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Rose Thorburn Jr. is a Vestige created by Rose Thorburn Sr. before she died. As a vestige she was molded to be a female version of Blake and given memories of being brought up as he did with the exception of the fact that she never ran away in her parallel life as he did.

She came into existence after Molly Walker died and Blake became next in line, and exists in the world of mirrors. She can access anywhere they reflect in her reality, whether or not Blake is in sight. She doesn't eat or sleep, instead being supported by a connection to Blake.

After Blake's second run in with the Abstract Demon, and his alleged death, she gained a physical body.

Later events reveal that she and Blake are actually two halves of a progenitor who was split by Barbatorem, and that one would gain ground while the other lost it, meant to do battle until one was destroyed, allowing the other one to become the ideal heir.

Appearance[]

When she first came into being she was in a camisole and pajamas, with long blond hair. Later on her hair is cut shorter in order to bind Conquest and she dresses in her grandmother's clothes. When Blake possesses her she gains some of his attributes, like his tattoos, and once he's allowed to be in control she starts sprouting branches all over her body.

After he recedes, her skin is left looking pale to the point it seems almost artificial, her hair lighter than before, but it made her look severe.  The scratches and cuts that remain looked as though they’d been placed there on purpose, a bad makeup artist’s work.

Personality[]

Rose, in the beginning, lacks the fortitude to deal with direct threats and has to deal with the mortality of her short lifespan. She takes a more logical approach to problems she has, but she also takes more definite steps towards dealing with her problems, wiling to offer killing as a viable means of dealing with a threat permanently and being more manipulative than Blake is, although he can be the same at times.

Rose is far more studious than Blake, but she has more trouble connecting with others due to the fact that she was raised in the toxic environment of her home and, despite being an alternative version of Blake, never had friends or the same closeness that Blake had with Molly and Paige. This is later suggested because while she inherited the heart and soul of their original he inherited just about everything else.

Because of the circumstances of her existence, she and Blake have an often strained relationship as they weren't equals since her survival was dependent on his and she lacked any sort of agency initially, not helping the fact that she is bound and forced to act against her will by Conquest and put into a coma by Pauz. It is later hinted that both she and Blake argue with one another because they can both sense that only one will survive, as it is fated that Blake would die and she would take his place, and that her increased desire for agency is an aftereffect of lingering around Conquest so much that his essence has bled into her. In addition, the fact that her hair was used as the means of binding and it wasn't perfect means the effect is building over time. Eventually Rose grew tired of fighting with Blake on this and then their relationship became less hostile, to the extent she allowed him to possess her rather than condemn him to the abyss.

When drawing on Conquest she becomes more authoritative and confident, but after Blake gives her his memories she grows more affectionate to her friends, to a noticeable extent. In her own words, she has learned to care for others but is still inexperienced with it, and she has no fear of pointing a weapon at a child.

Chronology[]

Bonds[]

Rose came to be aware of her existence when a fail-safe put into place kicked in upon the death of Molly Walker. At that moment she asked the lawyer of the demonic law firm, Beasley, what was happening and he instructed her to take a leap of faith towards the light, leading her to Blake Thorburn, who she instructs to run. When he hesitates she hits the mirror from her end and breaks it.

Once they are on the road and heading to Jacob's Bell, she tells Blake that she is him and while she doesn't know how she got there she knows she's not normal and she can feel the presence of Others like what was in his apartment and what latched onto the car and caused it to stop. When Blake was attacked by the Feorgbold she broke the ice beneath them and allowed him to get away.

Once at the Hillglades house she and Blake discover the secret room of their grandmother and then met with Laird Behaim shortly after to get the full scope of their situation. After he leaves them to the mercy of Padraic, she manages to prevent Blake from falling into a trap, but discovers the faerie can reach into the mirror as he stole a kiss from her.

Later on, after reading through the materials, she argued with Blake on whether or not they should utilize their Grandmother's resources to deal with the growing number of Others that tried to trick them, although even she was against messing with Barbatorem and chews him out for going to look at it without reading up on it like she did.

The two come to a temporary ceasefire in their increasing hostility with one another due to the pressure after everything and being the ritual to awaken. After the awakening she realizes that she doesn't have the same capability as Blake since she is trapped in her mirror world.

Damages[]

Rose broods in a depressive mood at the realization of her circumstances and can only offer Blake advice to try and survive the council meeting that was impending, as well as not to rely on the Spirits due to Laird being the one who they listen two because of his role in the community. When he tries to comfort her, she only sees it as him being manipulative because their relationship isn't on equal footing.

