Aleris

Nimue’s Story
Posted Originally By Character_Kisa Le Fey



First off let me begin by explaining a few things about Avalon. Avalon is an archetypal, mystical, locale that has existed throughout history in many timelines and many realities. It has always existed and will always exist in some form or another. Once it was a prominent part of both worlds, those of Faerie and of Human, existing as a bridge between the two. But human kind lost their way, lost sight of the magic that existed all around them, and Avalon was forced to recede into the mists, more and more a part of faerie, closed off from the human world. Only those who could part the mists could find its shores.

As the faerie and most of the denizens of Avalon are immortal it is not uncommon for them to meet with others of Avalon from different periods in history, it is simply one of the little quirks they have come to accept.

The Avalon of Nimue’s time period is that of modern earth. Born to Morgaine Le Fey, the Lady of the Lake , and The Merlin she was a love child conceived on the eve of Bealtane, a merry-begot, in a time when few Ladies were allowed to conceive for love. Morgaine’s time as the Lady was passing, however, as was the Merlin’s and they retired to faerie to raise their child together; Morgaine presiding as the faerie Queen of her own Court. That is another peculiar aspect of faerie. The land is vast, unfathomably so, and many fae who had amassed enough power and standing created their own “Courts” (The Seelie and Unseelie Courts as well as the Court of Titania are good examples of this) within the realm, staking out their territory in a loose system that was more chaotic than anything but that was the way of Faerie and the fae.

Raised in Faerie Nimue was named for the famed Nimue of history, a very old friend and renowned Lady of the Lake and High Priestess of Avalon. She was taught the ways of Faerie, Magic, and Avalon from birth and when she came of age she chose to enter the Priestesshood, passing the ever thinning veil between Faerie and Avalon (the more it receded from Earth the closer it became to Faerie) to follow in her mother’s footsteps. It took only a few years of training for the Elder Ban-Drui and Druids to declare her the heir to the seat of Lady of the Lake . One day she would be their High Priestess.

She was elated of course, who wouldn’t be? There was no higher honor for a Priestess of Avalon and she was determined to make her mother and father proud. After all, not everyone can claim to be the child of both Morgaine Le Fey and The Merlin (though having been quite the rogue in his day there were plenty of unknown bastard children sired by the randy Merlin), she was Faerie royalty and she felt the pressure to live up to her antecedents keenly.

In time she assumed her new position with much ritual and fanfare and thrived as the Lady of the Lake, assuming control of the Green Flame of Faerie with ease and wielding it to bring life to the land when needed, and it was needed often. In the time of modern man fewer and fewer people believed in faeries or that Avalon ever existed and with the lack of belief the influence of Avalon and its vitality waned dangerously. It was then that the Elders came forth with the prophecy and edict.

A child would be born of Nimue, The Last Daughter of the Le Fey line and Uther Pendragon, so named for his ancestor of lore, and the last of the Pendragon line. It would be the first time the lines of Le Fey and Pendragon had merged since the time of Mordred, and the Elders prophesized that the child would be the hope for the future of Avalon. Nimue was told she had no choice by the Elders and being new to her position she acquiesced without complaint, telling herself she would be saving the Shining Isle from extinction.

And so it was that on Bealtaine Eve that Nimue and Uther, masked in their aspects of the Goddess of Sovereignty and the Horned Lord, joined together to conceive the child who would grow to be known as Kisa Le Fey. Unfortunately when the Elders chose Uther they chose him for his pedigree alone and not for his character. Not only was he the last of the Pendragon line through his Mother but his father was of the famed MacGillivrays of Scotland, a rare line of Cait Sidhe (feline fae). It was good magical politics on their part but they spared very little consideration for the man that Uther was and that proved to be their biggest downfall.

Vile in spirit and jealous that he was not the one named in the prophecy he used his influence as the last male of the Pendragon line to make his own demands, his willing participation in the ritual on one condition; the child be given to him at birth to be raised only to return to Avalon at puberty. Knowing he would refuse his seed if they did not acquiesce (the Pendragon’s not as under the influence of Avalon as the Le Fey and the Lady were) they agreed to his terms but did not tell Nimue. That was their first betrayal.

