David Delamare drew this!!! Thanks to Julen's player for knowing!
*Name:
Geldenwing, previously of Wulf (her former husband – note, not ‘ex’)
Nickname/Title:
Generally (and obviously) just “Geld,” although “Gelden” has been used.
*Gender:
Female.
*Age:
73 human years
*Race:
Faerie
*Occupation:
Crafts(wo)man, mostly natural items woven together to form jewelry or small trinkets.
*Physical Appearance:
Geldenwing has dark blond, nearly-brown hair which reaches her midriff, and light hazel eyes. She is light-skinned, but tan enough not to sunburn. Her face is, in a word, precious – she has large, rounded cheeks and an impish grin. Her skin has an odd, glittery effect to it, giving her entire appearance a twinkling quality. However, in stark contrast to her bubbly, youthful appearance, she has a downtrodden, sad expression. Her clothes are the type you’d expect on a faerie – leaf-like brown cloth, layered along her waist and forming a skirt with just reaches her mid-thighs. The same fabric forms a breast-band with two straps which go over her shoulders. Her stomach, lower legs, arms, and throat are completely bare, save for the odd shimmer to her skin. Her wings are much like a dragonfly’s, double-layered and not nearly as fragile as they look. They naturally prism light, due to the folds and crevices build into the wings themselves.
She has two forms: faerie-sized and child-sized. While fae-sized, she stands 4 inches tall and weighs in at too small to count for much. At this size, she can get through tiny openings and tickle a victim into total submission. While child-sized, she stands at 4 feet and weighs still too little to count for much. For convenience’s sake, her clothes change size along with her.
*Personality:
Her moods vary from second to second. As quickly as one can make her laugh, she can slump into a deep self-depression. By nature, however, she is ephemeral, and never stays in one mood for very long. On rare occasions, she may utter a phrase which only an adult would say, but she generally leans towards childish behavior and attitudes, preferring playfulness to sulking any day. She still sulks, of course, but not nearly as much as someone with certifiable depression might. Unlike many of her kind, she doesn’t fear those much larger and more powerful than herself, and instead will gigglingly flutter straight into their face. She considers it a sort of game, and has yet to be properly swatted for it.
*Magics:
Geld’s one major ability is her size adjustment. She can switch only between the two sizes I described above. She also has the ability to “vanish,” but this is just a trick of the light; she can go literally invisible, but only for a short time. And by short, I mean short – a maximum of five seconds at a time, regardless of how healthy she is – and five is pushing it to the extreme. But one can do an incredible amount of mischief in a few seconds. Geldenwing also has a powder with her which, when applied to another, forces them into an unnaturally cheerful state. This is not suddenly rejoicing in life; this is being forcibly thrown into a cheerful mood, completely against your will, while you are fully aware of what is happening. The best comparison I have to explain this is the Happy Helmet from “Ren and Stimpy” – I know we abhor pop culture references, but it really is the best comparison I can think of. This powder, like her invisibility, only lasts a short while – ten minutes at the most, depending on the amount of powder the assailed comes in contact with. Mass exposure to the stuff doesn’t cause anything other than lots of forced happiness, though I suppose there are those who could die from mass jubilation.
*Strengths/Good Qualities:
Her cheerful attitude is catchy rather than flat-out obnoxious. She makes it her mission in life to cheer up those around her, so if there’s a poor sap sitting in the darkest corner of the darkest table nearby, she will make a point of visiting him first and bothering him until he smiles. She truly believes that all anyone truly wants is attention. Also, she is always willing to help; if someone asks a favor of her, she will almost always say “yes.”
*Weaknesses/Bad Qualities:
Naive, flighty, and forgetful, Geldenwing is extremely gullible. If one were to ask a horrendous favor of her, all it would take is making it sound nice to get her to agree. Her mood swings are rapid-fire, but can get in the way of her better judgment. She also currently has a deeply-ingrained paranoia towards romance, and particularly marriage. The same applies to friendship; for no matter how much she loves them, they all just seem to...go away.
Belongings:
A small purse tied by a thin strap to her skirt, which contains only the Powder of Forcible Joy, and a thin silver necklace around her neck which holds a small, fathomless blue teardrop amulet. Its ability , though still functional, is long-since abandoned.
*Character History:
It wasn’t a dark and stormy night. It wasn’t even a kind of overcast night. It was crisp, clear, and oh-so-blue – and a woman was watering the glow vines in her cavern, as a nearby pool of water reflected the light upon the ceiling above.
