Ashen Eye

Ashen Eye (アッシェンアイ Asshen'ai): is a very old Faerie.

Appearance
Ashen Eye typically wears a brown shroud that makes them look like a desert-wandering nomad, and wields a simple wooden staff. They have thin, almost mummified-looking limbs, and actually has four arms, two of which are usually kept hidden in their shroud. Underneath the shroud, Ashen Eye's face has 3 purple eyes with spiraling pupils. They seem to have no other facial features, with their face presumably being just a mass of shadow with eyes.

Personality
Ashen Eye has a perplexing relationship with humans, taking interest in the fleeting nature of a human life in comparison to a Neighbor's. They cherishes the moment a child becomes an adult, but also takes pleasure out of seeing a human shaken to the core of their soul.

Ashen Eye will often play very dark tricks on humans. They make those tricks into a game, where the outcome of a loss invariably results in tragedy for his victims. However, there is always a way to win for those who are cunning enough, and Ashen Eye may even give cryptic hints to help his adversaries figure out what they must do. Ashen Eye does not mind losing, as long as they gets to witness the struggle of their victims, whom they may compliment and sometimes even reward if they manage to defeat their trickery. While they does not seem to be inherently evil, they like to amuse himself at the expense of everyone else.

They seem to enjoy watching the suffering of others. While this may indicate a sadistic personality, it is also possible that he simply finds pain to be the most interesting emotion to observe. This is what made them interested in both Chise and Joseph. Once Joseph chooses to stop struggling, Ashen Eye seems to lose interest in him.

Ashen Eye seems to dislike mages to some extent, apparently holding the opinion that they enslave and bind the faerie. This may be a reason why they often targets Chise and Elias in his machinations.

History
Not much is known about Ashen Eye's past except that they have been alive for at least a millennia.

Plot
Ashen Eyes first appears during the arc where they greets Chise and bequeaths her with the skin that she can use to shapeshift as a means of testing how loyal she was to Elias. They later are revealed as the one responsible for the disappearance of Stella's brother, having overheard her request and decided to take her up on the offer. They then challenge Chise and Stella to find Elias, who they take captive, and in succeeding they congratulate them and warn Stella against speaking so carelessly since they don't know who will be listening.

Later on, they work alongside Joseph in capturing Stella and Chise. Elias decapitates them in order to remove them from the barring the way, but they later return to observe Joseph accepting his defeat before leaving. They return shortly afterwards, once more appearing before Stella.

Skills and Abilities
Ashen Eye is an extremely ancient member of the Faerie and has the abilities to match. They seems to be affiliated with darkness to some extent. They can teleport using black smoke and is able to create portals of shadow.

Their magical abilities include feats such as erasing the knowledge of a person's very existence from the minds of others. They is also able to effortlessly put Elias Ainsworth out of commission with his magic. Once swallowed by one of his portals, Elias was completely trapped, unable to escape his confinement.

Ashen Eye is extremely difficult, perhaps impossible, to kill. Even after Elias had decapitated them, they reappeared later, seemingly having suffered no ill effects aside from a short setback.

Quotes

 * (To Stella) "Maybe its the company you choose to keep, dear. You don't have the Sight and yet here you are, all caught up in this nasty business."

Trivia

 * In Official Guidebook: Merkmal, his height is 169cm (5'7").