A fire blazes tall and figures dance to an intoxicating drumbeat. A circle of revelers watch, enjoying drinks and good company. The drumming comes to a fever pitch and the dancers shake in their final display as the music stops. One of the dancers moves towards you and sits with drink in hand. She is a tall maiden with exotic blue markings flowing from her eyes and a triskelion shape etched upon herforehead. These marks sparkle as she smiles and the glimmer is reflected in her welcoming eyes.
“Hello and welcome to our fire, I don’t believe I have seen your face around our parts before. I am Ashling Teine Wolfcaller av Rausumea and you might be? My story? Well that is a long one.”
The maiden settles into her seat, accepting a refreshment of her drink and arranging her skirts about her long legs.
“The people of Rausumea are my family and a more wonderful group of people I could never hope for. I love these lands and would defend them with all my might, but it has not always been so. I was born in a land far away. Where? I could not tell you as I have not been there since I was quite small. I left and never looked back long ago when all that I loved was taken from me.”
Ashling looks into the fire and seems to be taking a journey no one could ever share. The flames are reflected in her eyes and they leap and jump ever faster as tears dance on the rims.
A fire burns and there is screaming everywhere. Trees, buildings, and bodies alike are engulfed in the maddening heat and consumed greedily. The flames are an odd color, not like that of nature but with an eerie, unworldly glow. A young girl stands frozen at the edge of the hellish scene. Soon, the only screams left are coming from her.
Ashes cover everything, blanketing the horror of the previous night as if with snow. Nothing moves anywhere accept for a small form where the girl had been the night before. She stirs and rises from the ashes. She would be the only form to leave this place. Frantically she searches, but she knows it is in vain and finally the tears stop streaming down her cheeks.
Ashling finally snaps from her trance and glances around the firelight embarrassed for her behavior.
“I apologize my friend. Sometimes memories reach out and grab a hold of me. I guess that is what happens when you run from the past… I did a lot of running early in my life, a lot of wandering too. I visited many places, many cultures, and many lands but never found a place I could belong. I was too… different I am afraid.”
With her right hand she reaches unconsciously to the wings upon her back and the markings on her face fade momentarily and then blaze back brighter then ever.
“Aye, I have come to appreciate my fey lineage but for a long time it was the source of much ostracism and pain. I struggled for years learning to control my magics and molded them until I was able to change my shape to something more… socially acceptable. These days I appreciate the ability to hide my wings because it keeps them safe in battle but for a long time I tried to convince myself I was not more then a mere human.
I did not blossom until I stumbled into the Fianna and I learned to become comfortable with my true self. A clan of more unique and wonderful people I could not have hoped to find. Halfgrim Sigurdson Wolfcaller, a viking that took me under his wing, is the only father figure I can remember. I grew bold as a Finnian and learned my first lessons about wielding a weapon. Following in their wanderings I was blessed with yet another family when we entered the lands of Rausumea.”
Ashling pauses and looks around the gathering. People are chatting and laughing amongst themselves and Ashling is again brought to tears. But this time the tears are of joy and love because she knows that every face there belongs to someone she can trust with her very life.
“Even before the Fianna’s path diverged from mine, this Household grew ever closer to my heart. I was accepted as a Priestess of Lord Balzak and under his power grew to become the fierce warrior I am today. I have traveled the worlds and experienced much in my lifetime and yet everything I love most in this world can be found here in Rausumea. My father, my family of Avs, and now Ellowen a sister of mine own flesh and blood that I did not even know existed until the fates brought her into my life.
But that is a story for another time. You have let me ramble on far too long. I gained that tendency from an old friend, Scroll the bard. So tell me about yourself. What brings you into these mighty lands?”
[...]
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