Seo & Deo - A Midsummer Night's Tale
Posted: Thu Jun 27, 2013 2:33 pm
(Notice: this background has already been approved privately, me and fashionisdanger decided to post it publicly after many requests from other players)
First Name: Deoghreine & Seonaidh. "Deoghreine" means "Sunborn" in Sylvan, while "Seonaidh" means "Daughter of the Rivers". They are very reluctant to tell their true names to outsiders, though, so they either give pseudonyms to good friends or change their names whenever the mood hits them.
Last Name: What's a last name?
Appearance:
Deoghreine: Dheoghreine is 5'9'' tall, with a shapely body and captivating, alluring features. Her skin has an unusual tinge of green, her eyes are of an intense shade of emerald and glitter in the dark. She has auburn, gossamery hair barely restrained by a tress that falls to her left shoulder. Her elven traits are even more marked than the average of her parent race, making her look like a fairy of sorts. Dheoghraine possesses a peculiar "flanged", branching into a multitude of pitches whenever she speaks; only two different voices can, however, be clearly heard. One of the two voices is quite melodious and captivating, while the other has an unnatural ring to it.
Seonaidh: Seonaidh is 5'9'' tall, with a shapely body and captivating, alluring features. Contrarily to her sister, though, her skin is midnight blue and possesses a very faint bluish glint, her eyes and hair are also blue as a lake during midnight. Her elven features are starkly accentuated by her fey blood, which makes her quite alluring to other elves. Her voice is not flanged, but is nonetheless pleasing to the ear, sounding like a hand gently rubbing some velvet, or a purring kitten.
Race: Feytouched elves (1/4 nymph, 3/4 moon elves)
Age: They don't know
Height: 5'9"/5'9''
Weight: 70lbs approx
Eyes: Emerald green/Ocean blue
Hair: Auburn/Blue
Facial Hair Style: None
Personality Profile:
Deoghreine: Dheoghreine is always cheerful, almost in an annoyingly happy-go-lucky way. She loves playing (mostly harmless) pranks on other people, and enjoys people that are actually capable of playing a prank on her. While her behavior has been heavily influenced by her nature and upbringing, to the point that she reasons with a fey mind and not with an elven one, she does her best to protect travelers from the dangers of the world...as long as they keep a nice and respectful attitude. She delights in giving "gifts" to nice people as well, probably in an attempt to incite them to be kind to others.
Just like a fey, she is mercurial, unpredictable and can become extremely violent when provoked (a thing that happens very, very rarely), but she generally means good most of the times. She also loves to learn as much as she can from the world, and many people consider her to be childish, while in truth, she does not have a very good grasp of "evil", or at least as the ordinary folk perceives evil. On the other hand, she is not particularly interested in learning how humans or elves reason - she is quite aware of the fact that she belongs to a very different world.
Seonaidh: Seonaidh is a candid and dreamy soul. She loves to learn as much as she can about the world that surrounds her and, especially, know more the "city people". Her attitude is always positive and curious, her heart overally pure. She uses to spend several hours each day creating new fairy tales and collecting interesting stories from the world, that she uses to sing in rhyme or note down on her book. Her ballads are often creepy and sad, but this way she believes people will eventually learn how to discern good from evil. For her, the perfect conclusion for a busy day is to rest atop of a high and beautiful tree, under the warm light of the stars.
Seonaidh's mind doesn't really work in accordance to the general common sense. She thinks that life must be taken easy, avoiding to harm the innocent and the peaceful, but that the Balance of things must be preserved as well. A bit prickly, the privilege of her benevolence is to be repaid, even with a small gift or an act of kindness.
As she is committed about the fact that the end justifies the means, she might use heavy (or even scary pranks) to try guide a wicked (or too zealous) soul to eventually reedem and do what she believes is "better". Unless, of course, more serious harm is done; in which event she would immediately put herself in a position of active opposition.
General Health: they both have an average to good health, but their strong fey heritage has left them with long (even for the standards of elves) lifespans. Who knows if they are actually capable of aging?
Deity: "Worshipping" a god is a concept quite alien to them, but they are very close to the teachings of Erevan Ilesere, the Jack of the Seelie Court, and pray to him from time to time.
