Human (Armengarian)

Fionnuala was the last child of Rian and Lorcan. At twenty-five, Rian had already brought nine children into the world, and the healers had warned her that another pregnancy might be the death of her. It wasn't, though, and she seemed to recover well from the birth. However, it had hurt her more than anyone knew, and in the next battle with the Calebii, her exertions were too much for her half-healed body and she fell. Lorcan fought his way to her side, and defended her until other Armengarians could come to their aid. Rian was rescued, but Lorcan was struck down in the retreat.

Thanks to the exertions of the healers, Rian's life was saved, but she would be an invalid for the rest of her life. Unable even to look after her children, she had their aunts and uncles take in those still too young to take care of themselves, keeping only the two eldest, Liam and Eithne, in her home - and they spent more time taking care of her than being taken care of.

Rian blamed her last child for her debility and the loss of her husband, and often complained that she should never have borne Fionnuala. Eithne and most of the other children followed their mother's lead, but Liam felt a great degree of protectiveness for his baby sister, and took her part against the others. For her part, as soon as she was old enough to understand, Fionnuala adored Liam, and toddled after him wherever he went.

Fionnuala had been taken in by her aunt Deirdre, and Liam came to see her there as often as he could which, between his training in the camps and his looking after his mother, wasn't nearly as often as he would have liked. He soon found out that when he wasn't around, any of their siblings who were would tease and taunt her, calling her a murderer, wondering aloud why Liam put up with her the way he did, and suggesting that the best thing she could do would be to kill herself now and put everyone out of her misery. The first time this happened, Liam later explained to her that there was no truth in any of it (and then went and beat up several of his siblings). Fionnuala was convinced by his arguments, but couldn't help still feeling some doubt and guilt. She became a shy, withdrawn child, often fearing that other people in the citadel shared her siblings' beliefs, and convinced that if her own mother hated her, surely everyone else would, too. This, to some extent, became a self-fulfilling prophecy; sensing her shyness and insecurity, the other children at the training camp were happy to follow her siblings' lead and join in bullying her. Though she soon became a good enough fighter to defend herself physically, she couldn't do much about the verbal abuse.

Not all the children joined in the bullying, though, and Fionnuala became cautiously friendly with two or three of her own age, who also loved as she did the tales and legends of olden days. When she was fourteen, she married one of this group, a young man named Conall.

For five years, Fionnuala and Conall were happy together. She bore three children, Deirdre, Connlai and Naoise. Then the unthinkable happened. Conall was caught by a group of Armengarian scouts "fraternising with the enemy" - he was, in fact, making love with a Calebii soldier. The soldier was summarily executed and Conall was sentenced to the training camp.

Fionnuala was devastated. She was aware, of course, that some men were like that, but had had no idea that Conall was - and couldn't he have indulged in a carefully-hidden relationship with another Armengarian, as a few others did? How could he have gone to the enemy like that?

She fled to the woods to deal with her grief and horror alone. It was there, as she cried bitterly and demanded aloud how this could have happened, why there was no-one to prevent such terrible things, that she felt a presence. An unfamiliar voice spoke gently to her, soothing her anguish, until she was calm again. When she looked up, a man sat near her. Dressed in archaic clothing, his expression held both love and determination. She had never seen him before.

In answer to her questions, he identified himself as Heramacles, ancient protector of the Armengarian people. It had been long, he said, since he had been able to directly affect his people, though he had done what he could indirectly. But whatever barrier had kept him from touching Armengar was now gone, and with her help, he would once more take up his ancient duty.

Fionnuala, he explained, was to be the first of the new Incantors of Armengar. She would be his priestess, and he would answer to her call and help her to protect her people. Fionnuala was initially reluctant; she had wanted someone to take care of her, as Liam had done long ago, not to be the one who protects. But Heramacles won her over eventually, and reminded her that as his priestess, she would never be alone or friendless again. She accepted the job, and he vanished.

The other Armengarians were surprised when she returned. Everyone knew how upset she'd been, and expected to see her coming back still unhappy; such a disgrace would take long to recover from. But she walked calmly and her expression was peaceful. Greeting those people she knew as she went, she went to see Midir of the Healers; though some years older than she, she felt a cautious liking for him, and felt that he was least likely to scoff at her news.

He was initially surprised; Heramacles was, after all, only an old legend, but she demonstrated her new power to him, healing a man of a leg-wound, and he had to believe. At the next Volksraad, with Midir's support, she announced herself formally as an Incantor and priestess of Heramacles, and offered to teach any who would also become Incantors.

Six years on, Fionnuala is still rather shy, and not altogether comfortable with her titular rank as High Incantor, but she does her best for her people. She was one of those who left Armengar to attend the Gathering of Nations last year; an experience which both startled and frightened her. So many strangers - so many strange races, strange attitudes and ways of thinking. Only the fact that Armengarians are not cowards kept her from turning tail and running all the way home. But by the end of the Gathering she was beginning to feel a little more comfortable, though she is still uneasy around non-humans, and is not at all sure what to make of the Tribe. She is, however, cautiously willing to give them a chance.

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