Kisa was born on the eve of Samhain. Conceived on the sabbat of life she was born on the sabbat of death, both holidays of great significance to the fae. Nimue spent her pregnancy anxiously awaiting the daughter she would name Morgana after the most famous Lady of the Lake, and Grandmother of the new child, Morgaine, and finally she was born. Not an hour after her birth, swaddled in the forest green bundling blanket Nimue had sewn and embroidered with various magical symbols and celtic knot work, the elders arrived to take Kisa away. Nimue fought like a demon but she was still young, still green and new to her craft, and the Elders over ruled her and took the child away, delivering her into the arms of the man who would abuse her for the fact that she was the child of the prophecy, and not he.

Once Kisa was taken Nimue’s resentment of the Elders grew and her love of Avalon and her position waned. She took to parting the mists into the human world, preferring their company to those of Avalon or even Faerie for the time being. Morgaine and The Merlin had naturally been furious but as they had retired beyond the mists into Faerie they were no longer the authority in Avalon. She traveled all over the celtic lands, going by nothing more than “Nim”.

She traveled Cornwall , Scotland , Wales , and even Ireland , no doubt hoping to catch a glimpse of a little girl who looked like her. She never saw that little girl but about a year after the child was taken she travelled to Ireland to visit the sacred temple at Kildare, now the site of a convent to protect the priestesses of Brigid who still resided there under the guise of serving St. Brigit, as so many pagan orders did to survive the rampage of St. Patrick. It was late in the evening when she arrived; slipping into the main room of the church in modern Ireland that still housed the Eternal Flame of Brigid, now St. Brigit, unseen by any unless she wished it so.

None of the Priestesses turned Sister’s were about at that time of evening and none of them were aware that she was coming, their friendship with the Lady of Avalon long standing now, so the church was empty save for one person. A man dressed casually in worn jeans and a faded green fatigue jacket knelt before the multi tiered rows of candles, all lit in supplication to St. Brigit, just as he was doing. Without thought to the fact that such prayers should be a private moment (capriciousness of the fae and all) she eased closer, drawn to him inexorably, and listened as he prayed for protection on an upcoming mission. Intrigued, though she couldn’t say why, she watched the man as he prayed to St. Brigit for protection, an odd fact that as the Goddess in question most often was associated with women and children, but she was of the most beloved goddesses/saints so it wasn’t overly surprising.

She watched, rapt, as he finished his prayer and crossed himself, rising to his feet no doubt intending to depart the sanctuary and head off on whatever mission required additional protection. Unable to let him leave without at least speaking to him she stepped forward, allowing her cloaking spell to fall away reveal her presence to him, which he took surprisingly well. She was dressed in contemporary clothing so there was nothing obvious about the way she was garbed to give her away but he seemed to sense right off that she was not human, that she was fae…magic…he could see it and she soon realized there was more to this seemingly human man than met the eye as well. His name was Weslan Smythe.

Drawn to one another, magnetically it seemed, from the moment their eyes met they began conversing, easing into the darkened back pew of the sanctuary to speak in hushed voices, the conversation general at first but quickly turning more personal. They became lovers that very evening, outside on the sacred grounds of Kildare, and it was that very night, in that very spot, that their first child was conceived, a daughter they would name Bridgit in honor of the night they met.

Now most would have chalked it up to a single magical night, a chance encounter, and went their separate ways but with the dawn they realized they did not want to part, not permanently anyway, and it was then that they decided that Weslan would join Nimue on Avalon when he was able, his duties to his own people preventing him from going with her then and there. Weslan was an IRA operative, you see, part of a special unit of IRA soldiers that possessed special abilities, supernatural skills that gave them an edge, and it was a mission on their behalf that he had been praying for protection on. Weslan was a psychokinetic and very often got the most dangerous of the missions.

That day he left Nimue not only with St. Brigit’s protection, but hers as well for she knew deep down in her soul that he carried her heart and soul with him and she longed for him to return to her safely. It was a couple of weeks after returning to Avalon (according to the passage of time in that alternate reality) that Nimue realized she was pregnant and joy  mingled with sorrow in her heart as she could not help but remember the last child she carried. This time would be different, she vowed. Avalon had no claim on this child and she swore it never would unless the child willingly entered the Priestesshood.

