as it was mesmerizing. Though adults sometimes showed concerns about his mental health and some of his peers were wary of him, he developed a strong relationship with his cousin, Danny Carter, and his aunt and uncle patiently helped him navigate his unusual circumstances.
Shortly after his tenth birthday, Seth showed his own concerns. He introduced himself to Hermes and offered him a chance to take over for his mother, doing the work of a death witch. At first, Hermes refused, but later changed his mind. He also developed a strong dislike for bullies and was prone to fights. This phase ended, but not before a rumor began that he was a serial killer. Though Hermes has befriended several other misfits, many students took to treating him like a social pariah.
Though students at his school feared his odd morbidity, no one suspected Hermes of the murders aside from classmate Zoey Coral. In her own personal investigation, she learned not only that Hermes had committed the crimes, but that he had done so while working for Seth. She agreed to keep his secret.
Hermes remains close to his family, and since he passed his immortality on to his daughter, as his mother had done for him, he works for death in the less risky fashion of helping ferry lost souls to the Land of the Dead. When not working with Olive, he often takes work as a traveling storyteller. Listeners are as drawn in by his odd tales as they always have been, though these days they are considerably less frightened.
Childhood
by Raquel
Hermes was born to Julie and Nathan Swift in 1920. His mother, a Death Witch, bargained with Seth to take away her gift of immortality and give it instead to her son to ensure that he would never die before her. This decision became life changing in 1924 when a dryer fire destroyed the Swifts' home, killing Julie and Nathan. Hermes survived only because of his immortality.
The Opera Cat Murders
When Hermes was fifteen, a series of unusual murders took place in several cities near his hometown. All of the victims had been stabbed and the only evidence found at any of the scenes pointing to the murders was cat hair. Many people suspected the murderer was actually a cat that made its home at the Bertram Opera House, where the first murder occurred. As the investigation continued, all but one of the victims were themselves, discovered to be criminals involved in mass murder and human trafficking.
Later Life
After high school, Hermes attended Queensville University in Queesville, Zenxon, where he befriended three other young death witches who had been brought together by Seth. Together, they looked into Dominic Endicott, a former doctor who was known to torture criminals as his own form of justice. Hermes was captured by Endicott in his third year after the man caught him killing someone. The others helped rescue him, and though they later confronted Endicott, he was killed by a Reaper that he had unknowingly captured. The following year, Olive Newell, whom Hermes had also been friends with in high school, asked Hermes to co-author a paper with her. It was a heavily researched document about the historical figure Raveen, though it read like a work of fiction. They proposed this as a type of history writing for laypeople--something which would be informative, but potentially more interesting to the broader population. The paper quickly got them noticed, and the two were offered a book deal.
After university, Hermes married his friend Zoey, and they made a life together in Queensville with their daughter, Julie. Though Olive moved to Snickerry, she and Hermes continued to co-author historical works together in their unique style. After publishing their book about Raveen, they went on to create a ten volume epic about the famous Airrin Underwood and the magical staffs he had made, followed by a history of Nefrale told from the point of view of a Phoenix, aptly titled Flying Up the Coast.
by Neon Brand
Relationships
Year of Birth
1920
42 Years old
Circumstances of Birth
When he was born, his mother asked Seth to give him her immortality so he wouldn't die before her.
Spouses
Zoey Coral
(spouse)
Siblings
Children
Current Residence
Queensville, Zenxon
Gender
male
Eyes
black
Hair
balck, chin length
Skin Tone/Pigmentation
pale
Height
5'7"
Aligned Organization
Phobias
spiders
by www.unsplash.com
Comments