Black Rook
| Black Rook | |
| Seeming: | Darkling |
|---|---|
| Kith: | Archived-Gameplayer |
| Court: | Autumn Court •••• |
| City: | Brisbane |
| Title: | Witch of the Bitter Wind, Master of Fleeting Autumn |
| Entitlement: | None |
| Group: | The Certain Hour |
| Player: | Karl Brannon |
| Storyteller: | Brisbane VST |
- - H.P. Lovecraft, Supernatural Fear in Literature
Mortal Name: Alexander Tovalov
Titles: Witch of the Bitter Wind of Brisbane, Master of Fleeting Autumn
Mask: A stocky man with a prominent beard, thick brow, and almost beady eyes which betray a keen intellect behind them and give the sense of someone careful and calculating. He accoutres himself in clothing that evokes a sense of the Victorian era but with a gothic edge, dominated by black, dark reds, and gold or the amber of autumn leaves.
Mien: An unusually stocky man with a beak-like nose and gleaming black eyes with white irises beneath a heavy eyebrow ridge. Dark feathers occasionally protrude from amongst hair that was once a sleek black but is now beginning to grey, though his beard retains its form and colour.
Mantle: Black Rook has a powerful mantle that manifests itself in the blackened, almost sunken, appearance of Black Rook's eyes, the aroma of blood and incense the surrounds him, and most potently in the eerie sounds that seem to follow him where ever he goes; wailing and screaming are not uncommon and sometimes distorted or creepy music can be heard along with other unusual or frightening sounds.
Known History
After Escaping
Black Rook does not speak much of his time in Arcadia or of his life before he was taken. Any inquiry begins with him saying that shortly after arriving back in Brisbane he made contact with the Brisbane Freehold, who were able to organize a new identity for him as Alexander Tovalov and provided him with some capital to invest in getting back on his feet. He put the money into renting a small shop in the CBD, which he set up as a bookstore specializing in old and second-hand books. His business, though not brilliant, stabilized quickly and provided him with enough of an income to rent a small apartment in Milton. Most of his trading was in mundane books, but occasionally an interesting piece of occult literature would pass into his hands and into his private collection.
After joining the Autumn Court in 2004, Black Rook began to develop a deep interest in psychology and the occult. The former he particularly favoured for its relevance to what he felt was his court’s fundamental contribution to the Freehold; reminding those who had become complacent that they had every reason to remain cautious and afraid of what the Others could do to them even now, and reminding those who had not that properly harnessed fear was a powerful tool for staying alive and free. Not willing to risk his new identity, he began using some of his resources from his bookstore to acquire second-hand psychology textbooks. Those he found interesting made it into his private collection, and thus became available to the Leaden Mirror, whilst those he did not went into the bookstore. Furthermore, he began keeping track of unusual events around the city as well as staying on top of news about crime. He began to hang newspaper clippings on his store noticeboard, and would make small talk with customers about the worst places in the city. Fear, he reasoned, would keep them safe from harm. If they feared the dark, feared the unknown, they wouldn’t take needless or foolish risks and get hurt; and those who could act on their fears by going out and making the streets safer would be more likely to do so. It was his contribution to keeping Brisbane safe, both the Freehold and the mortals that surrounded them.
Over the next few years, Black Rook threw himself into the affairs of the Autumn Court. He was first appointed as the court’s Twilit Page, responsible for finding new members to recruit and taking care to teach those freshly recruited about the court, its rituals, and its powers. During this time he met many new changelings and formed friendships with most of those he recruited into the Leaden Mirror, though his time in the position was cut short due to the failure of his leg and his subsequent loss of athletic ability. He was soon after appointed to the position of Lord Scrivener and after a further couple of years, Black Rook found that he had become very well connected within the Court. He had recruited many within the Leaden Mirror personally, and those he hadn’t recruited he had come to know through their records and their contributions to the Court’s collective knowledge. He had also, like many others within the court become disaffected with the current monarch’s utter lack of drive and ineffectual rule. It was as fine a position as any to move up from and claim the crown, and soon fate would hand him the perfect opportunity.