Initial Alignment: CG/CN
Profession: Pranksters
Base Class & Proposed Development:
Dheoghreine: Mostly warlock
Seonaidh: Bard/Stormsinger
Habits/Hobbies: Both enjoy pulling pranks on travelers, living in the woods and amongst other feys, and helping nice people. They are both fond of collecting gems (that they refer to as "shinies") and just about anything else that sparkles or shines. Very apt and proficient swimmers (in fact, they learned to swim even before learning to walk), both twins immensely enjoy swimming into ponds. Sometimes they might pose a riddle to travelers, rewarding them with something "nice" (i.e: an item, a scroll, or a gem) should they guess the correct answer. Both twins have the habit of referring to themselves as "we". While this may appear completely crazy, the minds of both twins are actually divided into two (or many!) entities that think and act independently, even if belonging to the same general organism, a bit like the bees forming a hive. They follow a typical fairy code of conduct, which means that whatever they take or receive (for good or bad) must be balanced with something given or receiven of equal worth.
Languages:
Dheoghraine: Common, Elven, Sylvan, Draconic, Treant
Seonaidh: Common, Elven, Sylvan, Treant
Weapon of Choice:
Dheoghraine: Her blasts
Seonaidh: Her voice
"I could not ask for a better place in which to die. Rillifane must have truly blessed me."
The elf could not help but feel and think serene, even in such a dire moment. As his blue eyes gazed upon the calm and peaceful surface of the lake, Anebril could have sworn to have seen a female figure slowly emerging from the waters.
At first sight the female creature looked like an elf, but she possessed a captivating and alluring beauty that was impossible to look at without crying. Anebril smiled faintly at the sight - most likely perceiving it as an hallucination.
"The Seldarine must have sent one of their finest angels to bring my soul to the glades of Arvanaith. How kind of them."
After this last thought, Anebril passed out, ready to go to Arvandor...or so he thought...
Anebril slowly woke up at the feet of a tree, just a few yards away from the lake that, he thought, would have been his final resting place. As his eyes tentatively regained focus, he noticed he was alive, his wounds treated by a capable hand. The environment looked almost mystical, and there were dozens of fey creatures - most of them sprites, nixies and pixies - playfully running around the lake. One of them approached the elf, playfully flying around his head, before stopping just in front of him.
"Ooooh, the elfie elfie elfie elf has awakened, yep yep! The princess will be happy to know it, yep yep yep yeppity yep!"
"Princess?"
Anebril was still weak and confused, his normally keen sight still foggy and barely capable of making out the tiny creature's details. From what he could see, it looked like a tiny elf, albeit her skin was purplish and she had a pair of fairy wings on her back.
"Yep yep yep! The princess! The one that saved elfie elfie's life life, yep yep yep! Wait here, I will go notify her of your recovery, yep yep yep!"
As the pixie flew away, Anebril tentatively regained focus and lucidity. The rays of the sun were barely capable of penetrating the thick woods that protected the lake, but the environment around him transmitted him a feeling of peace and serenity. As the pixie flew over the lake twice, she started yelling something in Sylvan, after which, the same beautiful creature Anebril saw for a brief moment slowly emerged from the lake. She was mostly naked, but her long, silken and bluish hair were more than enough to cover her forms.
Even if the elf had seen a lot of beautiful elven maidens in the past, comparing those women with the creature in front of him would have been like comparing a hobgoblin to a woman. It took a while before the elf could actually manage to talk to the woman.
"Oh beautiful being, who art thee?"
The creature just smiled faintly at the elf, checking his bandages and overall health before answering. Her voice was as sweet as honey, and as smooth as velvet.
"One shouldst never ask a fey his or her name, young elf, but I doth forgive thee since thou art not accustomed to the rules of the Fairy Folk. I am a nymph, princess of the seelie court of Ardeep and protector of this lake. I am the one that savest thyne life when thou didst hurtle to the sacred grounds of my grove."
"So I owe my life to thee, fairest of the fairy folk? Why hast thou saved me?"
"Helping others is not my way, but my subjects didst tell me that thou art a protector of the woods, and how thou had fought to protect it from the ugliest of creatures. So I didst saved thine life and brought you here, in my court."
"Thine court?"
"The lake I doth inhabit is the court of the Fairy Folk of Ardeep, young one. A peaceful place away from the concerns and woes of the mortal realm."
The elf tried to stand up, but to no avail. His wounds were still far too grievous to allow him to stand and walk. The nymph gently ran her delicate index finger along his bandaged wounds.
"It will take a while for thou to heal fully, stranger. Until then, feel thyself a guest of my court."
That day was the beginning of a very strong, as well as passionate, relationship. Anebril learned as much as he could about the ways of nature and of the Fairy Folk from his host and became her mate and consort, while the nymph - whom eventually revealed him her true name, Cliodhna - learned as much as she could from the outside world.
Their respective worlds were too alien for each other, but this did not stop the two beings from developing a strong attachment between each other. The elf was young, attractive and brash, while the nymph was wise, deliberate and beautiful. It was normal for them to be attracted to each other.
