Duchess Kali and Duke Siva are Unseelie Sidhe Wilders and rulers of the Duchy of Shadows in Washington, D.C.
Overview[]
Twins born of immigrants from Bombay, Duke Siva and Duchess Kali are actually Unseelie nobles from two different houses. Sarinius of House Balor once commanded the Unseelie army of Rome in an offensive against Kasmeara ni Ailil of the Celts, also an Unseelie. The two quarreled for years, back and forth. First Sarinius would win, the Kasmeara would retaliate. Neither could gain the upper hand for long. The two hated one another with a passion bordering on mania; so much so that when Kasmeara was finally captured by Sarinius' troops, she slew herself rather than face his treatment of her. Playing the game along with her, he fell upon his sword as well, sending them both back into the Dreaming.
They met again much later, after Christianity had almost conquered the lands they once knew. Once again on opposite sides, they harried one another, foiling each other's plans and disrupting each other's life through constant harassment. They danced a complex step of intrigue and one-upmanship right up until they joined hands to step through the closing gate to Arcadia when the Shattering came.
Reborn as twins named Jambu and Javas, Kasmeara and Sarinius grew up the same bitter rivals they had always been. While their father tried to build a medical practice, their mother attempted to mediate between the two, with little success. As fate or the Dreaming had decreed that they be tied together in mortal life, so it arranged for both to experience the Chrysalis at the same time.
Attended by a noble of House Liam and several commoners, they emerged into the community of Washington, D.C.'s Kithain. Soon noted as hellions, the wilder twins gathered a group of Unseelie followers around themselves, forming a gang of vicious redcaps, trolls, and nockers who were more than happy to split heads, indulge themselves with dope, and make trouble for the local Seelie. They were successful enough to garner the attention of the Shadow Court. The Court had been looking for a few Unseelie to open a Shadow freehold in D.C. They found what they were looking for in the twins. Taking the names Duke Siva and Duchess Kali in honor of the gods of destruction, they overran a freehold held by a minor Seelie lord and set themselves up as the Duchy of Shadows.
The Duchy of Shadows claims complete autonomy, saying it belongs to no kingdom except Discordia. Many Unseelie are drawn to the area seeking service in the duchy, but fe find it. Seemingly composed from half-expressed dark dreams and chaotic imaginings, the freehold that houses the Duchy is difficult to find. Some say it is just a myth. Those in the know just smile. no one gets into the Shadow Duchy until they've been checked and rechecked for loyalty to the Unseelie cause.
Little more than a rumor among the Seelie, the Shadow Duchy oversees various projects in the city. They court Banality, experimenting with it to see if it can be turned to the Shadow Court's use. They have a business arrangement with Madame Varvara. Their minions steal items imbued with Glamour and terrorize any Seelie Kithain they can find alone or in small groups. Their base, housed in an old book-bindery-turned-rock-club known as the War Zone, serves as a meeting place for the inner circle of the true Shadow Court.
The argumentative twins are well-known in Kithain circles around the Washington area. They are insatiable and unapologetic Ravagers. Like the gods for whom they are name, they epitomize the forces of destruction, neither asking nor giving quarter. When not attacking someone else, they turn on one another. Neither will yield precedence; neither will call a truce. Wrapped up in their love-hate struggle, they are as likely to destroy one another as their Seelie prey. Finding few threats to themselves, they indulge in games of superiority, but should a real threat make itself known, they stand against it together as if joined at the shoulder.
Siva is best in the Arts of Contempt, Primal, and Soothsay, while Kali practices Chicanery, Sovereign, and Wayfare. Both are consummate warriors, though Siva is the better tactician. Kali is more subtle; sometimes it's difficult to tell she's up to something before she's in cobra-like mid-strike. She loves intrigue; he excels in lies. Both can appear to be charming and gracious or ruthless and cruel, as the whim takes them. They revel in destruction and chaos.
Image[]
Fraternal twins, Duke Siva has pale, silvery hair and black eyes. He has six fingers on each hand and always wears specially made gloves. He prefers form-fitting clothing in the deepest wine red and black. Duchess Kali has black hair and silver eyes. Her hair reaches almost down to her knees. She also prefers form-fitting clothing, but likes to wear original white, the better to confuse her enemies.
Personal[]
Kali and Siva have been thrown together by the Dreaming. Who are they to argue with that. They both enjoy the same pursuits, they just aren't willing to concede that the other may be better at any of them than they are. Life is a constant struggle to prove their superiority and they wouldn't have it any other way. That would be inexpressibly boring. Besides, conflict is the true language of hatred such as theirs... or is it love?
References[]
- CTD. Kingdom of Willows, pp. 130-131.