The Years of Eternal Summer
At the end of February in 2008, when the changing of the seasons occurred and the symbolic duel to hand over power occurred, Black Rook was present to see the Summer King refuse to throw the duel to the Autumn Monarch and proclaim himself the King of Eternal Summer. Like the rest of the court, Black Rook was taken aback by this act but never the less saw it as an opportunity. The Summer King was not ineffectual and the sudden vacancy by his hand would ensure that a grab for power came across as saving the court in difficult time and any opponents to his rule could not use it against him. Rallying his supporters quickly, Black Rook immediately claimed the crown. He was well connected, he argued, and a powerful sorcerer who had dedicated himself completely to the court since he had joined it. Opposition was limited, but quickly quashed as Black Rook secured power. He did not challenge the Summer Tyrant for rule of the Freehold and made no secret of this fact, arguing to his court that the Summer Tyrant was capable and that they would remain his advisors. Let him claim the title, Black Rook argued, it’s the power that matters and when knowledge is power Autumn reigns supreme.
In the years following this, Black Rook continued to support the Summer King as an advisor. Wearing the crown of Autumn was quite sufficient for the time being, and he could still wield considerable power over the freehold in his capacity as the foremost sorcerer and leader of many of the Freehold’s important rituals. Of course, he was far from a passive advisor to the Summer King. The Autumn Court he had joined was passive, flailing about under the reign of a disorganized and inefficient ruler. The Summer King provided just the situation Black Rook needed, eliminating the need for him to worry about the entire Freehold and simultaneously giving him a situation that easily focused the Autumn Court’s resources. Though far from Winter’s spies, the masses of data gathered by Autumn now had a purpose: being used to fuel the Summer King’s campaigns. But there was more than that. The previous Autumn Court had done little but gather knowledge. Black Rook, knowing that there was only so much activity one could do whilst focusing on the acquisition and analysis of information, began implementing a new order: The Dissemination of Fear. The courtiers of the Leaden Mirror were more than mere book keepers and court sorcerers, he reasoned, and the previous monarch had forgotten that fact. Black Rook would remind them of who they really were, and in so doing cement his rule.
Recent Events
Events since the deposing of the Summer Tyrant
Quotes By
- "Autumn is Fear. Autumn is Magic. It is the most primal urge that keeps us safe at night, and the wisdom to understand our enemies lest ignorance become our undoing."
- - Black Rook speaking with Ashen Queen Martha of Toowoomba, not long after his coronation
- “They won't admit it, but they are all really driven by fear. The Iron Spear fears that what was done to us will go unavenged, the Silent Arrow fears that what was done to us may be done to us again, and the Antler Crown fears that what was done to us really did happen. Only the Leaden Mirror readily accepts our fear, that we may not be able to understand our foes and thereby counter them, and so it is our responsibility to be caretakers of this most primal and powerful of emotions.”
- - Black Rook’s thoughts on the Seasonal Courts
- “Checkmate.”
- - Black Rook’s favourite word
- "I'd tell you which story I see when I look upon my reflection, but that would rob you of the chance to figure out for yourself and reveal something which could potentially be used against me."
- - Black Rook on his fondness for fables and proverbs
Quotes About
- "I had him. My blade was going to sweep through his neck, and you saved him. You took that from me, and I can never get that back. No matter how much else we do together, I'll never have that opportunity again."
- - Zhenya speaks of their Keeper in a cold, vicious whisper.
- "Your little game fails to account for the pieces disobeying their orders. You never have the Queen flee the board while the Bishop stabs his King in the back. The real world doesn't have rules or play out like some game, you'll be sorely dissapointed in the years to come."
