Nessa ni Bhraonain

Basic Information

 * Name: Nessa ni Bhraonain
 * Height: 5'4"
 * Weight/Build: Wiry and small
 * Apparent Age: ~17
 * Eye Color: Green
 * Hair Color: Red
 * Distinguishing Characteristics: Distinctly Lhiannan (think Eerie Presence, but it gives off a naturalistic feel). Primal and regal (Natural Leader).
 * Other Physical Specifics: Always covered in blue war paint at the least. Usually runes drawn in blood as well.
 * General Public Knowledge: Nessa is the leader/druidess of the Lhiannan that live just west of Edinburgh. She's been there for about 30 years and does not speak English. Sometimes she looks substantially closer to her beast than others, but it vanishes by the next time you see her.
 * Other Information: Not on Humanity. Sire of Brádan.
 * Character Theme Songs:
 * Prayer - Disturbed
 * All Around Me - Flyleaf
 * The Animal - Disturbed

Backstory
Embraced 735, born 718 in Cinrigh Móna, Fib, Pictland

nGeatal Uath ('Slays with Fear") was born in 718 under the Full Moon of Arianrhod, shortly before the abdication of Nechtan mac Der-Ilei to become a monk. Cinrigh Móna was a mostly pagan town, though a good third of the people followed the Christian God and were left to their worship. They tended to live closer to the shore, and the pagans of Cinrigh Móna lived deeper in the woods.

From a young age, nGeatal was blessed with the ability to speak to the gods at a young age, which manifested in many strange forms and caught the attention of Duir Ór ('Golden Oak'), the village's Druid. nGeatal was taken in still in her childhood and attuned to the gods, where through the Imbas Forosna, she gradually developed the necessary clarity to speak more clearly and feel portents of the future. As she grew and learned of the abdication and reclamation of the throne by Necthtan IV, it filled her with a bitter contempt for the fickleness of converts and Christians.

At fourteen, nGeatal took a husband, Muin, and bore him two children over the next four years: Straif and Ruis. Between these two births, nGeatal underwent the Imbas Forosna for several months on end, and the next year she was chosen to stand as Duir Ór's peer and female counterpart. In 735, after giving birth to Ruis, nGeatal is embraced with the mark of Lhiannan. The same year, construction completes on a 'Christian temple' on the outskirts of town.

Christians enter one of the few surviving Pagan towns (Cinrigh Móna) to attempt to recruit. Abbot Tuathalán sits down with nGeatal and Duir to discuss theology and the fate of the town in several instances. nGeatal and Duir will not bend. Tuathalán begins ingratiating himself to others of the town, specifically trying to take and watch Straif and Ruis while nGeatal is in ritual. Tensions mount.

In 745, Ruis begins to show the same gift as her mother. Ecstatic, nGeatal celebrates and nurtures her daughter's spiritual awakening. Ruis is sad and confused, as what she hears and what her mother tells her aren't "what Tuathalán says". Straif openly admits to belief in the Abbot's words. nGeatal has an inflamed confrontation with Abbot Tuathalán about infringing on territory that isn't his, and is calmed and pulled away by Muin. The number of attendance at their rituals has dwindled significantly. nGeatl learns Muin is having a crisis of faith, and she begs him not to be mislead.

Eventually, Tuathalán learns of the gift of Ruis. Hearing they plan on awakening her potential fully by involving her in the hieros gamos ritual of Samhain, and takes the child before the ritual to spare her. The gods speak through her, regardless, and Tuathalán balks at the blasphemy he hears from the girl. She is killed as a witch. The gods erupt in frenzy and nGeatal goes on a warpath. She does not stop until she holds Tuathalán's heart in her hands, which she offers in tribute to the Morrigan.

The backlash from the act is enormous. Enough seeds of doubt are planted to stay the hand of the people, who are uncertain about the child's innocence, and further see the blood drenched nGeatal as an indication that the heresy can turn you into a monster. Muin (similarly affected) takes Straif, now a young man, and they join King Óengus' military campaign. There are very few who stand beside nGeatal and Duir unwaveringly. Few who see it as the murder of a child and her killer, instead of the killing of a witch and murder of a man of cloth. The church calls for support and is strengthened against 'future attacks' as a new Abbot is placed in Cinrigh Móna.

