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[Character Name] Irial
[Canon] Wicked Lovely series by Melissa Marr
[Point Taken from Canon] After pg. 33 of Stopping Time
[Age] Over 1,200 years old
[Gender] Male
[Sexual Orientation] Pansexual
[Eye Color] Blue/Black
[Hair Color] Dark (black?)
[Height] Tall-ish? Same height as Niall
[Other] Has a fairly detailed tattoo on his arm, which is essentially a design of his name, a pair of eyes, and a lot of knot work. Described as "heavily tattooed" so I assume there are others not described per se in the books.Also, he has a black pair of wings.
[Clothing] That would depend on the glamor. Typically comfort/classy/hot is his look.
[Background]
Sorry, copied from app out of laziness)
Irial is a dark faery, and he was King of the Dark court for over twelve centuries. As such, the welfare of all other faeries of the Dark Court was his responsibility. A huge part of that job is ensuring that the collective doesn’t starve; the Dark Court feeds off darker emotions - which somehow is a secret to a good portion of the fey world.
In order to ensure that his people are fed, the right scene is necessary. While they’re not fans of full out war or discord, sometimes an orgy, arguments, little fights, and the like are necessary to bring out those negative emotions. During a 'dark age' in history, especially among the faery courts, even the air is said to be sustaining. Otherwise, the Dark Court can feed off of other faeries, but for centuries, it was also mortals whom they used to satisfy their need.
Sometimes this demanded a measure of cruelty. Irial can be just as seductive as he can be cruel, although it’s a necessary blend of the character traits demanded by the job. Before he was King, he was a Gancanagh, a faerie whose skin and touch is addictive to mortals. Over nine hundred years ago, Irial comes across another Gancanagh in the woods, seducing (or well, mostly being seduced by) an already addicted mortal. This is Niall.
Recognizing what he is - before Niall even has any idea himself, Irial encourages the faery to join him and his entourage. They travel for a time in agreeable companionship, with only Irial’s watchdog Gabriel among them, at hand to protect his King. They drink, talk, seduce their share of mortals - all round have an excellent faery time, although in so doing, Irial is knowingly exposing these mortals to the drug in Niall’s skin. These mortals are collected and taken away, used to feed the Dark Court, hopelessly addicted (and going through withdrawal).
When Niall finds out that this is the case, that he is the cause of what happened to these people, that they are being killed and driven mad just because he slept with them - and that Irial afterward took advantage of them, turning them over to his people - Niall is repulsed and alarmed. Irial wants Niall to stay with them, to join in their revelry - and indeed, to rule after him. The position of King of the Dark Court is always chosen from among the solitary fay, and he thinks even then that Niall would be a suitable replacement. But repulsed by what the current Dark King has done and wanting nothing to do with it, Niall refuses. What’s more, he offers himself in exchange for the mortals release. Irial isn’t given the chance to intervene, and honestly, he cannot, if he hopes to save face among the court. He would have been killed for trying, not having the same control over the faeries then as he does centuries later (and even then, there is still constant dissension among some of the more war-hungry fey). And so Irial is forced to stand by while Gabriel and his group of Hounds rape, abuse, and torture Niall, leaving a multitude of scars all over his body. Eventually, Niall leaves the Dark Court, turning to the Summer Court and offering them his loyalty.
In the centuries that pass, a number of interesting things happen in faery politics. The Winter Queen, Beira, is cruel - even more so than Irial. She gives birth to the next Summer King, Keenan, and kills her mate, the previous Summer King. Irial helps Beira bind the boy’s power so that he cannot reach his full potential until he finds his true mate, the Summer Queen. But as long as Keenan (the Summer King) fails to find his other half, Beira still has the power between the two courts, and she being an exceptionally cruel bitch, there is always an influx of food for the Dark Court. She gives them plenty of pain, fear, anger, and hate to feed off of, which is why Irial entered into the bargain to begin with, knowing it was for the good of his people.
