Bran Weylin

Basic Information

Name: Bran Weylin
AKA: The Raven
Age: Born: R.Y. 706 (Ch. 2 - 71)
Type: Dragon-Blooded Exalt
Player: NPC
Aspect: Wood
Concept: Member of the Hallowed Order of the Grass Spiders
Motivation: To fully understand and transcend death.
Political Affiliation: The Hallowed Order of the Grass Spiders
Anima: Plants and animals going through the process of death. The organisms start small and as his essence expenditure increases, larger oranisms appear.
Likes: Watching Things Die, Liquor On The Rocks, Technical Precision.
Dislikes: Traditional Moral Qualms, Beer, Wasting a Death.

Background

Bran was born and raised in Sijan to parents that were morticians. He was an excellent student, but as his education continued, Bran showed a strong interest in the living. He changed the course of his studies in order to study medicine. His parents, while not thrilled, accepted his decision as long as he used his studies in service of Sijan. While studying to be a doctor, Bran exalted as a wood aspected terrestrial. There was no known exalted blood in his family. His parents were thrilled and honored; Bran was nervous. His exaltation strengthened feelings and lines of thought that did no go well in Sijan. While finishing medical school, Bran tended to the garden of his mind, pulling the weeds interested in the other parts of the cycle of life and nurturing his interest in death. He over did it. Bran become obsessed with mastering a theoretical and practical understanding of the event called death. Bran specialized in assisting in suicide and helping those close to death so that he would have an excuse to be near them as they died. In less than two decades, he felt he knew everything Sijan could teach him about the spiritual, physical, and ceremonial act of dying. Deciding that Sijan would not let him experiment in ways that would expand his understanding, he decided to leave. His decision would be dishonorable and devastating to his family, but he did not sneak off in the night. He packed his things, approached his parents, informed them flatly, and left before they could say or do anything.

Bran traveled south to Nexus and set himself up as a doctor for wealthy clients. Bran was quite successful and managed to make enough money to subsidize a clinic for extremely poor residents of Nexus. For the most part, Bran's charity work was legitimate, but the clinic's real purpose was to be a cover for his research. Bran would take the poor and forgotten and experiment with effects that could delay or quicken death, effects that could harm or protect isolated parts of people, and effects that showed promise for reversing death. Bran began dabbling in necromancy but did not put all of his eggs in that basket. Necromancy could reanimate a corpse, but did nothing in the realm of reversing death. Bran's studies went on for over a decade, and he built a huge library of journals exploring every tedious detail of death. It was this library that some hapless burglar stumbled upon and ruined everything.

When Bran discovered the break in, he knew it was only a matter of time before his secrets got out. Gathering his most important journals, he fled before he could be taken to account for any crimes he may have committed. It was shortly after this, while he was playing the part of a traveling doctor, that Rizuka caught up with him.

Bran came to the organization's attention when his library was auctioned off in Nexus. The Three Elite Fiends were so impressed with his writing that they sent Rizuka after him. Rizuka's incredible knowledge and insight into medicine so amazed Bran that he agreed to join even before understanding the nature of the organization.

When Bran was a freshman member, he had a mild obsession with Rizuka. He viewed her as a mentor and potential love interest, but she was uncomfortable with some of his darker proclivities. Luckily, Bran put his quest for knowledge above any personal feelings, and they developed a good working relationship.

Bran assists the Grass Spiders in a number of ways. He performs an average number of jobs per year, bringing neither complaint nor praise. Being second only to Rizuka in medical expertise, he runs the hospital when she is unavailable and assists her in complicated surgery and consultations. He is the organizations most powerful necromancer and has a better understanding of the underworld than any other member. His deep understanding of the metaphysics of death make him a great asset during a lot of charm development. What he considers his most important work, however, is the running of one section of the manse's library. The central manse contains one of the most extensive collections on the philosephy, metaphysics, and practicalities of death in creation, much of it personally written or procured by Bran and his associates.

What He's Been Up To

Bran believes that the best way to deal with the White Veil Society is to do nothing until enough information is gathered to surgically remove them in a way that leaves the institutions they have infected still healthy. As a result, he has never retaliated or struck against the White Veil Society. Instead, he tries to discover why a perticular associate was targeted and passes any information gathered back to the Harvestmen and Fiends.