A Pact of Shadowed Things
by @noodlepilgrimWhen Kieran Belfrey arrives at Alderfaire University, he is drawn into the orbit of the charismatic Devon Somerset—but his new friend’s esoteric studies and the unnatural shadows in his rooms suggest he is no ordinary scholar, but a warlock.
MEET THE CHARACTERS
Kieran Belfrey
A 22-year-old graduate scholar from a modest provincial family, with a quiet, observant presence. He has tousled, dark brown hair that constantly falls into his light brown eyes, and a slight build that seems designed for library stacks and shadowed corners. His clothes are neat but slightly worn, smelling of old paper, ink, and the faint, clean scent of rain.
Devon Somerset
A 25-year-old fellow graduate student in law, whose dark handsomeness feels like a challenge. Black hair swept back from a sharp, intelligent face, and striking green eyes that seem to hold too much knowledge for his age. He moves through the university's stone halls with a predator's grace, his tailored suits and the faint scent of bergamot and something metallic marking him as distinctly other.
Professor Phineas Croft
The 58-year-old head of Jurisprudential History, a man whose gaunt frame and silver-streaked beard give him the appearance of a venerable, if severe, raven. His black academic robes are immaculate, and his office is a labyrinth of precarious book towers and strange artifacts collected from Rathany's darker folklore.
Elaina Richards
A 23-year-old archivist in the university's Restricted Collection, with keen dark eyes behind wire-rimmed spectacles and a severe, practical bun of black hair. Her fingers are permanently stained with faint traces of peculiar inks, and she smells of parchment dust and dried lavender.
Hawley Somerset
The 55-year-old Duke of Willoughby and Devon Somerset’s father. He is an exacting, calculated man and a member of Parliament. As Devon’s father, he shares his features but lacks Devon’s warmth, his black hair streaked with grey and his green eyes cold. He expects much of his son and is a cold, iron-fisted parent, having been emotionally distant all of Devon’s life.
Cressida Bromley
The 23-year-old daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Queensbridge. She has wide brown eyes and hair in delicate golden ringlets. While good-natured, she is a simple young lady. She is besotted with Devon Somerset and is engaged to marry him in a political arrangement between the House of Somerset and the House of Bromley.
She-Who-Walks-The-Moors
A feminine, eldritch entity born from the pain and sorrow of a county of souls brutalized by plague, She is Devon Somerset’s patron who feeds off negative emotion, a vengeful being who both inflicts suffering and punishes those who inflict it. Devon pacted with her by surrendering a memory of true joy, which was the memory of his child self playing hide-and-seek with child Kieran Belfrey in the town of Goodbriar so many years ago. She appears as a shadowed figure.
EXPLORE CHAPTERS
A Welcome
It is winter when Kieran arrives at the dormitories at Alderfaire and meets his roommate Devon for the first time.
The Weight of Knowledge
Kieran attends his first lecture with Professor Croft.
A Show of Power
Devon protects Kieran from a bully.
Forbidden Things
Kieran debates the old laws in his lecture.
The Duke Arrives
Devon's father, Hawley Somerset, arrives at Alderfaire.