The Gluttonous Baron
Concept:
A bloated, corpulent king of industry, a monarch of soot and shadow, seated upon a throne of profit and misery. He is the endless hunger of unchecked greed, the unrelenting force of consumption, the owner of all things and the master of nothing. He does not simply take—he devours, pulling the desperate and the lost into the endless depths of his infernal coal mine, where the work never ends, and the debt is never repaid.
Titles:
- The Lord of the Bottomless Pit (The Hunger That Consumes, The Master Without Mercy) – Wears a rusted iron crown, blackened with soot, heavier than it should be. He is the endless mouth, the black hole where all things go to die.
- The Smiling Bastard (The King of False Promises, The Hand That Signs the Deal) – Wears a fine waistcoat stretched tight over his bulk, his pockets heavy with stolen wealth, with contracts never meant to be honored.
- The Baron of Smoke and Ash (The Choking Fog, The Breath of Industry) – Carries a thick cigar, its smoke choking, endless, filling the air with the scent of fire and forgotten hope. His breath is coal dust, and his laugh is the grinding of gears that will never stop turning.
Realm – The Blackvein Mine:
A labyrinthine coal mine that stretches infinitely downward, where lantern light flickers in the choking dark and no one ever sees the sky again. The tunnels are narrow and winding, the air thick with dust and sulfur, and the walls whisper promises of escape that never come true.
- The deeper you go, the heavier you feel, as if the mine itself is swallowing you whole.
- Veins of black gold pulse and throb, as if the coal is alive, as if it remembers what it once was.
- The sound of pickaxes never stops, though many who wield them have long since turned to bone and dust.
At the heart of it all, the Baron sits in his great counting house, tallying the debts that can never be repaid, rolling golden coins between his fingers, each one stamped with the faces of those who tried to escape.
Huntsmen of the Baron:
- The Pit-Born Foremen – Massive figures in ragged suits, their skin cracked like coal, their eyes burning with molten gold. Their whips do not lash flesh, but lash the soul, dragging their victims back to the mines even in their dreams.
- The Penny-Faced Men – Thin, skeletal figures in worker’s garb, their faces nothing but smooth, featureless gold coins. They do not speak, only stare, watching, waiting—for when the debt must be paid.
Reason Why He Takes Humans:
To the Baron, there is no such thing as freedom. There is only ownership, only labor, only the ever-turning machine of wealth and power. Every human is born into debt, and he alone collects what is owed.
- He takes the desperate, those who have nothing left, and forces them into the mines, where they dig until their bodies fail, and then they dig some more.
- He takes the prideful, those who thought they could escape the grasp of wealth and power, and makes them into servants, polishing his gold, counting his treasures, tallying the debts of all who have ever lived.
- He takes the greedy, those who tried to hoard wealth for themselves, and turns them into veins of black gold, pressed into the walls of his kingdom, forever part of his empire.
There is no release, no mercy—only work, only toil, only the endless hunger of the mine.
What Kind of Fetch He Leaves Behind:
His Fetches are hollow, driven by purpose that they cannot understand, slaves to a life of endless labor, endless want.
- Some are stitched from burlap sacks, stuffed with coal and blackened paper money, their joints creaking, their eyes nothing but rusted pennies pressed into place.
- Others are made of bone and ash, their skin dry, cracking like parched earth, forever hungry, forever reaching for something they can never have.
- Some are nothing but empty suits, their bodies held together by strings of contracts, their voices a faint, rasping echo of a life they barely remember.
His Fetches do not live—they persist, caught in the same endless machine that powers his realm, waiting for the day the Baron calls them back to work.