Cailte
From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe
| |
| Pogue mahone, smeg'ead. | |
| Cailte McDonough | |
| Player: @FHS | |
| Origin: | Natural (Lycanthrope) |
|---|---|
| Archetype: | Tanker |
| Security Level: | 5o |
| Personal Data | |
| Real Name: | Confidential |
| Known Aliases: | McDonough |
| Species: | Garou, Fianna tribe |
| Age: | mid-late 30's |
| Height: | 5' 8" |
| Weight: | 235 lbs. |
| Eye Color: | hazel |
| Hair Color: | brown |
| Biographical Data | |
| Nationality: | Irish |
| Occupation: | professional bum |
| Place of Birth: | an Umbral realm |
| Base of Operations: | Confidential |
| Marital Status: | Confidential |
| Known Relatives: | mother, Diana Katsulas; father, Duke Belasko |
| Known Powers | |
| unnatural toughness and resiliance, various shapeshiting forms, other Gaia-given powers | |
| Known Abilities | |
| uncanncy resistance to alcohol and other toxins | |
| Equipment | |
| Confidential | |
| No additional information available. | |
Contents |
History
Earliest Memories
Cailte McDonough was born to Diana "Stains-of-Blood" Katsulus in 1993. The product of an unspoken of tryst with an unknown Changeling (assumed to be the Satyr knight Leonardo, but later found to be the Shadow Court Duke Belasko), Diana showed atypical mercy for a Black Fury. Rather than disposing of the male child in the most simple and convenient manner, she traveled deep into the Umbra, finding her way to the realm of Avalon. Knowing her son to be a product of fae origin, she left him with the denizens of the realm, the Kithain and the Fianna garou.
With Avalon's altered flow of time, the child grew quickly while his mother's inched along. Adopted by a clan of local Fianna, the child was given the name Cailte because of his swiftness (Cailte being the fastest of Fionn MacCumhail's Fianna). Taking a name from a prominent family in his newfound family, the child became Cailte McDonough.
As a youth, he learned of his Garou heritage, and as his auspice demanded, he began absorbing the tales and history of the Fianna and all Garou. He learned to play the fiddle, hold his drink (if not his temper), and how to brew the drafts the Fianna craved so.
Soon after his first change at age 13, he was sent on his Rite of Passage. Asked to relay a message to a distant fae castle, he stumbled through the forests of Avalon, becoming lost, then found, then lost again. Again, the mists and whirlwinds of the Realm worked on him, and he was nearly two years in completing his quest. At journey's end there was a sidhe wilder, a Countess Selene, and there was an instant spark. In the following year, McDonough became immersed in Kithain lore, politics, and way of life. Accepted by most because of the ancient pacts between the Fianna and the Kithain, he learned their ways, even as Selene taught him the ways of love. Finally, their passion waned, and he returned to his Clan, successfully completing his Rite. No one asked where he had received the moonstone necklace he still wears to this day. It's origins are obviously fae, though its functions remain mostly in mystery still.
No longer a cub, the elders asked him what he would like in the way of a reward for completing his Rite of Passage. Responding "Me ma... me da'," caused them to emit sighs of apprehension. Not one of them could tell him who his parents were. No theurge, no Kithain seer could tell him more than what Selene had once divined for him; he was born of Kithain and Garou, a dark father and a warrior mother. The elders knew his answers would not be found in Avalon, and so sent him back to Gaia's realm.
Arriving in Arizona, he spent time there making himself acclimated to the new world before him. The Uktena respected his connections with the fae folk, and in return for teaching them of their ways, the Uktena showed him gifts and adopted him into their folds. He apprenticed under a member of the raider camp, and participated in thefts and raids across Arizona and New Mexico.
His first real pack was a raider pack that went against leeches often, specializing in twilight hit-and-run attacks. Two tradegies befell the pack before his time was done with them. The first was nearly his undoing. Even though he could recite the Litany from memory, he very nearly broke the first law. The Fianna, always known for their passions, were fond of singing ballads about garou lost to forbidden love. The Fury Jen "Fells-Hawks", less chauvinistic than much of her tribe, warmed to the strange Fianna, and a love nearly blossomed. The elders watched and sternly rebuked them, and McDonough lost much of the honor and renown he had gained up to that point.
The second tragedy befell the pack soon after his punishment had been passed down. The pack was ordered to recover a relic from a Wyrm-tainted leech, one that knew their ways and the ways of the wilderness. The pack, perhaps distracted by the fall of two of its members, was caught offguard by the leech's power and ferocity. The gangrel antitribu killed two Garou, including Jen "Fells-Hawks", and embraced a kinfolk who had been guarding an escape route. Jen died cursing McDonough, for had he been more quick to react, he could have saved her life. In his shame and rage, the young galliard threw himself into combat with the leech, succeeding in killing it, but not before the Sabbat had very nearly laid open the garou's throat with a vicious swipe of his claws.
The elders disbanded the pack, and McDonough was brought before the council in shame. Reduced to Athro again, he was given a special mission instead of further punishment. He was to follow the newly embraced kinfolk to a faraway area, and once there, insinuate himself into the local leech community and verify the presence of a large cache of talens and fetishes. Traveling with Kuskin, the new gangrel, by night, they made their way across several states, stopping after crossing the Mississippi River and following the Ohio north and east for a time. There, Kuskin fell in with the local Kindred community, and McDonough looked on from nearby, aiding where he could. He remained largely in the background, until Kuskin called on his help in order to rescue the Prince of the city. His foot in the door, the Fianna solidified his position the night Kuskin was killed by a marauding willbender. In his rage, McDonough frenzied, and ripped the mage to pieces. He would have turned on others around him had the Prince not intervened.
