Character Profile

[sugarandice]

Name: Colwyn Dafydd DiNeve
Nicknames: He will respond to Cole. He does not encourage people to attempt to pronounce his middle name.
Birthdate: September 13, 1993
Expected Graduation: 2011
Gender: Male

Old Race: Sidhe
He has always had the preternatural beauty that marks the Sidhe, although when he was very young it had not yet reached a level that was alarming to mundanes, only remarkable. As he got older, however, it became more and more noticeable that his appearance was not entirely human.

Even with glamours, his appearance is striking, particularly in the winter, when everything about him seems sharper and more intense.

He is also marked by another legendary characteristic of faeries in general - he cannot lie. He can twist the truth until you believe that green is red, but he cannot say anything that he knows to be blatantly untrue. He does not, however, advertise this fact.

Family:
Father: Owain Arturo DiNeve
Mother: Elen Llewella DiNeve
Siblings: Brother - Rhys Siorl DiNeve, 15, mundane
Sister - Seren Rhiannon DiNeve, 13, Druid
Residence: Pelham Hills
Family History: Family legend is that way back on Owain’s side of the family, many of the women used to be Italian stregas, and that the last name of DiNeve, which means ‘of snow’ came into being as a result of one particularly memorable ancestor who was a weather witch. On Elen’s side of the family, they believe themselves to be descended from Merlin, but that may just be wishful thinking. The family tree, if it could be traced back far enough, would likely show a higher than might be considered usual instance of babies born in September.

More recently, Owain’s father met his mother at university in England. He was from Italy, and she was from Wales, and after their marriage they decided to make their home in her home country. Owain was their youngest son, and he went to college in Wales, where he met Elen. Elen’s family has been in Wales for as long as they can trace back, and she is part of a minority of Welsh people who speak Welsh fluently. Of her three children, only Colwyn has displayed any interest in learning the language. He is not fluent, but does know enough to be able to pronounce it, and with the assistance of a dictionary or the internet, can get by well enough.

History: Colwyn’s parents both grew up in Wales, and met at university there. The decision to move to the United States was not meant to be a permanent one. One of Owain’s older brothers had emigrated there, and asked Owain to come and help him with setting up an import business. However, when Elen became pregnant shortly after the move, and then again not very long after the birth of their first child, they accepted that they might as well just set up house in the United States.

From the time he was born, his parents suspected that Colwyn was different from other children. Every parent believes that their baby is the most beautiful baby in the nursery. In Colwyn’s case, it was indisputably true. His skin was fair and perfect within hours of birth, without the usual blotchy redness and such most newborns have. Within weeks, his eyes had shifted from the usual deep lavender-y blue of all newborns to a lighter, more piercing icy blue. Even as an infant, he commanded attention.

Shortly after his birth, however, Elen became pregnant again, and their attention was somewhat diverted from their increasingly unusual child. Their second son, Rhys, was born only eleven months after Colwyn, and they were raised more or less as twins. Two years later, they had their third (and final child), a girl called Seren.

Colwyn started off in mainstream schools, where he quickly gained himself a following of the other students, even though he was, at best, an incredibly charismatic bully. He quickly learned that beauty and intelligence could get you pretty much anything, especially from those less so. The older he got, the more manipulative he became. His presence became disruptive, and finally his parents were brought in for a conference and it was suggested to them that they might seek alternative schooling arrangements for him.

Within a few days of this suggestion, Owain and Elen were contacted by a representative from Pelham Place. They were told that their firstborn child was not entirely human, and that the school could help him to learn to control his abilities. Once Colwyn was accepted there, moved their entire family to Pelham Hills. He was enrolled as a day student starting in second grade. Seren was enrolled the same year, because she began displaying druidic capabilities at a young age, and has attended the school from pre-kindergarten onward. (Rhys has never displayed the markers of any of the Old Races, but is a star athlete at his mundane high school, where he plays soccer in the fall, basketball in the winter, and lacrosse in the spring.)

At Pelham, Colwyn set out to distinguish himself above the other students, trying to be the best and brightest at everything he did. In many cases, he succeeded, although he lacks his brother’s athletic prowess. He remained a day student for lower and middle school, but finally convinced his parents that he was missing out on a lot of opportunities by leaving the school every night, so since entering the upper school, he has attended as a full time boarding student, residing in Baxter, although he does occasionally go home for weekends.

As he enters his senior year, his main goal is to finish out on top.

Potentials: Colwyn is both charismatic and manipulative. He will go out of his way to help other students in the hopes of gaining their loyalty. He is well aware of the fact that he can compel other fae to help him, but he prefers willing minions to coerced ones. He participates in student government and the drama club, and is always looking for other ways to become involved... and take over. He is perfectly willing to allow other students to believe that they are the best of friends, because then they’ll do whatever he asks, when he asks it. A little attention goes a long way with the right types of people.

Some might consider his self-confidence hubris, and there is a strong possibility that he may be setting himself up for a fall. However, he is completely blind to this fact, believing himself to be in perfect control.

As the saying goes, it’s lonely at the top, and there are definitely times when Colwyn feels this. He’s sure that he could have anyone he wanted, if he put enough effort into it. He has had “relationships” in the past, but they never lasted because he got bored. The trouble is, he hasn’t met the person yet who he really feels is worthy of it. He won’t admit it, but he rather hopes to some day meet someone who won’t fall so easily into his trap.

Appearance: Colwyn has a very cold beauty - pale skin, ice blue eyes, and dark hair. His gaze is intense and likely unsettling to some. He carries himself with his shoulders back and head up, with a sort of self-assured grace that commands attention. His usual expression is aloof, and smiles must be earned. He has no piercings or scars. His skin is nearly always cool to the touch, although he never seems to be bothered by it.

PB: Nicholas Hoult

Anything else?
Colwyn strongly believes that his ancestry is from the Winter (Unseelie) Court. Since middle school, he has been doing research above and beyond what he gets in classes about faerie legends, and has convinced himself that it must be true. As evidence, he cites the fact that, based on his birthday, he was very likely conceived on the Winter Solstice. Family legends would normally point to his having come up as a druid, as his little sister did, but he believes his date of conception may have triggered a more dormant gene and brought out the Sidhe part of his heritage.

The fact that his skin is always cold, and the fact that he hardly feels the cold even in the worst of winter, also lend credence to his explanation, at least in his mind. He also feels as if his abilities are stronger in the winter, and weaker in the summer, especially during the daylight hours. In the winter, he finds it harder to cover his natural appearance with a glamour. Whether this is actually true or simply something that occurs because he believes it is unclear.

He has always believed that he is meant to lead, and sees the fact that the Sidhe are the leaders of the fae world as proof of it. He also feels that the Old Races are superior to mundanes, and wants to restore them back to their places of honor in the collective conscious. He knows that others likely just want to peacefully coexist, or possibly just happily keep to their own secret safe places, but his research has shown him that faeries and others of the Old Races used to be both feared and revered, and nothing less than that will do. They were brought back for a reason, and he believes that domination is that reason.

Towards this end, starting in eleventh grade he has began to gather together a group of like-minded individuals. He calls the group Llys y Gaeaf, which is Welsh for Winter Court, and has gone to great lengths to keep its existence hidden from administration, as he is certain that they would not approve. In his senior year, he is hoping to expand the group, so that when he is finished with school, he will have a strong base of support for taking it out into the outside world.