But in the early 21st century, closer to present day, Keenan finally finds his summer queen in Aislann. When they join, perpetual winter is broken and shortly after, Beira is killed (because she would have killed Aislann or Keenan to prevent them from coming into power and allowing Summer to reign). This being the case, Irial’s guaranteed buffet is over. He has to work to feed his people, and now they are starving. His court is so weakened, that in the beginning of Ink Exchange, one of his faeries is killed by a single gunshot. That’s unheard of. It shouldn’t happen. But it does. He understands that drastic measures must be taken in order to feed his court. And so he enters into the Ink Exchange with Leslie, a mortal, funneling her feelings into the Dark Court through his own blood and life’s essence, draining/numbing her in the process. Eventually, she loses large blocks of time, blacks out and turns suicidal, wishing she could feel something. In order to preserve her sanity a little longer, not wanting her hurt anymore than he already has to in order to save his people, Irial tries to revert to old methods, feeding off mortals. But Leslie witnesses their handiwork and even though she doesn’t have the capacity to properly feel, she doesn’t like it.
She accepts Niall’s offer to break the ink exchange, to nullify the power of the tattoo through the winter’s frost and the summer’s sun, breaking the bond she has with Irial. It works. While he can still vaguely sense her, they can’t speak to each other as they could before, and she has no tie to the Dark Court.
Irial has fallen in love with Leslie, the only mortal who ever has had that honor. And because he loves her, he doesn’t want to hurt her anymore - honoring her desire to be left alone to live a normal life. But you discover in Stopping Time, that he is still watching her from a distance, ensuring she is safe and offering his help if ever she should need it. But the ink exchange with Leslie has changed Irial. He was forced to be bound to a human, to almost care more for the welfare of said human over that of his own court. He realizes he is too changed, and no longer fit to be the king of the Dark Court. And so, he meets up with Niall, who has broken off with the Summer Court by then. He gives his power to Niall, telling him he is what the Court needs. At this point, Irial is reverted to a Gancanagh again, sort of trading places with Niall.
He swears his fealty to the new King, and you find that he is kept on as an adviser, though Niall is wary to trust him. Even though faeries can’t lie, they can still manipulate and omit, and Niall has been hurt before by Irial. On the other hand, Irial has centuries’ worth of experience and has grown accustomed to taking care of the more cruel tasks demanded of him, being King of the Dark Court, and he continues to take care of these things so Niall doesn’t have to. But he’s told not to go near Leslie, not to touch her. And he is watched by Gabriel, who is now loyal to the new King, Niall.
[Personality]
I think there are many layers to Irial’s personality that make it difficult to understand if he is really a ‘good guy’ or a ‘bad guy’. I guess it would depend on which character you asked. Niall would have probably leaned towards bad guy, at least before they work it out in v. 2 of Stopping Time. Leslie would probably say he’s a good guy that just had to deal with a bad job that forced him to do bad things for the good of his people. And that’s really the core of it - Irial has done a number of things that people apart from his world might consider evil, but as he explained, he is not evil. He was the King of the Dark Court. The faeries who swore fealty to their King thrive on and require sustenance through other people’s pain, hate, fear, and so forth. That meant inspiring and finding scenarios to bring out those feelings in other faeries, or even mortals. If he had been a softie, his Court wouldn’t have survived the centuries.
But he says towards the end of Ink Exchange that Leslie changed him. From the moment he was bonded to her through her tattoo, he experienced her mortal feelings, her desires, her weaknesses, and in so doing, made himself weaker for the good of his people. He even suggests in Stopping Time that she continues to become a stronger person while he, on the other hand, becomes weaker over time.
He is playful. He is flirtatious. He can be cruel. He references that character trait when talking of Niall’s scars, although more truly, he wasn’t the one who hurt Niall - though Irial still considers it his failing for standing by and letting it happen. There is a great deal of guilt surrounding the abuse that Niall received centuries ago, and Irial admitted to having tried to make amends since then. Niall and Leslie are perhaps the few people he has ever loved. As for loyalty, he is loyal to his court. Beyond that, it’s all politics and games, whatever is required to get by.