She couldn’t wait to tell Weslan and only hoped he would be as thrilled as she. She had learned much of him in their single night together, talking well into the dawn about their individual pasts and she was unsure how he would take the news but she knew she was thrilled and focused on that until the day came that she received word he was at Glastonbury Tor, waiting at the edge of the lake where tourists often visited, waiting for someone to appear through the mists that always lingered over the lake and lead him to Avalon. She went herself, parting the mists as she stood in the prow of the barge, the barge seeming to pilot on its own steam as she approached the small dock where he stood alone.

She couldn’t wait to be in his arms and the moment she was close enough she launched herself at him, laughing and crying at the same time (hormones you know) as they both spoke at once. Finally they settled and before returning to Avalon she took him to a secluded place where tourists would not see them and told him she was expecting his child. Her fears were allayed when he became instantly joyous, picking her up and swinging her about as his laughter filled the Tor. After enjoying the time alone Nimue finally took him through the mists into Avalon. She was keeping this child and Weslan and they were going to be a part of her life completely, whether the Elders liked it or not, this time she would fight to the death for what she wanted. She had learned her lesson once and the pain of not fighting for her first child was still all too raw.

They weren’t happy about it but they knew they could not push her on this and as the child was half human there was little they could say about it. Establishing them in a cottage that rest just at the line where Avalon merged into the deeper magic of Faerie they set up house and waited for the birth of their child. Just as before the anticipation was great and Nimue spent many hours painstakingly embroidering clothing and blankets with celtic knot work and symbols of both Avalon and the order of Brigid. Weslan was equally as excited though he was unable to spend the entire time on Avalon. He had commitments to his life in Ireland that could not be shrugged off easily, his duties to the IRA as well as to his mother who was his only living relative. Nimue didn’t mind though, she wove powerful protective spells about him and he always returned whenever he was free.

Bridget made her appearance on the day of Ostara, the Spring Equinox, the midpoint between winter and summer, when the day and night are of equal length. That year the entire Shining Isle as well as the Court of Morgaine and Merlin in Faerie rejoiced and celebrated the birth of the little girl.

As luck (and the randy nature of the fae) would have it, three months later Nimue realized she was again pregnant and again there was much rejoicing. Elphlane made her appearance on the day of Mabon, the autumnal equinox, the midpoint between summer and winter when day and night are of equal length. As before the birth was celebrated along with the holiday throughout Avalon and in the Court of Morgaine and Merlin in Faerie.

Nimue and Weslan decided then that they would have no further children, content with the two daughters the Goddess had blessed them with. They were happy together, raising their little family on Avalon, Weslan departing from time to time to see to his duties just as Nimue saw to hers on the Isle. Each child was cherished and loved by both their parents and Nimue was determined to give her two younger daughters the options her first daughter did not have…. but that is another story.

Weslan's Story
Posted Originally By Character_Kisa Le Fey



Weslan Smythe was born into the war torn community of Belfast , his own father one of the soldiers who fought on the side of the Irish Catholic against the English Protestants with the IRA and Weslan was quick to follow in his father’s footsteps. He joined the IRA at the age of 16 and over time it was discovered that Weslan had a very unique ability. He was psychokinetic.

This is more than just the ability to move objects with the mind, though he was certainly capable of it, but the ability to manipulate kinetic energy to his will. For example, if he focused the energy to make a person feel as though they had been punched in the face, the energy would manifest in just that way, hitting the person and making them feel as though a hand had punched them in the face. He could manipulate it in any way he chose and could attack a person without ever being seen. Naturally this considered invaluable to the IRA and once it was discovered that Weslan had this special talent he was put into a special IRA unit with others like him, those with special skills or supernatural talents.

It was as a part of this unit where he met his first wife. Another IRA operative they fell in love and married in spite of their unusual job, or perhaps because of it for who can truly understand what he must do save another who must do the same job. They loved one another deeply and were married for several years. Then one day tragedy struck and she was killed in the line of duty. In order to deal with his grief he threw himself into his work, rarely seeing anyone outside of his unit and shunning all attempts to reach him, for the most part, his parents the only ones who could pull him from his sorrow. When his father grew tired of the war and decided to retire Weslan arranged for them to move from the war torn streets of Belfast to the quieter area of Bar Temple on the southern bank of the River Liffy in the heart of Dublin, the area itself quite enchanting as in the heart of the city it maintained its small town ambiance and medieval buildings and cobblestone streets.

