Difference between revisions of "Fionnuala"
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{{Infobox character | {{Infobox character | ||
| − | | name = | + | | name = Fionnuala ni Niall |
| − | | title = | + | | title = Lady Niall; Queen of Cnoch-na-Niall; the Woman in Red |
| − | | image1 = | + | | image1 = Fionnfinal.png |
| alt1 = <!--character portrait alt text--> | | alt1 = <!--character portrait alt text--> | ||
| caption1 = <!--character portrait caption--> | | caption1 = <!--character portrait caption--> | ||
| − | | archetype = | + | | archetype = Fairy Queen |
| − | | hair_colour = | + | | hair_colour = Red |
| eye_colour = Black | | eye_colour = Black | ||
| − | | height = | + | | height = 6'2" |
| − | | build = | + | | build = Statuesque |
| − | | features = | + | | features = |
| − | | | + | | birth_date = 137 AR |
| − | | birth_place = | + | | birth_place = <!--place of birth--> |
| death_date = <!--date of death--> | | death_date = <!--date of death--> | ||
| death_place = <!--place of death--> | | death_place = <!--place of death--> | ||
| − | | spouses = | + | | spouses = <!--spouses--> |
| − | | children = | + | | children = <!--children--> |
| − | | profession = | + | | profession = <!--profession(s)--> |
| religion = <!--espoused religion--> | | religion = <!--espoused religion--> | ||
}} | }} | ||
| + | |||
| + | '''Fionnuala''' is one of several names assumed by a fae creature residing near [[Myrken Wood]]. It is not a name she uses publicly, and no one knows it. You don't either. You might know her as Niabh. Or Victoria. Or Rabbadon. Or Godwin. Or Jack. Win her trust and she might let you call her Fionn. Or she might ask you to give her loan of a name, as she has none. Just don't give her yours. | ||
==Description== | ==Description== | ||
| − | |||
| − | + | <blockquote>''"Do not think the fairies are always little. Everything is capricious about them, even their size. They seem to take what size or shape pleases them, having no inherent form but changing according to their whim, or the eye that sees them."''</blockquote> | |
| − | + | ||
| − | + | ||
| − | + | Appearances have little meaning to Fionn, who changes her seeming as often as some women change their gowns. There is some evidence that her most common appearance is as close to her "real" one as one is likely to see: a very tall, well-built young woman who appears to be in her middle twenties, wide-hipped and broad-shouldered, with a dark bronze complexion and brilliant red hair. Her eyes are solid black, with no sclera or visible pupils; these she is more likely to glam into normal brown eyes, as she had learned that this detail above all others unnerves humans. Her ears are tapered, better than a hands-length long, and lightly furred with gold hairs. Most other details are wholly decided by whim, vanity, and the necessity of the moment. | |
| − | She has | + | <blockquote>''"Witness the nature of these creatures, their caprice, their way of being good to the good and evil to the evil, having every charm but conscience. Beings so quickly offended that you must not speak much about them at all, and never call them anything but ''daoine maithe,'' which in the common means "good neighbor," yet so easily pleased, they will do their best to keep misfortune away from you. Their evil [is] wholly without malice."''</blockquote> |
| + | |||
| + | Fionn is a creature bound by the rules of her people. Playful, loving of games and sport, fiercely independent, quick to laugh; prideful, arrogant, mocking, cheerfully disdainful of human custom but at the same time fascinated by human company; incapable of guilt or regret, confused and revolted by the concept of weeping; lies with every other word, steals without compunction, but is faithful to a bargain. Those whom she favors may find themselves the victims of her generosity, whether they want it or not, and she does not take kindly to having her gifts rejected. Artlessness amuses her but rudeness she will not tolerate. She will retaliate swiftly to being touched without permission. Like most of her people, she adores children and will countenance (and in fact indulge) almost any mischief from them. Woe betide anyone who does a child ill in her presence. | ||
| + | |||
| + | ===Glamourie=== | ||
| + | |||