After lots of days spent in the grove cavorting with Cliodhna, without really a clear idea of how much time was actually passing, Anebril's wounds finally healed. Most importantly, Cliodhna had conceived a child from her dalliance with the young elf, even if he was unaware of that detail. As much as Anebril wanted to stay there, he knew that he would have had to leave soon, so one day he packed up his things and went to his lover.
"Art thou leaving my presence, Anebril?"
The nymph gazed at her consort with a sad twinkle in her eyes, knowing far too well that he could not stay in her presence any further.
"I can not stay here any longer, sweet Cliodhna, for I still have loving parents and relatives that are awaiting my return. It is with a deep, griefing soul that I have to part with your presence, o fairest of the fairies."
"I know, young Anebril, for even if thou couldst stay with me, you wouldst have to bequeath all that thou cherish amongst thine kin. Farewell Anebril, thouh hast left me with a great gift to remember thee by"
Cliodhna kissed Anebril and spent some intimate moments with him one last time, before sending him back to the world he belonged to. And as Anebril returned to his kinsmen, Cliodhna delivered a healthy lass, what is called as "houri" amongst the elves - half elf, half nymph, with the grace and beauty of both races.
The girl was named Fenodhiree, and in time, grew up to became a powerful druidess just like her mother, her druidic powers greatly enhanced by her fey heritage. Apart from being a powerful druidess, she was also a creature of exquisite beauty, as much as her mother was.
She was immortal, potentially capable of living forever, and Cliodhna took great pride in raising her and teaching her the ways of feys. In time, as the Houri grew older and more beautiful, she assumed a more active role in the faerie court, acting as a guardian of the pond, while her mother spent most of her time in a subterranean dwelling accessible only via her lake.
But times had changed. There were much more elves inhabiting Ardeep, and some of them even used to visit the mystical pond from time to time. Fenodhiree always watched the elves silently, somewhat attracted by that other half of her nature that she had never actually bothered to consider before. For a long time Fenodhiree watched the elves at safe distance, hidden from their sight by her inherent magic, and she always did her best to learn from them as much as she could.
Eventually, one moon elf in particular caught her attention: his skin was as blue as a well lit night, his hair of a gleaming, silken silver, his eyes of deep green. He wore leathers and carried a bow, a symbol of Rillifane emblazoned on his mantle, and Fenodhiree could not help but feel attracted by such an individual. Once again, like her mother before her, she appeared to the surprised elf, and the two quickly formed a strong bond as well.
Contrarily to her father, though, the elven ranger - Celith was his name - didn't have many reasons to stay amongst the other elves. But Cliodhna, the nymph princess, was loathe to allow her daughter to dally with another elf, knowing far too well that, should Celith decide to return to his kin, her daughter would have suffered a deep wound. Thusly, Cliodhna consented to Celith dallying with her daughter under one condition: that he would have signed a fey pact with an archfey of the Seelie court.
Celith would have been allowed to consort with Fenodhiree and live in the fairy court, in exchange for an oath of servitude to Verenestra, archfey whose main spheres of influence were beauty and female fairies. Amongst his duties were the protection of seelie courts, the protection of the woods in which fairy court reside, and active opposition against the ravenous and destructive ways of the unseelie denizens of woodland realms.
Despite being chained by his pact, Celith and his newfound love lived together happily and well, with Cliodhna the nymph welcoming the young ranger to her court as chosen mate of her daughter as well as protector of the glade. It didn't take long for Fenodhiree to conceive two twins, that would have been delivered shortly thereafter: they were both female, and despite having mostly an elven appearance, they had a lot of signs showing their potent fey heritage.
The twins were named Seonaidh and Deoghraine, destined to be forever divided between two different worlds from birth: most of them was of elven nature, but their strong fey heritage marked them as apart from the rest of their race.
Sadly for the twins and Fenodhiree alike, Celith never managed to see his daughters reach adulthood. The Black Horde came soon after, a murderous mass of orcs and goblins wishing nothing more than to pillage, ransack and destroy everything they met.
Even Cliodhna's mystical pond was not left undisturbed by the flagitious, animalistic creatures. Many faes died protecting the pond as well as Ardeep forest, and Celith was one of the casualties.
The loss of her mate caused a grievous pain to Fenodhiree, and the creature became sullen and withdrawn, secluding herself from the rest of the world. The two mostly elven twins were raised by her as best as she could, but even if she tried to keep a tenuous charade of happiness, her sorrow was always apparent. Rather than allowing her sorrow to affect the upbringing of her two daughters, Fenodhiree allowed the fairies of the court she belonged to to take care of the twins.
