Janine van Keulen

born the bastard daughter of a witch, janine’s life wasn’t going to be easy from the start. circumstances drove her to become a secretive person, to not trust anybody she did not already trust. so for the longest time, it was just her and her mother.
nobody knows where she originally came from, she refused to tell. all one can surmise is that at some point, janine lost her mother, and in vengeance, she achieved a level of power that would rip her mortality from her.
in truth, vengeance never came. instead, janine sought to bring comfort to others who went through what she went through. her travels brought her to münster in the 13th century, a town reputed in lower mythos circles as a relatively “safe” place. while magic was frowned upon, the city had not once made use of ”witch hunts”, as they so affectionately called the horrid acts of genocide. it may have been the one place she could seek to build a haven, to bring subjugated mythos and casters to safety.

and so, she did. she built an unsuspecting tavern a ways from the road to münster, accessible only if you’ve heard of it, and advertised it in the outskirts of town where her people lived. here, she would bring shelter and a shoulder to cry on for all those who wanted to express themselves freely, but couldn’t in the stifling world of humans. no one could quite tell what was going on inside the head of this mysterious, slightly intimidating, sarcastic young woman. and yet, everyone who set foot in her tavern knew they could trust her. janine has closed herself off to the world around her, but keeps the door open for everybody else when they need her. if you’d ask how she felt, she would just snicker, and tell you she’s always wanted to be a figurehead.

janine accumulated many friends over the years, and managed to build what was once a cute little tavern into an entire city, despite all hardships. she became more important than she could have ever dreamed of, not only becoming the mayor of her own settlement, but also paving the path for covens centuries to come. any caster worth their salt would know her name, and if covens weren’t so egalitarian in nature, she may very well have been their queen. she’s wise beyond her years, though... maybe grew up a bit too fast.

janine lived to see her legacy unfold in front of her, but not much more. it was in the 18th century that she would make a grand mistake. she created a sentry doll, one meant to temporarily remove the souls of all that threatened her and the people of her city, but it was sabotaged. the doll was activated prematurely, and the only one in its presence was janine.
janine has been “dead“ since, her body buried, and her soul trapped in a vessel that won’t let her out. fogmere has flourished without her, but her friends and fellows have yearned for her return since the minute she disappeared off the face of the earth.
who knows? after all, it’s not like she’s truly gone... simply waiting in stasis for the door back to the world of the living to open, and when it does, they better be ready for her.