| + | <blockquote>''"...there was a man of H----, whom the tounfolk saye is biwicchen, who, when ask’d the sake of his enchountement, told that in the Midsumor, he was in the holt at P---, with his byndel upon his back, and that a grete Lady upon a White Palfrey came to him, and geve him to drink from a silver Cuppe, which she bade him take as a gift, and from that day he has been stone-blind, albest he newse yt nowt, for he swears he sees all sondry mervels, but in sooth, he stumbleth all about, tho yt be full licht. He produced the Cuppe, which he had hid benethe his bedde, til he likened what he should make of yt; but the cuppe was of common wood, much crack'd and worm-riddled, that could have held no more licor than a Sieve. When ask'd to give it up, that yt micht be examined close, this wight swore noone should ever lay hand on yt, for yt was all the tresour he had in this World, and would yet make him his Fortune. And in the toun were some who say, This lady was the Quene of Fayerye."''</blockquote> | ||
| + | |||
| + | Put simply, glamourie is a magical skill that alters perception...yet there is nothing simple about glamourie. It can be used to change the appearance of objects and people or to subtly heighten or twist emotion, turning reasonable caution to blind panic, simple affection to lust, or vice versa. The danger in glamourie lies in its persistence (a glamourie does not require the physical presence or even consciousness of its caster to endure, and it endures perhaps indefinitely) and its pervasiveness (any number of people viewing the glamourie will see precisely the same thing), indicating there may be extremely powerful mental manipulation at work. | ||
| + | |||
| + | The other danger of glamourie is that it appears to have an internal failsafe of ''convincing people not to question it.'' In short, no matter how unlikely or out-of-place the glam, one's first instinct is to believe that it is entirely plausible and to react accordingly. Long familiarity with glamourie or certain magical gifts of perception may allow the viewer to recognize the unreality of the situation: while they will still ''see'' the glamourie, they may understand that it is not real. Iron or steel cannot be glamoured and its touch dispels the illusion from any glamoured object. | ||
| + | |||
| + | Certain animals react differently to glamourie. Wild beasts tend to perceive it but understand that it is not real (a wolf who sees a false fire will quickly realize they can walk through it). Domesticated ones usually, though not always, react to glamourie as humans do (a horse will shy away from false fire--and be burned by it). | ||
| + | |||
| + | Cats completely ignore it, but cats ignore everything. | ||
| + | |||
| + | |||
| + | ===The Raven=== | ||
| + | [[File:Crowletter.jpg|300px|thumb|right]] | ||
| + | Messenger to the Queen of Cnoch-na-Niall. Answers to the name Benedict. Loyal. Surly. Swears a lot. Can be distinguished from ordinary ravens by his greater size (half again as large as a common raven) and by the band of red-and-gold feathers on the undersides of his wings. Has only three clear supernatural abilities: the power of speech, the power to find anyone he is directed to seek out, and the power to deliver his message in spite of all obstacles, up to and including impregnable walls. Cannot be bought with rum cakes, but can certainly be rented for them. | ||
| + | |||
| + | ==Background== | ||
| + | |||
| + | <blockquote>''"Some learned men attest that the Fair Folk once dwelt over all this land, but that they fell after the coming of Man, who tamed all the wild places until there was no more space for them, after which they perished; while others declare that such creatures never lived, but were no more than the names men of former ages gave to their own weak and worser natures, the embodiments of Lust and Covetousness, Intemperance and Spite. But there are some (myself amongst them) who hold that the Fair Folk quit the mortal lands and withdrew to some secret abode, there to await the day when Men forget them entirely, and if that day should come, they will return to take back all that was once theirs."''</blockquote> | ||
===The Broken Dagger=== | ===The Broken Dagger=== | ||
| − | Niabh | + | |