He taunts the new Summer King, constantly mocking him and his ‘impotence.’ He flirts with faeries and mortals alike, especially the fae he would like to persuade to join his court. Unlike the faeries of the Summer Court, or even the crueler, colder fae of the Winter Court, Irial is not so quick to anger. He is attacked numerous times, even punched in the face by his former ‘guard dog’ Gabriel, and he just swipes the blood away from his face.
He probably wouldn’t be considered a compassionate person, given that his job really had no place for compassion - although that emotion started to creep in after the Ink Exchange with Leslie. She even manages to get a promise out of him, not to hurt any more mortals in the future with the Ink Exchange. He agreed to the unreasonable request for her sake, although how the hell is he supposed to feed his people after that?
So, the short version of all that - Irial is: sexy, confidant, casual, only more recently compassionate, and only for a select few, hungers for bringing out darker emotions in people (pain, lust, fear, anger, hate), has no problem invading someone’s personal space - and in fact, seems to enjoy working it like a challenge, seeing if someone would flinch. Because he enjoys bringing out particular emotions in people, he probably wouldn’t mind instigating a fight here and there, hitting on people, scaring people, or even just standing back and watching other citizens of Somarium go at it while chain-smoking and grinning.
[Specialties/Abilities]
Before and after Irial was King of the Dark Court, he was/is a Gancanagh. His touch/kiss is addictive to mortals. Unless that’s something that should be suspended as long as he is in Somarium, that would be the case here with anyone he tried to be physically affectionate with. But by the same token, he too is addicted to mortals. He’s seductive and hedonistic by nature, but the pull is even stronger now. Just the sound of their laughter, watching them move, it’s all very tempting, and even though he’s technically hands-off without orders from his King, well, they’re not exactly home anymore, are they? And there is no court in Somarium. So do the normal rules even apply, when those who would punish him aren’t even in place?
He is a faery. While perhaps not as strong as he was when he was still King, he would still have some of the speed and strength of the fey. He heals fast, he can’t die from trivial things like a regular bullet or a stabbing.
I’m not sure how their glamors or ability to go invisible would work here. Would they still be allowed to do that, or no? Faeries typically aren’t seen by mortals, unless they have the Sight, so it’s a conscious decision, when, if, and how to make themselves appear to humans. They can change their appearance when they become visible, soften their features, change up their hair color, their clothes. Otherwise, they walk around invisible to mortals in their true form, with the addition of black wings.
As a dark faerie, he can also taste/feed off of emotions, especially the darker emotions. He can sense everything that a person feels, used to be able to taste it as if feelings were tangible flavors when he was King. You might say he gets off on these darker emotions, even when he’s not actively feeding, because just provoking them in someone else makes him feel the need to light up a cigarette.
On that note, toxins like nicotine, poison, alcohol, is nullified in faeries. It doesn’t harm them, which is how Irial gets away with chain-smoking so much with no ill-effect.
[Affection] All affection is allowed and encouraged! Although be warned: if your character is mortal, there is a drug in Irial's skin which your char will become addicted to. It's inevitable. So, yeah. Don't be afraid?
[Fighting] Fighting is not necessarily something Irial would start, but he'd love to be around it - preferably with a fresh pack of cigarettes. But if he pisses you off, don't hesitate to call him out. He can fight. He's not as easy to kill. But he can always come back. So I'm cool. Let's chat.
[Other Permissions] PLEASE SEE MY PERMISSIONS POST! I want to know if you're giving Irial permission to
*Get touchy-feely with your character
*Taste their emotions
*Use his glamor and/or become invisible around them
As for anything on your end, well, I'm pretty open! I just wanna play.
[Other Facts] I plan to inundate Somarium and my journal with these: ♥
*Faeries cannot lie.
*Being surrounded by metal like steel and iron is painful. So, while he could travel to Somni and bear it far better than weaker fae, he is no longer King of the Dark Court and so a prolonged exposure would make him sick, weaken him like an intense fever.
*In the past, he couldn’t die except from serious injuries made by the previously mentioned metals. But I assume that here that might change? He can die a more mortal death, is that it?
