Eiluned de Laverstock

Aja Warren as Eiluned de Laverstock

CHARACTER PROFILE

Full Name:	Eiluned de Laverstock
Age:	21
Culture:	Cymric
Religion:	Pagan*
Manor:	Laverstock
Class:	Lady

FAMILY

PHYSICAL STATS

Spouse:	None	Height:	5'1"
Father:	Father	Weight:	128 lbs
Mother:	Mother (nee Manor)	Hair Color:	Devil Red
Siblings:	Them!	Eye Color:	Green/Gold
Children:	None

Characteristics

A trail of flame marks the passage of Eiluned de Laverstock, both in the brilliant red of her hair and the scarlet pang of her alto voice. She leaves a fiery mark in social gatherings, trained in the Welsh tradition as a bard (or, to the Irish Celts, a filidh).

Eiluned's beginnings are humble enough. Her birth nearly killed her mother, a courtly woman so often required to manage the affairs of the Laverstock household in the absence of her husband.

The wet nurse, Tangwystyl, fed her on songs, scraps of lore, and stories. Eiluned was a dutiful, polite little girl in a rough household, reliably found in the kitchens or the solar to hear all the news to be found. It's well said almost nothing escaped her notice in those young years. On account of her mother's poor health and father's knightly service, it was decided she should be educated outside the household.

An unusual arrangement was found; she was sent to a nunnery for a proper background in letters and song, though none of the religious lessons ever stuck. Raised to honour Brigid as her patron, Eiluned never swerved in her devotion. She however drank up the lessons, and showed an astonishing facility for the pen and rote memorization, such she was offered a chance to apprentice as a scribe.

The stay in the nunnery failed to convert Eiluned, but awoke a hunger for learning that would never be suppressed. On a chance encounter over a winter at home, she met an aged storyteller of Irish tradition who fled to Salisbury to avoid Irish slavers. His stories were meant largely for adults, but he found Eiluned plucking at his lap harp when she thought no one was looking. Her punishment was to care for his personal needs, but over two months the ollamh discovered a student with enchanting capability being wasted in a nunnery, her prospects for a far-off marriage poor, and her talents frankly being wasted in the depths of a backwater church. Together with Tangwystyl and other household servants fond of the girl, he petitioned that Eiluned might receive proper tutelage worthy of a court.

Eiluned's tuition shifted away from the nunnery and preparations for stewardship, which she never showed a great affinity for, to something entirely new. The ollamh kept on in the area, reduced in status but not in talent, and proceeded to tutor and teach all eligible children. But none were so devoted or fine as Eiluned, who was more a daughter to him than her own parents in some respects. Dallan, having escaped ignominy, set about crafting a legacy through her. He taught her memorization or oratory, song and harping, tolerating her many questions and forging a rich, deep understanding of the knowledge of the Cymric people, Salisbury, the Roman wars, and more. They spent her adolescence refining lore and stories in her head, until she could recite lineages by memory and a dozen types of poetry and song. As Dallan's health began to fail, she nursed him too as she could and took up his task of educating, training, and performing.

Dallan's death in 512 broke Eiluned's spirit for several weeks. She refused to eat and barely played, almost committing suicide in the river Avon at her darkest moments. It would be the intercession of a pagan sept; they challenged her willingness to sacrifice her life out of despair at the loss of a near friend. To her family, she'd merely gotten lost on the road and assaulted by bandits. No one knew she nearly drowned herself, and tried to unsuccessfully hang herself from a tree. For her wisdom, though, Eiluned would gain considerable empathy. She humbled herself for no apparent reason, focusing on the sick and the young, injured and forgotten. No one knew quite what to make of Eiluned's commitment to living in humble straits, taking on manual labour where she never had done before, but they certainly appreciated the help around the property.

More interesting, her relations were taken more than a little by surprise when she asked to be fostered, in a sense, among several other manors to learn the stories of their people and their lands. She began a tour that started in 512 and only ended in 514, as she comes to Sarum as a fully fledged ollamh/bard, finished in twelve years of study by the Irish tradition. And, as all may be concerned, she is a formidable, observant young woman gifted with a harp and in song.

Bard: Eiluned is a bard, as she is happy to tell you herself. The bardic tradition in Cymric culture echoes the great heroes of Taliesin and Aneirin. A bard is more than a simple minstrel. Beyond composing poetry and epic lays, she uses her literacy to preserve the past. In a largely oral culture, she performs an important role as the source of truth for historical events and all forms of knowledge. You don't have a book, you can ask the bard. You want to learn about a topic, the bard is your ideal tutor for the breadth of their learning. Eiluned serves as the cultivated voice for the powerful, who gives substance to heroic deeds and makes enduring fame possible. The most respected and honoured members serve in royal courts, and their words preserved for centuries.

Bard's Tongue: As a bard, Eiluned categorically cannot and will not tell an intentional falsehood. Asking her to deceive another person by misleading them or speaking a statement she knows not to be true is pointless. She will not do it, even under threat of swordpoint or torture. In Cymric and greater Celtic society, a bard stands as a source of truth for genealogical inquiries, law, tales, and stories. They cleave to the truth like Christians do to forgiveness. An important note here, however; she can accidentally say something she believes to be true and is not without violating anything. (Trait: Famously honest)

Music: She plays the harp as her chosen instrument and rarely goes far afield without a lap harp. Larger, stationary instruments suit her perfectly well but they can be hard to haul from place to place. A lute or a lyre serves her perfectly fine otherwise. Practicing complex chords takes up hours of her time as she refines her talent, and serves as a suitable accompaniment to her memorable mezzo-soprano singing. (Trait: Heavenly voice)

Nunnery: Despite being pagan, Eiluned received years of instruction in Salisbury nunnery where her seasoned mind caught the attention of the religious sisters. Her penmanship nearly qualified her to apprentice on the long road to serving in the scriptorium as an illuminator, though she turned away to pursue music.

Relationships

Laverstock

Gallery

7	- Chaste	\|	Lustful -	13	10	- Merciful	\|	Cruel -	10
13	- Energetic	\|	Lazy -	7	7	- Modest	\|	Proud -	13
10	- Forgiving	\|	Vengeful -	10	10	- Pious	\|	Worldly -	10
13	- Generous	\|	Selfish -	7	10	- Prudent	\|	Reckless -	10
16	- Honest	\|	Deceitful -	4	10	- Temperate	\|	Indulgent -	10
10	- Just	\|	Arbitrary -	10	10	- Trusting	\|	Suspicious -	10
10	- Valorous	\|	Cowardly -	10

Size:	12	Dexterity:	12	Strength:	8	Constitution:	14	Appearance:	17
Damage:	3	HR:	2	MR:	2	THP:	26	Unconscious:	6

Awareness:	10	Boating:	1	Compose:	10	Courtesy:	15	Craft:	0
Dancing:	2	Faerie Lore:	1	Falconry:	3	First Aid:	10	Flirting:	3
Folklore:	4	Gaming:	3	Heraldry:	6	Hunting:	2	Intrigue:	6
Orate:	10	Profession:	15	Play:	15	Read:	3	Recognize:	8
Religion:	4	Romance:	2	Singing:	13	Stewardship:	5	Swimming:	2
Tourney:	2

Battle: 0	Siege: 0	Horsemanship: 0
Sword: 0	Lance: 0	Spear: 0
Dagger: 2	Bow: 0	Axe: 0

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