| + | In the summer of 215, Fionn presented herself at the [[Broken Dagger (Inn) | Broken Dagger]] in the guise of a young serving girl named Niabh who was seeking work to support herself in Myrken. She quickly became employed as a maid to Lady Patience. Just as quickly, she acquired an unladylike reputation for brazen flirtation, sneaking out at all hours and reappearing exhausted at dawn, and befriending some of Myrken's more unsavory elements, including the madman [[Catch]]. At roughly the same time, the Woman in Red began putting in sporadic appearances, usually lured by the prospect of parties, music, and dancing. | ||
| + | |||
| + | When Lady Patience left the Dagger for town in the following year, Niabh parted ways with her and likewise quit the Dagger for parts unknown, after which Fionn began to show herself more frequently. "Niabh" still visits the Dagger, claiming now to be in the employ of another noblewoman. This noblewoman is likely to be Fionn herself. | ||
| + | |||
| + | Fionn tends to appear at the Dagger only after dusk, taking no more than a cup of tea as an excuse to chat, flirt, and (if warranted) bedevil both newcomers and regulars. Only a very few intimates are aware of her true nature, and even they have no way of keeping track of her multiple identities. A few of her personae work odd jobs at various places in Myrken Town. Others can never show their faces there again. Travelers at the banks of [[Silver Lake]] roughly a league southwest from the Dagger are advised to be wary of traps, cantrips, misdirection, and the occasional well-placed arrow. | ||
==The Present== | ==The Present== | ||
| − | |||
| + | In 215, Fionn, in a well-meaning but misguided defense of her beloved Catch, embarked upon an escalating war of attrition (by post) with former governor [[Glenn Burnie]]. The correspondence quickly spiraled out of control, leading to an odd-if-affectionate friendship between the two, and gradually luring Glenn out of exile in Razasan and back to Myrken to examine the scene of his former crimes and determine his own future. Fionn became intrigued by Glenn's proposal of a new kind of relationship between her people and the human world, one that might foster good will by establishing formal trade between the Tuatha with Myrken. | ||
| + | |||
| + | Myrken itself, needless to say, was not quite as clement. [[Gloria Wynsee]], suspicious of yet another magical newcomer with unknown goals, with Glenn's involvement in any sort of political machinations, and particularly with the prospect of all three combined, moved the [[Myrkentown Inquisitory]] to investigate Fionn's motivations, uncovering her string of past petty crimes and hinting at the true extent of her powers and influence. Gloria determined that Fionn--whatever she was, and whatever her intentions--was a potential point of chaos a newly peaceful Myrken could ill afford. | ||
| + | |||
| + | Well before Gloria knew about ''her,'' however, Fionn already held a deep resentment against Gloria's unforgivable abuse of Catch. A chance encounter with [[Elliot Brown]] in dreams spun into a plot to spirit away Gloria's child, as well as the first thread that began Elliot's unraveling from a lost boy into a dream-thief. | ||
| + | |||
| + | After Catch snatched Fionn from the brink of death, her devotion to him grew still deeper, resulting in Catch wrenching back control of his own addled mind and tapping into his full power and sanity. The consequences of this for Catch, for Fionn, and for Myrken--if not the world--have only begun to be seen. | ||
| + | |||
| + | But the Tuatha are known for their ability to wreak chaos and change--whether they mean to or not. | ||
| + | |||
| + | |||
| − | [[Category:Characters]] | + | [[Category:Characters]] [[Category: Active Characters]] |
Latest revision as of 18:54, 18 January 2022
| Fionnuala ni Niall | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Information | |
| Title(s) | Lady Niall; Queen of Cnoch-na-Niall; the Woman in Red |
| Archetype | Fairy Queen |
| Hair Colour | Red |
| Eye Colour | Black |
| Height | 6'2" |
| Build | Statuesque |
| Born | 137 AR |
Fionnuala is one of several names assumed by a fae creature residing near Myrken Wood. It is not a name she uses publicly, and no one knows it. You don't either. You might know her as Niabh. Or Victoria. Or Rabbadon. Or Godwin. Or Jack. Win her trust and she might let you call her Fionn. Or she might ask you to give her loan of a name, as she has none. Just don't give her yours.
