Daughter Dooley

A witch and midwife known colloquially as The Witch Queen. She is the biological daughter of Edith "Edie" Dooley and adopted daughter of Catherine "Katie" Dooley. She emigrated as an infant with her mothers from somewhere in the UK to Williamsburg, Virginia.

## Background

After a scandal in which her mothers succeeded where physicians failed, Daughter Dooley and her mothers joined a group called the Monroe Company traveling West to the Cumberland Gap. En route, the whole of the Monroe Company (with the exception of herself and one Marvin) succumbed to sickness or violence. The Daughter Dooley and Marvin encountered the Blessed Folk of His Unending and Undying Gracious Love, who were also traveling West, and joined their group. They settled in what would become Jacob County, Kentucky in approximately 1777. Daughter Dooley lived with this group for one year before she was discovered to be a witch. Though her powers were yet fully formed, she was shunned by the community.

She was banished from settlement to a secluded cottage in the woods near what has since become either Eassau County, VA or Jacob County, KY. Daughter Dooley lived for a year and a day before encountering Horned Head. The dark creature first came to her in the form of Edie, but Daughter could see through the ruse. Her second encounter came shortly after when the dark creature took the form of Katie. Again, she recognized the ruse and demanded to see its true form. Horned Head finally came to her in the form of a giant black stag, covered in a mess of viscera and rot, with glowing amber antlers. Horned Head offered a bargain: she would be granted eternal life and dominion over her land. The cost of this bargain was not made clear initially, and Daughter figured she ought to take the deal or perish.

Years pass as Daughter Dooley continued to age to her 20th year; during that time, her powers grew and with careful study. During this time, she was “gifted” the Six Men, husks of men who had clearly either passed already or were born of the dark bargain. Daughter Dooley has control over them, and they answer to her every word, down to the very letter. They built additions to her shack, and over time, she learned to control them more carefully, especially after they killed a whole family and dismantled their homestead when she requested more wood for her home. They would deliver letters to her that contained “orders” from her dark patron, likely Horned Head. These orders often took the form of simple tasks or jobs nearby.

In 1794, Horned Head, via letter, ordered her to move temporarily to Last Harbor, where she will take up the role of midwife and nurse in assistance to Dr. Harold Gillespie. While serving as a midwife to the elderly and the women in labor, she began to notice that she was aging in reverse, losing her height, her body hair, and even the length of her feet. In an effort to prove her suspicions regarding what was happening to her, she informed Doc Gillespie that she would need to take four days off to “settle some matters of her late husband’s estate.”

Venturing out into the woods, she attempted to commune with The Green and restore the natural order of her age. Over that time, while living in a small camp she’d established, she seemed to age once again, though she still remained in appearance as a young 20-something woman. She also summoned Eugene and Sixy of The Six Men to help with an additional experiment. Setting Eugene as a watch guard and calling Sixy to her side, she took his hand and immediately sapped the life force from his body. He fell to the ground dead, and she felt the rejuvenating power as the magic “healed” her. She realized that Horned Head had cursed her to drain the life force of others with the intention that she would slowly become a baby. She then assumed that the dark creature would return to her and raise her from that point forward as a “clean slate.” She further established that Doc Gillespie must be someone who is both aware and potentially a servant of Horned Head.

Upon reaching this conclusion, Daughter Dooley ordered Eugene to carry her while running back to town as quickly as possible. She found Doctor Gillespie at the town limits with the very baby he had told her he needed her help to deliver. She immediately knew that her suspicions were correct and that Doc Gillespie was a servant of the dark creature, but before she could take the baby away, Horned Head appeared and struck her with his hoof, knocking her out.

Daughter Dooley awoke in her home to find that Doc Gillespie was dead and that she’d been covered in a mix of herbs and his blood. Eugene held the baby and an old ritual blade. Horned Head announced that he planned to kill the baby and finally reduce Daughter Dooley to infancy, whereupon he would raise her as a servant of the Deep Things. In an effort to prove his power, he crossed what he assumed to be the boundary of her property, placing himself next to her. Daughter Dooley declared that she would not allow him to do anything to her further, and she activated a blood barrier around herself and Horned Head, binding them in a 12 foot square. Eugene and Sixy both immediately sat down, dropping the blade and cradling the baby. She mocked Horned Head for being a fool and told him that his “sponsors” would not be able to grant him any power in this blood barrier. She challenged the dark creature to battle, with the victor being the caretaker of the infant, and the two lunged at each other.

It can be presumed that Daughter Dooley won the battle with The Thing Whose Name Sounds Like Horned Head, and after latching the infant to her breast she and the baby became The Dead Queen. Three witches, three others, and one greater still met and bound the baby, a vessel for The Inner Dark, to an unmarked grave. Daughter Dooley must lie with the baby for one year before being allowed to roam free the other six, as the binding is renewed every seven years.

Sometime before the winter of 1983, Daughter Dooley became the librarian of Deep Springs High School in southwest Virginia. Shortly before leaving her position following the shcool's closure, she saved Tyler Culbertson and Chris Ramey from an entity she referred to as "the Liar's Chorus". During the encounter, the chorus referred to her patron in an appeal for mercy, and Dooley responded that she no longer had a patron and that "those who tried to bind one such as I end up broken and scattered to the wind like so many ashes".

## Abilities

Daughter Dooley, being in the service of the Deep Things, has several powers as both a witch and cursed being. She has a fairly diverse knowledge of the use of herbs and other organic items used in spells and potions, as seen in the barriers she placed around her property. She has also proven to be able to sense when magic is present, as well as sense the presence of good and evil spirits. She is also capable of identifying those who are not as they say they are, as seen when she clearly recognizes that Horned Head is using the appearance of her mothers to deceive her.

The powers granted to her by the Deep Things are somewhat unknown, but the clearest power is her ability to siphon the life force from others in order to sustain herself. This power is used against her without her knowing in order to deceive her and reduce her to a baby so that the Deep Things can raise her again under their custody. She also has the power over The Six Men, though it is unclear if this is a power of hers or simply a granted boon from the Deep Things.

## Appearances

* Episode 0.5: The Witch Queen
* Episode 2.5: Let There Be Green
* Episode 6: The Witch Queen Chapter II: Doubt
* Episode 10: The Witch Queen Chapter III: Last Harbor
* Episode 30: The Dead Queen