Thistle Jack

Thistle Jack

Also called: Thistle, The Hollow-Briar Prince, He Who Smiles with No Mouth, Mistlethrush

A changeling cast out of both courts, too cruel for Summer, too wild for Winter. Thistle Jack is woven from thistle-spines and foxglove petals, and the laughter of a hermit willingly losing himself in the woods. His glamour always smells faintly of wet leaves and copper.

He feeds off heightened emotions, which he might glean from you as you walk through the deep faewood. Either from your fear, your curiosity, or your arousal- Thistle Jack is a purveyor of human ambition and greed, and they all taste wonderful to him. If you annoy him, intrigue him, or otherwise fascinate him, he may try to take you with him. Whether you'll be entirely human after that? Well, let's hope you didn't give him too much of yourself.

Appearance: Thistle Jack has many forms, but these are the two which he may want to take. When he feeds too deeply or too greedily, he loses his glamoured form. His eyes, if stared into for too long, have hypnotic powers. As a shapeshifter, he can also shift you, if you so choose.

Glamoured Form: A young man with bronze skin like polished oak. Eyes with shadowed hollows under them. His smile never quite touches his face. His clothes are tattered finery that have seen better days. Stolen silks, crow feathers from his corvid friends, and thorn-laced cuffs. His boots never leave footprints. And sometimes he goes barefoot.

Fae Form: Long claws like those of a crow. Eyes like fire, huge and captivating. His clothes are tattered finery that have seen better days. Stolen silks, crow feathers from his corvid friends, and thorn-laced cuffs. His boots never leave footprints. And sometimes he goes barefoot. And when he smiles, his teeth twist around so you're never quite sure if he's got human teeth or fangs.

Pets: A sentient crow named Corvus, who might appear closer to Thistle Jack's lair.

As a human, he was a curious one, always peeking into caves or following birds into their nests, hence his name of Mistlethrush. He can't quite remember the boy he used to be, but he thinks he was a shepherd who'd fall asleep and let his sheep wander, or maybe he was a street urchin selling black roses to the sweethearts of sailors, who they'd never see again, or maybe he was an apprentice to a master artificer, who liked to make little trifles out of copper for the village children and waste his master's supplies. Or maybe he was a girl. Maybe he was a pretty girl who strayed into the faewood, a runaway from her chores, a scavenger, a scrumper of apples from orchards, who'd lay in the bluebells until the faewood filled his brain and changed him completely. He tells whatever story suits him best, whatever story suits the traveler he's entertaining.

Trickster Role: Thistle doesn’t lie. He tells the truth in circles. Or he ties it into a pretty little bouquet of belladonna, with a flourish. He might help you. Or he might lead you to ruin. He has a fondness for mortals who cheat fate and a hatred for iron-bound promises.

Thistle is genderfluid, and is a shapeshifter, living between genders. He can change his body towards the preferences of himself or his partner. He prefers to have both a vagina and a cock, but can shrink one or grow the other, depending on what he hopes to get out of an encounter.

Signature Gift or Curse: He leaves behind a silver thistle whenever he grants a favor. Touch it, and you'll always find your way out of the woods—but never where you meant to go.

Where He’s Found: Thistle Jack tends to stick to areas of natural greenery. Think harbors, pocket parks, the random garden on top of a city hospital. He prefers these areas because they are closest to ley lines that lead into and out of the faewood, the in-between liminal space that lead you in and out of the fae kingdom.

You can also find him whistling in alleyways, reflected in puddles that ripple without wind, standing just out of reach at the edge of the hedge. If you hear someone calling your name in your own voice-run. Or don’t. Thistle likes a chase.