Description
"Do not think the fairies are always little. Everything is capricious about them, even their size. They seem to take what size or shape pleases them, having no inherent form but changing according to their whim, or the eye that sees them."
Appearances have little meaning to Fionn, who changes her seeming as often as some women change their gowns. There is some evidence that her most common appearance is as close to her "real" one as one is likely to see: a very tall, well-built young woman who appears to be in her middle twenties, wide-hipped and broad-shouldered, with a dark bronze complexion and brilliant red hair. Her eyes are solid black, with no sclera or visible pupils; these she is more likely to glam into normal brown eyes, as she had learned that this detail above all others unnerves humans. Her ears are tapered, better than a hands-length long, and lightly furred with gold hairs. Most other details are wholly decided by whim, vanity, and the necessity of the moment.
"Witness the nature of these creatures, their caprice, their way of being good to the good and evil to the evil, having every charm but conscience. Beings so quickly offended that you must not speak much about them at all, and never call them anything but daoine maithe, which in the common means "good neighbor," yet so easily pleased, they will do their best to keep misfortune away from you. Their evil [is] wholly without malice."
Fionn is a creature bound by the rules of her people. Playful, loving of games and sport, fiercely independent, quick to laugh; prideful, arrogant, mocking, cheerfully disdainful of human custom but at the same time fascinated by human company; incapable of guilt or regret, confused and revolted by the concept of weeping; lies with every other word, steals without compunction, but is faithful to a bargain. Those whom she favors may find themselves the victims of her generosity, whether they want it or not, and she does not take kindly to having her gifts rejected. Artlessness amuses her but rudeness she will not tolerate. She will retaliate swiftly to being touched without permission. Like most of her people, she adores children and will countenance (and in fact indulge) almost any mischief from them. Woe betide anyone who does a child ill in her presence.
Glamourie
"...there was a man of H----, whom the tounfolk saye is biwicchen, who, when ask’d the sake of his enchountement, told that in the Midsumor, he was in the holt at P---, with his byndel upon his back, and that a grete Lady upon a White Palfrey came to him, and geve him to drink from a silver Cuppe, which she bade him take as a gift, and from that day he has been stone-blind, albest he newse yt nowt, for he swears he sees all sondry mervels, but in sooth, he stumbleth all about, tho yt be full licht. He produced the Cuppe, which he had hid benethe his bedde, til he likened what he should make of yt; but the cuppe was of common wood, much crack'd and worm-riddled, that could have held no more licor than a Sieve. When ask'd to give it up, that yt micht be examined close, this wight swore noone should ever lay hand on yt, for yt was all the tresour he had in this World, and would yet make him his Fortune. And in the toun were some who say, This lady was the Quene of Fayerye."
Put simply, glamourie is a magical skill that alters perception...yet there is nothing simple about glamourie. It can be used to change the appearance of objects and people or to subtly heighten or twist emotion, turning reasonable caution to blind panic, simple affection to lust, or vice versa. The danger in glamourie lies in its persistence (a glamourie does not require the physical presence or even consciousness of its caster to endure, and it endures perhaps indefinitely) and its pervasiveness (any number of people viewing the glamourie will see precisely the same thing), indicating there may be extremely powerful mental manipulation at work.
The other danger of glamourie is that it appears to have an internal failsafe of convincing people not to question it. In short, no matter how unlikely or out-of-place the glam, one's first instinct is to believe that it is entirely plausible and to react accordingly. Long familiarity with glamourie or certain magical gifts of perception may allow the viewer to recognize the unreality of the situation: while they will still see the glamourie, they may understand that it is not real. Iron or steel cannot be glamoured and its touch dispels the illusion from any glamoured object.
Certain animals react differently to glamourie. Wild beasts tend to perceive it but understand that it is not real (a wolf who sees a false fire will quickly realize they can walk through it). Domesticated ones usually, though not always, react to glamourie as humans do (a horse will shy away from false fire--and be burned by it).
Cats completely ignore it, but cats ignore everything.
