#( npc. )

..."you're never gonna' keep me down."

INTRODUCING ... PATRICK "TRICKY" MCMANN !

age: fifty-seven

occupation: owner of limericks & landlord for the strip

faceclaim: sam rockwell

COLOSSAL FOOTPRINT.

born and raised in the suburbs of colossal, tricky hasn't ever bothered moving somewhere new. sure, he's traveled, and he managed to suffer through two and a half years of college in california, but he's a true ohio boy at heart and always comes home at the end of an adventure. tricky's a very familiar face - he'll talk anyone's ear off, even if they're a stranger, until he knows your uncle's favorite color and scores an invite to the family cookout. he also happens to have a habit of sleeping around... and then, of course, showing up late to whatever's on the agenda for the next day.

Ophélie “Fey” Winden-Tyler

NAME: lily mae samuels

BORN: october 20, 1964 (22 years old) in eden, louisiana

OCCUPATION: waitress at gracie's diner

PERSONALITY: gentle, bright-eyed, witty, empathetic, and quietly rebellious.

lily mae grew up in a strict but loving home. her father, reverend ezekiel samuels, was a stern man with strong views on morality, obedience, and the dangers of “worldly ways”. he raised his children with rigid expectations, but her mother, margaret ann, softened the household with music and kindness. as a mother, she displayed an unwavering sense of selflessness as she took on the emotional burden of her husband’s increasingly complicated life; additionally, she was known to keep to herself. this usually came in the form of managing the household while also supporting her husband's work from the shadows, and is often seen as a somewhat enigmatic figure in the town, rarely speaking out in public. from what lily mae knew, her mother’s relationship with her father was one of deep but unspoken understanding, rooted in years of shared history and quiet complicity.

they were a simple family, but well-known throughout the town and that came an unspoken sense of respect. yet, no matter how hard she tried, lily mae always felt on the fringe of her small-town, and often spoke openly about how one day she would pack a bag and leave eden as a passing memory in the mirror of the passenger side of a car. yet, despite her dreams, her father watched her closely, too closely. her job at gracie’s diner was her first step toward independence and every tip she earned, she saved it in a coffee tin she kept hidden under her bed, labeled only with a tiny bird sticker. a subtle reminder that she too would one day be a bird in flight.

it was at gracie’s siner right around the fourth of july, in 1983, when lily mae met emerson for the first time. she was nineteen, he was twenty-one, and though they had seen each other around town for years, that was their first real conversation outside of mass. she had known him as the quiet, intense man who often kept to himself, and the one folks whispered about because of the mysterious group that followed silas jackson. he knew her as the preacher’s daughter with wild eyes and a soft voice, while she smiled at everyone, even him. their conversation happened after a late-night shift. lily mae was sweeping the floors, and emerson, who had been sitting at a far booth in the corner, finally walked past her.

after that night, they began talking more. he often came in when she worked night-shifts. it was quiet and slow. she brought him extra pie on the really slow nights, and he walked her home on warm evenings or offered her a ride in his pick-up truck when the rain came. people in town noticed; reverend samuels noticed, and he made it all too clear where his feelings landed, but lily mae didn’t care. she liked emerson’s quietness, his seriousness, his humor that made her cringe, but more importantly, she liked the way he listened like every word she said mattered.

against her father’s wishes, they began secretly dating in early 1984, not quite a year after their initial meeting. there was no denying that lily mae had softened emerson and while he rarely smiled, for her, he tried. most of his life was still wrapped in shadows, she told him her dreams of leaving town. at one point, he had understood that dream, but the way lily mae described it left him with the inability to respond. part of him wanted to tell her to go and never look back, and the other part of him was terrified silas would discover just how important she was to him. as a result, emerson tried to distance himself, but lily mae, in all her stubbornness, kept reaching for him, believing he was just troubled and not fully lost.

they broke up twice. each time it happened, she waited, and each time he came back, but their last stretch together was the spring of 1986. by july of that year, they had broken up for a third and final time. from then, reports were mixed on what actually happened on the night of july 20th, but one thing everyone could agree on was she was last seen at gracie’s diner for her night shift. where things get complicated was in the fact that some claim they saw her walking toward the road that leads out of eden, while others claim that she walked out into the bayou. either way, lily mae samuels had vanished without a trace. it wouldn’t be until mid-november, a few months after detective caillout came into town, that he reopened her case. however, due to how much time had passed, any physical evidence would be found was limited, but with the case open again, there were more questions than answers, and a web of uncertainty and lies woven all throughout eden.

𝐍𝐏𝐂 ... indentification : silas jackson ( age: 56 / occupation: leader & founder of the circle of ravenous hearts / status: alive )

silas jackson is the charismatic leader of the circle of ravenous hearts, a cult that thrives in the shadows of eden. his presence is magnetic, and his influence runs deep as if he were casting a spell over the downtrodden and the restless souls who seek solace, or power, beyond the bounds of traditional faith. silas is both a preacher and a predator, a man of contradictions whose charm conceals his true nature as a manipulative and dangerous figure.

additionally, silas jackson is a man who commands attention without raising his voice. he’s tall and wiry, with a sharp face that seems both weathered and timeless. his deep-set eyes are piercing grey, glinting like polished silver. his smile is warm but predatory, like a wolf disguised as a shepherd. he dresses simply but deliberately, in an old, worn leather jacket, always impeccably clean, paired with a button-down shirt to give a more fatherly look to his appearance.

whenever silas speaks, his movements are deliberate and hypnotic, his voice laced with an intensity that makes it impossible not to listen. even when he’s standing still, there’s a coiled energy about him, as if he could spring into action at any moment.

furthermore, silas views himself as both saviour and ruler of the cult. he preaches liberation from the town’s suffocating morality, offering his followers a way to reclaim their power. in truth, silas is as much a tyrant as the system he claims to oppose, demanding absolute loyalty and obedience from those under his sway.

ultimately, silas sees emerson as one of his most promising followers, a young man with the cunning and resolve to rise through the cult’s ranks. but silas also knows how to manipulate emerson, using the boy’s loyalty to his mother and his hunger for a sense of purpose to keep him tethered. silas views emerson as both a tool and a potential heir, though he tests him mercilessly, pushing him to prove his worth.