After the meeting Blake and Rose are escorted part way to the house by Johannes Lillegard and Maggie Holt, who inform them that, without an opposing majority vote in their favor, the powers in the council will attempt to execute the young Thorburns. Once alone with Blake, Rose reveals to Blake that she is a vestige running on a limited time-frame.

The next day they bind the ghost of June Burlison into a hatchet and summons the family lawyers: Mann, Levinn, and Lewis. The lawyers explain the scope of the Thorburn's karmic debt (nearly seven lifetime's worth). Ms. Lewis then assists him in binding the frost hatchet properly, and helps them in defeating a Faerie named Letita, the familiar of Joanna Duchamp and her older sister Penelope Duchamp. Rose expressed an interest in claiming a portion of her power as well, but Blake didn't allow it as it would mean torturing her.

Ms. Lewis volunteers more information about Johannes' demesne, which Rose realizes means that inside it Others can hunt down vestiges like her, while warning Blake that he will not survive for long and his death means Rose's as well. Maggie later visits the pair, framing herself as a potential friend, but Laird soon arrives and reveals that Maggie murdered Molly under Laird's own orders, souring her attempts to ally with them.

Breach[]

Rose converses with Blake about the nature of their relationship and whether or not one will end up consuming the other, when Blake makes an Oath to help her out of the mirror. Afterwards she works with Blake to convince Briar Girl to give them some advice as well as borrow Goblins from Maggie, whereas Rose reveals that because their line were all female practitioners most Others will only respond to her. The pair then sabotage Laird's attempt at a ritual and Rose babysits Dickswizzle.

When she returns and joins Blake in heading home Andy finds them and comments on their discussion when she offers to listen to his problems if he's all alone. The two then learn that the ritual still went off as Laird recycled his plan. Rose then calls the Lawyers and goes with Blake to Toronto.

Collateral[]

As they arrive in Blake's apartment in Toronto Rose reveals she can cross the mirrors directly into the Hillglades house and bring over books. When Blake's landlord arrived and brought up a friend of his named Natty, Blake revealed to her that it was his way of saying they could cope if he had started hearing voices since Joel isn't a practitioner and couldn't hear or see Rose. She apologized for him having to do that and watches as his friends enter, admitting to being jealous. She then notes the number of people in attendance is higher than before and points it out to Blake. The stranger introduces himself as a messenger of Conquest and that his audience was ready.

The meeting with Conquest goes off the rails due to their heritage coming to light, and Rose is pulled from her mirror and given a solid form in order for Conquest to use them. Rose and Blake manage to secure a reprieve by agreeing to bind three beings over three nights, with Rose being shackled to Conquest the entire time before they left his domain and she reverted to being trapped in a mirror.

The next day she and Blake confront Pauz, Rose manages to convince the demon to meet later-on in order to have a chance at possessing Conquest before they leave for the college to find Isadora. Along the way a distraction is needed to escape from the cultists under Jeremy Meath at the college, where Rose expends her power to break mirrors.

At this point she falls into a coma, unaware of the fact that Pauz had reversed the connection between Blake and her so he was taking her power instead of the other way around.

Convictions[]

Rose awoke after Blake returned the power that was taken, nearly bleeding himself out in the process, and learning of the circumstances. Because of the extra power she was capable of reaching out of her mirror and clawing at Duncan Behaim, before helping Evan take an Other's Oath to become a Familiar. She then called to June within the Frost Hatchet and exposed it to reveal Duncan was holding evidence, playing a part in getting him fired. Afterwards Rose tried to convince Blake against going after the Abstract Demon because he lacked the power and knowledge after everything he went through for the day. However, they proceeded to try and the Abstract Demon managed to reach into the mirror world and nearly claim her before being burned out. Likewise, her efforts to force it to name itself failed when the demon ate its own name before giving them the whole thing, making it impossible to win.

They were forced to retreat with only an arm to show for it.

Subordination[]

In the middle of riding with Priss, Rose to be taken by Conquest while they were in the middle of their ride and then end up compelled to tell him about their plans. She is in the middle of creating a circle to bind Pauz by the time Blake and his friends arrive. Blake gets her freedom by using the contest rules and they return home, but she starts a fight over who has the clout of the family and then leaves, which Fell suggests is due to the fact she had her free will subverted by Conquest. She later admits that during that time she told Conquest ways of hurting Blake, speculating on his weakness and why he was afraid of being touched against her will.