It wasn’t until a chance encounter at the sacred shrine of Kildare that he began to care about anything but work. Unlike many others his matron saint was St. Brigit and it was tradition for him to travel to the shrine to light a candle in her honor before the more dangerous of his missions and he intended to do just that, nothing more, nothing less, until a fae beauty stepped in his path and changed his life forever. He had never intended to remarry, to give his heart to another, but he found himself incapable of resisting the intoxicating sidhe and that very night they became intimate and he found himself vowing to come to her in Glastonbury/Avalon as soon as his mission was complete.

That is precisely what he did, arriving a few weeks later, waiting on the small dock to see her emerge from the mists. He’d been surprised to be faced with an entity claiming to be the Lady of the Lake but it would be rather unfair of him to declare her false when he himself knew such supernatural things to be true, and besides, he knew in his heart she would never lie to him and he couldn’t wait to see her again.

To say he was not expecting the news that she was pregnant would be an understatement but he was still filled with a joy he had not expected and shortly thereafter it was decided he would reside with her when not called away on a mission and they would raise their child together.

Life was good; he came and went as needed, always returning to the fae who now held his heart firmly in her hands, and soon their first daughter was born, the fanfare that came with her arrival more than he had expected but he was getting used to that where Nimue was concerned. He had just settled into life as a father when he was informed that Nimue was again expecting and just as before he was overjoyed to have Elphlane join them.
 
He loved his daughters dearly just as he remained fiercely in love with the sidhe who adored him with her very being, and it was with him that he found a contentment he never thought to experience and it is to them that he returns when the “real” world has no need of him.

Kisa’s Story
Posted Originally By Character_Kisa Le Fey



Child of Prophecy; a life planned for her before she was even conceived, a life she was given no say in. Or so the Elders thought at the time. Conceived on Bealtain and born on Samhain she was the daughter of the Lady of the Lake and the last male Heir of the royal Pendragon line, destined to save Avalon from obscurity at best, extinction at worst. What should have been a charmed and privileged childhood was anything but. Well, that’s not entirely true. The first part of her life was pretty good, all things considered, though no doubt it was not her father’s intention to make her happy, the bastard.

Demanding full possession of the child born of their union until it was time for her to enter the Priestesshood on Avalon was Uther’s way of controlling a situation he despised. Though the Pendragon line had not had the same level of obligation or connection to Avalon they were a very important part of its history. Raised with the name of the Pendragon so many centuries before, from a time relegated to myth, he felt slighted that it was not he who would be the chosen one, a fact that was mitigated by the simple reasoning that he was male and only a woman could possess the title of Lady of the Lake .

The Elders agreed, not surprisingly because they needed his cooperation, and when the child was born she was taken from Nimue in spite of the Lady’s vehement effort to keep her, and delivered her unto Uther with the admonishment that she was to be taught the legends and ways of Avalon and prepared for entering the Priestesshood when she turned 16. Uther agreed; assuring the Elders he would do as instructed. Naturally he had no intention of doing any of that and once returned to his home near London it did not take long for him to tire of having a baby around and he quickly sent her to Scotland to reside with his parents and the MacGillivray Clan.

His parents, who were less than proud of the man their son had become which is why he lived in England and not Scotland , were only too happy to take the wee bairn and spare her the trial of living with their son only Uther sent her to Scotland with conditions. She was not to know of her heritage, not to be taught anything of Avalon or her place in it, nor even to be told of her own family’s ability to shape shift into the mystical cait sidhe. Knowing her life would be harder if they refused and she remained with Uther his parents agreed, grudgingly, and took the child into their home at the young age of 6 months. Uther, the bastard, had not even bothered to learn the name Nimue intended for Morgana and so his parents called her Kisa, a name meaning simply “Kitten”, a sort of subtle nod to her heritage without actually outright saying it.

In fact they did that a lot in an attempt to circumvent their son’s edict and educate the child on her heritage without actually telling her. Fanciful faery tales about the beautiful Lady of the Lake, Avalon, Faerie, the Cait Sidhe and the legends surrounding their own family, the MacGillivrays. As a child she found them fascinating but as she grew older began to discredit them as fairy tales as so many people do. Still her grandparents tried, educating her as best they could. There was naturally the odd occasion where Kisa would see something they tried to hide from her, or hear something that seemed a little strange, and she often wondered why Catnip was forbidden in the castle, but as most will do she gave mundane reasons for the unusual and didn’t think on it any further.

