Fariel Devalour

DAY 1 - Prompt: Ancient

During Spookoctober, I will create a character sheet for twenty one dark Fae of the Court of Dew and Dusk, the main protgagonists in a new novel filled with humour, mystery and courtly shenannigans.

If Terry Pratchett had written 'A Court of Thorns and Roses' ... well, I am likely not going to be as witty as Terry, but it should be fun!

Backstory

Early life

Title: Lord of the Darkened Moons 
Fariel is loathed to use his title. He keeps this one under wrap, and no one except a few of the Shadestorms knows a title belongs to him. 

Even Fariel does not know when he was born. He is that old. Fariel assumes he was born maybe eight millennia ago into an old and illustrious family of the Dark Courts, the Shadestorms.

This means that Fariel is a great-great-great uncle of some sort to Failin. No one knows why Fariel has been so long-lived. Even by Fae's standards, Fariel's life has been unusually long.

Fariel vaguely remembers that a curse was placed upon him when he was only seven. He cannot remember why and how he was cursed for the life of him, but he often attributes his life's unnatural span to the curse and its aftermath.

Fariel remembers being trained as a courtier in his first millennia. His father was keen on Shadestorm's advancement in the courts. Long ago, he was once a potential suitor to King Raoul's grandmother, Queen Daisylirion, Lady of the Black Mirrors, Queen Maeve's sole granddaughter.

Fariel was not long in discovering he hated Court life and was a dreadful Courtier. Queen Daisylirion married into a rival house, and his father nearly cursed him for it. To avoid his family's wrath, Fariel settled in a distant corner of the the Dark Woods and started to take an interest in what lay beyond Fairie's borders.

He was powerful enough to create a portal to the material plane and began his love affair with everything human. He led many lives in the human world at one point or another - He now prefers to dwell on a small and green island that has had several names over the millennia but is now called the United Kingdom of Great Britain.

The Shadestorm Tutor

Fariel stopped complaining about his longevity long ago and now spends his days studying and being interested in humans and the material plane. For someone like Fariel, the relatively fast pace of the rise and fall of civilisations is fascinating.

He regards himself as a 'historian' and storyteller. Living on the margins of the Shadestorms has made Fariel extremely resilient over the years - the Royal family sees him as a forever fixture of Fairie and only remembers his name when it is brought up.

Because of his accumulated knowledge and relative reputation as a neutral eccentric, Fariel has tutored many young people related to himself and the Shadestorms. It is the one thing that the Lords of Air and Mists have asked of him over the years, and he has always thought this small, pleasant service a satisfactory compromise for his peace and tranquillity. Fariel has enjoyed tutoring the young faes attached to him, who he sees as apprentices and useful dogsbodies in his service.

Present

Failin was sent to spend a few centuries with Fariel when the boy was only 50. Fariel had built himself by that time an excellent mage tower with all the comfort a fae would expect. Because of his long association with this part of the woods, Fariel was able to draw power from the lands and had, de facto, created his small ducal lands.

The King was, of course, not aware of that fact, but as no one from the Court, except the Shadestorms, would ever go near Fariel's tower - called Old Mage's Keep by the locals - all was fine.

Away from the rigour of the court, Failin enjoyed his time in the tower and surrounding forests immensely. He spent 150 years there, where he met and made friends for the first time with 'lesser' fae, such as the fawn Viola Futynyu and a few others. (Viola came from the nearby village of Randolfine)

This is when Failin started a lifetime obsession with science. As part of his training and education, Fariel sent Failin to the material plane and the human world (at the beginning of the 20th Century). This was already an illegal move as the King had already forbidden travel to and fro the material plane, but Fariel did not care about the new King's edicts. Fariel considered King Roul as another pup.

Failin spent 50 years in the human world, studied physics at university, and built his own laboratory there. Fariel often joined him in the world of men, and they shared their discoveries and learning.

When Failin was brutally recalled to the Dark Courts, after his family's disgrace, he kept a lively correspondence with his uncle. The pixie Mirth is ideally suited for his job as a messenger between the two faes. Mirth's curse means that he has unusual powers that allow him to go undetected by most magical creatures, including faes.

Personality

1 Heart

How does it show?

What lies?

How do others see him?

2 Intellect

How does it show?

What lies?

How do others see him?

3 Habits and Abilities

How does it show?

What lies?

How do others see him?

4 Morals, Beliefs and Ethics

How does it show?

What lies?

How do others see him?

5 Social

How does it show?

What lies?

How do others see him?

INTERVIEW (Sara Cannon)

Talent/Abilities

Good at (knack/special talent) / Bad at (embarrassment) /Skills rely on /Secret talents (shared?)

Interests

Loves/dislikes/Obsessed by/Pet peeves/Interests/hobbies/Hobbies would like/Alone why? Stress outlet/Find boring/entertaining/Creative side

Moral and Ethics

Black and White?/Champion causes issues?/Reactions when beliefs challenged?/Influencers?/Hidden moral beliefs no matter what

Relationships

Who closest to?/Make the first move?/Current relationship lacking?/Vulnerable with?/Show sensitive side to?
Who they avoid, why?/What type turn them off?/Person from their past? (upset/happy)

Secrets

Biggest secrets?/Fear of discovery?/Why secret important?/Think about it often? (Humiliating?)
Secrets they know (Secretkeeper)/Are they trusted? Found out? Confided?

Fears

Quirky/Surprising fear(s)/Cause embarrassment?/Irrational fears?/Trying to overcome it?/Past events caused fear?
Deeper fears (not want to admit)/How affected by fears?/How do they hide fears? (fake/pretend/personna)

Wounds

What caused deeper fears?/Sent life on a new path?/Who/what did they discard from their past?/What was lost/joy given up?
Is the character flawed by it? (feel unworthy?)/How wounds can be introduced in present story?/How can they face similar wound/situation again? (so they can overcome it)

Character Arc Questions

1 Plot: What does the character want to achieve?

Arc: What must be resolved by growth, change of mindset shift?

2 Plot: Why do they want to achieve the plot goal?

Arc: What do they need to make that internal change?

3 Plot: What is blocking them from achieving the goal?

Arc: What is blocking them from internal change?

4 Plot: What's at stake if they fail to achieve their goal?

Arc: What's at stake if they don't change?

Arc/Embryo

1 YOU

2 NEED

3 GO

4 SEARCH

5 FIND

6 TAKE

7 RETURN

8 CHANGE