⚔︎ — basic information

⚔︎ — history

Caeli is one of four children to the Queen of Hearts. Born in the same year that Alice first arrived in Wonderland he was named after the elation the queen felt upon realizing that Wonderland would soon have a champion: Caeli, from the heavens.

He grew up alongside his siblings in the Carmine Palace where he was want for nothing. The finest foods, the most elite tutors, and nearly every wish granted with ease; except, perhaps, the attention of the queen.

Every child wants to feel the affection of their parent and young Caeli was no different. He was perhaps too soft in his youth because this only seemed to increase the distance between him and the queen.

Once Caeli realized that vying for her affection was a useless endeavor he turned into himself. That bright boy dimmed, becoming colder as the years trudged on, growing twisted as he realized that within the palace walls he could rely on no one but himself.

Only then did he become the kind of prince that his queen was proud of.

In the cutthroat world behind the palace walls Caeli worked hard to keep his position as prince secure. He excelled in all his lessons and made efforts on his own to further his knowledge. The queen saw this and expected great things from him.

By the age of 15 Caeli had garnered a reputation in the palace. He demanded nothing less than absolute perfection from those who served him. If you failed you were lucky to escape alive with only your hand cut off and your job title stripped from you. The worst offenses often led to lives being ruined. Others ended.

Caeli began to go on missions outside of the castle for the queen, most notably searching for Alice since she had disappeared from Wonderland years ago.

The more he left the palace the more stories about him began to spread. First in the higher districts of the city, by nobles who told stories about the prince as sharp and as cold as ice. Then the rumors trickled down to the lower districts where people spoke of a member of the royal family who wasn't afraid to spill blood in the name of the crown.

Hearing this pleased the queen, so much so that upon Caeli's return to Carmine Palace after a mission she requested to speak with him.

"Caeli Animre, my prince, you have proven that you are a true Animre at heart. For this I will give you the task of managing the royal treasury."

It was a high honor that Caeli was more than willing to accept. From then on his main job was to work with the treasurers and moneylenders of the palace. Although the queen had the final say in any financial matters it was up to Caeli to make the decisions when she felt they were not important enough for her attention, which was most of the time.

Caeli swiftly took control of the kingdom's coffers and weeded out the staff who refused to follow his orders or could not complete the tasks given to them. In just a few months the prince had turned the treasury into an even more powerful entity under his complete control.

He had cemented himself as one of the queen's most trusted retainers.

Today Caeli is most well-known as the Red Kingdom's debt collector. He's no stranger to hard work and will usually make visits to collect debts himself instead of leaving it to his subordinates.

He may not be as bloodthirsty as some of his siblings or larger-than-life like the queen, but he is assured in himself and knows where he stands.

Caeli is loyal to the crown and to his queen and he will do whatever is needed to protect them. He has blood on his hands, he's destroyed the livelihoods of entire families, and he won't stop there if it means completing his goals.

He will serve his queen and kingdom until the day he dies.

⚔︎ — personality & details

Three words that people would use to describe Caeli the most are: apathetic, competent, and unfazed. He is not especially concerned with the search for the Jabberwock or the battles with the Beastfolk. Instead he prefers to focus on his debt collection tasks and rooting out traitors from the kingdom, duties that he feels are more important than fruitless endeavors with no real chance of success.

Where he was once motivated to gain the approval of the queen Caeli now only works for himself, and his goals just happen to align in the Red Kingdom's favor. His relationship to his family members is one that cannot be easily explained. He does not refer to the queen as "mother" and their relationship seems more like a boss and subordinate than parent and child. As for his siblings, some of them he finds to be too much, and some he is able to tolerate and even get along with for the most part.

To those who owe money to the kingdom Caeli is like a boogeyman of sorts that might come out of the shadows at any moment to reclaim their debts. Some tales of his debt collecting exploits may have been exaggerated; others may be entirely truthful. He enjoys it when people know to be wary of him; better still if they know what they did wrong and are terrified to face the consequences.

- Sunrises - Red Foods - Calculations - White Wine - Hot Baths - The Sound of Waves - Order - A Clean Bed - Firearms - Reading NonFiction Books - Playing Chess - Cheesecake -

- Noise - Hot Weather - Insubordination - Traitors to the Crown - Unclear Reports from Subordinates - Wooden Utensils -

♦ Although he's not unwilling to get his hands dirty, Caeli doesn't like to if he doesn't have to. Because of this he will often delegate the ransacking, maiming and killing of debtors and traitors to his subordinates. This has led to a misconception that Caeli is the weakest of the queen's four children.

♦ Rumors these days say that if you ever see him smile you'll be dead by the first light of morning the following day. Caeli is straight-faced nearly 90% of the time, and the times when he does smile are when he's one-upped someone, or he finds a person funny (and his definition of "funny" is different from most others).

♦ His preferred weapons are firearms. He carries a colt peacemaker handgun with him everywhere he goes, and he also has a musket rifle, though he uses it less often. Though he prefers firearms he is also skilled with swords.

♦ He has a cane that he walks with though it is not for assistance purposes. There is actually a hidden blade inside this cane that he can use when needed.

♦ His family members are the only ones who call him "Kai" instead of Caeli. If anyone else uses this name they would surely be charged with insulting a royal family member.

⚔︎ — connections

⚔︎ — scenarios & plots

⚔︎ — out of character