Fleur-de-Lis

Fleur-de-Lis, typically shortened to Lis, is an entity who lives on Gold Lake. He is a lecherous, somewhat childish hedonist who presides over the spirits of the dead in the lake. Despite being notoriously difficult to cooperate with, he is a central figure in both the folklore and the politics of the Saintlands. He was among the first to join the Church of Worms when it formed, having known Duke for many years beforehand.

Vita
Fleur-de-Lis is one of the oldest living figures in the Saintlands. His age is unknown, but speculated to be around 350-400 years, putting his birth a few decades after the destruction of the first Infinite Structure, give or take. He has lived in Gold Lake for as far back as records of his existence show; many believe he was born for the sole purpose of looking after the dead in the lake. Lis himself rarely answers questions about his own life to visitors, and never discusses anything from more than a century back. Thus, details of his past are a mystery to the majority.

Lis’s routine and way of life have been roughly the same since he first made himself known to the Valley people. During the warmer months, he lives on a boat out in the lake, coming to land every so often for food, supplies, and socialization. Other times, he disappears into the fog that hovers over the water, and can’t be found for days at a time. In the winter months, when the water freezes, he comes to land and lives a quiet life among the Valley people. During this time, he is significantly less sociable and usually prefers to be left alone.

What makes Lis a person of interest to the Valley people is his medium services. Often, people will venture out on the lake to find him, and if they do, he will sometimes field questions about death or help visitors contact deceased loved ones. However, he is infamously fickle, and if caught on a bad day, will ask for payment or simply refuse to cooperate. Payment may be anything from cash to sexual favours to giving up treasured memories, and he gives no indication how he’s feeling or what to expect on any given day. For this reason, Valley people tend to discourage outsiders from seeking him out, as while they have come to tolerate him, his attitude is not well received by those unfamiliar with his operations.

Recent History
For a short period after the Inauguration of the President, Fleur-de-Lis was banned from caring for the dead in Gold Lake, and made to live under the Government‘s watch in Former-Capital Peak (which was Capital Peak at the time.) During this time, he was given no real work or purpose, and developed severe depression being away from the Valley for so long. His order was to be a law-abiding citizen and nothing more, and in doing this, he was quickly forgotten about by the President. When the move was made to transition the capital to ‘Topia instead, Lis was able to slip away during the confusion and return to the lake.

Despite not maintaining many close friendships over the years, after his return, he did form a close - if odd - bond with Duke McNamara, having met him by chance in a bar one winter. The two bonded over the feelings of hollowness they experienced when taken away from their homes, as Duke had recently been released from the Isometric Prison and now had no family or friends to return to. In a rare moment of goodwill, Lis agreed to help Duke with his dream of starting a hospital for the poor and underprivileged, away from the eyes of the President. He stuck to his promise when the opportunity came up and assisted with both the construction and maintenance of the hospital, occasionally volunteering there on weekends and during the winter.

A few years later, Lis found another close but unusual friend in a young Ego. For the first time in decades, someone had come looking for him on the lake not to learn about death or speak with the deceased, but rather simply for the sake of visiting. Soon, she fell into a routine of coming back every week, just to talk. Lis didn’t fully understand it, but as he came to know the young orphan, found that there was more value in company for the sake of company than he had originally given credit for. He offered to mentor her in the psychic arts once she began showing potential, and spent the next several years coaching her on her abilities as they manifested. Their friendship somehow didn’t falter or fade, and by the time she was an adult, Ego had become his closest companion.

The most recent turning point in Lis’s rather slow-paced life came on Labour Day, as turning points often do. Early in the morning, while doing a routine patrol of the lake, Lis discovered what he believed to be a corpse floating near a marshy bank. He came back to it with Ego in tow and had her help him drag the body out, which they then discovered to be still alive, if only barely. They also found it to be covered in signs that the body belonged to the victim of an attempted murder. They brought it to Duke, who feared that its appearance was a sign of increasing political tension and gang violence. Soon after, Duke formed an alliance called the Church of Worms with Ego, Lis, Azh’s dead/unconscious body that happened to be in the room, and warlord Maja and her followers. Their aim was to protect the innocent people of their homelands, and provide shelter and medical services to those in need.

Since then, Lis has been an active member of the Church of Worms. His involvement is mainly with the medical side of things; he is responsible for releasing the souls of those that die in their care and holding funeral services for them, as well as providing general medical assistance to Duke when needed. His long-standing familiarity with the Valley and its quirks also makes him useful, as he's able to act as a sort of guiding light towards the Valley people and bring them comfort in frightening times, and he tries to influence them to support the Church over the government-funded local hospital.

Personality
Fleur-de-Lis is a being whose reputation clashes greatly with his true, childish nature. His age and role in maintaining the spirits of the innocent have given many people the view that Lis is an elegant demigod, perpetually somber and serious in all his actions. On the contrary, though, Lis could be described as something of a brat. On his worst days, he is demanding and even downright manipulative, using the powerful emotional response of seeing dead loved ones to get what he wants from visitors. He is somewhat flighty and will often change decisions, and even moods, on the fly. On top of this, he lives a lazy and hedonistic lifestyle, choosing personal gratification and apathy about his lack of a social life over an active search for self-improvement. In most cases, he lets opportunities and experiences come to him, as opposed to chasing any dreams or goals.

However, he isn't without his golden qualities. Lis is much wiser than he often lets on, and has a learned understanding of psychology and human desire built up over the course of hundreds of years. While this is sometimes a potent tool for manipulation, this knowledge manifests at other times as deep empathy, which is often unexpected coming from him. He has a caring, sympathetic side that's often reserved for close friends, but sometimes shows around random visitors as well. His hospitality is top notch, and he's a staunch believer in the Valley ways of treating guests to the home.