The Heron Prince

He Who Watches / He Who Takes
Filed under: Mirecourt Entities | Death Presences | Infant-Claimers
Contributor: FDG Field Archivist No. 5
Last updated: May 2025

Overview

Silent as fog and twice as patient, The Heron Prince is not a ruler, nor a herald—but something older and more unnerving.

He does not speak.
He does not chase.
He simply watches—and what he watches, changes.

He is the Watcher of the Mirecourt, a lone sentinel in layered blue-grey robes that never rustle, even in wind. He is Lady Wyr’s eyes above ground and the Mud-Queen’s grace in silence.

But in local superstition, his role is darker still:
It is the Heron Prince who comes for the babies.

Appearance

Height: Well over two metres tall, but hunched, elongated.
Robes: Layers of blue-grey silk, velvet, and moss, billowing like water, even in still air.
Face: A heron’s skull—long-beaked, delicate, and white as bone china.
Eyes: Not sockets—coins. Rusted old pennies sit where his eyes should be, seeming to glow faintly in moonlight. They see not the present, but what might be.
Hands: Long and bony, with claws like wet driftwood.

He is often seen perched on rooftops, weathervanes, church spires, or abandoned nursery windows.

Abilities and Powers

Stolen Futures:
Being watched by the Heron Prince too long causes time to slip. Victims lose their sense of future—becoming listless, lost, or obsessed with endings. Some never speak again. Others vanish.
Abduction of Infants:
The Prince is said to appear near difficult births, especially when pacts have been made or bloodlines tangled with fae influence.
Infants he selects are replaced by:
- twisted straw bundles
- heron-feathered swaddlings
- or glistening eggs that never hatch.
  The real child vanishes—taken into the Mirecourt, their fate unknown.
Death’s Companion:
The Prince is often seen days before a death, especially in cases where the dying has left words unsaid or secrets unburied. He waits at the edge of beds, graveyards, or flooded paths.
In rare cases, he arrives after death to retrieve a soul mislaid.
Displacement & Vanishing:
He cannot be looked at directly. Those who try see only the air flicker, like a heat haze. Yet he leaves wet footprints, feathers, or small fish bones behind.

Folklore Signs and Omens

Reflection Crossing:
If a heron walks across your reflection in still water, it is said: “You will never dream again. Or dream only of drowning.”
This is known as a Prince’s Crossing, and is viewed as a dire sign.
Nursery Chill:
A sudden cold wind in a locked nursery, with the windows wet from the inside, often indicates the Prince’s presence. He does not need doors.
Coin-Eyed Dreams:
Those who have made pacts with the Mirecourt may dream of a face with coins for eyes watching from beneath water. They awaken unable to remember their child’s face—or their own.

Role in the Mirecourt Hierarchy

Though no one in the court commands him, the Heron Prince is often seen near Lady Wyr, who nods when he departs and never bids him return. His role is older than the Mirecourt itself.

He is not cruel, but he is obligated—to memory, to balance, to a realm where life and death must both be watched and weighed.

Some say he was once a mortal child taken by the court, shaped by magic and silence into what he is now. Others claim he is the last son of a drowned god, bound to gather all those who no longer have a future.

Known Interactions with Humans

Witnessed during WWII near marsh hospitals, where infants were reported missing and unexplained deaths occurred hours after sightings.
Appears in old lullabies under various names: Coin-Eyes, The Grey Brother, Watcher-Bird. Verses are often nonsense until sung aloud, then trigger deep unease in listeners.
A child taken in 1981 returned briefly in 2004, claiming to have seen the Heron Prince every night. The child spoke of “learning stillness” and “eating light.” They vanished again a week later.

Summary for Field Operatives

Trait	Detail
Threat Level	Variable. High around infants, high during active deaths. Otherwise non-aggressive.
Signs of Presence	Reflected heron, fish bones indoors, chill wind in sealed rooms, dreams of coins
Containment Risk	Extreme. Cannot be tracked or bound. Interacts only when it chooses.
Engagement Advice	Do not photograph. Do not allow children to sleep near reflective water. If sighted, record environmental details—he leaves no imprint on devices.

Quote from Field Report #044 (Redacted):

“He was at the window again. Not looking in—looking past. The baby’s breath stopped. I saw him lift something unseen and swallow it through his beak. I don’t know what he took. But the room has been silent ever since.”
—Unpublished FDG witness statement, Kent, 1967