Vital Stats
- Real/Birth Name: James Patrick Grimes
- Divine Parent: Manannán Mac Lir
- Pantheon: The Tuatha De Dannan (The Irish Gods)
- Power Level: Hero
- Calling: Necromancer
- Apparent Age: Early-40s
- Height: 5'9"
- Place of Origin: Greenville, California, USA
- Player/Type: NPC
Appearance
Grim stands about average height and wiry build, with bark brown hair and blue-grey eyes. He is usually shaven or with stubble of several days, but rarely allowed to grow enough to become a beard. Grim favours hard-wearing, earth-coloured clothing usually jeans and shirt, usually in shades of black or brown, and dockers boots.
Background
James Grimes was born in 1863 in Greenville to a widow who had left Ireland during The Great Hunger after her husband's death during one of the armed conflicts during the unrest. James had an uneasy childhood in these tough times; the dream that was America was a lie and in time, through desperation, his mother was forced to turn to prostitution to provide for them. Growing up in a rough area with a whore mother, it was no surprise he fell in with a rough Irish gang, but he and his mother managed to make do and survive. It was during this time that he picked up the abbreviation-moniker "Grim" which described his reputation. It's not that Grim enjoyed or wanted this lifestyle, it was simply the way of things and he made the best out of a bad situation.
Grim received his visitation around the time that the Rosedale Cemetery opened in Los Angeles in 1884, opened via actions by his divine father to protect the Lir crypt, which after The Shattering was a vulnerable passage to Tír na Marbh, the Irish underworld. He was approached by his father and his divine origin explained to him; that his true father had taken the form of the man Grim always believed to be his father, in order to bed his mother. His true father charged him with a Geas to protect and maintain the Rosedale Cemetery, and the passage to Tír na Marbh, as his father was similarly Geased to protect Mag Mell.
Thus Grim became the cemetery keeper (as well as owner), and guardian of the Passage. Not the most glamorous job, but it took Grim and his mother off the street and out of Greenville; as well as the daughter of his best friend Conor, who had taken a knife for Grim and in his dying moments asked Grim to take care of Siobhán. In time, Siobhán (who was 21 years his junior) would became his apprentice in the occult arts, as well as his wife - until she died during childbirth. Grim never remarried, but still loves his wife. He journeyed to Tír na Marbh seeking his wife, then convinced the Unseelie Court to make her a Sluagh Sídhe and bound to him as his Guide.
Grim takes seriously his responsibility to care for the cemetery. He prefers to let others manage the day-to-day running of the cemetery and crematorium (though he can assume managerial control if desired) but enjoys and is personally involved with the grave-digging and landscaping parts. He has spent decades learning the occult and thaumaturgical arts, and to those in the know is considered one of the world's foremost expects on the occult.
With the "assistance" of a group of scions, including some of the Dodekatheon - which were key in his plan - Grim recently journeyed to the Greek Underworld and acquired some water from the well of Mnemosyne, the final ingredient in a ritual Grim had spent decades working on. Successfully completing the ritual, he bound Siobhán's spirit further to his divine essence. Although his wife is still dead and intangible other than the illusory touch granted by his Death boons, they are together and they are undying. And now, thanks to Grim's ritual, when the need for more becomes great, Grim can exert his will and make Siobhán corporeal again until the sun sets and her form turns to ash. For Grim, that's enough.
Birthrights
Grim has various followers & guides:
- Siobhán: Siobhán is a Sluagh Sídhe, a ghost in service to the Unseelie Court, with Grim as her master. Siobhán is intangible and invisible to mortal senses, but can be seen in areas of complete darkness as a shade of heart-stopping and terrifying beauty. For limited periods Siobhán is able to affect The World in physical ways and, unlike most ghosts, as a Sluagh Sídhe is capable of shade flight.
- Angelus Rosendale Staff: As owner of the Angelus Rosendale Cemetery Grim has various staff members that serve him - administrative staff, gravediggers and landscapers. They are not aware of Grim's Scion nature, but otherwise are loyal to him as a benevolent employer.
Grim wears a silver chain, which is relatively unremarkable. On this chain, however, dangle two different relic pendants:
- Celtic Sea Horse Pendant: A silver pendant of a sea-horse, with celtic-style fill that allows Grim to access the Water and Animal (Horse) purviews.
- Memory Pendant: a silver photo locket with celtic engraving that when opened has a small sepia photograph of Siobhán. The pendant allows Grim to access the Death purview, summon Siobhán and makes it easier for him to channel his Death boons if used ritually during activation.
In addition to the above, Grim has two further relics:
- Pentacle Ring: A silver, celtic-style ring with a depiction of a pentacle that allows Grims to access the Magic and Psychopomp purviews.
- Féth Fíada Jacket: This black leather jacket is made from a piece of Mannanán's legendary cloak of mists. It allows Grim access to the Illusion purview and with expenditure of Legend surrounds him in a thin ghost mist that renders him invisible to mortal perceptions.
Signature Equipment
- Winchester Model 1912 Shotgun (when in Cemetery) or Colt M1911 (when away)
- Cadillac XTS Hearse
Signature Quotes
- "Are ye gonna gimme a hand, or ye gonna eat some popcorn an' watch?"
Gallery
Grim in his Féth Fíada Jacket
Siobhán, Grim's ghost wife