Thusly, the two twins were raised by the faerie court in which they dwelt, always lovely tended to by pixies, sylphs and brownies, under the watchful gaze of their mother and grandmother. The environment in which they lived greatly influenced their behavior, making the twins mature into playfuly, carefree feylings without many concerns, save for the love of nature and some mischief once in a while.
The two twins formed an especially close relationship with an ancient treant, sworn to protect the glade, whom they both referred to as "Uncle Taproot". Uncle Taproot became very fond of allowing the two elves to climb his wodden frame as he patrolled the glade's surroundings, always on the lookout for danger. Taproot taught the twins to respect and nurture plants, as well as the language of treants, and eventually started to address both Seonaidh and Deoghreine as "his little saplings".
As the twins reached adulthood (or rather, the equivalent of adulthood), they started to develop powers and capabilities of their own. Deoghreine, being the firstborn of the couple, inherited her father's original pact, becoming a warlock whose inherent abilities were furtherly enhanced by her fey blood, while Seonaidh learned from her mother the secrets of bardic magic - in this case, furtherly enhanced by her fey heritage as well.
More mature and more capable of handling themselves, the twins started to leave the safety of the gladeto venture into Ardeep, exploring the forest of Ardeep in their own. This way they made the first contact with one of their parent race, the elves inhabiting Ardeep.
The contact was far from easy, at the very beginning, due to the differences in mindset between the elves and the feylings, but with some effort they started to at least tolerate each other's quirkiness. Even so, the differences between the two groups were apparent even to the feylings...until a fateful day in which, during an eclipse, the two feylings encountered a group of elves reveling, joking and pulling pranks on each other not too far away from the twin's sacred pond.
Captivated by such (and very fae-like) cheerfulness, the twins joined the celebration and discovered what was it all about: the two of them stumbled upon a gathering of Erevanites celebrating their faith with a light-hearted merry that reminded the two of home. That was not the last encounter they had with the group, for the twins started to attend to many other festivities, pranks and mass jokes, to the point that in the end the two of them became Erevanites.
As fun as the life was for the two, sadly, it wasn't destined to last much longer. The Elven Retreat came soon afterwards, and both Seonaidh and Deoghreine were very sad to see all of their elven friends departing Ardeep to reach Evermeet. With a forest now largely uninhabited, save for a few, very small and isolationist enclaves of elves (which weren't too much interested in the twins' company either), Seonaidh and Deoghreine felt that things weren't as merry as before the Retreat. The grove was not the same place it used to be - mainly because its inhabitants were always the same - and both girls unexplicably felt compelled to leave their birthplace and explore the world.
During a fateful night, the two of them asked to their grandmother her permission to leave the grove, to which Cliodhna simply answered with a phrase:
"Contrarily to me and thine mother, thou art entrapped between two worlds, the world of mortals and the world of fey. Some say it is a curse, I say it is a blessing, for the two of thee can choose the world to which thou willst belong. So explore the world of mortals, younglings, compare it to the world of fey, and then decide thine place of belonging. Thou needst not ask for my permission to leave, for a wolf matriarch always lets her cubs free once they art adult. All me and thine mother ask thee, is to choose wisely."
With these last words, and a final hug, the twins left the safety of the grove and the forest of Ardeep, heading south, towards the world of Man.
Goals: Learning as much as they can from the mortals in order to finally make their choice. Having lots of friends and comrades-in-mischief, and rewarding kind people with gifts and friendship. They hate the unseelies and will do whatever they can to protect innocent people from their predations. They would both love to join a faerie court in the south.
Possible Plot-Hook Ideas and Misc Facts:
- While their grandmother belongs to the Seelie, she isn't particularly benevolent in her dealings, usually sitting at the middle of the ladder leading from evil to good. While not being good, Cliodhna is not evil either, and never harms travelers that venture too close to her pond, as long as they do not cause any harm to the woods. IF they do, on the other hand...
- Both twins' concept of good and evil is very different from normal, ordinary morality; while both of them can be described as "decent", they can be extremely destructive and reckless with those that warrant their ire.
- Deoghreine finds fulfilling her end of her fey pact extremely easy. In fact, she is not even aware of the fact that she is pacted, and the requirements of her pact (protecting the fey populace, protecting their realm and woods, opposing the unseelie) also happen to be very normal behaviors for her.
- Both twins have a "compound mind", a multitude of different facets and aspects of the same being that can sometimes calsh between each other, a bit like someone's "good conscience" and "bad conscience".
