Gentry/The Floriographer

The Floriographer

Always male, The Floriographer is a member of the local Gentry, created by Annapurna.

Description

The Floriographer's appearance is rather pointedly unremarkable. While his clothing is simple, never ornate, he simply...fades...into whatever is around him, without ever truly changing colours or semblance. Tall without being too tall, slender without being skeletal, those few unfortunate enough to remember him clearly have described the creature as a mousy-haired, bespectacled young man with vivid, avid eyes.

He never blinks.

Many a victim has thought herself alone, only to find the gentle, yet inexorable strength of too many hands drawing her down to be composted for her sins.

Realm

The Herbarium is never truly dark. The realm possesses seemingly endless space, fields upon fields of flowers, formerly human and not, and yet, there is no day. There is no night. There are no shadows, unless the master wills it so.

Not physical shadows.

The shadow of their master's displeasure lies over all who dwell within the Fae's domain, and for those souls whose beauty isn't up to par, the filthsome, rotting, reeking heap of 'compost' more than makes up for the rest. It is never in the same place twice, rumours abounding as to how, or what, or who, is tasked with its silently unlovely relocations.

Perhaps most horrifying of all, however, is the herbarium chamber itself. Every blossom has spent hours within it, forced to gaze upon her/his own potential future. Pressed between glass, a thumb's width wide yet still alive, still beautiful, are the Floriographer's most perfect specimens, his pride, his joy, left unable to move, to speak, to interact at all -- but still able to feel.

The punishment for their release is unspeakable.

Methodology

Victims are chosen for their beauty, their innate loveliness, their grace, their elocution. He does not choose average. He chooses the high school beauty queens, the dancers at the pinnacle of physical fitness and health, the winners of contests, and he chooses them himself.

The Floriographer prefers his blooms hand-picked.

Perhaps you saw his eyes observing you through mirrors, perhaps you saw him trailing you through crowds, quiet and intense. Escapees often remember scattered, dream-hazed moments in the night, eyes in the light of a streetlamp, reflections of a man who isn't there.

He is gentle, but utterly ruthless in his pruning of excesses from his blossoms' lives. Too chatty? He will steal your voice and keep it, or train it before he gives it back, to behave as HE wishes it to do. His victims are physically shaped and trimmed, groomed to emulate particular blossoms, made to study them, endless hours of attempting to be them, to behave as they behave.

Those chosen to be flowers in his garden are groomed toward the emotions and meanings their particular blossom once represented. A Flowering whose form was sculpted into a Chamomile might be forced into difficult situations, given hardships to persevere through -- or to fail, and be unworthy -- as Chamomile's meaning is Energy in Adversity. One sculpted as Basil might be treated cruelly indeed, manipulated into terrible thoughts and actions, as Basil's meaning is Hate. Or, perhaps, a lovely woman he intends to sculpt into a Red Rose (Love) persistently becomes a thistle (LEAVE ME ALONE, defiance), all on her own. It is this war of wills which most commonly creates hybrid blossoms (a.k.a. Dual Kith).

See the Flower Language for help in choosing your particular role in his bouquet.

Suggested Themes for Escapees

The vast majority of the Floriographer's escapees are those who were flawed in some way or another, or simply not quite good enough to merit his especial attentions (read: not beautiful enough to belong in the herbarium -- yet...).

• Few Beast kiths are suitable for his realm. Those that are, are predators, carrion-eaters, those forced to survive by consuming the formerly-human 'compost' of the heap where truly flawed beauty is summarily discarded. Many an escapee was chased by hungry Beasts.
• Darklings are almost unheard of, but the occasional kith crops up in those nocturnal predators or mimics who attend the compost and guard the gardens. Who guards the guardians? Beasts are just that: Beasts.
• Elemental Woodbloods are fairly common, though the Floriographer has been known to trade flawed creations for other kiths if his garden requires them. Elementals would most often have been forced to do or behave in certain ways toward growing blossoms, to "encourage" them in directions this Keeper wanted, if they were not blossoms themselves.
• Fairest Flowerings are, far and beyond, the single most likely kith for this Keeper to produce. It is not unknown for Flowerings to deliberately mar themselves, be it a cut to the face or more severe changes, in order to be sent to the compost and take their chances with the beasts which guard the charnel reek of its confines. As Beauty is a major theme of the Floriographer, arguments could be made for many combinations of Fairest kiths.
• Ogres do not typically exist. A player would need to make an excellent case to justify one. See below RE: physical appearance. Their roles, too, would be as aggressors and manipulators, whether or not they realized what their actions caused. Need a blossom to learn humility? Have an Ogre eat her friend for disobedience. They are most often traded for with other Keepers, as they are unlovely and of little interest to his obsession.
• Wizened exist only in the capacity of managing the Beasts and doing chores the Floriographer would rather leave to others' time. If they are aesthetically appealing, they are more likely to please him and be his direct go-betweens. If they are hideous or twisted, they are less likely to have direct contact, their constant slavery and his impossible demands what causes them to change, rather than deliberate Fae intervention. These, too, are often adopted from other Keepers.