Over the next few years, the town is increasingly rallied against the 'murderous heathens', and several followers are killed. Appalled, they pull out of the town and venture deeper into the forest to create a new home closer to the Spirit. nGeatal watches the town remotely for word of her husband's return. Duir begins a more intensive training of nGeatal's spirit, and they form a small collective they call Bhraonain. In Bhraonain, Duir shares with Nessa his plan to travel to a place he's heard of with tremendous spiritual power, and start a safe haven for all those chased from their faith and land. He shares the tale of a hero that rests there, guarding the Fragment of the Crone, the key that unlocks the power of the clan's pact with a spirit. The missing piece to strengthen the clan enough to stand against any obstacle.

nGeatal receives word from the gods that Muin has fallen in battle and Straif has lost the spirit. She fights for the will to serve the gods with all her heart, but her heart is broken. Duir kisses his childe and informs her if she wishes to sleep, he will watch over her. Frankly, he adores his childe, but has trouble sharing his territory. nGeatal slips into torpor in 751.

nGeatal, suffice it to say, slept in. She is stirred in 870 AD, and informed that the Pict fortifications at Dumbarton Castle have fallen and Vikings have laid waste to the city. She spends time learning about the horrors of the Vikings and their disregard of the land. They attempt to remain as inconspicuous as possible, which nGeatal learns to be possible very much due to the fact that almost all of their mortal followers are now dead. They are a group of five. They speak of the safety of Cramond, but Duir and nGeatal cannot divorce themselves from their lands. nGeatal does not speak of what she saw in torpor, but she rose a hardened and determined woman with little leeway for feminine sentimentality.

Years later, they learn that the king lost his head to the Vikings in a battle three hours south. They fortify as best they can and hope the army moves west instead of north. This is not the case. In the dead of winter, the Vikings find Bhraonain and burn it to the ground. Duir is greatly injured in the final moments of the battle, and nGeatal ties him to a standing stone so he can fight on his feet for his last moments. He commands her to go to Cramond. nGeatal refuses and says she will die for her lands. He tells her her calling is greater, and if she is ever to give her life away, let it be for the gods, not the savagery of spiritless men.

nGeatal flees and goes to find help of the Picts. She travels the lands for years, weaker and weaker, and finds almost nothing but ruins and Christians. She gives sacrifice to the Morrigan before a crow, remembering the offering of Tuathalán's heart that was given so long ago. The crow descends to consume the carrion. She asks the crow what the day is good for. The crow replies that it's a good day to birth a nation. nGeatal reflects extensively and begins planning how to undertake Duir's quest for Cramond and the Fragment. Realizing that she must build something beyond Picts, beyond Christians, beyond Vikings and Celts, she lets the pain of the past fade away and embraces her new goal. Reminded of the conversation between Nessa and Cathbad, nGeatal adopts the name Nessa ni Bhraonain and begins to travel south.

Timeline

 * 718: Born under a Full Moon.
 * 724: Nechtan mac Der-Ilei abdicates throne to become monk.
 * 725: Taken in as apprentice under Duir Ór.
 * 728: Four-sided battle for Pictish throne takes place. Nessa develops a hatred of the weakness inspired by Christanity.
 * 732: Marries Muin. King Nechtan mac Der-Ilei dies. Óengus becomes King and wars with the Dál Riata to the west.
 * 733: Bears Straif, son.
 * 734: Spent month in isolation for the Imbas Forosna.
 * 735: Bears Ruis, daughter. Initiated as Druidess and embraced by Duir Ór.
 * 737: Church construction is complete on town outskirts. Conversion efforts are made by Abbot Tuathalán. Later becomes St. Andrew's Cathedral.
 * 740: Pictland under King Óengus wars against Northumbria.
 * 745: Ruis shows she is also Blessed by the Old Gods. nGeatal confronts Tuathalán about his disrespect for their ways.
 * 747: Ruis is killed as a witch on Samhain. Death of Tuathalán, abbot of Cinrigh Móna. Muin and Straif leave to fight for their king.
 * 750: nGeatal and Duir pull out with the last few followers into the forest. nGeatal hears the tale of the Fragment of the Crone and Cramond Island.
 * 751: nGeatal receives word that Muin has fallen in battle and Straif has lost the spirit and enters torpor.
 * 761: King Óengus dies.
 * 793: Vikings land.
 * 832: King Óengus II dedicates Scotland to St. Andrew.
 * 870: Nessa is stirred by Duir to warnings of Viking attacks.
 * 877: King Causantín mac Cináeda is killed by Vikings three hours south of Bhraonain.
 * 878: Vikings fall upon Bhraoinain. Forest and sire are burned alive.
 * 891: nGeatal receives a vision from the Morrigan and takes on the name Nessa ni Bhraonain. She begins her quest.
 * 906: Church of St. Andrew becomes seat for the Bishop of Alba.
 * For the rest, please see the Timeline

Quotes

 * Add your own!

Outlooks

 * Christianity: A festering pustule that preys upon the cowardice of those without conviction of faith.
 * Converts: The one thing worst than Christians are Converts. A Christian may not know better. A Convert shows he never believed.
 * Gangrel: If the Bevanites have shown us anything, it is the confirmation that Gangrel are Forsaken children of the Crone who have lost their spirit.
 * Edinburgh: Their justice is inconsistent. Their morals lax. They are a culture that thrives on displaying their cowardice and delicacy as a badge of honor. They are a city of liars.
 * Prince Angelo: A Scion above his own law who knows not the value of his word or the power of his order will be a Scion whose city falls at a whisper of wind.