Sylvaine Drear

All secrets have reverb.

— Sylvaine Drear

Archivist of Echoes, Keeper of B-Sides, Whisperer-in-Residence

Appearance

Sylvaine has caramel-colored skin, though her fae mien renders her pale and slightly translucent. Her lips are a matte black, her teeth missing, and her voice emerges in whispers, only occasionally needing to repeat herself — and she rarely does.

She wears smoky-tinted round glasses and a 1950s vintage dress: black fitted bodice with a sweetheart neckline and delicate cap sleeves, and a flared skirt in cream and salmon decorated with stylized record players. Despite being a Sluagh, she comes off as effortlessly cool — mortals who glimpse her at the Rock Hall assume she’s part of the avant-garde music scene.

She is almost never seen in daylight and wears industrial-grade earphones during most live shows to protect her heightened Sluagh senses.

Kith and Seeming

Kith: Sluagh
Seeming: Wilder
Known Court: Unseelie

Though she fits many of the classic traits of her kith — soft speech, avoidance of eye contact, and ghostlike stillness — Sylvaine brings a sharp elegance to the stereotype. Her tendency to lean forward and study people’s lips intently creates an intimacy that some find unnerving, others unforgettable.

She is deeply loyal to the Frequency Fae, the city of Cleveland, and to rock and roll — in that order.

Role in the Frequency Fae

Sylvaine serves as one of the Rock Hall’s underground archivists, with her private domain being the fabled Whisper Booth on Level 0 — a dim, intimate space lit by softly pulsing neon lyrics, furnished with velvet couches in almost too-intimate arrangements, and contains a unforgettable minibar. Bottles of unknown origin rest behind the counter, including her signature chimerical concoction, Sipped Secrets — a shimmering drink that changes hue to perfectly complement the drinker's outfit.

She curates a rotating wall of rare and forgotten B-sides, each rumored to hold a dream, a regret, or a prophetic message. The walls occasionally hum when no one’s speaking. Her bound notebook, filled with indecipherable scrawl, is said to contain songs that were never written, but should have been.

Demeanor and Habits

Sylvaine is aloof but not unkind. Her presence is always intentional, though she’s known to disappear without fanfare when noise, emotion, or silliness rise too high. She gets along with all members of Frequency Fae, though she’s closest to Hazel Copperwire — the two often sit in companionable silence, crafting side by side. Sylvaine closes her eyes during these sessions to allow Hazel to work without worry of being observed, respecting the Boggan’s need for private industry.

Despite being young in appearance (mid-20s), Sylvaine claims to predate the Rock Hall itself. Most believe she inherited her position from an older Sluagh archivist, long vanished into the Mists or deeper Dreaming.

She is known for:

• A flawless memory of musical detail and lyric.
• Issuing sudden philosophical riddles or questions and watching the answers ripple.
• Making time each year to speak at least once with each major figure of the Moondog Barony, unless they’re especially interesting — then she finds them sooner.

Legacy

• Sylvaine’s legacy is difficult to pin down — like a B-side that hints at something deeper in the artist's soul. She offers her counsel with quiet gravity. Still, most would call her Unseelie in manner, if not in motive.
• She believes that what is forgotten shapes the world as much as what is remembered.
  She believes that songs are the truest maps of the heart.
  And she believes that silence is often the Dreaming’s sharpest voice.