The Raven
Messenger to the Queen of Cnoch-na-Niall. Answers to the name Benedict. Loyal. Surly. Swears a lot. Can be distinguished from ordinary ravens by his greater size (half again as large as a common raven) and by the band of red-and-gold feathers on the undersides of his wings. Has only three clear supernatural abilities: the power of speech, the power to find anyone he is directed to seek out, and the power to deliver his message in spite of all obstacles, up to and including impregnable walls. Cannot be bought with rum cakes, but can certainly be rented for them.
Background
"Some learned men attest that the Fair Folk once dwelt over all this land, but that they fell after the coming of Man, who tamed all the wild places until there was no more space for them, after which they perished; while others declare that such creatures never lived, but were no more than the names men of former ages gave to their own weak and worser natures, the embodiments of Lust and Covetousness, Intemperance and Spite. But there are some (myself amongst them) who hold that the Fair Folk quit the mortal lands and withdrew to some secret abode, there to await the day when Men forget them entirely, and if that day should come, they will return to take back all that was once theirs."
The Broken Dagger
In the summer of 215, Fionn presented herself at the Broken Dagger in the guise of a young serving girl named Niabh who was seeking work to support herself in Myrken. She quickly became employed as a maid to Lady Patience. Just as quickly, she acquired an unladylike reputation for brazen flirtation, sneaking out at all hours and reappearing exhausted at dawn, and befriending some of Myrken's more unsavory elements, including the madman Catch. At roughly the same time, the Woman in Red began putting in sporadic appearances, usually lured by the prospect of parties, music, and dancing.
When Lady Patience left the Dagger for town in the following year, Niabh parted ways with her and likewise quit the Dagger for parts unknown, after which Fionn began to show herself more frequently. "Niabh" still visits the Dagger, claiming now to be in the employ of another noblewoman. This noblewoman is likely to be Fionn herself.
Fionn tends to appear at the Dagger only after dusk, taking no more than a cup of tea as an excuse to chat, flirt, and (if warranted) bedevil both newcomers and regulars. Only a very few intimates are aware of her true nature, and even they have no way of keeping track of her multiple identities. A few of her personae work odd jobs at various places in Myrken Town. Others can never show their faces there again. Travelers at the banks of Silver Lake roughly a league southwest from the Dagger are advised to be wary of traps, cantrips, misdirection, and the occasional well-placed arrow.
The Present
In 215, Fionn, in a well-meaning but misguided defense of her beloved Catch, embarked upon an escalating war of attrition (by post) with former governor Glenn Burnie. The correspondence quickly spiraled out of control, leading to an odd-if-affectionate friendship between the two, and gradually luring Glenn out of exile in Razasan and back to Myrken to examine the scene of his former crimes and determine his own future. Fionn became intrigued by Glenn's proposal of a new kind of relationship between her people and the human world, one that might foster good will by establishing formal trade between the Tuatha with Myrken.
Myrken itself, needless to say, was not quite as clement. Gloria Wynsee, suspicious of yet another magical newcomer with unknown goals, with Glenn's involvement in any sort of political machinations, and particularly with the prospect of all three combined, moved the Myrkentown Inquisitory to investigate Fionn's motivations, uncovering her string of past petty crimes and hinting at the true extent of her powers and influence. Gloria determined that Fionn--whatever she was, and whatever her intentions--was a potential point of chaos a newly peaceful Myrken could ill afford.
Well before Gloria knew about her, however, Fionn already held a deep resentment against Gloria's unforgivable abuse of Catch. A chance encounter with Elliot Brown in dreams spun into a plot to spirit away Gloria's child, as well as the first thread that began Elliot's unraveling from a lost boy into a dream-thief.
After Catch snatched Fionn from the brink of death, her devotion to him grew still deeper, resulting in Catch wrenching back control of his own addled mind and tapping into his full power and sanity. The consequences of this for Catch, for Fionn, and for Myrken--if not the world--have only begun to be seen.
But the Tuatha are known for their ability to wreak chaos and change--whether they mean to or not.