They stretched throughout the entire cavern, providing the only light in a potentially ominous setting. But the light itself was warm and cozy, and despite the stone decor, it truly looked like a humble tavern. And, indeed, it was. Ililiana had chucklingly named it the Cavern Tavern, and added a bar and one stone table to complete the image. Travelers were few and far between – it was, after all, the middle of the woods – but they did come, and she was always prepared with free service. The pool of water was no tiny mountain pool – it was the entrance to a long, winding tunnel which eventually opened into an even larger cavern which housed centuries of riches and wealth, glittering and tempting but far out of the reach of greed.
For Ililiana was the hording sort of dragon.
She grabbed a bucket of scraps and approached the pool, planning on dumping the pile into the clear water for her fish, when a tiny voice interrupted.
“Can I do that?”
Ililiana neither gasped nor startled – she was not the startling kind. Instead, she raised her eyes to the glow vines, searching, seeking...ah, yes. There. A tiny faerie, swinging her legs and generally looking cheery. Ililiana smiled, pleased that such a creature had decided to grace her cavern; fae were considered lucky, in mountains such as these.
“I doubt your tiny arms could manage.”
But the fae was already on another topic.
“How did you get the vines so big? I can never get mine past the ground.”
“Well, I...”
“Do you really have fish? Would they eat me?”
“I’m not...”
The faerie continued firing questions at her until finally, Ililiana remained silent and waited. When the flow ebbed, she interjected.
“Your name, tiny one?”
“Oh, that’s easy. I’m Geldenwing.”
Ililiana smiled, and a friendship began.
* * *
Geld had had quite enough of it. The man had been brooding in the corner for three whole minutes, just standing there, leaning against the wall and acting as if he didn’t want a lick of attention.
She’d show him.
She fluttered his way, pausing in front of his face and irately crossing her arms.
“What’s your name?” It was more of a demand than a question. He raised his shadowed face, revealing deep red, glinting eyes. He was no vampire, but he was close. She didn’t so much as squeak, and that seemed to intrigue him. But still, he didn’t speak.
“What’s your name, huh? What is it, what is it? Maybe I’ll just call you Darky.”
It took hours of persistent teasing, but finally he gave in and provided a name: Vincent. Encouraged by this progress, Geldenwing decided to make him her pet project – she would have him out of that corner and involved in conversations, or she wasn’t worthy of her species.
It took her weeks, but she finally wrangled an authentic smile from him. A few more weeks, and he was actually greeting her with what passed for cheer in his dark personality. Ililiana always watched him closely; unlike her tiny friend, she was not so sure of this man’s good heart. Geldenwing had a tendency to trust anyone and anything, including bug zappers. It was this blind trust which made Ililiana so protective of the girl – it was such an easy trait to exploit.
But despite all the worry, Vincent ended up proving his loyalty and devotion to the faerie beyond all reasonable doubt.
* * *
It was a jolly day in the Cavern Tavern; Geld had made yet another friend, in the form of a young woman with shimmering blond hair and blue eyes straight out of a fantasy novel. Her name was Eil, and she and Geldenwing were swapping stories of men which had approached them. Eil had a wonderfully charming tendency to blush at the slightest romantic innuendo, and Geldenwing was taking full advantage, perched on the edge of the counter-top and dangling her legs, just as the first time Ililiana had seen her.
Vincent stood his silent vigil in the corner of the room, but was obviously listening in on the female gossip, and even produced his rare smile several times at particularly amusing tales. Geldenwing had to biggest whoppers to tell, of course – her diminutive size made any attempts for courtship ridiculous, but still, men were infatuated by the tiny lady.
A warrior entered, then – Geldenwing gave him her standard “Greetings, friend!,” and flit over to ask for what he might like. She didn’t notice the greedy look in his eyes, nor how Vincent, placid, steady Vincent, gave the man a look of true loathing and grasped the hilt of his seldom-used sword.
She did, however, notice when the bag went over her head.
She shrieked and flailed her tiny arms, trying to find an opening – plop! The bag hit what must have been the floor. She could hear yelling, screaming, roaring – Ililiana must have shifted to dragon! She never did that! The screaming was Eil, most likely hiding behind the bar as she and Geldenwing had decided they’d do, should a real fight break out.
But that yelling...
