Aeval-Leigh Galicia
By the time Aeval-Leigh was borne into the land of the Sidhe, she was destined to be ranked amongst the highest of the mythical creatures of Eire--but it would not be a painless destiny.
Her mother, Aoibheal, reigned as the Sidhe queen of the region. Each Midsummer Eve, she held her court in the mortal realm at Craig Leath on the banks of the River Shannon. There, she held dominion over the partnerships amongst the residents of the region, casting her magicks over those couples in need of better relationships, or giving her blessing for them to part ways to find more compatible lovers.
Aoibheal was not always about love, however; she was also the Keeper of the Gate for the O'Brien clan and their relatives. They knew that if Aoibheal made an appearance any time other than Midsummer, she was in her bean-sidhe guise and her wail meant she would soon return to reap souls to the other side of the Veil.
As with humans, the Sidhe are not without their feuds and wars amongst themselves. It was during a romantic rivalry with her half-sister, Clíodhna, that Aoibheal found herself changed into a cait sidhe, or feline faerie spirit. Wandering the countryside in this form, she soon joined the pack of and mated with the infamous Chapulu. Her new fierce lover was a demon cat changling who quenched his sporadic bloodlust by rampaging through small encampments that were unlucky enough to find themselves in his path. Fearsome as he was, Aoibheal loved him dearly and, even after learning how to reverse Clíodhna's curse, she bore him a daughter, Aeval-Leigh.
Aeval-Leigh grew up being exposed to both sides of her Sidhe nature--she adored her mother's court every Midsummer, seeing the mortals decked in their finest and celebrating love and sexuality overtly along the shores of the river. She also found herself drawn to the hunts her father would take her on, her blood quickening as they both bounded through the forests and clearings in their cat forms, chasing down their latest prey. When the time came for blood to be spilled, however, she balked as her father would tear into the victim. She preferred the hunt to the kill, much to the chagrin of Chapulu, who had visions of his daughter continuing his legacy. "Nature is red in tooth and claw," he would repeat. "For there to be birth, Nature demands the sacrifice of Death." These words would come back into her memory when she found her father's corpse, displayed on pikes outside of Killaloe. The mortals had finally caught up with him and carried out the ultimate act of brutal revenge.
Aoibheal was furious. As it began to appear that she would plague the entire countryside in her bean-sidhe form, bringing death to all Dalcassians, Ó Bríens, and whomever else heard her screams, Aeval-Leigh pleaded with her mother that the mortals be spared. In their defense, she argued, they were only protecting themselves and their families from what they perceived to be a vicious, bloodthirsty beast. But instead of listening, Aoibheal turned her fury upon her daughter. How dare this impudent child forgo her people, her very family, and defend those who'd murdered her own father, those Aoibheal now saw as weak slovenly enemies? They had betrayed their patron and now she deemed them unfit to share her realm! And if Aeval-Leigh sided with them, she would be dealt with as well!
Even with the combined bloodlines running through her veins, Aeval-Leigh barely survived her mother's onslaught. The bean-sidhe's screams stripped her of her physical form, leaving her a ball of energy whose light would have been dowsed had others of the faerie court stepped in. Though their family had its faults, they knew that if they allowed the Queen to kill her daughter, she would eventually grieve intensely for her impulsive actions. Cliodhna herself, who'd come to comfort her sistern upon the news of Chapulu's demise reaching her realm, witnessed the young sidhe's soon-to-be demise. She swooped in as her raging sister was being distracted by others of the family. Gathering the fading orb that was now Aeval-Leigh's last presence in the realm, she took flight.
Though Cliodna had proven in the past that she could match her sister's fury, she knew that she could not keep the weakened Aeval-Leigh in her rocky palace for long. She allowed her mystical trio of healing birds to sing the young sidhe back into the physical plane more fully, until the girl's cait sidhe side came out and the healing birds very nearly were prey.
Cliodna assigned some of her most trusted sidhe warriors to take Aeval-Leigh across the sea in the direction of the rising sun. There were still clans in those parts who followed the olde ways and she hoped the courts of sidhe there would be secure enough to provide a home for the girl until her powers grew to be able to hold her own against her mother--or Aoibheal's rage abated.