First Name: Deoghreine & Seonaidh. "Deoghreine" means "Sunborn" in Sylvan, while "Seonaidh" means "Daughter of the Rivers". They are very reluctant to tell their true names to outsiders, though, so they either give pseudonyms to good friends or change their names whenever the mood hits them.
Last Name: What's a last name?
Appearance:
Deoghreine: Dheoghreine is 5'9'' tall, with a shapely body and captivating, alluring features. Her skin has an unusual tinge of green, her eyes are of an intense shade of emerald and glitter in the dark. She has auburn, gossamery hair barely restrained by a tress that falls to her left shoulder. Her elven traits are even more marked than the average of her parent race, making her look like a fairy of sorts. Dheoghraine possesses a peculiar "flanged", branching into a multitude of pitches whenever she speaks; only two different voices can, however, be clearly heard. One of the two voices is quite melodious and captivating, while the other has an unnatural ring to it.
Seonaidh: Seonaidh is 5'9'' tall, with a shapely body and captivating, alluring features. Contrarily to her sister, though, her skin is midnight blue and possesses a very faint bluish glint, her eyes and hair are also blue as a lake during midnight. Her elven features are starkly accentuated by her fey blood, which makes her quite alluring to other elves. Her voice is not flanged, but is nonetheless pleasing to the ear, sounding like a hand gently rubbing some velvet, or a purring kitten.
Race: Feytouched elves (1/4 nymph, 3/4 moon elves)
Age: They don't know
Height: 5'9"/5'9''
Weight: 70lbs approx
Eyes: Emerald green/Ocean blue
Hair: Auburn/Blue
Facial Hair Style: None
Personality Profile:
Deoghreine: Dheoghreine is always cheerful, almost in an annoyingly happy-go-lucky way. She loves playing (mostly harmless) pranks on other people, and enjoys people that are actually capable of playing a prank on her. While her behavior has been heavily influenced by her nature and upbringing, to the point that she reasons with a fey mind and not with an elven one, she does her best to protect travelers from the dangers of the world...as long as they keep a nice and respectful attitude. She delights in giving "gifts" to nice people as well, probably in an attempt to incite them to be kind to others.
Just like a fey, she is mercurial, unpredictable and can become extremely violent when provoked (a thing that happens very, very rarely), but she generally means good most of the times. She also loves to learn as much as she can from the world, and many people consider her to be childish, while in truth, she does not have a very good grasp of "evil", or at least as the ordinary folk perceives evil. On the other hand, she is not particularly interested in learning how humans or elves reason - she is quite aware of the fact that she belongs to a very different world.
Seonaidh: Seonaidh is a candid and dreamy soul. She loves to learn as much as she can about the world that surrounds her and, especially, know more the "city people". Her attitude is always positive and curious, her heart overally pure. She uses to spend several hours each day creating new fairy tales and collecting interesting stories from the world, that she uses to sing in rhyme or note down on her book. Her ballads are often creepy and sad, but this way she believes people will eventually learn how to discern good from evil. For her, the perfect conclusion for a busy day is to rest atop of a high and beautiful tree, under the warm light of the stars.
Seonaidh's mind doesn't really work in accordance to the general common sense. She thinks that life must be taken easy, avoiding to harm the innocent and the peaceful, but that the Balance of things must be preserved as well. A bit prickly, the privilege of her benevolence is to be repaid, even with a small gift or an act of kindness.
As she is committed about the fact that the end justifies the means, she might use heavy (or even scary pranks) to try guide a wicked (or too zealous) soul to eventually reedem and do what she believes is "better". Unless, of course, more serious harm is done; in which event she would immediately put herself in a position of active opposition.
General Health: they both have an average to good health, but their strong fey heritage has left them with long (even for the standards of elves) lifespans. Who knows if they are actually capable of aging?
Deity: "Worshipping" a god is a concept quite alien to them, but they are very close to the teachings of Erevan Ilesere, the Jack of the Seelie Court, and pray to him from time to time.
Initial Alignment: CG/CN
Profession: Pranksters
Base Class & Proposed Development:
Dheoghreine: Mostly warlock
Seonaidh: Bard/Stormsinger
Habits/Hobbies: Both enjoy pulling pranks on travelers, living in the woods and amongst other feys, and helping nice people. They are both fond of collecting gems (that they refer to as "shinies") and just about anything else that sparkles or shines. Very apt and proficient swimmers (in fact, they learned to swim even before learning to walk), both twins immensely enjoy swimming into ponds. Sometimes they might pose a riddle to travelers, rewarding them with something "nice" (i.e: an item, a scroll, or a gem) should they guess the correct answer. Both twins have the habit of referring to themselves as "we". While this may appear completely crazy, the minds of both twins are actually divided into two (or many!) entities that think and act independently, even if belonging to the same general organism, a bit like the bees forming a hive. They follow a typical fairy code of conduct, which means that whatever they take or receive (for good or bad) must be balanced with something given or receiven of equal worth.
