The Solemn Gravedigger
The Solemn Gravedigger (The Shadow-Clad Gentleman, He-Who-Witnessed) is the Ninth Hour of the Fansus, created by Maltramac. His aspects are Winter and Heart in decreasing order of importance. The Solemn is a servant of The Millions-Upon-Millions and his duty is intertwined with that of Abbess Sunset. The Dragonfly was his sibling, for they were both born from the same mother.
| The Solemn Gravedigger | |
|---|---|
 | |
| "I am so sorry." | |
| Origin | God-from-Blood |
| Titles | The Shadow-Clad Gentleman, He-Who-Witnessed |
| Names | The Fallen King, The Silent End, The Vigil |
| Aspects |
  |
| Date of arrival | In prehistoric times, certainly before 100,000 BC |
| Owner(s) | Maltramac |
His tarot card is The Hermit.
Contents
History
The Solemn Gravedigger arose not from a singular sacrifice or from dedicated worship, but from the final, desperate prayers of the dying. Much like his cruel sister, he was a simple, nearly mindless entity at first - but with each death he witnessed, his form, intellect and understanding of the world grew. It is uncertain when exactly He-Who-Witnessed entered the service of the God-From-Stone who is Heart, but his Names claim it happened before the Cycle's reincarnation into the Millions-Upon-Millions.
Description
Appearance
Sometimes a black beetle, sometimes a pale-faced servant in formal wear, never talkative, always attentive. He often carries a silver shovel, with which he buries and preserves the memory of the dead. He can also take the form of an amorphous shadow - the very first shape he took, back when the earliest humans first came to understand their own mortality.
Principles
Winter, for the endings at which he is present. Heart, for what he preserves. The Solemn One remembers. He is invoked in the desperate prayers of the dying and in the final breath, but his very nature means that he can offer no aid. When the Sun-Eyed Maiden arrives to guide the dead to where they must go, he follows in her steps. What belongs to the Omnipede, he brings to the Omnipede, but what he is permitted to keep, he buries and preserves. He is the patron of memorials and remembrances, of bittersweet partings and of everything that is lost.
Worship
Cults
The Shadow-Clad Gentleman is invoked by priests, gravediggers, hospice workers and by those seeking to learn of the past. He provides little power to his worshippers and thus it is rare for him to be worshipped alone, but he generously shares lost wisdom with those who care for what is gone.
Servants
The Fallen King was formerly a Name of The Weft, a mortal king who ascended in her service. When his empire fell he came into the Gravedigger's service instead. The punishment for his defection was that his name, Ozymandias, was taken from him and now refers to Ramesses II instead. He appears as a dark-skinned, middle-aged man in golden robes, moving with slow, determined precision. He carries with him the tools of an architect, a builder and a king. His duty to the Solemn is building tombs, mausolea and monuments for the preservation of what has been kept.
The Silent End often takes the form of a mouse or bird when she is not a young woman in a white dress. The details of her appearance are different each time, but an unmistakable chill follows her. A patron of euthanasia and peaceful death, in ages past she would lead the Dragonfly away, distracting her so that the end may come in peace, then return to take one's final breath so that the Solemn may preserve it. Even in the wake of that Hour's departure, she has retained her ability to take the suffering of others onto herself. Some say she enjoys it. Some also claim she was a Name of The Bait before she entered the Gravedigger's service.
The Vigil dwells in candlelight, in the smell of incense and in other funerary traditions. It is more of an intangible presence than a physical existence. It brings remembrance from the Gravedigger's vaults to be shared with mortals, and in turn acknowledges their grief, recording it when returning to the vaults.
Locations
The Fansus
The Histories
Items
Tools
Ingredients
Influences
Books
Rites
About the Wassail
How They Feel
"I wish it hadn't happened. Not like this. But as always, I was powerless. I will remember them."
Who They Blame
"It seems to me we're all to blame."
What They Hide
"I hid the bodies of the Gods-From-Stone. I do not deny that."