She was the typical highland lass, combing the hills, helping tend to the animals as she had a natural affinity for them, helping with crops, learning to cook for large burly highlanders; her grandfather even taught her to fence using the MacGillivray rapiers. It wasn’t all livestock and swords though, she would often venture into town with her Grandmother and it was there that she developed her love of modern music and clothing, though she always found it a little strange some of the looks she and her Grandmother received and hearing the whispered comments about the “witches” she couldn’t help but question her Grandmother. As usual when asked her Grandmother passed it off as superstition but was quick to remind Kisa that most legends had their basis in reality. It was always that way, the truth wrapped in the appearance of fantasy.

She was happy with her Grandparents in Scotland . It was the happiest time of her young life, actually, and she never envisioned a future where she would not live among the MacGillivrays, her grandfather the modern equivalent of their Laird. Then her 16th birthday arrived and with it her Father. She had never laid eyes on Uther, the man content to leave her with his parents until she neared the age when the Elders of Avalon were to expect her return to the Shining Isle. He knew they would come for her in Scotland if need be and he also knew his parents would gladly tell them where she was in an effort to thwart him.

She was terrified of meeting her Father but curious as well and a little annoyed with the man who just gave her up and had nothing to do with her until now. Ordered to her room she could hear the raised voices in the hall below and silent as a cat she crept down the stairwell to see her Grandda squaring off with Uther, their words about Avalon and her destiny confusing her greatly. It was all a myth, wasn’t it? In the end Uther promised to take her to the Isle and grudgingly her Grandparents let her go, having very little choice in the matter really.

She resented her father for taking her from the only home she'd ever known but she was curious as well, it was only natural, she'd only ever heard stories of him after all and she quickly learned she'd only heard the good parts. The moment they were off MacGillivray lands he turned cold and harsh, quick to chastisement if she didn't obey instantly and to the letter, and it was a quick lesson not to back talk or question him. Rebellion is a good old fashioned Scottish tradition, however, and she was the recipient of many a sharp slap for speaking her mind and defying him. It was during one of these acts of defiance when she demanded to know why he'd come for her if this was how he was going to treat her and perhaps it was anger that drove him to it but he angrily confessed that as he could not rule Avalon he was determined to rule it through her.

It was then that she realized all the stories, all the legends were true, or at least he believed they were. It would explain a lot but the crazed look in his eyes when he spoke of it had her leaning towards the very real possibility that he was delusional, that he bought into the family name a little too much. When they returned to his estate near London she became a virtual prisoner of the grounds, forbidden to move off the property, locking her in her room at night and confining her there for days at a time when she defied him. If she'd had any knowledge of magic or her heritage she might have sensed the binding spell on the property, one designed not only to keep her there but to keep anyone from seeing her should they be looking.

She always managed to find ways around his rules though, sneaking out, stepping through the wards simply because she didn't believe they were possible, a fact Uther had not taken into account when he'd created it. She didn't believe anything was there and her innate magic, the power that lay dormant beneath her skin held prisoner by yet another of his tricks, made it so. Nimble as a cat though with no concept why she could sneak out of her window down the various drain pipes and trellises to the ground and then prance off the property smug as you please. She always paid for it in bruises when she got back but it was worth it.

This went on until she was 18. With London so close it was nothing to fall into the underground club scene, she was drawn to music and places of merry making as most fae, especially the cait sidhe, were prone too and she became a fan in particular of one dj who frequented the underground clubs who called himself Maniac. She was fascinated as many of his fans were and took some of the harshest punishment to sneak out and see him. It was after sneaking out to one of his shows that her father locked her in her room for good, warding it to prevent her from leaving which was exactly what she planned to do. She'd been stashing money as she could and though it wasn't much she was ready to take off and see if she could get back to Scotland on it.

She never got the chance to try. The next day a strange woman that Uther had managed to piss off somehow showed up, threatening to use her temporary association with Avalon against him if he didn't find some way of appeasing her and fast. With her ear pressed to the locked door her heightened hearing allowed her to listen in easily enough to the discussion and she was surprised to hear someone else speak of Avalon as if it was real but more surprisingly she heard her father barter her away to the woman to pay her off, saving his own ass. She later wondered why she was surprised by anything her father did where she was concerned, but that was how she came to belong to the very musician she had received a good portion of her punishments for, Maniac.