[Canon] Wicked Lovely series by Melissa Marr
[Point Taken from Canon] After pg. 33 of Stopping Time
[Age] Over 1,200 years old
[Gender] Male
[Sexual Orientation] Pansexual
[Eye Color] Blue/Black
[Hair Color] Dark (black?)
[Height] Tall-ish? Same height as Niall
[Other] Has a fairly detailed tattoo on his arm, which is essentially a design of his name, a pair of eyes, and a lot of knot work. Described as "heavily tattooed" so I assume there are others not described per se in the books.Also, he has a black pair of wings.
[Clothing] That would depend on the glamor. Typically comfort/classy/hot is his look.
[Background]
Sorry, copied from app out of laziness)
Irial is a dark faery, and he was King of the Dark court for over twelve centuries. As such, the welfare of all other faeries of the Dark Court was his responsibility. A huge part of that job is ensuring that the collective doesn’t starve; the Dark Court feeds off darker emotions - which somehow is a secret to a good portion of the fey world.
In order to ensure that his people are fed, the right scene is necessary. While they’re not fans of full out war or discord, sometimes an orgy, arguments, little fights, and the like are necessary to bring out those negative emotions. During a 'dark age' in history, especially among the faery courts, even the air is said to be sustaining. Otherwise, the Dark Court can feed off of other faeries, but for centuries, it was also mortals whom they used to satisfy their need.
Sometimes this demanded a measure of cruelty. Irial can be just as seductive as he can be cruel, although it’s a necessary blend of the character traits demanded by the job. Before he was King, he was a Gancanagh, a faerie whose skin and touch is addictive to mortals. Over nine hundred years ago, Irial comes across another Gancanagh in the woods, seducing (or well, mostly being seduced by) an already addicted mortal. This is Niall.
Recognizing what he is - before Niall even has any idea himself, Irial encourages the faery to join him and his entourage. They travel for a time in agreeable companionship, with only Irial’s watchdog Gabriel among them, at hand to protect his King. They drink, talk, seduce their share of mortals - all round have an excellent faery time, although in so doing, Irial is knowingly exposing these mortals to the drug in Niall’s skin. These mortals are collected and taken away, used to feed the Dark Court, hopelessly addicted (and going through withdrawal).
When Niall finds out that this is the case, that he is the cause of what happened to these people, that they are being killed and driven mad just because he slept with them - and that Irial afterward took advantage of them, turning them over to his people - Niall is repulsed and alarmed. Irial wants Niall to stay with them, to join in their revelry - and indeed, to rule after him. The position of King of the Dark Court is always chosen from among the solitary fay, and he thinks even then that Niall would be a suitable replacement. But repulsed by what the current Dark King has done and wanting nothing to do with it, Niall refuses. What’s more, he offers himself in exchange for the mortals release. Irial isn’t given the chance to intervene, and honestly, he cannot, if he hopes to save face among the court. He would have been killed for trying, not having the same control over the faeries then as he does centuries later (and even then, there is still constant dissension among some of the more war-hungry fey). And so Irial is forced to stand by while Gabriel and his group of Hounds rape, abuse, and torture Niall, leaving a multitude of scars all over his body. Eventually, Niall leaves the Dark Court, turning to the Summer Court and offering them his loyalty.
In the centuries that pass, a number of interesting things happen in faery politics. The Winter Queen, Beira, is cruel - even more so than Irial. She gives birth to the next Summer King, Keenan, and kills her mate, the previous Summer King. Irial helps Beira bind the boy’s power so that he cannot reach his full potential until he finds his true mate, the Summer Queen. But as long as Keenan (the Summer King) fails to find his other half, Beira still has the power between the two courts, and she being an exceptionally cruel bitch, there is always an influx of food for the Dark Court. She gives them plenty of pain, fear, anger, and hate to feed off of, which is why Irial entered into the bargain to begin with, knowing it was for the good of his people.