Languages:
Dheoghraine: Common, Elven, Sylvan, Draconic, Treant
Seonaidh: Common, Elven, Sylvan, Treant
Weapon of Choice:
Dheoghraine: Her blasts
Seonaidh: Her voice
Chapter 1: A midsummer night's Tale
It was a calm, peaceful night of the 30th of Flamerule when the moon elven ranger Anebril, mortally injured by a previous encounter with a band of marauding orcs, had just enough energies left in his body to limp towards a small lake in the most deep recesses of the Ardeep Woods. As he hurtled to the ground, his life slowly abandoning his crippled frame, he could not help but wonder in amazement at the natural beauty that lake possessed. It was wild yet beautifully ordered, as if a tender hand had taken great pains to make sure that the environment would have grown into a free, yet splendid, manner."I could not ask for a better place in which to die. Rillifane must have truly blessed me."
The elf could not help but feel and think serene, even in such a dire moment. As his blue eyes gazed upon the calm and peaceful surface of the lake, Anebril could have sworn to have seen a female figure slowly emerging from the waters.
"The Seldarine must have sent one of their finest angels to bring my soul to the glades of Arvanaith. How kind of them."
After this last thought, Anebril passed out, ready to go to Arvandor...or so he thought...
Chapter 2: Two worlds collide
Anebril slowly woke up at the feet of a tree, just a few yards away from the lake that, he thought, would have been his final resting place. As his eyes tentatively regained focus, he noticed he was alive, his wounds treated by a capable hand. The environment looked almost mystical, and there were dozens of fey creatures - most of them sprites, nixies and pixies - playfully running around the lake. One of them approached the elf, playfully flying around his head, before stopping just in front of him.
"Ooooh, the elfie elfie elfie elf has awakened, yep yep! The princess will be happy to know it, yep yep yep yeppity yep!"
"Princess?"
Anebril was still weak and confused, his normally keen sight still foggy and barely capable of making out the tiny creature's details. From what he could see, it looked like a tiny elf, albeit her skin was purplish and she had a pair of fairy wings on her back.
"Yep yep yep! The princess! The one that saved elfie elfie's life life, yep yep yep! Wait here, I will go notify her of your recovery, yep yep yep!"
As the pixie flew away, Anebril tentatively regained focus and lucidity. The rays of the sun were barely capable of penetrating the thick woods that protected the lake, but the environment around him transmitted him a feeling of peace and serenity. As the pixie flew over the lake twice, she started yelling something in Sylvan, after which, the same beautiful creature Anebril saw for a brief moment slowly emerged from the lake. She was mostly naked, but her long, silken and bluish hair were more than enough to cover her forms.
Even if the elf had seen a lot of beautiful elven maidens in the past, comparing those women with the creature in front of him would have been like comparing a hobgoblin to a woman. It took a while before the elf could actually manage to talk to the woman.
"Oh beautiful being, who art thee?"
The creature just smiled faintly at the elf, checking his bandages and overall health before answering. Her voice was as sweet as honey, and as smooth as velvet.
"One shouldst never ask a fey his or her name, young elf, but I doth forgive thee since thou art not accustomed to the rules of the Fairy Folk. I am a nymph, princess of the seelie court of Ardeep and protector of this lake. I am the one that savest thyne life when thou didst hurtle to the sacred grounds of my grove."
"So I owe my life to thee, fairest of the fairy folk? Why hast thou saved me?"
"Helping others is not my way, but my subjects didst tell me that thou art a protector of the woods, and how thou had fought to protect it from the ugliest of creatures. So I didst saved thine life and brought you here, in my court."
"Thine court?"
"The lake I doth inhabit is the court of the Fairy Folk of Ardeep, young one. A peaceful place away from the concerns and woes of the mortal realm."
The elf tried to stand up, but to no avail. His wounds were still far too grievous to allow him to stand and walk. The nymph gently ran her delicate index finger along his bandaged wounds.
"It will take a while for thou to heal fully, stranger. Until then, feel thyself a guest of my court."
That day was the beginning of a very strong, as well as passionate, relationship. Anebril learned as much as he could about the ways of nature and of the Fairy Folk from his host and became her mate and consort, while the nymph - whom eventually revealed him her true name, Cliodhna - learned as much as she could from the outside world.
Their respective worlds were too alien for each other, but this did not stop the two beings from developing a strong attachment between each other. The elf was young, attractive and brash, while the nymph was wise, deliberate and beautiful. It was normal for them to be attracted to each other.
