Difference between revisions of "Fionnuala"
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==The Present== | ==The Present== | ||
| − | The Woman in Red tends to appear in the Dagger only after dusk, though she no longer resides there. Her | + | The Woman in Red tends to appear in the Dagger only after dusk, though she no longer resides there. Her especial haunt seems to be the far end of the Lake, just outside the treeline. She has also acquired a dark-brown shire horse called Toirneach. |
[[Category:Characters]] | [[Category:Characters]] | ||
Revision as of 22:18, 7 December 2016
| Fionnuala | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Information | |
| Title(s) | The Woman in Red |
| Archetype | Merry wanderer of the night |
| Hair Colour | Red |
| Eye Colour | Black |
| Height | 6'2" |
| Build | Statuesque |
| Notable Features | Well-healed injury on left hand; missing ring and small finger |
| Born | 137 AR |
Fionnuala is one of several names assumed by a fae creature residing in Myrken Town. It is not a name she uses publicly, and no one knows it. You don't either. You might know her as Niabh. Or Clara. Or Rabbadon. Or Jack. Or the Woman in Red. 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, who have no inherent form but change according to their whim, or the eye that sees them."
Appearances have little meaning to the Woman in Red, who changes her seeming as often as some women change their gowns. There is some evidence that her most common appearance is very likely 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 mid-to-early 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."
The Woman in Red 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. Rudeness amuses her but artlessness she will not tolerate. She will retaliate swiftly to being touched without permission. She adores children and will tolerate (and in fact indulge) almost any mischief from them.
Background
Origins
"There are those who say that the Tuatha are no more, and that the world is better for it, for never has there been such a race of remorseless deceivers, who seduce and bewitch as they will, who spin falsehood even when the truth would serve them better. And there are some who say there never were any such creatures, that they were the names ignorant men gave to their own covetous and lustful natures. But there are still others who say, The Tuatha have gone under the hills, to bide and wait until they are forgotten, and that one day, they will return to claim what once was theirs."
The Woman in Red claims to have come from "over the sea." She has stated many years ago, her people lived on this side of the sea, but departed due to their irreconcilable enmity with humankind (or tultharian, a slang term that, roughly translated, means "big clumsy people") and expresses dismay that there are a lot more tultharian here than she was led to believe. She does not actually speak the local language, but instead "borrows words" from whomever she happens to be speaking to at the time in an act of low-grade involuntary telepathy. She traveled alone for nearly a year before arriving in Myrkentown. She speaks happily and often of her mother and her two younger siblings, and she is unwavering in her certainty that sooner or later, her people will either come to collect her.
The Broken Dagger
In the summer of 215, the Woman in Red appeared under the guise of a young serving girl named Niabh. She quickly became employed as a maid to Lady Patience, and just as quickly acquired a reputation for flirtation, sneaking out at all hours and reappearing exhausted at dawn, and befriending some of Myrken's more unsavory elements, including the madman Catch. When Lady Patience left the Dagger for town in the following year, Niabh parted ways with her and chose to quit the Dagger. "Niabh" occasionally appears at the Dagger, stating that she is now employed as maid to another noblewoman.
The Present
The Woman in Red tends to appear in the Dagger only after dusk, though she no longer resides there. Her especial haunt seems to be the far end of the Lake, just outside the treeline. She has also acquired a dark-brown shire horse called Toirneach.
