The Family

“As to where we came from, that's not so simple a question. I only know that we have near about always been. We're a family, like we've said and that we come from the same place, but we don't none of us stay together. We each of us wander the world in our own way, those are the first of our traditions. Never together and never settling in any one place. Only during the time of the conclave do we gather at the Meeting Lodge, and that house, like the rest of us, has simply always existed.”

**—Odessa to Emmy in *Harrow County* #15**

## Family Heritage

### Notable Family Members

* Malachi (patriarch)
* Amaryllis
* Hester Beck †
* Levi †
* Odessa †
* Willa †
* Kaine †
* Corbin †
* Mildred †
* Kammi †
* Emmy Crawford
* Old Buck

## Relationships

### Alliance

* Lady Lovey Belfont (formerly) †
* Bernice Anderson (briefly)
* Kammi (formerly) †

### Enemies

* Malachi
* Hester Beck †
* Amaryllis †
* Emmy Crawford
* Bernice Anderson

**The Family** are a bloodline of immortal god-like beings, and likely probably one of the oldest groups of supernatural beings ever to have existed. The are a nomadic people due to the one of the traditions laid down by the Family's patriarch, Malachi.

## History

“Once… long ago… our numbers were plentiful. We were spread out across the world. Over time, some us vanished… faded away like old memories… or left this realm in search of others. But others were killed. Even though we are long lived, we can die. Even the most powerful of us can be stricken from this world. There was even a time when we warred against one another… sibling killing sibling out of greed and jealousy and even boredom. Amaryllis helped put an end to the conflict among us. She helped establish the Law… the tradition… that no member of our family would ever kill another.”

**—Odessa to Emmy in *Harrow County* #15**

It is not known exactly when Malachi created the Family, although Odessa hinted to Emmy that they are immortal and it is hard to pinpoint a specific time when they didn't exist, suggesting the Family are quite possibly the oldest beings to ever walk the Earth. Malachi had been the first of his kind, and he had seen their numbers grow, and later seen them dwindle. And so he, with assistance from his daughter Amaryllis, created the traditions known as the Law to govern and protect his children.

The Family does not stay together. Each must wander the world in their own way, never together, and never settling in one place. The Family does not kill their own kind and take their power. The family does not partake in human luxuries, which can bind them to a place.

While the members of the Family are solitary for the most part, there are exceptions. When new members of the Family are created, they have a period where they live with one of their siblings for a year or so to learn the traditions and hone their abilities. They are also permitted to be together during the Conclave, an event that occurs every decade or so at the Meeting Lodge. Conclaves also occur during times of need.

Some of Malachi's children chaffed under the Law and found ways to circumvent the traditions, such as when Levi murdered his brother, Old Buck, by manipulating humans to commit the act. The also manipulated Hester into murdering Amaryllis, then exiled Hester for breaking the Law. However, Hester would not be cowed and she continued to break the Law as she sought to make herself a goddess over Harrow County.

## Throughout the *Harrow County* series

The Family were at work long before they made themselves know to Emmy in *Family Tree*. In *Harrow County* #9, Levi attempts to undermine the Skinless Boy. And Odessa has been using Lady Lovey Belfont to capture Hester's moccasins over the years. The Family had also been responsible for manipulating the townsfolk that rose up against Hester and killed her in the opening pages of *Countless Haints*.

The Family first revealed themselves to Emmy in *Family Tree*, when they tried to invite her into the Family. However, since Emmy had settled in Harrow County and made herself a protector of it, they considered this an violation of their Law, and they sought to destroy Harrow County as a means of correcting this violation. In response, Emmy showed power beyond what they thought she was possible of by forcing the Family out of Harrow County, making them realise Emmy was not a reincarnation of Hester after all, but of Amaryllis.

In *Hedge Magic*, Odessa manipulated Bernice into trying to force Emmy out of Harrow County. When that didn't work, the Family resurrected Kammi in *Dark Times A'Coming* to kill Emmy on their behalf. In *Done Come Back*, the Family met their end when Hester returned and ate them both as revenge for their part in her murder and to bolster her strength to fight against Emmy. The power of the Family was finally broken when Hester was defeated and the Meeting House burst into flames.

With the death of Hester, there remains only two surviving members, Emmy and Malachi.

## Notable members

**Malachi**
The Patriarch and former leader of the Family, he created all his children using his blood and clay. After the death of his favorite daughter, Amaryllis, he morphed into a creature similar to a Minotaur and became the known as the Abandoned.
**Amaryllis**
Malachi's most trusted and second in command. She was considered to be the most powerful of the Family and was capable of bending all of reality to her will, shaping it however she pleased. She was killed by Hester, who consumed her flesh to gain her powers.
**Hester Beck**
The youngest of Malachi's children. Hester could create Haints and, like Amaryllis, bend all of reality to her will. After murdering and cannibalizing Amaryllis, Hester became more powerful and virtually unstoppable.
**Odessa**
Odessa had a connection to nature. She and Levi took command of the Family after Amaryllis's death.
**Levi**
As a psychocomp, Levi guided the dead to the afterlife and the living to one stage of life to the next. He described himself as the "The Bogeyman's Bogeyman." He and Odessa led the Family after Malachi left, until they were both killed by a vengeful Hester.
**Kaine**
A Bogeyman. His victims couldn't wake in his presence. His whispers could bring vivid and deadly nightmares to his victims.
**Corbin**
A Necromancer. He could call up haints to do his binding, but only those he killed would follow his commands.
**Willa**
A Knitting Witch. She could control fate with her needles, creating fortune and calamity alike.
**Mildred**
A Force of disorder and chaos. Whenever she treaded, disaster followed her.