Emeterio "Emmett" Santos
Emmett didn't mean to kill anyone.
But the streets of Rime are a dangerous place, and when the choice was between his son's life or that of the magical syndicate member who'd broken into the woodcarver's store Emmett's family has worked and lived in for generations, there was no question.
Unfortunately, Emmett's victim had powerful friends. The kind of people who saw an opportunity in even the loss of one of their own, and offered another choice that wasn't a choice at all.
Now, he's nothing more than the syndicate leader's loyal assassin, retrieving the hearts of his competitors across the city to fuel both the man's unnaturally long life and his ambition to take control of all of Rime itself. It's made him a city full of enemies, and his only safety now is in the favor of the man pulling the strings and holding his son's life in his hands.
When one of Emmett's thefts goes terribly wrong, and he steals the heart of a city messenger (and, worse luck, one who never lets her curiosity get the better of her and never looks at any of her deliveries) instead, he has one last chance to make it right.
Or he's going to lose the only thing still keeping his own heart beating.
Physical Description
Identifying Characteristics
Emmett has silver strands in his hair around the temples and forehead, a result of using his magic to steal hearts for someone other than himself.
Mental characteristics
Personal history
Emmett is the son of a woodcarver who passed on his craft and his workshop to Emmett. The family made their living selling enchanted furniture, that thanks to their gift for manipulating life energy, can actually grow and shift to exactly suit the occupant.
Emmett's wife and both his parents died when a sickness swept through the city, leaving Emmett to raise his son alone. He was making a bare living selling through the Cohort's legal trade channels, until a friend who was working with the Star Syndicate convinced him to try selling his merchandise through their smugglers, who would give a craftsman a slightly higher cut of the profits.
Emmett worked with the Star for some time, before one of the trips to the ward gap where the smuggler he was working with snuck merchandise through almost got him caught by a Cohort patrol. Afraid of being imprisoned, he told the Star the deal was off, and he was going to go back to selling through legal channels.
Not trusting him not to give up their smuggler and his locale, the Star decided Emmett needed to be silenced. They sent one of their own to his shop to kill him, but learned the hard way that Emmett's life magic was much stronger than his parents', making him a rare type of life-magic wielder known as a heart thief, for their ability to steal lives from people.
Emmett himself was unaware of his magic until he accidentally used it in defense of his son, and the theft of his attacker's heart temporarily dazed him, allowing Emmett and his son to escape. When he realized what had happened, he hid in the city, trying to find passage out with a different syndicate's smugglers, knowing the Star would come after him.
Before he could arrange any way out of Rime, one of the Star's guides tracked Emmett and his son down, and the syndicate made him an offer. Use his newfound magic for them, or die.
Relationships
Current Location
Species
Ethnicity
Date of Birth
29th day of Evernight
Year of Birth
374 AFS
31 Years old
Birthplace
Rime
Spouses
Teresa Santos
(spouse)
Siblings
Children
Eyes
Dark hazel
Hair
Short, black
Skin Tone/Pigmentation
Golden tan
Height
6' 1"
Aligned Organization
Related Myths
Comments