But in the early 21st century, closer to present day, Keenan finally finds his summer queen in Aislann. When they join, perpetual winter is broken and shortly after, Beira is killed (because she would have killed Aislann or Keenan to prevent them from coming into power and allowing Summer to reign). This being the case, Irial’s guaranteed buffet is over. He has to work to feed his people, and now they are starving. His court is so weakened, that in the beginning of Ink Exchange, one of his faeries is killed by a single gunshot. That’s unheard of. It shouldn’t happen. But it does. He understands that drastic measures must be taken in order to feed his court. And so he enters into the Ink Exchange with Leslie, a mortal, funneling her feelings into the Dark Court through his own blood and life’s essence, draining/numbing her in the process. Eventually, she loses large blocks of time, blacks out and turns suicidal, wishing she could feel something. In order to preserve her sanity a little longer, not wanting her hurt anymore than he already has to in order to save his people, Irial tries to revert to old methods, feeding off mortals. But Leslie witnesses their handiwork and even though she doesn’t have the capacity to properly feel, she doesn’t like it.
She accepts Niall’s offer to break the ink exchange, to nullify the power of the tattoo through the winter’s frost and the summer’s sun, breaking the bond she has with Irial. It works. While he can still vaguely sense her, they can’t speak to each other as they could before, and she has no tie to the Dark Court.
Irial has fallen in love with Leslie, the only mortal who ever has had that honor. And because he loves her, he doesn’t want to hurt her anymore - honoring her desire to be left alone to live a normal life. But you discover in Stopping Time, that he is still watching her from a distance, ensuring she is safe and offering his help if ever she should need it. But the ink exchange with Leslie has changed Irial. He was forced to be bound to a human, to almost care more for the welfare of said human over that of his own court. He realizes he is too changed, and no longer fit to be the king of the Dark Court. And so, he meets up with Niall, who has broken off with the Summer Court by then. He gives his power to Niall, telling him he is what the Court needs. At this point, Irial is reverted to a Gancanagh again, sort of trading places with Niall.
He swears his fealty to the new King, and you find that he is kept on as an adviser, though Niall is wary to trust him. Even though faeries can’t lie, they can still manipulate and omit, and Niall has been hurt before by Irial. On the other hand, Irial has centuries’ worth of experience and has grown accustomed to taking care of the more cruel tasks demanded of him, being King of the Dark Court, and he continues to take care of these things so Niall doesn’t have to. But he’s told not to go near Leslie, not to touch her. And he is watched by Gabriel, who is now loyal to the new King, Niall.
[Personality]
I think there are many layers to Irial’s personality that make it difficult to understand if he is really a ‘good guy’ or a ‘bad guy’. I guess it would depend on which character you asked. Niall would have probably leaned towards bad guy, at least before they work it out in v. 2 of Stopping Time. Leslie would probably say he’s a good guy that just had to deal with a bad job that forced him to do bad things for the good of his people. And that’s really the core of it - Irial has done a number of things that people apart from his world might consider evil, but as he explained, he is not evil. He was the King of the Dark Court. The faeries who swore fealty to their King thrive on and require sustenance through other people’s pain, hate, fear, and so forth. That meant inspiring and finding scenarios to bring out those feelings in other faeries, or even mortals. If he had been a softie, his Court wouldn’t have survived the centuries.
But he says towards the end of Ink Exchange that Leslie changed him. From the moment he was bonded to her through her tattoo, he experienced her mortal feelings, her desires, her weaknesses, and in so doing, made himself weaker for the good of his people. He even suggests in Stopping Time that she continues to become a stronger person while he, on the other hand, becomes weaker over time.
He is playful. He is flirtatious. He can be cruel. He references that character trait when talking of Niall’s scars, although more truly, he wasn’t the one who hurt Niall - though Irial still considers it his failing for standing by and letting it happen. There is a great deal of guilt surrounding the abuse that Niall received centuries ago, and Irial admitted to having tried to make amends since then. Niall and Leslie are perhaps the few people he has ever loved. As for loyalty, he is loyal to his court. Beyond that, it’s all politics and games, whatever is required to get by.
