Difference between revisions of "Fionnuala"

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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 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 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 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."

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. Artlessness amuses her but rudeness she will not tolerate. She will retaliate swiftly to being touched without permission. She adores children and will countenance (and in fact indulge) almost any mischief from them.

Background

"...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 not, 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 he was 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."

The Broken Dagger

In the summer of 215, the Woman in Red 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 the Woman in Red 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 the Woman in Red herself.

The Present

The Woman in Red 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 Woman in Red has what we will delicately refer to as "an understanding" with Hokwing Silvergild, based on their mutual love and respect for the Woods, their aggravation with their inconvenient mating seasons, and a habit of killing things together. In late spring of 217, she accompanied Hok on his journey to the cooler climes of New Dauntless to stave off the hot summer months, with plans to return in autumn. She has also been engaged with in a growing war of attrition (by post) with former governor Glenn Burnie. Her central relationship in Myrken, however, remains with Catch, whom she both reveres, protects, and on occasion enables.

The Raven

Messenger to the Woman in Red. 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.