THE MONSTER // Rowan. Air Archfey: Dove. Unseelie Court. Born in 1862. Living at the Ludlow, Apt. 11A.
Wild Hand: Sacrifice. Right hand. When Rowan touches someone, she is able to relocate their life-force—their power—from their body, effectively killing them.
Personal Power: Air removal; Rowan is able to remove air from a given thing—like lungs or grey matter—but she cannot put it back, she can only stop doing it.
KNOWN TRAITS // Vicious, cynical, unflinching, crass, prideful.
Cold hands, gold heart. An inheritance heavy as deadweight. Leather jackets black enough to hide blood stains. Smile like a switchblade, laugh like featherdown. Lean and hungry and loyal as a shadow. Pale bones growing crystals in bitter glory. Licking wounds just to rub salt in them. A shiver you can’t shake loose. A ticking clock. A gun half-cocked. Old mementos you can’t throw out. Drowning dead devotion at the bottom of a bourbon shot.
History
⇢ Trigger warnings: animal hunting, death, torture mentions.
Rowan was born a summer child to a Seelie mother—but once the King discovered who Rowan’s father was, everything changed. Forbidden love was so called for a reason, and for the fey, actions had consequences. Rowan has fleeting memories of her mother before the beheading; a new King needed to show his strength, his standing. In retrospect, Rowan believes that if King Adare had known the Wild Hand of Sacrifice would be passed to her, her childhood might have been very different. But, so the choices we decide make our beds in the end. Rowan was raised by her father in the Unseelie Court, and this is the Court that would come to define her. As soon as she displayed her late mother’s ability, she knew she had to fill shoes far too big for her, a legacy that would always haunt her. She grew up close with her father, Alder, who taught her how to hunt as a way to hone her skills. Rowan had a sixth sense for how an animal was going to move and was able to take down a kill—then relieve it of its life force—with gentle accuracy. As Rowan’s expertise increased quickly, simply hunting began to bore her so she began to skin the kills, not just for hides but for show, holding with the belief of using the whole animal, leaving nothing to waste.
After Queen Lacha came by one of the hides, she sought out who made it. Receiving the Queen was an honour not taken lightly, nor was her offer taken with any less gravity. With Rowan’s magical gifts and propensity toward knives, the Queen felt scarring and torture was her most useful application. It wasn’t a future Rowan had envisioned, but neither was it one that repelled her. That future also led Rowan into the arms of the Queen’s daughter, Caora. In the castle, the two met and fell deeply into a love from which neither recovered. Caora wasn’t a light in the darkness: she was part of it, someone who understood and respected Rowan’s work because she was made to rule the Court that needed it. When Caora was alive, they were a power couple—but just as fate had interfered before, so it would again. Ending World War I called on hard strength: Caora was to be Sacrificed, with the Queen to name it and Rowan to follow through. It killed something inside Rowan to do it, but she knew her place in the powerful machine that was the Unseelie Court. After, Rowan was appointed as a Shadow like a consolation prize. All these years later and Caora is still the only lover’s name she bothers to remember—not that anyone knows that. All that is well known about Rowan is how her name has become synonymous with death.
Occupation
Shadow & Torturer.
As a Shadow, of which there are only two, Ro is one of the Unseelie Court’s elite enforcers. While her partner, Raven, specializes in blunt force trauma and dramatic explosions, Ro balances him out with blades and needles. Her primary function is torturer, though she’ll snipe to back Raven up if the need calls for it. Ro is also the person who—if the Queen deems someone worthy of having a crafted valour scar—delivers those marks of high regard.
Connections
Queen Lacha: Lacha is the only person who has Ro’s respect without question. A staunch loyalist, Ro knows the perils of disobeying the Queen… both the personal cost and how it can affect the Court. As far as she’s concerned, what the Queen says, happens. Lacha might be firm, but Ro feels it’s better to be feared than loved.
Raven: Raven is the brother she never had; a partner in crime and humour. If there’s anyone close to getting under Ro’s skin, anyone who might know the real her, it’s Raven. This troubles Ro because she likes putting herself and her survival first; but she might waver if it came down to protecting Raven.
King Adare: Ro doesn’t respect the Seelie King, but she’s on his radar whether she likes it or not. He doesn’t enjoy losing the Hand of Sacrifice to the rival Court and he’s made it plain he’s interested in getting it back. But whenever Ro sees him, the death of her mother haunts the corners of her vision like a burnout.
PLAYLIST 1. Winter // 2. Cosmic Love // 3. Gasoline
Rowan is portrayed by Dichen Lachman. The faceclaim is NEGOTIABLE. Rowan is currently TAKEN by Admin May and not available for application.