The woman who came for her was the princess of another world and for the time being was the wielder of the black flame of Avalon, something she sort of fell into when she killed the former holder, a dark god. She was a god-killer and she intended Kisa for her husband, a gift actually. Suddenly she was faced with not only Avalon being real, but other dimensions as well, filled with vampires, were wolves, and powerful eternal beings that could think her out of existence, and she was a slave. The fact that it was Maniac she was given too definitely made the pill easier to swallow and truth be told she enjoyed her time with him; for a time walking the path of night with him as his chyld, craving the taste of blood along with him.

It was during this time that she learned what she was; that she was in fact a faery, sidhe and cait sidhe respectively, that she really was the daughter of the Lady of the Lake and she had been born to fulfill a prophecy. It was a lot to learn and took some time to adjust too and Maniac helped with that, their bond helping her to cope with it all, including her first meeting with Nimue where she not only met her mother but learned she had two sisters, Bridget and Elphlane. Her emotions ran high, as the emotions of most faeries do, resentment and anger over the whole situation, jealousy that her sisters got the life she should have had. This on top of learning that she was a mystical creature, with magic she had no concept of let alone knowledge on how to use, and she was a volatile mess for a time, the blood bond she shared with Maniac one of the few things holding her together.

When he and his wife ended their marriage he took her to Avalon at her mothers request and stayed with her there for a time while she got to know her mother and finally met her sisters. Things were awkward at first, how could they not be all things considered, and there were moments were tempers flared and feelings were hurt while coping with the hurts of the past, and eventually Maniac was ready to move on. It wasn't his struggle and their relationship had waned now that she did not need him as she had. When he left he took his dark gift with him along with the bond they had shared and the sidhe within her reigned again, expelling the foreign race once Maniac was not there to reinforce it.

She had a lot to learn and with Maniac gone she turned her focus to learning all her mother had to teach her as well as beginning her preparation for the Priestesshood. It was what she was meant to be, they kept telling her, and though she learned dutifully she questioned whether their plan for her was what she wanted and even if they were right in their assumptions. She learned as much as she could though, because she knew she'd need those skills if she was going to defy the elders and forge her own path.

She took refuge in Faerie, going to the Court of her Grandparents to learn the magic of the fae from Morgaine and Merlin, not the Elders who she suspected were curtailing her education to further control her in the future. The elders held no sway in Faerie and she was free of their rules for the first time since finding her family. She loved life in Faerie and she learned more from her grandmother than she ever had any of the ban drui of Avalon, including how to wield the Green Flame of Faerie, the flame that brings life, that carries the wild natural power of the fae within it, something only the Lady of the Lake was taught to wield. Morgaine had other ideas, though, and she was more than a formidable foe for the Elders.

It was Morgaine who arranged for the release of the Black Flame from the outsider and ensured it was Kisa that the power went too and Kisa found herself amazed at the influence and power her grandmother still commanded. Kisa now controlled both the Green Flame of Faerie and the Black Flame, the flame that took life and held court with the darkness, something that was until then, unheard of. She also studied the art of singing the dragons from Morgaine, often heralded as The Dragon Mistress in her time.

It was while in Faerie that she met Risclix, the half fae half vampire who was only six inches tall unless it was dawn or dusk when he could assume human size for three hours. In spite of the challenges they became lovers and fell in love. He stood at her side when she decided to defy the elders once and for all and parted the mists into a new dimension all together, the idea coming from her time spent in the Eternal Empire. There were fae in all the dimensions and how many times had she heard them say Avalon was of all worlds. The Elders stubbornly refused to accept that the human world of Earth would very likely never return to the days when they believed in the power of the Goddess and the existence of faeries and dragons, and if they had a prayer of saving Avalon they would need to create a court outside of Earth and Faerie both.

Together she and Risclix travelled to Aleris, choosing the Eastern Lands of the Goddess of Spring as the place where they would create their very own Fae Court, one where she would rule as Queen just as her grandmother did, and from which she would create a new base of followers for Avalon. There were many disenfranchised fae all over the world and in the various dimensions, those driven out by humans or by their own kind as Risclix had done. She would offer them a haven, a place where they could be who and what they were, a Faerie Court they could call home.