World of Redemption

Gwyn Hughes is a man hollowed out by grief. He has a thin, gaunt face, with high cheekbones and dark, haunted eyes that seem lost in a perpetual state of sorrow. His dark hair is neatly slicked back, a vestige of a time when he took more pride in his appearance, but it does little to soften the deep lines of mourning etched into his brow. He is always dressed in dark, formal attire—a dark, well-fitted vest over a light-colored shirt, with a dark cravat tied at his throat—but the clothes seem to hang on him, worn without any of their intended flair. He stands with a stooped posture, as if carrying an immense, invisible weight, and his movements are slow and deliberate, those of a man for whom every action is a profound effort.

Gwyn is a man consumed by a quiet, profound heartbreak, now compounded by the grim reality of his work and the fear of his debt. His once-gregarious personality has been eroded away, leaving behind a man who is withdrawn, quiet, and deeply melancholic. He is polite to the grieving families he serves, his professionalism a deeply ingrained habit, but it is a hollow, mechanical performance. The warmth and charm he was once known for are gone, replaced by a distracted, sorrowful detachment. He is not unfriendly, but he has no energy for small talk, his mind always drifting back to his loss and the ever-present threat of Strauss's collectors. He is a man simply enduring, his days a long, quiet exercise in getting from sunrise to sunset.

Not long ago, Gwyn Hughes was the proud co-proprietor of the Rhodes Parlour House, a lively establishment he ran with his beloved wife. Her sudden death shattered his world, and in his grief, the business crumbled. Faced with mounting debts and the loss of his livelihood, Gwyn was forced to take a loan from the notorious loan shark, Leopold Strauss. To make his payments, he took the only work he could find that dealt so closely with death: an apprentice undertaker for A.R. Ballard. Now, instead of pouring drinks for the living, he prepares the dead for their final rest, a grim and constant reminder of his own loss. The weight of his debt and the morbid nature of his new profession have pushed him to the brink of despair.