The Conductor

The Conductor is the Thane of Universe Nine, and the right hand to King Gregoros the Wise. His true name is unknown. He is an apocolite of immense power, a Child of Time, and is the only known being on the Afterlife able to traverse to Earth and back. He is often referred to as "The red head", "the red haired man", or "the suited man." He is feared by most who know him, and has the reputation of a "boogey-man" to the common populace.

## Appearance and Character:

The Conductor has a beaked nose, narrow eyes, and long auburn hair that he ties back into a ponytail behind his head. In his hair is a single streak of white, running from his widows peak to his ponytail. He is never witnessed in anything other than the finest black-and-white suits, always with a red bowtie around his neck. His eyes are silver-white, coinciding with his wisp color of a Child of Time, and his appearance is often described as unsettling to those he encounters. He has a thin, reedy voice, always with a hint of malice in his tone. His nickname "The Conductor" came from his recurring job of "ticketing the ride" to the Afterlife for apocolites selected by Gregoros, though he seems to both detest and revel in the title.

The Conductor is a noted sociopath, who has no qualms with ending Earthen or Afterlifian lives. He sees the denizens of the Afterlife as little more than cattle, but wants to "save them" for his own gains. His job as the "ticket man" often involves him setting up situations in which people on Earth will die in gruesome ways, but he never shows any remorse or empathy towards those recently deceased. He considers "The Convergence" a stroke of genius, but when he realizes part of his plan involved a mistake, he becomes unsettled and terrified at the idea that he is fallible.

## History:

At some point in the past, the Conductor arrived to the afterlife, and became a Child of Time. The Conductor is aware of the Rift War, and the Lumieri, but whether he fought in the Rift War is unknown. Gregoros inducted him into the Thanerite, and made the Conductor Thane of Universe Nine.

The Conductor travelled to Earth on December 25th, 0 (1) A.D., to Bethlehem Palestine, to witness the birth of Yeshua Magdelena. There, he realized the animal "Piggles" was far more sentient and powerful than he let on, and abandoned Yeshua to his father, Zoroaster, and grandfather, Darys Avvalin. The Conductor brought Piggles to the Afterlife, where he instructed the pig in all vocations of science, and mathematics. It is implied the Conductor and his associates made Piggles some sort of godly figure, and that he became immortalized as one of the "three wise men" from the nativity.

## Recent Events:

### *Universe Eight:*

The Conductor visits the house at Five Crane Avenue, and discusses with Peter about the fate of Benjamin and his friends. Peter is distraught, but the Conductor is emotionless and cold to him. The Conductor then enacts the convergence, by forcibly stalling Jeremiah Woodard's car, and locking all the doors, trapping the Chosen Five inside. It is implied he is responsible for the portal that then opened, revealing a German train from 1914, which strikes the car. The Conductor laughs as the boys are mauled and burned to death.

The Conductor returns to Universe Nine, and remarks on the poor state of the palace. He questions Gregoros's apathy, and wonders why the king didn't "just let this place collapse," referring to the Afterlife as a whole. When he confronts the King, Gregoros claims his actions disrespected him, and the king psychologically tortures the Conductor, before commanding him to continue his quest to deliver the Chosen Five's remaining wisp blades. He orders the Conductor not to interfere any further, as his mistake regarding the Chosen Five is so vast it will ripple through the Tomes of Sagittarius. The Conductor, in his mind, insults Gregoros despite the king being able to hear his thoughts. He realizes that perhaps Gregoros was apathetic because he did not wish for the other eight universes to exist at all, and for only a utopia to exist on Universe Nine. The Conductor plants the seeds of his own rebellion, and leaves to find Jeremiah.