It was...inhuman. Demonic. Positively primeval. She didn’t even recognize the voice; but she knew the sounds of fighting.
“Help! Help me!”
The bag was thick, heavy leather – her cries were muffled. The fight was becoming more violent, and heading her way; she could vaguely hear hard footsteps stomping the ground nearby.
“Don’t step on me! Help!”
Still searching for the way out, she suddenly realized the fighting had stopped. And now there was complete, utter silence. Geldenwing was in tears by now – what had happened? Where were her friends? Why oh why was she still in the bag?
Her mind raced as she desperately searched for an opening – the leather was simply too thick, she was starting to suffocate. The sheer weight of it pushed at her tiny body, and she was becoming weaker by the second...
Light burst into the bag as Ililiana opened it, then reached in and gently removed Geldenwing from inside. Geld coughed and winced at the sudden light, then looked around, totally confuzzled.
“What happened, Lilia?”
Ililiana’s face was smooth and stern – she seemed oddly satiated, in the appetite sort of way. But her gaze lifted from Geldenwing and settled on a spot far behind her. A tear ran down her cheek.
Gelden turned – and suddenly launched herself into the air as fast as she could, flitting toward where Eil knelt. Next to her, on the cold, stone floor, Vincent lay in an ominously large puddle of his own blood. He was still breathing, but each breath forced blood to bubble out of his mouth, and rivulets of the stuff ran from his nostrils and left ear.
“Vince! Oh, Vince, what’s happened?”
Sobbing, Geldenwing desperately tried to stopper the blood flowing from a wound three times larger than her entire body on his chest. The harder she tried, the less he bled – but everyone present knew this was because he was simply running out of blood to bleed, not because she was achieving anything remotely useful.
Eil gently spoke, her voice quaking but strong.
“I can help him. Out of the way, quickly.”
Trembling but utterly trusting, covered head to toe in his blood, Geldenwing stepped off of her dear friend’s chest.
“Rags – bring me rags, so I can bandage him.”
“Lilia, Eil says she needs...”
Geld stared into the large cavern, baffled. Ililiana was gone. Eil needed rags, and Ililiana was gone. Vincent was dying, Eil needed rags, and Ililiana had vanished.
For the first time in her life, Geldenwing felt truly betrayed.
Already Eil was spreading her hands over Vincent’s broken body, soon-to-be-corpse. No light emanated, no sound was made – but magic crackled in the air around them both. Geldenwing certainly knew the sense of magic.
Eil still needed rags.
Geld flitted towards the bar and grabbed the first rag she found in both hands. she carried the dry towel to the sink, spent a minute or so negotiating how to turn the faucet on, then dampened it as best she could. But when she tried to lift it, the weight proved too much – she couldn’t manage it.
And Eil needed rags, to help Vincent stay alive.
A distant, hazy memory – her father, heading off to trade with the humans. Not fae-sized. Human-sized. Wings, clothes, everything larger. His enormously large teeth, his head-sized fingernails...all he had to do was...was...think bigger thoughts...
And suddenly, she was human-sized. Well, almost. Everything certainly seemed smaller to her, but the counter still just barely topped her height.
That didn’t matter, though. She needed to bring Eil rags.
She grabbed as many as she could, dampened them (an activity which she had seen Ililiana do countless times, and so assumed this was always what one did with rags), and ran them to a very haggard-looking Eil. Eil seemed quite startled by the change, but didn’t comment. And Vincent...
“He’s better!”
“Yes,” Eil explained, “but only just. His insides were all scrambled; he has to take it easy...”
Geld had already dumped the pile of rags next to Eil and taken Vince into her tiny arms, hugging him as fiercely as she could. He coughed and sputtered, but remained alive. Geld was ecstatic, until she remembered that something had happened, and she didn’t know what.
“What happened? It was so dark and quiet in that bag, how were you hurt?”
Ililiana’s voice drifted from the water pool as she herself rose up from the watery depths, dripping and making a veritable mess.
“He fought for you. That man wanted to kidnap you.”
Geldenwing stared from Ililiana to Vincent. Then she beamed.
“I always said you were the good sort.”
He nearly smiled at that. Geld turned back to Ililiana.
“Where did you go? Eil needed rags!”
Ililiana tipped her chin up a bit, causing an eerie glint to enter her eyes. For the first time in her life, Geldenwing felt afraid of her dragoness friend.
“You don’t want to meet me when I’ve tasted blood.”
