The Book of Knots - Jags

Book of Knots - The Caretakers
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that they must be rescued. They are charming—in their sad, clinically
depressive kind of way. Waifs are the Clear Widow’s eyes and ears,
and to men who need to be strong protectors or women with emotional,
maternal instincts they are almost perfect parasites. In a home where a
Waif has taken up residence, she will run the household, her never-metneeds
driving everything until there is nothing left.
Waifs wait on the Widow as serving girls and handmaids and when there
are guests of the right persuasion about she can be quite cruel with them,
tormenting them so that they might be rescued.
Disposition Towards Man
The Clear Widow claims to love mankind; to appreciate—if not his
current form, at least his potential. Mankind’s obstinate refusal to
reciprocate that love (and, presumably, either self-immolate or undergo
some indescribable mutilating change) is an act of betrayal of the highest
order.
She feels all of the disgust (and fear) and repulsion that the other
Caretakers feel toward humankind, but because of her great sensitivity
and her generous, kind, and loving nature, she has taken Mankind’s
nature personally.
Encounter Threat
When meeting an individual human, she will happily give the visitor the
benefit of the doubt—she can be a gracious (if distracted) host, but once
her (considerable) patience has run out, she will begin to gently suggest
some “options” to her guest: he could renounce his humanity this way or
have it surgically removed through that procedure… or at least have the
decency to drink this cup and thus acknowledge his miserable existence
and end it simultaneously.
Guests who do not pick up on subtle hints will receive gradually more
specific suggestions until (finally) her long-suffering patience will run
out and she will become angry. Angry that she has been forced to act
terribly despite her good nature. Angry that her kindnesses and wellmeant
advice has been rejected. Angry that she has been put in the
position of administering punishment.
Her wrath, under those conditions, can be intricate and truly terrible.
Domain
The Clear Widow lives in a vast mausoleum surrounded by a graveyard
that extends from horizon to horizon. Each tomb, or urn, or slot has a
specific meaning to her. It is someone who was cruelly taken from her.
As she walks the halls of her domain/prison, she is wracked by the
memories of each loss, the tragic stories that still haunt her. The terrible
unfairness that surrounds her. Her tears flow into channels cut in the