Nathaniel Ashmore
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| Nathaniel Ashmore | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Nathaniel Ashmore |
| Affiliation | Eastern Tsuga College (formerly) |
| Status | Deceased |
| Occupation | Psychology Professor, Eastern Tsuga College (c. 1905–1917) |
| First appearance | The Darewright Jar |
| Canon status | Confirmed |
About
Nathaniel Ashmore was a psychology professor at Eastern Tsuga College in the early twentieth century and the unknowing creator of The Darewright Jar. He believed himself to be an independent scientist conducting pioneering research into behavioral compulsion. He was, in fact, an instrument of the Order of Aetherion, secretly funded and monitored by Elias Roarke throughout his research period. He spent the rest of his life attempting to reclaim something whose true nature he never fully understood.
Description
No physical description has been established in canon.
Background
Ashmore theorized that habit enforcement could be externalized through objects — that a physical artifact could serve as the container for behavioral compulsion. He believed this to be a purely psychological phenomenon with no supernatural dimension. His research into habit formation, external reinforcement, and subconscious compulsion was genuine and intellectually serious. What he did not know was that Elias Roarke had been secretly funding his work since approximately 1905, and that Aetherion had supplied him with Vaseline glass on the claim that it had unique energetic properties.
Ashmore created The Darewright Jar believing himself to be the sole architect of his research. He was not.
Personality and traits
Ashmore was a sincere researcher who operated entirely within his own intellectual framework. His tragedy is not malice but ignorance. He genuinely believed he was studying psychology. His compulsion to reclaim the jar after its theft suggests he understood, at some level, that what he had created was his responsibility, even if he never understood what it actually was.
Role in the SSU
The clocktower incident
When Ashmore's experiments revealed compulsions far more extreme than intended, a student jumped from the Eastern Tsuga College clocktower believing she could fly. This was the moment Ashmore understood something had gone badly wrong. He attempted to destroy the jar immediately. Aetherion intervened, stealing the jar and leaving a slip in its place reading: "You've studied enough." Ashmore was dismissed from ETC shortly after.
Aftermath
Ashmore spent the remainder of his life attempting to reclaim the jar. He never succeeded. His research notes survived somewhere in ETC's archival storage, where they remain as of the SSU's present timeline. Whether anyone at ETC has located or read them is an open question.
Key relationships
Elias Roarke / Order of Aetherion
Roarke was Ashmore's secret patron from approximately 1905 onward. Ashmore was unaware of Roarke's identity or Aetherion's involvement throughout his research. The relationship was entirely one-sided: Aetherion monitored, supplied, and ultimately stole from Ashmore while he believed he was working alone.
Affiliations
Eastern Tsuga College faculty (c. 1905–1917, dismissed).
Canon notes
- No physical description established
- Ashmore's death date has not been established
- The full contents of his surviving research notes have not been established
- Whether anyone at ETC has located his archival notes in the modern SSU timeline has not been established
- The student who jumped from the clocktower has not been named or further detailed in canon