Post by The Chamberlain on Jun 15, 2013 15:30:09 GMT -7
THE CHAMBERLAIN
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◊ FULL NAME: The Chamberlain, Lord Chamberlain of the Elven Court.
◊ CODENAME: None.
◊ GENDER: Male.
◊ RACE: Fantastic.
◊ AGE: Ageless.
◊ APPEARANCE: Despite standing nearly six foot six, the Chamberlain does not strike a very imposing figure due to his head looking like a wrinkled marshmallow resting upon pale waddles of skin. He barely has any nose or mouth to speak of, his eyes a mere pair of red dots that would barely be noticed if it weren’t for the dark markings resembling tears beneath them. His comical face is compensated by his slender, much too long hands and black-tipped fingers that he often moves in strange, fluid motions to accentuate his words.
Like his arms, his legs are very long with elongated feet and toes. Being very fond of the finer things in life, the Chamberlain’s midsection has filled out significantly over the centuries and giving his body a certain frog-like appearance.
◊ ATTIRE: When performing his duties for king Balor, the Chamberlain wore the flowing red and black robes that came with his station. For the last two decades he’s been forced to make do with whatever rags he’s managed to assemble into something similar to his old uniform. The results have varied, and at the moment he is looking more like a jester’s parody of a royal servant than the actual thing in an over sized red dress beneath a fading black coat.
For footwear he prefers comfortable slippers, the current ones adorned by a pair of very depressed fluffy bunnies hidden by the dress.
◊ FACE CLAIM: Doug Jones. Under tons of makeup.
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◊ AFFILIATION: Independent at the moment.
◊ PROFESSION: Gatekeeper and seneschal for king Balor, in charge of the practical affairs of the Elven court.
◊ PERSONALITY: The Chamberlain is easiest described as a stuck-up, silly old man that takes himself and his duties much too seriously. His one goal in life is preserving the rites and traditions of the Elven court, which he considers himself as indispensable for as the one wearing the actual crown.
Though his station forces him to delegate, the Chamberlain has severe control issues and likes to keep track of every little detail for running the royal household, from what food will be served to what kind of linens are used for the beds. Any servant going about their duties can expect to suddenly find him- or herself being faced with the tall figure who “just dropped in to make sure everything is going well”.
At heart, the Chamberlain is not unkind, but coming to him for comfort or help on private matters is useless since he has no concept of social skills outside his duties.
If there is one thing he wishes for himself, it is to be comfortable. As in having fine clothes, beautiful things and good food. He is not greedy, but will settle for no less than what he considers himself worth. When having free time, he enjoys reading poetry and listening to music.
Not one for bloodshed, the Chamberlain does not condone the near annihilation of the human world, but has started to see it as something necessary to preserve his own people.
He has no interest in marriage or a lover, or even training a successor. Giving up his position is unthinkable, both because he has no heir and because he could never bear to leave his duties to someone else. He’s simply going to have to live forever.
◊ ABILITIES: Immortality, otherwise he really has no powers besides the basic glamour which fools mortals into seeing him as a harmless old man.
◊ SKILLS: The Chamberlain’s great skill is his exceptional memory. He knows the full history of the Elven race by heart, as well as each ritual for courtly proceedings. He can also remember each and every name, station and duties of the servants.
◊ WEAKNESSES: Being completely devoted to preserving tradition, the Chamberlain has a very hard time dealing with change or unexpected turns of events. The rise of the Golden Army and Ragnarök was incredibly traumatic for him since there was no book to consult about the proper proceedings of things.
Having great difficulties with changing his way of thinking, the Chamberlain still keeps with a rigorous social hierarchy and won’t even consider taking advice from someone below his station. If it weren’t for the butcher guards and the other servants’ resourcefulness and knowing when not to tell the Chamberlain certain things, he would have been dead a long time ago.
Having no sense of humour or sarcasm, he rarely understands jokes or if someone is making fun of him. If he were to catch on, he is too much of a coward to do anything but maybe give the offender a bad seat at the next feast.
◊ EQUIPMENT: He always carries some pen and paper on him in the case he needs to make note of something for future records. Being prone to snacking, he keeps little scraps of food with him, like biscuits or dried meat.
◊ RESIDENCE: Currently, the Chamberlain and a scrap of the servant body of the Elven court are residing in an abandoned motor factory in the no-man’s land of Kentucky. There he directs a sort of mock court life to keep order. More magical creatures have even joined their ranks in the hope to gain protection and status when the Chamberlain finally picks which one of the royal children to support.
◊ FAMILY: A father and mother, both deceased in the war between the magical realm and the humans. As far as he knows, he is the last of his kind. He considers the blame lying with the humans rather than himself for not procreating when he had the chance.
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◊ HISTORY: The Chamberlain is the only son of the former holder of the position and also the last of his kind. His whole youth was spent in preparation for the task of being chamberlain, making him a rather secluded and way too serious child. When he assumed the position after his father’s retirement, he as tradition stated left his old name behind to only be known as the Chamberlain.
Unlike his father though, the Chamberlain never held any desires outside of his duty. He never married or wished for a lover or companionship. He was completely content with serving under the noble and fair king Balor and supported him through every decision he made.
If the Chamberlain had allowed himself to form an independent thought, he’d realized that the king’s upholding of the truce was dooming them to extinction. But instead he willingly blinded himself to everything outside of the court until it was too late.
When Nuada killed Balor, the Chamberlain was horrified. He had never cared for the prince’s dark, violent and disrespectful nature and had hoped that the crown would pass to Nuala. He remained though after the murder, keeping the court together as was his duty.
When the Golden Army was raised, he for the first time in his very long life actually made a choice based on his own opinion. Honouring the wishes of Balor, he took the Book of Court containing all the history and rituals of the court – one of them being the ritual for crowning the new king of Elfland – and fled.
The remaining butcher guards as well as some servants came with him, clinging to the one thing they knew as the world fell apart around them. For the next twenty years, they stayed hidden as the Chamberlain neither wanted to support Nuada nor Nuala. Even if he’d hoped for the princess to be queen, he didn’t want to risk supporting a court that would be destroyed by Nuada once again.
The Chamberlain is however now growing tired of waiting, living like a rat in hiding with no comforts. The time has come for him to step out of the shadows and reclaim his old life so that things can finally go back to normal. He is aware that his support will give legitimacy to the claim on the crown, but is more concerned about picking the side that will prevail than the one that is “right”.