Rose was then relegated to coordinating things between the group as the Shepard attacked with The Eye. When Blake falls victim to a heart attack by a ghost, she instructs Tiffany into giving him blood and using salt to ward away the ghosts until he's on his feet. She then used her family's history to empower her words and make the ghosts stop, leaving the Shepard to dismiss the ones in earshot before they could rebuke him.

When they reached safety she suggests letting Pauz out to do some damage, but Blake puts it off. Once he had rested she confessed she hated being helpless and wanted to summon something. She goes through the options of summoning Bloody Mary, Tallowman, and James Corvidae, before Maggie arrives and they convince Blake to allow her to summon Midge as Terracotta Soldiers arrive.

They manage to defeat the dolls, but Midge attacks the group in an effort to stop Rose from recalling her. In the end, Rose banished Midge back to Limbo. They then assess what went wrong, reasoning that the wording was too open and allowed her a loophole to exploit when they defeated some of the dolls and she couldn't fulfill it, breaking her free.

Later on they discuss Maggie and how she seems different and, after Isadora pays Blake a visit and informed him he was going to die, he allowed her to summon James Corvidae without a fight. In the police station she dispatches Bloody Mary to create an opening for Blake to escape from the bathroom, but she ends up getting trapped inside when they remove her memories of the last hour.

Void & Signature[]

Rose continues to folly Blake until they are attacked by the Astrologer, the Shepard, and Isadora, the latter of whom manages to critically injure Blake. She tries to negotiate with her, revealing she knows she would take Blake's place if he died, and watches over Blake as he slept from his wounds after having Tallowman patch him up and James set the Sisters of the Torch and Astrologer against one another. Between that time she also had more creatures summoned to assist her.

Once Laird gets free of the trap and escapes, she follows Blake and informs him of how to deal with the Ghouls obstructing their path before going along with his plan to try and catch Duncan Behaim. In the ensuing fight she lost most of her Others, but successfully managed to trap Conquest within a mirror.

When Blake goes to confront the Abstract Demon and fails, she's suddenly in the real world and has a physical body as reality shifted to incorporate her. She finds a note in her pocket telling her that there is nothing left for them in Toronto and then heads back to Jacob's Bell with Tyler, Alexis, and Tiffany, after grabbing Evan, who is dying but unsure why. There she met Mags, who asked where Blake was.

Null[]

Back at the Hillglades House, Rose takes the others to the library to do the awakening ritual properly, revealing that she wasn't a practitioner during the time period of the story, hence why she never did any of the summonings herself but used her clout as the Thorburn Heir to command them. Later on she goes to the council meeting where they are agreeing to the terms of the contest for becoming the Lord of Jacob's Bell.

In attendance  Sandra Duchamp, Duncan Behaim, Johannes, and Rose herself vouched for the position of Lord, Ev, Keller, Crone Mara, and Briar Girl remain out of it or hope to gain while not taking a side, and Mags, Andy, and Eva,  remained neutral. Rose, during this time, refuses to take any of the conditions which is inviting immediate retaliation and putting the others with her as easy targets, but she acknowledges that and does so anyway, leaving. Her parents and sister arrive, with the two of them trying to make amends, but Rose isn't as receptive and only agrees to maybe meet them later on at a cafe.

Later on she's with the others, planning to use Barbatorem, when the house spirit notes that something has entered it and Blake appears in the mirror. As they no longer remembered him, they saw him as an enemy.

Mala Fide[]

Rose demands Blake answer who he is and he confess his past to her, but she could not trust him due to the fact that there was no way to verify his identity as well as the fact that he was a bogeyman who held a grudge against her and there were no absolutes about him. After he warned her not to gamble with his friend's lives and how to deal with the Abstract Demon, she expelled him from the house.

She later confronts her Aunt Irene and Callan, who are trying to wrest the Hillglades House from her and realizes that it is a trap meant to get all of the Thorburn Family together and points out that them. When Blake offers his assistance, she tells him he will earn no favor doing so and should he fail she will run out of her limited patience with him.

Later on, when Jeremy Meath attacked her home and brought down most of the protections she banished James Corvidae as he had implied that he would 'take care of her' while she slept. Upon waking and finding herself bound by Jeremy, she revealed she had set a dead-man's switch that would release Barbatorem should she die. Jeremy and Rose then made a deal, with her accepting the rules for the Lordship contest that she rejected prior and information on sealing Blake in exchange for him leaving the property, which diffused the first attack.

