Canterville

Owners I've Had:

Strangeflesh(home lair)
St0rmbringer
Festivoog
Strangeflesh
Auralyx
whamm
MoonlilyluvsCas
Miere
Auralyx
ArcadiaHawk

For some unknown reason, Canterville was born half-alive, half-dead, with one foot in the world, and another foot in the next. Maybe it was punishment for her father's hedonism, or an offshoot of her mother's space magic, or something else entirely. Canterville doesn't really care, as all she wants to do with it is to play pranks on people! She is currently traveling with her father, Virruk, but it doesn't need to stay that way.

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Canterville felt two presences at her hatching, a father and a mother eagerly waiting for her. She also felt that something was wrong. Now, with her father’s arms wrapped around her, they plunge into an angry sky that weighs on her like the ever-present feeling of death she knows.

She has no true sensation of time, at her age, but it feels like an eternity before she sees the color blue again. They arrive at a place that feels like safety. Canterville is introduced to several other hatchlings—bigger than her so far, and different-looking. No tough fins or scales, they’re strangely soft. And they only have two eyes! They’re strange, but they seem friendly and her father seems relieved to see them get along. Friends, she decides, and immediately sets to playing pranks with these other kids.

She and her father stay here for awhile, long enough for her to understand speech and learn her companions’ names. Long enough for her to understand it’s been around a year. And long enough for her to understand when Virruk says they need to go. She doesn’t understand, really. He quietly explains that she’s not like them and he worries she’ll never be safe here. She feels safe, but she trusts her father. Surrounded by larger versions of her feathery friends, they fly back into the angry sky—a storm, it’s called—and are once again on their own.

Curious to see more of the world she now sees passing beneath her father’s wings, Canterville hopes that she’ll meet more friends on their travels!

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On the road, her dad told her that he wants to let her grow up as normally as possible. She didn't understand what "normal" was, or "abnormal" for that matter, but reassured him that she wasn't unhappy. In the different small towns and villages she found herself oddly attracted to memorial stones that would crop up now and then. If she stayed at one long enough she could make a friend.

Her new friends took on many shapes and sizes. They were different form the hatchlings she grew up with. More see-through like glass at times, or better at hovering than she could be. They told her a lot of old stories and she told them of herself in return. As it turns out, friendship wasn't as hard as her father made it sound!

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Canterville enjoyed coming back to her hometown as an adult. Despite her father’s reputation, she was welcome there, and the scientists were interested in her half-undead state. She saw ghosts aplenty, as death was common in plague. Her mother, Bruise, tried to convince her to stay, but she didn’t know her. She wasn’t really her mother, just the one who had mothered her. Canterville couldn’t just leave Virruk.

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Her next stop was Terreneuvia, a quaint little island which they managed to get to via a large fishing boat captained by a mirror not unlike Virruk. But unfortunately, upon their first visit to a building which happened to be an inn, her father simply left her in the room whilst he went out on the town. Canterville was saddened to see her father do something like that, though she tried to convince herself it was out of a place of worry for his daughter.

Though her boredom didn't last long- as ghosts from long, long ago began seeping in from the four walls of the room. One particularly gruff guardian explained that every ghost she saw in Wenlock Inn was a shipwrecked soul, dying on and around the island, before the first dragons had moved in and set up a lighthouse. Canterville delighted in hearing their many stories, so much so that it made up for her father's actions. Though one of the final ghosts to tell their story, a mystical pearlcatcher, asked Canterville if she wanted to change shape. When questioned further, the ghost simply waved her hand.

Canterville realized what had happened- her leathery wings twisted and conformed to large, faery wings, her long, strength filled legs shorted to those not meant for running, and most confusing; her crest had thinned out to form fin-like growths all along her head.

She'd become a fae.

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Once Virruk found out what had happened to his daughter, he quickly fled the town with her - but in her new, altered form, she had difficulty keeping up with their previous traveling pace. While she and her father were resting in a clearing in the Sunbeam Ruins, they were found by a hunting band who invited them to their clan’s traveler hub, the Lantern Cove Inn.

As Canterville rested in their room at the Inn, Virruk left to find more information about Canterville’s condition, leaving her in the care of a Lantern Cove staff member - the fae didn’t have a name, but said that she could call him Mono. He kept her entertained in her room, happily reading books and playing games with her.
When Virruk still hadn’t returned for a while, Mono asked about Canterville’s past, and she ended up explaining everything that had happened to her, from being able to see ghosts to being transformed into a fae. Her companion listened the entire way through, and when she had finished, he excused himself and left the room, stating that he “had to go get someone”.

A few minutes later, he returned with a skydancer in tow - she was adorned in gold, and illusory butterflies hovered around her as she moved. Canterville was delighted to discover that the butterflies were actually spirits that she could talk to! Virruk, when he returned, was less so - however, he allowed his daughter to play with Reverie and her spirits. When they woke up the next morning, he was quick to drag them both out of the Inn, but not before Canterville left a short note saying goodbye to her friends.

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After leaving the Lantern Cove Inn, Canterville and her father moved to another spot within the Viridian Labyrinth where apparently he heard of a shop with dragons who could help her. The journey wasn't too rough as most of it she spent being carried by her father but once they arrived, the shop wasn't open. The coven who ran it apparently had gone on a trip to gather herbs and other things from the Emperor's Wake but in the meanwhile, they were given a lovely room in the inn.

Prastora, another Fae, visited them daily on behalf of the clan and brought flowers to the room. Cattails, chamomile, and goldenrod bouquets were brought daily. The elder Fae tried to explain the meanings of each to Canterville as well as how they grew them in such a wet climate but the facts didn't quite stick in her brain. Still, the younger appreciated the company nonetheless.

Once the witches did return, two came to their room and looked over the half-spirit. After a small inspection, they left with a few drops of her blood and returned the next day with a potion. The Spiral who brewed it gave no warning of side effects but after drinking it, Canterville noticed her wings changing. The membrane became more stretched out and her veins were visible though it however they felt as strong as ever as well as a new sense of life invaded her.

It didn't help her actual state any but she felt more alive than she had since she hatched and while Virruk was indeed glad for this change, he swept her up again and fled the wetlands where the town was situated.

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