High Regent Highbrow is not Sylvarin—though he would very much like to be mistaken for one.
Tall, immaculate, and dressed in layered silks the color of morning mist, Highbrow has carefully cultivated a Sylvarin silhouette: luminous skin dusted with pearlescent sheen, hair always arranged as if caught in a gentle spring breeze, eyes trained to catch the light just so. In truth, he is a lesser Spring Fae elevated not by lineage or blessing, but by self-obsession sharpened into power.
History & Origins
Highbrow rose to prominence during a century of quiet growth in the southern Springlands. Dewhavn—once a modest crossroads town between forest and wetland—became prosperous under his rule, not through wisdom or stewardship, but through excess.
He encouraged indulgence:
- Festivals that never quite ended
- Markets that rewarded beauty over substance
- Social hierarchies based on admiration rather than merit
In the Faewyld, belief shapes reality.
As Dewhavn celebrated Highbrow, Highbrow grew stronger.
He named himself High Regent—a title that subtly implies proximity to Ithandriel without ever stating it outright—and adopted ceremonial rites mimicking those of the Sylvarin Court of Verdance. No one corrected him. Doing so would have been impolite. Or dangerous.
Nature & Personality
Highbrow embodies the vanity of Spring without its innocence.
He is:
- Hedonistic, yet fragile
- Charismatic, yet cruel
- Obsessed with appearances, terrified of aging or irrelevance
He delights in being adored and reacts poorly—very poorly—to criticism. Those who threaten his image often find themselves socially erased, reassigned to the Dewmire Wetlands, or quietly uninvited from memory.
Yet he is not incompetent. Dewhavn genuinely prospers. Trade flows. Crops flourish. Fae smile.
That, perhaps, is the most unsettling part.
Place in the Faewyld
Highbrow represents a dangerous truth of the Faewyld:
Spring does not only birth life—it flatters it.
- King Cernunnos tolerates him.
- Queen Visunna watches him.
- Virexa openly despises him.
Highbrow pretends not to notice.