Once Blake is caught in the mirror in the study, she tells him that while she does believe him now that she's done her research and can't let him go for reasons unspoken. She also reveals she knows she's been tainted by Conquest and is using him as a power source, so he doesn't get a hold on her as long as she expends it. She then leaves with the others as Molly got loose from Mags and could cause complications.

Malfeasance[]

She later returns to tell Tyler and Evan that it was time for breakfast and has a bogeyman watch Blake. The bogeyman later alerts her to the fact that Blake moved the mirror and she tells him they have too many problems to deal with him, since the protections of the house have failed and they've had to set alarms and sleep in shifts, so if he'd be patient she would have come with a mirror. However the house fell under attack by the Behaim Circle and Blake managed to escape to go deal with it. When he sent her a message about interfering with the attack through a contest with Alister she sends bogeymen that inadvertently drew the attention of Sandra and forced Blake to return to the house.

Inside she tells him that she won't bind him again and prods him with barbed comments to see just how out of control he is because from what she pieced back together from her memories he was meant to keep fighting until he died and they swapped places and now he's gone off-rails and is unpredictable. Evan returns to tell her that her family is coming and the others help her get dressed and the house cleaned up before her family comes in. They come with paperwork and Blake goes through the reflection copy of it to see that they're trying to get her committed to a mental hospital long enough to try and get her out of the house, a plan they figure has been set-up by Duncan and Sandra, and she goes along with it in a game of chicken.

Duress[]

It is revealed that Rose researched Blake and found that both he and she are merely incomplete fragments of another person. Barbatorem had split the pair, with the woman being born from the heart and soul, to be the perfect heir and removed the bits that Rose Senior didn't like. As a result she has the others promise not to tell him since they are bound to fight one another and if he realizes he can get everything back by simply gaining ground over her then she would most likely be killed.

She later appears in the company of Alister Behaim with an engagement ring, with the histories chapter afterwards showing she had been waiting for someone to appear and Alister was there and this was part of her grandmother's plans to invoke change.

Execution[]

She appears with Alister in front of Blake and inquires about everyone's condition before stating that they needed to do something about him. While she was poised to get rid of him she admitted they needed allies to fight but refused a familiar contract with him as it may have given him an easier means of being able to infect or kill her and Blake doesn't trust her since he knows about the split. While she argues their progenitor was female, he points out that all of the things beforehand hint that he was male and while she inherited the heart and soul he got everything else. Before it goes further they agree on having Alexis bind him but Molly's Bell, which had been stirring up all the negativity in the town, knells and causes Blake to attack Alister, leading to him having to run with her watching.

Sine Die[]

She appears next to Alister again, making it clear she didn't trust Blake, but throwing to him the ring that allows the Behaims to access their power. She leaves off with a group different from Blake's and returns with the Knights of the Basement in tow to question Mara. John Pica then reveals the mirror that holds Conquest and tries to shatter it against a tree, but Rose ripped out some of her hair and used sympathetic magic to stop it from hitting the hard surface and then bound him. She and Blake try to get an answer from Mara, but she causes one of the knights to have a heart attack and then flees while letting her birds attack them.

After they catch Mara, she and Blake appear to come to terms about their circumstances, with him giving up the struggle for their former life and she then departs for the Hillglades House, where Johannes appears to make a deal. After Blake reveals that because the Hillglades House is connected to the Thorburn name and with their collective consent they would all fall with it if they went through with the deal, Johannes reveals it was never his intention to do so, but Faysal did. Before Johannes can stop his familiar, they are dragged into the Abyss and Barbatorem is set loose

Possession[]

Rose using one of the Knight's guns to fend off the various Others attacking her and then tried to command Barbatorem using the clout of her family to lure it into a trap. It only worked a certain number of times, but Johannes sacrifices himself to let the abyss claim the demon and leave them free to continue on. Afterwards she's supporting Blake in his desire for freedom from the abyss by allowing him to possess her. She and the others meet with Peter and Ainsley, making their way out until they run across Mrs. Lewis who tells Rose to either join the firm or they will be forced into conflict, due to the house that was meant to be used as collateral no longer in their position. As she cannot, she speaks to Blake and tells him she has no choice but to draw on Conquest in order to defeat her.