- - Erebus explains his distaste for Black Rook
- "There is a difference between being a leader and being a boss. Both are based on authority. A boss demands blind obedience; a leader earns his authority through understanding and trust. He has worked hard to earn his leadership, unlike his predassesor."
- - Fallacy considering the way Black Rook is.
- "He always makes things much more complicated than they need to be. If you're going to eliminate a problem, you don't need three others covering you from different directions."
- - Iago
- "I have a deep respect for Black Rook, it is no easy task running a court, let alone The Ashen Court. Having power over that much knowledge must be an incredible burden. I am glad I can help him with that in my own way.
- - Adam Winnick
- "Black Rook reminds me of the parable of the Pelican and the Changeling who saw everything in terms of abstract games and analogy. "You remind me of the story of the Albatross" said the Changeling. "I keep telling you", said the Pelican, "I am a pelican. Not. An. Albatross!""
- - Sebastian Lund
- "I heard that business with us lost him his crown? Terrible shame the misunderstanding happened in the first place. Still, if he isn't about to invade Armidale I don't hold any grudges against him. Not yet."
- -Odin Duskbringer
- "Let me clarify, if the seasonal courts are anywhere near as stable as you claim them to be, how come your crown was stripped from you without your will or knowledge?"
- -Uriel
Rumours and Stories
- In his capacity as a sorceror Black Rook has learned much eldritch and occult lore, not all of it savoury but much of it useful and potent. Whispers suggest that those who pay appropriate tribute to the old Witch are granted access to some of his considerable knowledge in return.
- When he was Ashen King, Black Rook was always picky about his title. He insisted that he be addressed either with his name, King Rook, or one of the other stylings of the position, and he always refused to wear a traditional crown. It is whispered that the former Ashen King did so out of deep fear, but would that be a surprise for someone who was once an Autumn Monarch?
- Some whisper that in the early days of Black Rook's reign there was an uppity courtier who insisted upon disrespecting the new monarch. It is said that one night this courtier provoked Black Rook tremendously, but rather than explode Black Rook instead approached this courtier and whispered in their ear. None know what was whispered but it is said that the changeling went pale at the words and had left Brisbane by sunrise.
- Though few do so anymore, there are some who whisper that Black Rook has long had dark dealings with Summer Monarchs. There were once rumours that Black Rook had formed a secret deal with Crimson King Tros that allowed him to claim the Autumn Throne, and that he may have been involved in Crimson Queen Zhenya's ascension following Tros' death.
- There are some amongst the Freehold who whisper that he has threatened the lives and, if the rumours are believed, freedoms of multiple Freehold members. Amongst these Lost there are whispers that refer to him as the Autumn Tyrant, a comparison to the feared but powerful legacy of King Tros ti̱s Kataigídas.
- There are some who have suggested that with each such whisper Black Rook's mantle flickers and grows stronger, a sign of Autumn's favour at the fear evoked by the Pale Sovereign and proof of his right to rule the Autumn Court.
Inspiration and Soundtrack
Music
- This is Halloween, Marilyn Manson
- Don’t Pray, 16 Volt
- Ravnen, Sorten Muld
- The Crow and the Butterfly, Shinedown
- Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, J.S Bach
- Counting Bodies Like Sheep to the Rhythm of the War Drums, A Perfect Circle
- O Death, Jen Titus
- Grace for Sale, Terrance Zdunich
- Viva la Vida, Coldplay
Characters
- Lucifer, The Devil's Carnival
- Jericho Swain, League of Legends
- Eldrad Ulthran, Warhammer 40K
- Tywin Lannister, Game of Thrones
- Stannis Baratheon, Game of Thrones
- Nathan Wallace, Repo! The Genetic Opera
Other Sources
- The Sandman, 1991 stop-motion animation
- The Backwater Gospel, 2011 animation
- The Tale of the Three Brothers, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
| Member Information | |
| Player: | Karl Brannon |
|---|---|
| Number: | 2012070001 |
| Domain: | Brisbane |