Profile

Player name: Scy
Characters played: Michael Brennan 10♠, Iollan Chives 2♠, Caleb Caustello 8♣ & Nicholas Lancaster 6♦
Character Name: Iollan Chives
Age: 52
Suit/Rank: Two of Spades
History: Iollan comes from a family that has been in the Spades for generations and has served the Suit in the Castle in some capacity. His father was more draconian than strict - strict fathers raised boys, draconian fathers raised men - but Abracham had also been protective of his firstborn at a time when clean-up duties involved getting rid of as much blood as it did dust and dried leaves. After all, his expectations could not be met by a dead son.

Surrounded by Chives growing up, Iollan was raised with Chives mindsets, values, desires and ambitions - to be the best at serving the only Suit worth serving on the Deck. The four walls of the Castle were the confines of his world. There was nothing outside of the Spades.

And the prospect of that thought was overwhelming.

The kitchen had started out as an assignment for young Iollan at the age of 12 - less Iollan and more Two of Spades, now - and became more of a passion later on. He spent eight years doing the peripherals - cleaning, polishing, washing the dishes - before finding a place in front of a stove. His world shrank to the four walls of the kitchen and he found that somewhat more manageable.

The wife too had started out as a formal arrangement, and for them love was more of an ongoing project on the side to be worked on after kitchen duties than a gaping hole in the stone floor they had somehow fallen into. For many months the only 'chemistry' between Iollan and Regan happened in the early hours of the morning between creased sheets and sweat-slicked bodies. When she gave him a son, his world shrank again to Declán.

He raised his boy the only way he knew how - the only way Chives should raise future Chives. For Declán, his firstborn, he would do anything. He would give the world to Declán, and so he did. The four walls of the Castle would be Declán's and nothing would take the world away from his son.

That didn't change when the twins came along. The girl was promptly disposed of sent away - what twins, Regan? We will never speak of her again because we never had her - and the boy, who didn't have Declán's potential, was raised with other ambitions in mind.

Iollan tried his best to raise the future head butler in a distraction-free environment. He was determined even when faced with the death of his younger son to put his firstborn where he belonged. Years and years of discipline and training would not be undone by mere distractions.

He channelled his unspoken grief towards making sure that all the time and energy that had been taken away from kitchen duties to realise his ambitions for his son had not been for nothing.

But his work was not done with Declán Chives, Five of Spades, head butler. Not until Declán Chives can procure him a son. Iollan is not unable to juggle the kitchen with getting the last of what he needs out of that recalcitrant boy - not yet a man, not yet - who dares call himself a Chives. He will push Declán until he breaks if that's what it takes to get out of him a little blond Two of Spades boy who will inherit their legacy.
Personality: Iollan is ambitious in the way all Chives are ambitious. He's lucky enough to enjoy what he does and he wants to be the best he can at it. He's never ascended ranks because he believes it reflects more on personal ambitions rather than Spades ambitions, and personal ambitions are a waste of time. He doesn't need to be higher than a Two to work his magic in the kitchen so Two is where he will stay until he can no longer serve his purpose in the Castle.

He's what one might consider a proper Spade. He's very courteous, never seems to have anything bad to say unless it's to a fellow Chives (and even then, never in public) and he carries himself well even though he's not above getting his hands dirty. He is well-read and if he really has to choose, prefers Beethoven over Bach over Mozart, but he's unlikely to reveal these inconsequential details about himself unless you put him on the spot and make him talk about himself.

He has an indescribable, unparalleled love for and devotion to the Spades, and places the needs of members of the Suit above his own. That is his duty as a Chives. Any request made of him is met with a 'yes, milord' and yes always means yes.

Spades Castle is not his prison, it is his world. So he does not feel caged, trapped or enslaved, because he doesn't see - he can't see - beyond the end of the world. That's not to say he's never left the Castle - a responsible, reputable chef sources his own produce and he can't do that from the kitchen - but he's never ventured Outside and has no intention of doing so.

There isn't much you could do to make Iollan - serious but not unfeeling, cold but not cruel, private but not reclusive - lose his composure in public. He might have had a bit of a private breakdown when his younger son was taken from him but he's been the strong, unwavering rock upon which Regan could rely on to keep going.

When you look at Iollan and everything he embodies, you don't have to have a wild imagination to fathom where the Spades' head butler gets the nonchalance, politeness and self-discipline from.
Appearance: Iollan has the unmistakeable pale skin and blond hair of a Chives. He's 6' tall and quite skinny for a chef, but that reflects more on the fact that he doesn't spend a lot of time sitting around doing nothing than it does on the quality of his cooking.

He's got some scars and burns on his forearms and hands - knives that have slipped a couple of times, accidental bumps into hot pans - and there is a particularly obvious scar on his left hand when he sliced it open that's left him unable to squeeze it into a fist, but nothing else that's visible when he's dressed.

He's a formal dresser as all Spades should be. In the kitchen he's got a button-up shirt, rolled-up sleeves and black pants that's often wrapped around by a black apron around his waist. Outside of the kitchen he unrolls the sleeves and puts on a suit jacket.
Character PB: Callum Keith Rennie
Writing sample: Here
Why this Suit? Because Chives.
How did you hear about us? I was already here.