* * *
Vincent was never quite the same. He went back to brooding constantly, though he would still at least smile when Geld tried to tickle him. For her part, Gelden was as cheerful as ever, and ever-grateful to Eil for saving her dear Vincent’s life. She flickered between child-sized and faerie-sized all the time now, simply to amuse herself and her friends – though it was a long, long while before Ililiana smiled at all her jokes once more, without that deadly, hungry glint in her eye.
Gelden had decided that her new mission in life was to find Eil a mate. Men always hit on the woman, so it was only common sense that one of them would be at least somewhat attractive to her. But so far, Eil’s embarrassment was winning, and Geld was raring to give up. Completely fed up and in the mood for some serious fun, she waited for the next victim to enter the tavern.
The man who entered was large, muscular, and manly in every conceivable way. His eyes were piercing blue, his hair jet-black, and a well-groomed beard spread across his entire lower face. He had a large sword at his side, but there was something very strange about it – and as Geld, child-sized, walked closer to him, she noticed – the entire hilt was completely rusted over! Chances were this man couldn’t even []draw[/i] the blade, much less use it on her Vincent.
Which made him a completely safe victim, if somewhat unstable. She was thrilled. She stopped right in front of him and placed her hands on her hips, trying her darndest to look threatening and failing miserably.
“My friend Eil needs a man. Would you like to be her man?”
He gave her a long, baffled look, then seemed to seriously consider the idea.
“And what would I get out of this?”
His voice was wonderfully baritone and crisp. Geldenwing was liking him more and more.
“Well, you’d get Eil, of course.”
“GELD!”
Eil shrieked from the back of the room, her face beet red and her hands shielding her eyes from view. Geld was delighted by her friend’s distress. But the manly man had other ideas.
“It doesn’t look like she’s interested.”
Geld sighed, pouting.
“No, it doesn’t. It’s a pity, you know – she’s got great birthing hips.”
Eil sank under the table, and the man’s rich laugh filled the cavern. Gelden grinned, pleased that her game was working. But then she caught his eye, and saw something very much like hunger in them – something somewhat darker, scarier, and entirely male.
For the first time in her life, Gelden noticed that her midriff and legs were completely exposed.
It wasn’t Eil who gained a man that night.
* * *
His name was, unlikely enough, Beowulf. When she gave him the same expression others might give a fire-breathing butterfly, he meekly explained that his mother had enjoyed the myth a bit too much. She, in turn, explained that her own name was derived from a word in her native tongue meaning “winged horse.” They both agreed that their names, though unflattering and somewhat embarrassing, were perfectly functional.
Their love blossomed in the following months, gradually and honestly. Gelden soon realized that she couldn’t live without his presence, and he realized the same for her. The entire world became a haven when the two were together, and their joy spread to those nearby. And finally, finally, Beo fell to one knee and proposed his little heart out.
The ceremony itself was tiny and charming. The preacher was an old friend of Beo’s, and in attendance were Eil, Ililiana, Vincent, and three or four other assorted friends. Neither Beo nor Gelden’s family came; fae and humans were never meant to be mates, after all.
But neither of them cared, and life was glorious. They had each other, and the world was right. Beowulf presented her with a thin silver chained-necklace, which grasped a tiny tear-drop fathomless blue amulet. He whispered into her ear, “So that we will never lose each other,” and then handed her the second one. She clipped it around his neck, and the moment they were both fastened, the clasped vanished, leaving a solid chain around both of their necks. Beowulf smiled; during the honeymoon later, he explained that the amulets would seek each other out and glow ever so softly while they were in each other’s presence. If they ever lost one another, they merely needed to search until the amulets brought them together again.
Tears in her eyes, Geldenwing gave him the only present she could offer – wings. Temporary, only for one night, but just as glorious a pair of wings as ever existed, they flew around the world and affirmed their love under the stars.
And the world, as always, was good.
Geldenwing became pregnant with twins. The children developed quickly due to her fae body, and her due date was within three months. Jubilant, Gelden still helped Ililiana tend the Cavern Tavern, but her swelling belly finally caused her, for the first time in her life, to sit still for a while.
Vincent was killed in the second month of her pregnancy.
She found out by hearsay – he’d not come into the tavern for days, but he often went on walkabouts. She hadn’t worried – he always came back, after all.
But, for once, he would never come back.
