| quote = Each wound is a gate and no wound ever came from nothingness
| origin = Stone, Blood, Flesh
| titles = The Open Mouth, the Hungry Gate, the Thirsty Bird
| names =
| aspects = {{Aspect|Knock}} {{Aspect|Grail}}
| arrival = Before the Collision
| owners = [[User:Ael|Ael]]
}}
The Stained Key is an Hour of opening wounds, the body's gates, and blood sacrifice.
His ambitions are the fulfillment of his hungers, and the increase of his power, which he does by various means. He is an Hour of [[The Fourth Fansus]]
==Description==
===History===
When the first Long were born, soon, Alukites would follow. Then, from this grief of the first Alukites, an urge would follow: this urge, was the desire of these Alukites not to be of said kin. Decades passed, and, eventually, the Bird-Unwise, a god-from-stone committed the Crime; however, when she would be forced to become an Alukite, she refused, by both fusing with the urge and surrendering her body and memory, transforming her into the urge of the Stained Key.
This urge then fled into the Wake, into a new body, who was male, built the Bloody Gate, and connected it to all bodies in the Wake. This gate is now guarded by the Open Mouth, who will hunger, always.
===Appearance===
The Thirsty Bird commonly takes the shape of the body he originally resided in, after his fall, though it may shift in width and height. Sometimes, he whispers, just as a desire. Other times, he appears as a corpulent king, feasting at the Bloody Gate.
===Principles===
The Stained Key is both an Hour of Gates, and Wounds, an Hour of Knock, and an Hour of blood, especially the sacrifice of it. He guards the Bloody Gate, his own close to the Glory, and will require a sacrifice of the body of one who wants to pass it, for only he can open it, and for he will only open it when he is satisfied.
Because he hungers for power, and because he draws his power from the grief of Alukites, he tries to disgrace Names of other Hours with the help of his own Names, who are assigned a new body that constitutes the Crime of the Sky, usually. It is said that he even has affairs with other Hours, though this might not necessarily be for power's sake.
He is the one Hour managing all cases of the Crime, too, which is why many desperate Alukites worship him, hoping to be forgiven for what they have done.
==Worship==
===Cult===
The Open Mouth is worshipped both by Alukites who desperately want to strike a sharp key through their mistakes and ascend back to where they used to be, and cultists, who seek to ascend to the Mansus by giving up their mortal body to his hungers.
===Mark===
# '''Temptation: Enlightenment: I may seek the beauty of the Mansus, or what is left of it.
# '''Dedication: The Other Path to Enlightenment: The Hungry Gate will open for me, no matter the cost.
# '''Ascension: Enlightenment: Each time I dream, I only dream of the Open Mouth and his hunger. I know this to be the third mark.
# '''Ascension: Enlightenment: My body is changing, just like the hungers of the Stained Key. I know this to be the fourth mark.
# '''Ascension: Enlightenment: I am hungrier now. My appetite seems to be insatiable. I know this to be the fifth mark.
# '''Ascension: Enlightenment: I have surrendered my own appetites for the ones of the Stained Key. I don't recognize what I am, but I know that he will. I know this to be sixth mark.
# '''Ending''': Exactly one wound opens, and I enter through this wound. There, the Stained Key awaits me. My body will be devoured, but what is left will pass the Bloody Gate. Behind it, in what is left of the Mansus, I will reside. I will not be immortal, I will be more, and I may be sated, eventually.
===Servants===
====Names====
==Locations==
===The Mansus===
Despite often staying at the Bloody Gate, the Open Mouth sometimes personally flirts with other Hours, without the goal of committing the Crime. At these times, the Bloody Gate is closed, and rumour often follows in the Mansus.
====The Bloody Gate====
The Bloody Gate cannot be passed with a body; however, it's threshold may be reached physically. It is guarded by the Open Mouth himself, and he will always require a sacrifice for his hungers to pass. The Bloody Gate is one of the few gates that may bring one as close to the Glory as possible. It can be reached by every portal of the body, like wounds.
===The Histories===
All around the Wake, Names of the Stained Key wander to seduce male and female Names and Long alike, to strengthen the Open Mouth, who feeds on the hunger of Alukites.
==Items==
===Tools===
FNORD
===Ingredients===
FNORD
===Influences===
FNORD
===Books===
FNORD
==Relationships==
==Secrets==
* There are rumours about the Open Mouth having a lover, though this cannot yet be confirmed
* Somewhere in the Wake, one may find a complete list of all affairs of the Stained Key with other Hours or even Names
