Elijah Playfair

Elijah Playfair is only slightly younger than Time- literally. The second-oldest of the Incarnates(with only the incarnate of Time being older), Elijah has watched over and cultivated the Dreamscape for eons... But let it never be said that running the dimension that houses people's souls comes without its quirks. Bored and primordially powerful, Elijah took to Dealmaking- at first merely to relieve his boredom. As the years went on, however, he sought a new goal- to take over and rule the universe he calls home, bringing the Dreamscape and reality together into one solidified plane.

His plans were thwarted when, one fateful day, he made a deal with a man he'd never met before- promising him power in exchange for gaining a new henchman. However, the deal was cursed- and in sealing it, Elijah was completely stripped of his connection to the Dreamscape. Being the eldritch manifestation of that Dreamscape meant he had essentially been murdered- with no connection to his power, he was no more than a blank slate. He toiled desperately, making deals and stealing power and doing everything he could to regain what Edric Elderwood had taken from him- and with the help of a sinister mad scientist, he succeeded.

Now returned to his full power, Elijah has decided to abandon the idea of solo rule- Instead, he's allied with two of his closest friends, Prof. Clawkeep and the Dread Curator, forming a coalition known simply as The Triptych with the goal of taking over all of the Triad together. At first, their dealings were secret- but following one Professor Elderwood's realization that, with his martyr status broken, he could embrace villainy as he liked, the three are carefree in their plots- using Elderwood as a collective henchman and reveling whenever they're not planning another scheme.

Elijah is, out of his friends, the most outwardly charming of the three- though he is up front about who he is and what he wants, he's also adamant that no matter his tricks, he always plays fair- and he sticks to those principles adamantly, making sure the playing field is level enough to have fun and reigning in the others if they go too far. He's the resident dealmaker as well, dealing in emotions and desires that come from a prospective business partner's very soul and treating any who seek his aid more like a good friend than anyone beholden to him. Behind his easygoing demeanor and friendliness, however, he thoroughly enjoys crushing people's spirits and destroying them without having to stoop to dirty tricks, and is thoroughly willing to torment someone just because he feels he's in his rights to.