The Graygarde Kin

Family History

The Graygarde Kin all descend from a male witch by the name of Shad Graygarde, a talented sorcerer with a penchant for all things bug-like. He was working hard to find a way to hybridize bugs with people through his own shapeshifting ability, and he was unsuccessful until a mysterious man showed up at his door.

This man said he had knowledge of how to make this happen, but that it would come at a price. Without inquiring further, Shad said he would do anything to see his dreams come to fruition. This man rested his hand upon Shad's shoulder, pat him twice, then disappeared. Shad continued to be unsuccessful in his endeavors, figuring that the mystery man had perhaps played him a fool, and after a few more years, he finally settled down to have a family with his childhood sweetheart.

Shad and Chamaya Graygarde had three beautiful children named Mysyra, Heatheren, and Alfred. These children were strong and smart, and soon Shad had forgotten all about his life's work. He was enamored with raising his family.

When the eldest, Mysyra, turned fifteen, that is when Shad realized his mistake. He awoke in the middle of the night to the sound of his daughter's screaming, and when he entered the bedroom with his lamp, what he saw haunted him until the end of his days. Mysyra had six arms and two legs, and she had venomous fangs and a multitude of inky-black eyes. She was caught somewhere between arachnid and human, and Shad blamed himself for the horror inflicted upon his child.

The price that Shad had to pay to see his dreams realized, was that his children would each become what he had tried to create his entire life - bug shifters.

Heatheren was the next to become a bug, at midnight on her fifteenth birthday. There was a loud chirping sound coming from her chambers, and it vibrated the walls and shattered the nearby windows. Shad and Chamaya looked on as their middle child created her own kind of music as the towering cricket she had become.

Last was the lone boy, Alfred. Like the others, at midnight on his fifteenth birthday, he assumed the form of a bug. Chamaya stayed up to watch over him, but Shad did not have the heart. When Chamaya finally came to bed, she told Shad that Alfred had assumed the form of a dragonfly.

Years ticked by, and Shad found that his children were able to assume the small form of their bug, a monstrously-sized form, and a hybridized form that they could manipulate at will. Generations stretched on, and each child's line carried the same genes. Mysyra's descendents were arachnids, Heatheren's were those that crawled, and Alfred's line were winged bugs. Whenever a bugkin turns fifteen, at the stroke of midnight, their bug will emerge from them and they will be fully developed.

The Bugkin are proud of who they are and where they came from nowadays, a far cry from the upset of the original three and their parents.

Names Information

The family are all Graygardes, but they go by different last names to show who they descended from. Aile is the line of the winged (Alfred Graygarde), Tisser is the line of the arachnids (Mysyra Graygarde), and Ramper is the line of those that crawl (Heatheren Graygarde).

The lines are so long now that barely anyone is actually related anymore except for smaller units within the family. They share a common ancestor, but nothing more. If two bugkin of different lines produce offspring, the last name of the child will be determined by what kind of bug they become. For example, if someone from line Tisser produced offspring with someone from line Aile and the child was a spider? That child would take on the last name Tisser. Until they get their bug, they simply carry the last name Graygarde in honor of their ancestors.

The Witch

Every fifty years, a new witch is born into the family. She or he has the ability to remove a person's bug from them, stripping them of their abilities. She or he also has the ability to stave off more bug-like urges. For example, a preying mantis bugkin could go to her to ensure she doesn't, well, tear off the head of her mate and eat it during sex. ;) When the new witch is born, the other witch teaches the young one. The witch is identified by having a birthmark shaped like an ornate letter G.

Rank Information

The alphas of each line are called The Risen, as in they rose to their position. It was not handed to them nor were they born into it. They became "alpha" through hard work and dedication to the family. There are no betas.

Anyone disrespecting their risen can be exiled from Bugkin territory (The Hive in Gyllene) by a vote of all six risen. Majority rules and in the case of a tie, the matter will be reviewed again and voted on at a later date.

Last modified on April 15, 2025, 00:18:54