After lots of days spent in the grove cavorting with Cliodhna, without really a clear idea of how much time was actually passing, Anebril's wounds finally healed. Most importantly, Cliodhna had conceived a child from her dalliance with the young elf, even if he was unaware of that detail. As much as Anebril wanted to stay there, he knew that he would have had to leave soon, so one day he packed up his things and went to his lover.
"Art thou leaving my presence, Anebril?"
The nymph gazed at her consort with a sad twinkle in her eyes, knowing far too well that he could not stay in her presence any further.
"I can not stay here any longer, sweet Cliodhna, for I still have loving parents and relatives that are awaiting my return. It is with a deep, griefing soul that I have to part with your presence, o fairest of the fairies."
"I know, young Anebril, for even if thou couldst stay with me, you wouldst have to bequeath all that thou cherish amongst thine kin. Farewell Anebril, thouh hast left me with a great gift to remember thee by"
Cliodhna kissed Anebril and spent some intimate moments with him one last time, before sending him back to the world he belonged to. And as Anebril returned to his kinsmen, Cliodhna delivered a healthy lass, what is called as "houri" amongst the elves - half elf, half nymph, with the grace and beauty of both races.
Chapter 3: A new life
The girl was named Fenodhiree, and in time, grew up to became a powerful druidess just like her mother, her druidic powers greatly enhanced by her fey heritage. Apart from being a powerful druidess, she was also a creature of exquisite beauty, as much as her mother was.
She was immortal, potentially capable of living forever, and Cliodhna took great pride in raising her and teaching her the ways of feys. In time, as the Houri grew older and more beautiful, she assumed a more active role in the faerie court, acting as a guardian of the pond, while her mother spent most of her time in a subterranean dwelling accessible only via her lake.
But times had changed. There were much more elves inhabiting Ardeep, and some of them even used to visit the mystical pond from time to time. Fenodhiree always watched the elves silently, somewhat attracted by that other half of her nature that she had never actually bothered to consider before. For a long time Fenodhiree watched the elves at safe distance, hidden from their sight by her inherent magic, and she always did her best to learn from them as much as she could.
Eventually, one moon elf in particular caught her attention: his skin was as blue as a well lit night, his hair of a gleaming, silken silver, his eyes of deep green. He wore leathers and carried a bow, a symbol of Rillifane emblazoned on his mantle, and Fenodhiree could not help but feel attracted by such an individual. Once again, like her mother before her, she appeared to the surprised elf, and the two quickly formed a strong bond as well.
Contrarily to her father, though, the elven ranger - Celith was his name - didn't have many reasons to stay amongst the other elves. But Cliodhna, the nymph princess, was loathe to allow her daughter to dally with another elf, knowing far too well that, should Celith decide to return to his kin, her daughter would have suffered a deep wound. Thusly, Cliodhna consented to Celith dallying with her daughter under one condition: that he would have signed a fey pact with an archfey of the Seelie court.
Celith would have been allowed to consort with Fenodhiree and live in the fairy court, in exchange for an oath of servitude to Verenestra, archfey whose main spheres of influence were beauty and female fairies. Amongst his duties were the protection of seelie courts, the protection of the woods in which fairy court reside, and active opposition against the ravenous and destructive ways of the unseelie denizens of woodland realms.
Despite being chained by his pact, Celith and his newfound love lived together happily and well, with Cliodhna the nymph welcoming the young ranger to her court as chosen mate of her daughter as well as protector of the glade. It didn't take long for Fenodhiree to conceive two twins, that would have been delivered shortly thereafter: they were both female, and despite having mostly an elven appearance, they had a lot of signs showing their potent fey heritage.
Chapter 4: divided between two worlds
The twins were named Seonaidh and Deoghraine, destined to be forever divided between two different worlds from birth: most of them was of elven nature, but their strong fey heritage marked them as apart from the rest of their race.
Sadly for the twins and Fenodhiree alike, Celith never managed to see his daughters reach adulthood. The Black Horde came soon after, a murderous mass of orcs and goblins wishing nothing more than to pillage, ransack and destroy everything they met.
Even Cliodhna's mystical pond was not left undisturbed by the flagitious, animalistic creatures. Many faes died protecting the pond as well as Ardeep forest, and Celith was one of the casualties.
The loss of her mate caused a grievous pain to Fenodhiree, and the creature became sullen and withdrawn, secluding herself from the rest of the world. The two mostly elven twins were raised by her as best as she could, but even if she tried to keep a tenuous charade of happiness, her sorrow was always apparent. Rather than allowing her sorrow to affect the upbringing of her two daughters, Fenodhiree allowed the fairies of the court she belonged to to take care of the twins.
