Betony Rue Jasons

Betony Rue Jasons doesn't remember much about her life before being taken. She recalls be much more care free and flitty and in a way is a disgusted by the weak thing that girl was. That girl who would go around commenting on who beautiful this flower was, how lovey that tree, thinking the world was full of love. Maybe the Hag of Venom and Bitter Herbs felt the same way and decided to teach the bright little girl a lesson. Betony recalls having a picnic in the woods with her family, she remembers the trees and shrubs becoming overgrowns and encircling the clearing, and she can picture the Hag walking through the stinging wall of foliage. The hard shard fingers snatched her mother, father, and sister and threw them in the herb bag. The Hag went to grab her brother but somehow he managed to escape. Undetered the wicked Fae turned to the other little girl. The weak little child curled into a ball and cried. The witch woman hunched down and gently lifted teh childs head with her hand of splintered wood and poison barbs. "You will learn my craft and be thankful." She paused "Now say your thankful." The wreched girl weeped and the Hag frowned. "You will learn and be thankful." and with that she hit the child so hard she blacked out.

Durance

Betony Rue was in the Hag's service for many, many years. She gathered the rotting plants for the Faerie, she captured weird creatures and gutted them for their entrails, and she was taught the black magics as the Hag had promised. She was shown the subtle poisons of plants and beast. She was taught the where the heart could be found in a briar wolf, the lungs of a tree, and other exotic anatomies. The Hag told the curses that could be made to over throw kingdoms and kill any who listened. And when Betony got these lessons correct she was beaten and when she did not the Hag would beat her and then drag out another of her family and force Betony to learn from them what her mistakes were. Begging only made it worse and compassion during these lessons escalated the horrors she had to inflict.

"Proper care cannot be given if emotions cloud your mind! Have I taught you nothing!” the Hag would screech. “Better he die now than risk you making a mistake because of your love."

As the years passed Betony grew stern and grave. She had killed many of the other captives of the Hag. She felt nothing when she did it, nothing but hate that she had loved them, it had only caused pain.

Escape

But still the Hag muttered of having to go get more captives, that Betony had not learned all that she needed. Betony at first did not understand the Hags ramblings. But then she remebered a little boy who had gotten away. A little boy the Hag had not poisoned with hate. Betony's heart tugged in a painful strange yet familiar way. It moved her in a way that directed her hate not at the ones she cared about but at the Hag. And she wouldn't let the Hag finish her work. That night when Betony stirred the vile stew she and the Hag ate, the treacherous apprentice added poppies to the smoking cauldron. Betony held her breath as the vapours spread through the dank cave. The Hag sniffed the air once then fell over. Then, Betony ran. She ran through the nightmare of thorns and briars, thinking only of her brother. She ran till her feet were raw and bleeding and still she kept on. She ran till she burst through a thicket into a world she had left behind years before. And then she took a breath for the first time since leaving the cave of her Keeper and caught a wiff of the scent that still clung to her tatter dress. A smell of poppies. And then she fell asleep.

Life after Fairie

Betony ended up in South Carolina and since escaping, Betony Rue has had little success at finding anything that might link to her or her brother. All searches have come up empty in the several years of her freedom and Betony is starting to wonder if the memory of a brother is just a sick lesson being given by her Keeper. The only lead she has is a Vermont newspaper article that's nearly twenty years old about the Tighearnach family who disappeared while on vacation in California. They fit Betony's memory of family members and would be around the right time if the years she spent in Arcadia correspond to the real world. In any case, she has come to Sacramento and set herself up as an underworld doctor fairly quickly. Based out of Edna's Boarding House, she cares for the bungled and the botched that continue to make it their home even after the death of its owner. Despite her rather abrasive demeanor and reclusive nature, she continues to fulfill the role of Witch of the Bitter Wind for the Autumn Court and has been known to aid changelings in dire need.

Appearance

Betony Rue is in her 30s and is rather plain in appearance though not ugly. She tends to wear clothes that might be thought as more formal than normal. Modest long skirts, and short sleeve aplain blouses. Betony Rue often wears a shawl, no matter the weather. A severe frowns is her standard facial expression and it doesn't seem to change. Her true appearance is rather horrific. Her face, indeed her entire body, looks like a jagged cheese grater was taken to it. Her mouth is full of a mismatch of pointed and grinding teeth. Her hair is crusted with blood and sap, and it reeks of acidic potions. Her arms are elongated and end in nimble bony claws with barbed hooks covering them. Her perfect posture takes on a menacing stature because of the corded muscles on her arms and back, as if she were glowering over you and ready to fall upon prey. A bitter wind blows through Betony Rue's Mantle and gives the area around her a sense of urgency. Like you've forgotten something and it must be done or bad things will happen.