Avilace has a minion!

Valura the Druskar

It was the rising of dawn, when Avilace turned in her bed under her blanket of furs. The fire burned down to small embers. There was a chill coming through the crease in the window and the chill woke her. She sat up in her feather bed with her raspberry colored hair a mess and saw the hearth across the room revealing the fire-back decorated in her family's coat of arms.

"My Lady? Dawn is approaching. Would you like me to get your bath ready?" said her hand maid as she entered the bed chamber.

"Yes, Nelia. A warm bath would be lovely for this chill morning." She got out of bed and wrapped a fur blanket around her as Nelia and other hand maids brought in the tub and readied it for their lady. Avilace padded barefoot over to the window and opened it. She breathed the morning air in deep and let out a sigh. The sun was rising behind her casting a shadow of the castle across the garden and courtyard. Further away from her family's grounds was the forest. She peered out into the distance and saw the morning sun shine through the trees and the wolves that ran through them.

"Is something amiss, my Lady?" asked Nelia while she placed her hands on Avilace's shoulders and guided her towards the steaming tub.

"Just another wolf dream." She said sighing. The other hand maid took her fur blanket and made the bed while the other maid undressed her. The bath water felt wonderful and warm. I wonder if it feels like this to have fur. She thought but quickly lost the idea as Nelia scrubbed her roughly. Avilace clenched her teeth and tried not to think about it. She looked down at her reflection in the water seeing her face morphing in the ripples. I wonder if I could morph into a wolf. The reoccurring wolf dreams had her thinking what is was like to really be a wolf.

"If it pleases my Lady, she may stand up now." Nelia said and the other hand maids had drying cloth in their hands. She stood and stepped out of the tub and let them dry her. The maids dressed her in a long woolen forest green dress embroidered with vines on the bodice as Nelia combed her hair. As Nelia was braiding the front end of her hair Avilace noticed how old her hand maid was.
She had crows feet by her eyes and wrinkles by her mouth, but she wasn't old enough to develop liver spots, not yet anyway.. Nelia has been in employment with the Moreland family since Avilace could remember, even before her mother passed away.
"All done, my Lady." Nelia interrupted Avilace's thoughts by clasping her hands on her cheeks. "Such a beautiful lady, may I be so bold as to say."

The three maids led Avilace down from her tower to the small hall to break their fast. In the small hall she saw her two brothers already beginning their meals.

"Lacie!" called out her one brother, Alastor.
He was the youngest of the boys and he and Avilace were only a year apart. He also shared her raspberry hair color and light brown eyes of their mother. Where as her other brother, Lieam, bared resemblance to their father by having black hair and blue eyes.
"Did you hear the wolves last night?" he asked as Avilace sat next to him. A servant brought over her plate of fried eggs, bacon and orange slices.

"Yes, I did hear them, brother." She answered while cutting herself a slice of bread. "I heard them in my dreams."
"Another wolf dream?" asked her eldest brother, Lieam.
"You've been having them a lot lately. Perhaps you are becoming one, Lacie?" japed Alastor.
"Perhaps if I am then.... AWOOOO OOOOO!" she exclaimed. She and her brothers all laughed.

The wolf dreams are not unusual to Avilace. She's had them since she was a child, for as long as she can remember. No one seemed to be concerned, since they were just dreams. She always recalls running in the woods with a pack of wolves close behind her.

In ancient times the people could skinchange with an animal they've imprinted on. That was millions of years ago. Although, a rare occurrence, a person of modern time could inherit this ability if their ancestors from long ago passed on the trait. The crown prince was the last known skinchanger. He passed away four years ago.
Although her father and the examiners did not think Avilace to be a skinchanger, the animal dreams are a sign of having that ability. The person and the animal must imprint on eachother, and Avilace only admired the wolves from afar. Where as the crown prince, Shurik, had his imprinted animal close by him at all times.

It's not unlikely to see wolves on the castle grounds they are native to the area. They coexisted with man for many years. They rarely come out of the woods and would flee when anyone crossed paths down the game trails.

After breakfast her brothers went off to practice their swords and bows. Avilace wasn't allowed since she excelled greatly and the master-at-arms told her Lord father a woman's place is not on the battlefield. Lord Moreland could not deny his daughter anything so he gave her a private master-at-arms to teach her different sword fighting styles. She knew it was so that her brothers weren't discouraged that their little baby sister was better than them. At least she wasn't upset that her father didn't think the same way as her old master-at-arms and knew she was skilled.

Avilace finished her breakfast and trailed out to the training yard. Being flanked by her two handmaids, whom were much younger than Nelia, Avilace didn't have to keep her pace slow. She anticipated on seeing the progress of her brother, Alastor. The training yard was farthest from the castle and closer to the woods. Their Lady mother had it that way because the clanking of steel against steel made her head spin. After her death her father never changed it, so going there was quite the long travel. It was quicker to take a horse.

It was becoming warmer as the sun rose higher in the sky, so she enjoyed the long walk to the training yard. She walked pass the women who did the wash and the men who handled the livestock, and the boys who worked the stables. She stopped to say good morning to them and continued on.
The sound of steel against steel grew louder each step she took and soon she was able to hear shouts. Before she finally got there she heard a stirring in the bushes. Avilace and her ladies paused.

Out stumbled a large brown wolf with a black face and ears. It had a small animal in it's mouth, looked to be that of a squirrel. Blood dripped from it's muzzle. The handmaids shrieked in horror. Avilace stood her ground and looked into it's eyes. It had the same color eyes as she and her brother, light brown, but the wolf's eyes had a bit a of golden shimmer in them. The wolf stepped forward and so did Avilace. The wolf dropped the dead animal at her feet and dashed off into the darkness of the woods.
"He didn't have a pack... he is a lone wolf." she said, still in the strange trance the wolf's eyes put her in.
She heard the sound of boots and hooves on the stone path, and the calls of her brothers and handmaids. But soon she heard faded sounds as she fell to the ground.

When Avilace awoke her senses were heightened. She could smell water and hear it trickling off of rocks in a stream close by. Two wolves flanked either side of her as they padded through the dirt trail. She heard sounds coming up from the trees and looked up to see a red bird jumping from branch to branch and knocking the acorns off the trees to land at her feet. She turned back to the two wolves flanking her and saw there were more wolves following, eight to be exact. She stood there under the tree as the acorns fell around her, only to be nuzzled by one of the female wolves to break her concentration. What ever human thoughts she was thinking vanished and all she could do was follow the scent of water and the sound of the stream. And her pack was close behind her.

Name: Avilace "Lacie" Moreland
Age: 14
Hair Color: Raspberry red
Eye Color: Light Brown
Culture: Woodlands
Castle: Eastfront Castle
Siblings: Alastor (15), Lieam (17)
Parents: Lord Willhem Moreland and Lady Areina Florael-Moreland

Brief History:

Avilace comes from two powerful families. The Morelands, who held lordship over the Woodlands for hundreds of generations is one of the oldest families in the continent of Medias.
The Floraels, who claim lordship to a large island off of the continent Sinistra, called Florantine, are famous for their fine wine aged to perfection. They are a rich family from their winerys.
There are 3 main continents. Medias is the largest and it sits between the two others. There are some islands off the northern coast.This contenent is the only continent to have land that has all the seasons. Winter snows are the farthest north on the islands. Autumn is north of the main land. Spring is in the center. Summer is in the south.
Sinistra is to the west of Medias. The main land is smaller than Medias and there are many islands around it. It shares both spring and summer. Spring being in the northern most part and summer being in the south.
To the east is the continent, Edessa. It is mostly desert and only the coast is settled by people. It's resources are fishing and merchanting.

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