He taunts the new Summer King, constantly mocking him and his ‘impotence.’ He flirts with faeries and mortals alike, especially the fae he would like to persuade to join his court. Unlike the faeries of the Summer Court, or even the crueler, colder fae of the Winter Court, Irial is not so quick to anger. He is attacked numerous times, even punched in the face by his former ‘guard dog’ Gabriel, and he just swipes the blood away from his face.
He probably wouldn’t be considered a compassionate person, given that his job really had no place for compassion - although that emotion started to creep in after the Ink Exchange with Leslie. She even manages to get a promise out of him, not to hurt any more mortals in the future with the Ink Exchange. He agreed to the unreasonable request for her sake, although how the hell is he supposed to feed his people after that?
So, the short version of all that - Irial is: sexy, confidant, casual, only more recently compassionate, and only for a select few, hungers for bringing out darker emotions in people (pain, lust, fear, anger, hate), has no problem invading someone’s personal space - and in fact, seems to enjoy working it like a challenge, seeing if someone would flinch. Because he enjoys bringing out particular emotions in people, he probably wouldn’t mind instigating a fight here and there, hitting on people, scaring people, or even just standing back and watching other citizens of Somarium go at it while chain-smoking and grinning.
[Specialties/Abilities]
Before and after Irial was King of the Dark Court, he was/is a Gancanagh. His touch/kiss is addictive to mortals. Unless that’s something that should be suspended as long as he is in Somarium, that would be the case here with anyone he tried to be physically affectionate with. But by the same token, he too is addicted to mortals. He’s seductive and hedonistic by nature, but the pull is even stronger now. Just the sound of their laughter, watching them move, it’s all very tempting, and even though he’s technically hands-off without orders from his King, well, they’re not exactly home anymore, are they? And there is no court in Somarium. So do the normal rules even apply, when those who would punish him aren’t even in place?
He is a faery. While perhaps not as strong as he was when he was still King, he would still have some of the speed and strength of the fey. He heals fast, he can’t die from trivial things like a regular bullet or a stabbing.
I’m not sure how their glamors or ability to go invisible would work here. Would they still be allowed to do that, or no? Faeries typically aren’t seen by mortals, unless they have the Sight, so it’s a conscious decision, when, if, and how to make themselves appear to humans. They can change their appearance when they become visible, soften their features, change up their hair color, their clothes. Otherwise, they walk around invisible to mortals in their true form, with the addition of black wings.
As a dark faerie, he can also taste/feed off of emotions, especially the darker emotions. He can sense everything that a person feels, used to be able to taste it as if feelings were tangible flavors when he was King. You might say he gets off on these darker emotions, even when he’s not actively feeding, because just provoking them in someone else makes him feel the need to light up a cigarette.
On that note, toxins like nicotine, poison, alcohol, is nullified in faeries. It doesn’t harm them, which is how Irial gets away with chain-smoking so much with no ill-effect.
[Affection] All affection is allowed and encouraged! Although be warned: if your character is mortal, there is a drug in Irial's skin which your char will become addicted to. It's inevitable. So, yeah. Don't be afraid?
[Fighting] Fighting is not necessarily something Irial would start, but he'd love to be around it - preferably with a fresh pack of cigarettes. But if he pisses you off, don't hesitate to call him out. He can fight. He's not as easy to kill. But he can always come back. So I'm cool. Let's chat.
[Other Permissions] PLEASE SEE MY PERMISSIONS POST! I want to know if you're giving Irial permission to
*Get touchy-feely with your character
*Taste their emotions
*Use his glamor and/or become invisible around them
As for anything on your end, well, I'm pretty open! I just wanna play.
[Other Facts] I plan to inundate Somarium and my journal with these: ♥
*Faeries cannot lie.
*Being surrounded by metal like steel and iron is painful. So, while he could travel to Somni and bear it far better than weaker fae, he is no longer King of the Dark Court and so a prolonged exposure would make him sick, weaken him like an intense fever.
*In the past, he couldn’t die except from serious injuries made by the previously mentioned metals. But I assume that here that might change? He can die a more mortal death, is that it?