Emrys

A border guard for the Autumn court, Emrys has fallen far from his position as the court's Spymaster after a violent inter-court skirmish 150 years ago. He's mostly contented at his fairly solitary post, but he will never turn down a visitor.

He uses he/him and also they/them as pronouns

## History

Emrys was born a little over 400 years ago; the youngest child of a lower-level Autumn Court family.

Being the baby, he had far more freedom to wander and learn, though his family was not fond of his propensity to wander. He was a fairly solitary child, but endlessly curious. On his wanderings, he developed a habit of taking little trinkets from the human world, like cheap little toys and scraps of fabric.

He was neighbors with Meg and met her when they were both young. Emrys bonded with Meg very quickly. When she moved away, he was heartbroken and swore he'd find a way to keep in touch with her.

It was only when his family realized he had an eidetic memory that they really started paying attention to him & cared to start training him in how to navigate the courts. Emrys was whisked away for that training before he reached the age of maturity, and grew up learning the intricacies of the courts - as well as the subtle art of spycraft & intelligence gathering. He kept writing to Meg when he could.

Over the centuries, he worked his way up the ranks to become the court's Spymaster at a very young age (roughly his early 100s). It was during this time that Emrys' correspondence with Meg slowed and then stopped. It was also during this time that Emrys developed a fascination with destiny and how it worked around the fae. He is **fascinated** by the mechanics of magic.

Emrys had immense skill at his job - he excelled at subterfuge, and always left both the court's enemies and allies thinking he was far less intelligent or perceptive than he actually was. Rumors of his terrifying anger always seemed to remain rumors, thanks to Emrys' near total control over his own image. A Spymaster with a blinding, violent rage is a weakness waiting to be exploited, after all. He also spent time going back and forth into the human world, continuing to gather trinkets as well as things humans thought to be full of magic, like tarot cards.

He also leaned heavily into his kelpie ancestry and has a deep love for trickery -- mostly harmless tricks. Mostly.

During his time as Spymaster, he met a man - a member of another court - with whom he almost instantly fell in love. His feelings were requited, and the two carried on in secret for a number of years. Emrys was always careful to not let his feelings affect his work, but he faltered in small ways. Each stumble was little, almost unnoticeable, but there were some in the court who quietly noted each and every one.

Around 200 years ago, the paramour broke off the relationship with no notice, leaving Emrys utterly bereft. Emrys has not heard from this man since. Shortly after, there was a violent skirmish at Emrys' outpost involving members from his paramour's court. Emrys was seriously injured.

During his recovery, it was revealed that Emrys had, in several small ways for a very long time, compromised the safety of the outpost he was stationed at. Through what remaining pull his family had, and because of his own information gathering, Emrys managed a demotion to border guard rather than outright banishment. His family has not officially disowned him, but his parents and his older siblings refuse to speak to him.

Unfortunately, he was forced to move to that solitary outpost while still recovering from his injuries. Because of this, he deals with chronic pain daily. The reason for his demotion has been kept secret from the vast majority of the court.

He has been minding a watchtower along one of the border rivers between courts for the past 150 years, and has tried to help along feral fae and other travelers. Emrys also rekindled his friendship with Meg when he was posted in the watchtower, and the two have slowly been rekindling their childhood friendship. Emrys has not shared the entirety of the charges leveled against him and his reason for demotion with her yet.

## Personality

Emrys is mostly laid back, but is very good at reading people. His appointment as Spymaster as such a young fae was the result of a lot of work and skill and study, and he is often good at manipulating situations to his benefit. He has a eidetic memory and is a fantastic actor.

He also has a soft heart that he has very specifically worked very hard to keep walls around.

Emrys has difficulty making long-lasting friendships after an adolescence and a majority of his adulthood navigating the fae courts. Even though it's been a century or two since his demotion, he still is struggling to unlearn the habits and routines he learned during his training.

He is very death positive!

## Abilities

- Simple pathfinding magic

- Minor decay magic

- Control over water