THE FOUNDING ERA (1930s - 1950s)

FINN JACKSON (b. 1909, d. 1956)

finn jackson was a former traveling preacher turned spiritual recluse during the great depression who found his way to eden, louisiana, sometime in the 1920s.

he began preaching in the swamps near eden, louisiana, where he claimed god had shown him a “gnawing truth”. that salvation came through suffering, and that the flesh was not to be wasted.

he introduced “ritual fasting” to his small congregation and believed eating the body of a willing martyr was divine reclamation, not sin.

GRACEEJO JACKSON (b. 1913, d. 1962)

finn’s wife and the true mind behind the doctrine’s theology.

she was quiet, meticulous, and believed that women carried the hunger deeper than men.

graceejo kept elaborate handwritten journals blending old testament scripture, folk medicine, and latin scripture, forming the first circle book.

some say she was the first to actually kill in the name of the circle. a young woman, she claimed, was “chosen” after fasting to death.

THE ERA OF THE PROPHET (1960s - 1990s)

SILAS JACKSON (b. 1930, d. 1998)

silas took over leadership in the 1960s after a seven-day self-imposed fast where he claimed he heard “the mother speak in the bayou.”

more public-facing than his parents. he built the church (later called the church of the returning hunger) and recruited dozens through spiritual retreats in eden.

he introduced the doctrine of “divine hunger”, where followers believed fasting purged unclean spirits and prepared the body for holy consumption.

he was first to be called devil man after an outsider accused him of ritual murder. he adopted the name to disarm fear with devotion.

NORA WILKES (b. 1922, d. unknown)

nora was one of the earliest converts to silas’ vision of the circle of ravenous hearts.

she joined the circle in her early 30s (which was while the circle was still in the early stages) after losing her entire family in a house fire.

nora is viewed as a matriarchal figure. to many followers, nora is seen as a spiritual mother. she offers guidance, comfort, and wisdom to new recruits while reinforcing their loyalty to silas and the circle's teachings.

she is a keeper of rituals and this means that nora oversees many of the group’s most sacred and secretive ceremonies, including the branding of loyal members and the cannibalistic rites. she views these practices as essential to the circle's spiritual journey.

LUKE ROANOKE (b. 1950, d. unknown)

luke was originally silas’s handpicked successor, known for his commanding voice, hunting skills, and theatrical preaching.

luke is charismatic but prideful. some say he wanted to replace silas, not inherit from him.

he fell out of favour when he questioned silas's increasing control over fasting practices and the introduction of blood rites.

emerson's quiet, obedient nature deeply threatened luke, who saw himself as the natural heir.

it is widely believed that luke vanished from the compound one night. silas claimed luke “fled from his hunger,” but some believe he was buried beneath the church, or left alive to rot somewhere deep in the woods.

DEAN SHAW (b. 1940, d. unknown)

unknown to the locals of eden, dean has been living a double life for the past 6 years as a member of eden’s community and the circle of ravenous hearts.

dean is the recruiter and public face: as a charismatic restaurant owner, dean uses his charm to draw people into the circle.

he’s particularly effective at targeting vulnerable individuals and those who need a softer father-like figure, which he embodies quite well.

THE ERA OF THE KEEPER (1988 - 1996)

EMERSON MYERS (b. 1962, d. 1996)

emerson was recruited by silas at age 14 after running from a broken home.

emerson became the keeper at the age of 21. he was also known as the guardian of doctrine, and the enforcer of fasting and punishment.

he quickly became known for extreme endurance, starvation trials, and leading “the narrowing”. where chosen initiates were hunted in the woods after being starved for 4 days.

CALEB WILLIAMS (b. 1868, d. unknown)

from the moment caleb started to consider joining the circle he found himself drawn to emerson.

unlike silas, the way emerson spoke to him seemed to pull at his deeper desires and made him feel like he was someone important and like he belonged with the circle.

sometime after emerson was arrested, caleb broke from emerson's example and founded “the red hunger”. it was a more violent splinter sect of the circle with fewer rules and more executions.

LETTIE JACKSON (b. 1962, d. 1998)

loretta jackson, called lettie by those who knew her before the circle swallowed her whole, grew up under silas’s shadow.

her mother, one of silas’s younger sisters, tried to keep her away from eden, but blood loyalty runs deeper than fear in families like the jacksons.

eventually, she is married to emerson as a gift to him from silas and a means of keeping the circle alive for generations to come.

AMOS REED (b. 1971, d. unknown)

amos is young, mute, and deeply faithful. he joined at 15 after his family died in a house fire.

he was chosen by emerson for several private rites and became one of the last inner-circle members before the compound fractured.

some say he tried to run after silas returned. others believe he became a vessel of silence, buried alive in the fasting vault.