She puts a bullet in Ms. Lewis heart to keep her down and give her time to think, but she's unable to come up with anything in that time frame other than calling upon Faysal. He doesn't respond, so she tries to send Evan away. Blake then gives her his memories, encouraging her to have the group assist in summoning Faysal, who is forced to respond as a result. She tries to have him help by first declaring that she and her husband-to-be are both the Lords of Jacob's Bell through the connections to the Toronto Council, who would make things messy and then promises to work on preventing this from becoming a battlefield and to try and retrieve Johannes' pipes so they can't affect him.

Once the Toronto Council arrives, she abdicates her throne and gives them Jacob's Bell to condemn, which drags them into the fight as the firm will not accept this.

Judgement[]

When Murr summons constructs of people based off their broken connections, she was the one who warned them and then Blake surfaced a memory of a hymn to hold the imp at bay long enough for them to seek sanctuary with Sandra as Mags started the emergency meeting. There she tries to convince them to a concession, stating that either everyone that can retreats, and she works with those who stay to try and kill Johannes and keep the lawyers from gaining power, or they all fight, and the Elder Sister help to create an opening for a strike since going halfway doesn’t achieve a thing. Next she tries to convince them that humans are agents of change and this is a chance to do so before inviting Ms. Lewis in for negotiation.

She and the others make their declaration for war and Rose gathers some others to eliminate Johannes' body, taking Paige, Peter, Evan, Green Eyes, and Mags while the rest would fortify the location and keep the demons at bay. Using Evan, who became a flaming bird, they tried to use the flames to keep the demons and layers locked down, but failed when one of the demons screamed. Rose is assaulted by madness, but Blake's possession allows him to take the brunt of it and allows for her to still the demon long enough for Eva and Jeremy to counter its effects. Her group manages to escape to Johannes' demesne where they see that it has been twisted by the Barber.

There, the group is forced to flee from a lawyer and a hellhound, with Lola Duchamp pulling them along a connection to where the child vestiges that Mags had grown close to were. In order to get closer to where Faysal was, Rose forcibly conscripted them into helping and they proceeded to run through a tunnel as she allowed Blake to gain a deeper possession, realizing that she wouldn't be sufficient enough after that point. He later retreats inside of her and gives her the rest of his humanity to heal, whereupon she summoned The Nurse, The Welder, and Bristles to aid her until they managed to get her upon the throne and she revoked the claim of the demesne. Ms. Lewis tried to counter, but she managed to gain a level of control over it as the group corners Ms. Lewis after Barbatorem has been removed and Faysal was freed.

They leave the demesne as the Abyss claims it, leaving Ms. Lewis to be buried alive, and then go their separate ways. She then reasons with Green Eyes not to kill her before she takes what little of Blake's flesh remains. It's suggested that she left enough of him behind to be turned into a sparrow.

Art[]

Rose is a practitioner who has inherited a large amount of diabolic knowledge from her grandmother and as such is considered a Diabolist. As she prefers not to resort to said arts and carries the clout of their family, she typically using various bogeymen that were recorded by her grandmother, making her akin to a Scourge. This later becomes official with negotiating with the Abyss, a lifetime of service towards being a scourge.

Basics[]

Tools[]

  • Nick's Gun: She borrowed a gun from the Knights of the Basement, which has a rune to correct her aiming and ensure a hit. It doesn't work if the target can dodge bullets, however.

Magic[]

  • Diabolism: Because of her grandmother leaving her heir with a wealth of knowledge in the form of tomes, she has access to the diabolic arts, as well as Barbatorem.
  • Scourge: After being in contact and possibly tainted by Conquest, Rose summons various "Horrors" to serve her as an army, most of which are killed or banished during the contest. She later replaces them using a catalog of bogeymen. The most notable are:
  • Sympathetic Magic: She used this to stop the mirror holding Conquest from breaking, since it was bound in her hair.

Possession[]

At present Rose is possessed by two individuals: Blake and Conquest.

  • Conquest: Being possessed by Conquest gives her an additional source of power to draw from, as well as confidence, the ability to have some extra sway over others when drawing on his power and giving orders. However, the larger the amount of power he stores within her, the more he influences her thoughts,
  • Blake: Blake gives her his memories that were divided when they were split from one single being, which offsets Conquest's influence. By giving her his memories of friendship, he offset her need to give orders with using actual teamwork. She becomes more affectionate towards them as a result.

Navigation[]

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