Gelden was crushed by the loss of her second-oldest friend. Beowulf had a time of trying to cheer her, but she would have none of it. Her distress caused her health to deteriorate, and suddenly Ililiana was called upon to care for the faerie.
Ililiana, however, needed to speak with Gelden. Alone.
She explained that her taste for blood was getting the better of her, and she was terrified that she might hurt Geldenwing, Beowulf, or the children once they were born. Gelden, desperate not to lose another friend, begged with the dragoness to stay...
Ililiana was gone by the next day. She had left the tavern in Geldenwing’s name, taking the faerie’s promise not to let the place fall into ruin.
For the first time in her life, Geldenwing felt abandoned.
Her depression, fermented by madly fluctuating hormones, caused her to go into premature labor a few days after. Frantic with worry, Beo called in the help of Eil, who acted as midwife. Despite all odds, two healthy twins were born – a girl and a boy. The girl, Calianna, had the same wings, twinkling quality, and cherubic face as her mother, and the boy, Vincent, had the same jet-black hair and strong features as his father.
For every one that is taken, another is given in return. Gelden’s sorrow melted away in her devotion to her children and her husband. Their marriage was still happy, and their children only brought them closer together. Vince and Cali grew like weeds, and were soon old enough to talk back. Gelden was delighted by this; she taught them all the tricks she knew, and then some. Together, the three of them drove Beowulf crazy – but he retaliated equally in turn. Joy filled their hearts once more.
But then Gelden got sick.
At first, it was only exhaustion. She was constantly tired, but cheerful as always. Then, her hands started shaking uncontrollably – and soon, she realized she needed to find some help.
Eil was baffled by her condition, but pointed out that healers basically never treated fae, seeing as fae hardly ever became ill. Gelden decided to visit her people, only a few miles away in the woods, and ask if they knew of this condition.
She fluttered into the world, faerie-sized, and went in search of her family. The amulet around her neck started attempting to draw her back towards the tavern, but for the first time ever she ignored it and kept on, determined to find help.
Her reception was a disaster. The moment her people realized it was Geldenwing herself approaching, they started pelting her with tiny pebbles and splinters, trying to drive her away.
“Scata-mere! N’yong ta keli!” Human-tainted! Not welcome here!
For the first time ever, Geldenwing felt rejected. And, even worse, she realized there was no help for her.
Her hands were shaking uncontrollably as she fluttered back towards home, towards her family. Tonight, yes, tonight, she would have to tell Beowulf. Tonight, she would reveal her dark secret – her horrible, utterly mortal secret.
She was going to die.
Sobbing and disoriented, she collapsed to the ground and hugged herself. She thought of his face – his handsome, loving face, gazing straight into hers as he filled her with their children. She thought of her children, her beautiful Caliana and her handsome Vincent, both named after friends long-dead or vanished, both filled with such promise and love for their parents. She thought of Eil, her long-time friend and healer, who had always been a part of the family in everything but blood.
Tonight, she would tell him. Yes, tonight, she would reveal the truth. Tonight –
Everything went black.
* * *
She awoke, groggy and confused. She was lying on the forest floor, but she didn’t recognize the scenery at all – the rocks and trees were covered in soft, damp moss, and the ground was covered with crisp, dead leaves.
Leaves? This meant Autumn! But when she’d left her people, it had been Spring!
Panicked, she sprung from the ground and streaked through the air as fast as her wings could manage. Minutes went by, hours – there, straight ahead, the cavern! Home! But what was this? The entire entrance was covered...with glow vines! But the only way that could happen would be...
Nobody’s been here to prune them!
“Beowulf! Beowulf! Cali, Vincent, Beowulf, please!”
She raced through the entire tavern, through all of the rooms, throughout the bar – cobwebs, cobwebs covered everything! But how could this be? This was home, surely Beo would never let it fall into ruin...
* * *
It was hours later. She was perched on the counter-top, sullen and utterly defeated. Her family – all of them, all of their love, all of their life – they were gone. The amulet around her neck dangled uselessly, not pulling her in any direction. Beowulf was gone, completely gone – either dead or...dead. Her children...her beautiful family...
Maybe the world wasn’t so wonderful after all.
Other useful facts:
She won’t bite, but she might kick and scream.
Gelden has no idea how long she was asleep, since she had no idea what year it was before-hand. The human measurement of time is generally meaningless to a faerie, after all. She also has no idea why she fell unconscious.