Name: Gwendolyn "Gwen" Thurston
Age: Appears 21 (actually 70 human years)


Species: Leanan Sidhe

History: Spawning new muses took a toll on their creator, so most never bothered. But Henrietta knew that their numbers were running low and that soon, they might find themselves facing extinction. Gwendolyn's "birth" fell on a harsh winter day. As such, the townsfolk of Chestergrove didn't notice the bright light engulfing the small cottage north of their town border. They did, however, grow wary of the new girl with dark hair and shifty eyes that walked around with the woman that looked like an absolute goddess. They crowded the newborn Gwen, causing her to lash out. Henrietta took her away from the town, keeping her in the cottage in the woods. There, Henrietta trained her for decades on the cultures and mannerisms of humans.

For humans, it was enough to forget. For Henrietta and Gwen, the time that passed by seemed nothing more than a blink of an eye. Thirty years after her birth, Henrietta allowed Gwen to try again. Gwen integrated herself well into the small town and quickly found a budding young man with the potential to be a magnificent writer. Gwen seduced him - changing her appearance to suit his tastes, using the charm of a muse, all the things Henrietta taught her - and it worked. He was in love with her. When the time came for Gwen to take her first taste of his essence, she couldn't do it to him. She ran away.

Henrietta had been furious at Gwen's incompetence. They moved to another small town, Seymour, where Henrietta kept Gwen locked up again. Forty years later, Henrietta is prepared for Gwen to try again.

Name: Grace Carson
Age: 20



Species: Human

History: Seymour, the quintessential American small town, described by unread travel brochures and residents alike as 'idyllic'. For many artists the natural surroundings, lush areas of greenery and clear lakes, would serve as inspiration enough. For Grace, the youngest of four siblings, this was never so. The desire for more, for the big city experience, presented itself in every facet of her childhood and adolescence. By age five she was already enamoured with the piano and could play a broad repertoire of songs by memory, by age ten she had already performed one of her own songs (admittedly a little embarrassing in retrospect) at the school's annual talent show, and by age sixteen she was bored, restless and ready to leave. And so she did.

Leaving at such a young age was, imaginably, the most difficult thing that Grace had done. Two of her older brothers were at college in California. The other was still in Seymour, eighteen, and living with several friends. They had all chosen safer paths than she had - were studying subjects and had jobs that ensured security and stability. And yet Grace made the move work, at least for the first few years. She wrote music, she performed, she was even mildly successful for a small town girl who had no connections and wasn't yet versed in the technicalities of the music business. And then, with no warning, her inspiration vanished. Writing was impossible. She could still play, but nothing new presented itself.

Three years after leaving, stuck in a cycle of artistic frustration, Grace chose to return to Seymour. It would be temporary, she told herself, a couple of months at most.