Thusly, the two twins were raised by the faerie court in which they dwelt, always lovely tended to by pixies, sylphs and brownies, under the watchful gaze of their mother and grandmother. The environment in which they lived greatly influenced their behavior, making the twins mature into playfuly, carefree feylings without many concerns, save for the love of nature and some mischief once in a while.
The two twins formed an especially close relationship with an ancient treant, sworn to protect the glade, whom they both referred to as "Uncle Taproot". Uncle Taproot became very fond of allowing the two elves to climb his wodden frame as he patrolled the glade's surroundings, always on the lookout for danger. Taproot taught the twins to respect and nurture plants, as well as the language of treants, and eventually started to address both Seonaidh and Deoghreine as "his little saplings".
As the twins reached adulthood (or rather, the equivalent of adulthood), they started to develop powers and capabilities of their own. Deoghreine, being the firstborn of the couple, inherited her father's original pact, becoming a warlock whose inherent abilities were furtherly enhanced by her fey blood, while Seonaidh learned from her mother the secrets of bardic magic - in this case, furtherly enhanced by her fey heritage as well.
More mature and more capable of handling themselves, the twins started to leave the safety of the gladeto venture into Ardeep, exploring the forest of Ardeep in their own. This way they made the first contact with one of their parent race, the elves inhabiting Ardeep.
The contact was far from easy, at the very beginning, due to the differences in mindset between the elves and the feylings, but with some effort they started to at least tolerate each other's quirkiness. Even so, the differences between the two groups were apparent even to the feylings...until a fateful day in which, during an eclipse, the two feylings encountered a group of elves reveling, joking and pulling pranks on each other not too far away from the twin's sacred pond.
Captivated by such (and very fae-like) cheerfulness, the twins joined the celebration and discovered what was it all about: the two of them stumbled upon a gathering of Erevanites celebrating their faith with a light-hearted merry that reminded the two of home. That was not the last encounter they had with the group, for the twins started to attend to many other festivities, pranks and mass jokes, to the point that in the end the two of them became Erevanites.
As fun as the life was for the two, sadly, it wasn't destined to last much longer. The Elven Retreat came soon afterwards, and both Seonaidh and Deoghreine were very sad to see all of their elven friends departing Ardeep to reach Evermeet. With a forest now largely uninhabited, save for a few, very small and isolationist enclaves of elves (which weren't too much interested in the twins' company either), Seonaidh and Deoghreine felt that things weren't as merry as before the Retreat. The grove was not the same place it used to be - mainly because its inhabitants were always the same - and both girls unexplicably felt compelled to leave their birthplace and explore the world.
During a fateful night, the two of them asked to their grandmother her permission to leave the grove, to which Cliodhna simply answered with a phrase:
"Contrarily to me and thine mother, thou art entrapped between two worlds, the world of mortals and the world of fey. Some say it is a curse, I say it is a blessing, for the two of thee can choose the world to which thou willst belong. So explore the world of mortals, younglings, compare it to the world of fey, and then decide thine place of belonging. Thou needst not ask for my permission to leave, for a wolf matriarch always lets her cubs free once they art adult. All me and thine mother ask thee, is to choose wisely."
With these last words, and a final hug, the twins left the safety of the grove and the forest of Ardeep, heading south, towards the world of Man.
Goals: Learning as much as they can from the mortals in order to finally make their choice. Having lots of friends and comrades-in-mischief, and rewarding kind people with gifts and friendship. They hate the unseelies and will do whatever they can to protect innocent people from their predations. They would both love to join a faerie court in the south.
Possible Plot-Hook Ideas and Misc Facts:
- While their grandmother belongs to the Seelie, she isn't particularly benevolent in her dealings, usually sitting at the middle of the ladder leading from evil to good. While not being good, Cliodhna is not evil either, and never harms travelers that venture too close to her pond, as long as they do not cause any harm to the woods. IF they do, on the other hand...
- Both twins' concept of good and evil is very different from normal, ordinary morality; while both of them can be described as "decent", they can be extremely destructive and reckless with those that warrant their ire.
- Deoghreine finds fulfilling her end of her fey pact extremely easy. In fact, she is not even aware of the fact that she is pacted, and the requirements of her pact (protecting the fey populace, protecting their realm and woods, opposing the unseelie) also happen to be very normal behaviors for her.
- Both twins have a "compound mind", a multitude of different facets and aspects of the same being that can sometimes calsh between each other, a bit like someone's "good conscience" and "bad conscience".