But there was one who had witnessed the events take place--had played a part in the murder of Chapulu by telling the visitors where to find him and take advantage of his rare moments of weakness. This being was mortal but had powers that rivaled those beyond the Veil--she was the only survivor of an ancient race whose abilities included slipping through time and space. And now, she was hand-picking her coven from amongst some of the most powerful beings in the land and beyond--children of unique but powerful matings or those of regal sidhe, fomorian, elemental, or demonic blood. These young ones would one day be amongst the most dominant in the land and she would have a part in molding their minds and energy to her will. They would become her brood, her children, her coven. And now, Aeval-Leigh was to be a shining addition to her collection.
It was not hard to wrangle the young sidhe from her companions--after all, Aettrynne was now a revered "wisewoman" of the Eravisci clan. They were sent back to Eire believing that they have completed their mission well and one day, the princess would return to her land to reclaim her rightful place in her mother's court. Little did they know that she would first be molded into a monster.
For what seemed like a lifetime (and perhaps would have been, had she been human), Aeval-Leigh served at the side of her Mistress and mentor, along with the other trophies in the Witch's coven. They were her puppets and, had it not been for their sisterhood, they would have been lost to the bloodlust.
It was when Aettrynne leveled a series of small villages while on the hunt for a specific artifact, that the coven with Aeval-Leigh as their leader, decided that enough was enough. It was one thing to use their destructive abilities against despots and invading armies--quite another to cut down scores of innocents in the pursuit of power. It made them no different from those Aettrynne had once held up as examples of the enemy that they should destroy.
But they also knew that they were blood-bound to her and could only make their move to escape her clutches when she was at her weakest. So they watched and waited.
The time finally came when Aettrynne committed an insane act to gain what she believed to be the ultimate in power--she impaled herself upon a weapon that was said to have held the souls and the powers of all it had slewn. She believed that her own power could overcome and envelop it. Instead, Aeval-Leigh and her covenmates watched in awe as the power literally ripped their Mistress apart from the inside out.
They were free--almost.
Over their tenure as Aettrynne's minions, the little crew had made many enemies. Though they had powers on their own, they'd now lost their protector. It was decided that if they were to truly start anew, their little band would need to go their separate ways--at least for a while. Each found herself on her own for the first time in recent memory.
Aeval-Leigh had little knowledge about the sidhe family she had left behind in Eire. She believed she would be obliterated on sight by her mother's banshee rage if she returned. As she wandered the small villages in the north, she thought perhaps facing her mother might be justice for those who died at her hands while she remained with Aettrynne.
One evening, while setting up her camp, she noticed a glint of gold amongst her belongings. Upon investigating, she recognized it immediately--it was a merkaba. She thought she'd left them behind with Aettrynne. She spent hours staring at it, weighing whether or not to destroy it or use it. Putting it to use meant the potential of being lost in time--as she'd not practiced using the merkabas in quite some time. It also meant there would be a good chance of never seeing her adopted family, her coven sisters, again.
After some inner debate, whether it was the draw of curiosity or self-destructive guilt, Aeval-Leigh focused her attention and energy into the little gold-covered crystal in her palm, making it levitate and spin. The faster it spun, the more it began to glow and the air around it shimmered like a mirage. Faster and faster it spun, the mirage bubble expanding until it engulfed Aeval-Leigh in a swirling dizzying chaos swarm.
Aeval-Leigh awoke in a land she'd never seen before. Once the sickness of the merkaba travel passed, she discovered that it was a wooded island--one of several small ones located in a small inland lake, surrounded by mountains. What mystified her, though, was the fact that high above, a large chunk of mountain--as large as the lake below--hung ominously in the skies. It had been there long enough, she surmised, that the forest areas of the islands had had time to grow. And she noticed small homes and castles dotting the shoreline across the waters. Surely the residents would not have built there if they thought there was any danger of the rocks crashing down.
Upon inspection, it appeared that the island she was on was unoccupied, so Aeval-Leigh set up camp. In the upcoming weeks, she would learn that the island was part of a huge nation of linked localities called Caledon. The mountain above was named Morgaine mountain, sharing the name of the surrounding region, and it was held aloft by veins of a fascinating gravity-defying crystal called cavorite. The Morgaine area of northern Caledon was known for being one of the more wild and untamed regions. It suited her perfectly. Using her sidhe magicks, she made one of the trees to grow much larger than the others and crafted a home out of it. Little did she know that this new nation would become more of a home to her than any other and its residents, her new family. It seemed, perhaps, she had gained absolution for the evil she had taken part in with Aettrynne--at least for now.
