Ernst Quilp

Name: Ernst Quilp
Age: 27
Race: Passive
Place of Origin: Vienda
Occupation: Servant

Backstory

Ersnt Quilp was the product of an affair between economist Linus Quilp and his lover, the concert pianist Constance Rudge. Neither had ever shown much interest in children- indeed, Constance had often expressed her down-right distaste of loud, snotty, spolit little things and the pregnancy had been most unwanted. As it was, Constance and Linus were married quickly and quietly before Constance began to show.

Ernst was mostly left to his own devices as a child, it could be months at a time before the little boy saw either his mother or father and was entreated to the care of a matronly human nanny. His parent’s marriage slowly dissipated as Ernst got older, both entertained several lovers and were living in separate houses by the time he reached seven. All the same, he viewed his parent’s as inordinately glamorous, clever, often exotic and adored them (he still does to this day), though they both were blasé at best towards their only, unwanted, son. Because neither Constance nor Linus had any clue how to deal with children neither ever spoke down to the boy and as such he became a precocious young thing, quoting his parent’s views on art, literature, politics and economics in his own childish lisp despite understanding very little of it.

At ten, Ernst prepared to enter Brunnhold, to have more discussions about art and politics and become as clever as his very clever mother and father. Unfortunately this would not be the case. Ernst scored a 0 on his test and was condemned to a lifetime of servitude within the walls of Brunnhold. These days, Linus keeps himself to himself and is reluctant to think of a little boy who- the Quilp’s companions were told- died very young, what an embarrassment the whole dreadful situation had been! Constance Quilp however laughs loudly at dinner parties, stays out late with married gentlemen and is so very thankful of a life where one does not have to worry about silly things such as responsibility and children- if only that darn scrap hadn’t ruined her figure so!

To this day, Ernst’s prized possession remains a spectrograph of his mother and father smuggled into Brunnhold.

While many Passives in Ernst’s situation felt powerful sense of animosity towards the galdori opressors, let the bitterness they felt for their keepers give them strength, Ernst found his consolation in quite the opposite. Of course the galdori were right to keep him at Brunnhold, passives were dangerous, were not to be trusted and were unworthy of the monic powers that their clever, kind, golly captors had been blessed with. Ernst told himself that he must work hard to atone for his failures, to appease the gollies and show that he was very grateful to them for providing him with a home in Brunnhold. As the years went by, Ernst’s admiration for the galdori only grew and grew- he was a model worker, a true example of passive politeness and productivity- but his hatred for his own kind grew along with it until Ernst sensibilities resembled that of the very worst galdori conservative passive haters.

At sixteen, he was assigned a job with another passive- a young girl, fairly new to Brunnhold who was placed under his instruction, working for a professor. Ernst did his job with pride, was polite and neat- but the girl, badly behaved, lazy little creature that she was did nothing but complain and cry for her mama, her work was so bad that even the professor noticed it. To appease the good golly professor, Ernst took it upon himself to discipline the young girl.

Mercy was not something one needed to show when dealing with passives and most of them were so stupid that force was absolutely necessary to get any kind of message through. Years of servitude had made the lean boy strong and Ernst poured his heart and soul into the beating, felt her nose break beneath his fist along with his admiration of gollies and his intense hatred of passives.

It was at this moment that Ernst’s diablerie chose to manifest itself- and unspeakable terrors coursed through the mind of the already terrified little girl. Her screams grew louder and her whole body shook, urine coursing down her legs. Had two other passives at the scene not experienced the same, Ernst may never have known his diablerie was terror as he carried on laying into the girl regardless and did not stop till her blood covered his knuckles, the terrors subsided and her pitiful screams ceased out of exhaustion and pure loss of hope.

When he was finished with her it was apparent to all that she would not act out again, her looks had been ruined forever, her will broken by what Ernst’s diablerie had subjected her to and so she would keep Ernst’s lesson with her for as long as she lived. The professor thanked Ernst for his work- a galdori thanked him! It was the best day of the boy’s young life and from it, the warped architect of galdori discipline was born.

Because of his work ethic and model behaviour around those of higher authority and galdori, Ernst has been given more responsibility over the years- those above him like having him work under him because he gets the job done, and then some. And like his methods or not, Ernst does tend to increase the productivity of those he's working with- Ernst isn't the kind of fellow you can have a pleasant chat with over work, and as a result Ernst is allowed to get away with disciplining passives more often than not.

As a result of his opinions and despite being anything but shy, Ernst’s life is a lonely one at Brunnhold. He remains reviled (and rightly so) by the galdori he adores and since he despises passives so he experiences none of the camaraderie experienced by the other’s- not that he would want to, of course.

Personality

Ernst’s admiration for the galdori is fervent; Stockholm syndrome at it’s most potent it has consumed him and turned his insides ugly. In the company of professors and students his behavior is sickeningly obsequious and even a little unsettling at times; when asked to speak he flatters and articulates with such reverence it’s as though Ernst is facing a god. In Ernst’s eyes galdori men are the true example of what a man can be, their intelligence unparalleled, their grace and magnanimity something to be celebrated by all of the lower races. Galdori women are much the same, the height of desirability and Ernst worships them, sometimes watches a choice few young female students go about their days with something bordering obsession, their beauty and kindness is consummate- especially when measured against the stupid little passive whores Ernst has to spend his time with.

Around his fellow passives, however, his demeanor changes tenfold. He tries his best to mimic the gladori, takes on the airs and graces he learnt through observing the interactions of galdori students and professors, speaking in a voice dripping with revulsion and disdain. This hate is extended internally of course- Ernst believes himself to be slightly better than his Passive fellows, he after all is grateful and understands the necessity for incarceration and hard work which so little of the other lazy ingrates seem to get, but he still sees the passive tattoo on his arm as a burning form of shame. He relieves his abhorrence for himself by working hard and late every day until he can physically take no more, and by disciplining the other passives in his own sadistic fashion- his punishments growing ever more inventive now that beatings have been prohibited.

Physical Description

Ernst is the product of an ill match between two attractive people. His height is average and he is incredibly wiry, though he is stronger than he looks, full of fight and stamina- Ernst still has presence enough to be frightening.

He has a certain galdori elegance to his face, but his features are as cruel as the punishments he doles out to other passives; his eyes are incredibly black, giving the impression of permanently dilated pupils. Ernst mouth is stretched wide across his face and his lips are thin, chapped and purpling as he bites them while fretting over his work giving him the appearance of a dehydrated toad which more than suits his personality. His skin is a pale sallow color and sags and wrinkles around frown and sneer lines, prematurely aging him. His sharp cheekbones and jaw are emphasized by the buzzcut of his black hair- which he takes great pride in and wishes more passives adhered to- he has been known to shave the heads of one or two uppity young passive girls still clinging to their childhood ringlets and a few boys who have not been much better.

His hands are rough and calloused from work, his knuckles bruised, and his back is stooped.

Inventory

Scarily neat uniform.
Old spectrograph of his parents

Skills

Servant

Stickler for detail
Glutton for dealing out punishment
Hardworking to the point of mania

Diablerie

Terror

Goals

As far as goals go, Ernst wishes to do his part in controlling the loathsome passive epidemic plaguing Anaxas by ensuring all passives at Brunnhold do their best to remain useful to the galdori, reminding them that a productive passive is the only acceptable form of passive. He also wishes to be a good worker, to be promoted to patron when he is older and recognized by the galdori for all of his hard work. One day, Ernst also hopes to see his parents again- just once. A small part of him hopes they would be as proud of their passive son as was possible.