This encounter helped him complete his insinuation into the leech's confidence. He was even invited to an Elysium, where he met many if the higher ranking leeches of the city. McDonough's slaying of the mage gave him status in all sorts of societies, and he used that to further his mission. Over the months he spent in the city, the young Fianna learned a great deal about the leeches therein. The Prince, a French woman calling herself Lilyth, surprised him with her knowledge of his own people. She again surprised him, though she did not realize it, when he detected that she bore only the very faintest traces of the Wyrm-taint that he had always associated with the undead. The last surprise came after a year of his having lived within her city, when she calmly informed the garou that she had guessed his mission, and agreed to show him the collected items. She convinced him that they were safe in her care, and that should they actually be needed, she would relinquish them to the Garou tribes. Mulling this news over, McDonough assumed that his mission was completed. The next day, he left the city and returned to the Sept in Arizona.
The extended time away from the Uktena was his downfall. Time eroded his support, and despite his success, the council of elders had him banished from their Sept as a leech-pawn. Disgusted with the politicking, the young Fianna left his new home, and returned to Avalon. Still, having yet to locate his parents, his wanderlust was still active. A brief reunion with Selene gave him the idea to travel to other realms and therein search and try to make a name for himself. She told him that they would never meet again as her soothsaying foretold, but she gave him one last gift. With the help of a Fianna theurge, they weaved magics both of Glamour and Gnosis, and etched onto him a tattoo. It covered his neck and snaked upwards across his face, covering and helping to conceal the scar left by the gangrel. The magics, she told him, would give him some measure of protection against further battle damage.
Kissing, the lovers parted one last time. Sidestepping away, the Fianna made his way off into the Deep Umbra.
Formative Years
After leaving Avalon, Cailte McDonough traversed the Penumbra, and eventually the deep Umbra, stopping in several realms for a brief time. It was in one such realm where he stayed. Emerging from the local anchorhead, he slipped from the surrounding Penumbra at the base of an ancient tree in the midst of a bustling city. He had arrived in Neverwinter.
He found this realm a magical one, with many Burgess able to harness magicks. So too were there monsters of legend here. No chimera were these, and soon he found himself battling minotaurs, trolls, and dragons. He reveled in the glory he gained, forgetting worries as he combated the evil around the city and others in the same area. It was during a pitched battle with an undead group that he fought alongside a curious duo. There was enough Glamour in the air, coupled with that which the duo was utilizing, for him to glean them through their seemings. He watched them curiously, but the male of the pair noticed. The man smiled, and whispered to his companion, and in a violet flash, they were both gone.
Fate intervened, and days later, McDonough spied the two Kithain along with another. After some fumbled attempts to introduce himself, the Fianna got to know the three; Kerrgon (a sidhe), DePhroge (a satyr), and Panachii (a pooka). They invited the eager Garou to attend court, and so McDonough stumbled into the Ravenmane Court.
Over the weeks and months that followed, he came to know many of his full-blooded associates and friends. The Queen, Ilysianna Ravenmane, her beauty unparalleled even for a sidhe, her desire for balance shown by her rejection of the courts and her embrace of both Seelie and Unseelie. DePhroge, the unabashed mistress of the Shadow Court, with whom the Fianna would have many near affairs with as he explored more of his father's heritage and was tempted by the dark Glamour. Kerrgon, his arrogance and self-proclaimed title "Lord of Nightmares" backed up fully by his ability. Dwar Amaav, a mighty troll seer and bodyguard to the queen, her oldest confidant and fellow exile from Arcadia. Krelestro, the false sidhe and first suitor to the queen. Centruo, who would become McDonough's fastest friend and mentor, and with the Garou's encouragement and advice, would eventually ask and win the hand of Ilysianna, becoming king himself. Jaliycia, the littlest sidhe, adopted daughter of Ilysianna, heir apparent to the throne, and the most voracious listener to the old tales the galliard would tell. Kyrasha, the eshu who hailed from the same realm as he, whose temptations and his flings with ended violently when she surrendered her spirit to the Wyrm.
Many others came into the fold, and others left. Luchsaugig, another troll, who loved the pale Kyrasha to the point of being Undone by her when her banality threatened those around her. Bronwynna, the feline pooka, Undone by the slaver who tricked her. Chyltai and Chytina, pookas both, who's searches for adventure led them away from the freehold. Geal Suil, the sidhe posing as an eshu, who McDonough had saved once, promising her mother that he would help her. Dey Kemlar, the wandering sidhe, who helped McDonough begin to unlock the Glamour of Selene's pendant.
One thing that bothered the Fianna, even to the present day, was the lack of other Garou. He met few, but formed one close friendship. Raishtal, another Fianna galliard, took him under her wing. Gaia had truly blessed her, as her cubs, though conceived with her Get of Fenris mate Wolfgarde, were free of the metis curse, healthy and vibrant. Her life was ended, tragically, when she tried to keep a hungry Kindred away from the caern that she protected. Adding to McDonough's misery was the fact that a year later, he learned that it had been Jeanna, one of the few Kindred he felt he could trust. Raishtal's death was the same for Garde's attempt to reform the Pack, the original and largest group of Garou in the area. Without the Get's leadership, the few other Garou scattered, and even as Beta, McDonough could do little but wish them luck and skill. Only one packmate remained after the exodus. Derbforgaile, a Fianna ragabash who had once run with his mother, teased and annoyed him, but he secretly welcomed the company. She disappeared herself, only to reappear when needed most, helping McDonough and a handful of Kithain in defeating a powerful Bane that had taken up residence in the galiard's dreams. Derbforgaile apparently died in the process, leaving McDonough as the last of his kind that he was aware of in the realm.
Sadly, the Ravenmane court was forced to abandon its Neverwinter freehold. Multitude were the reasons for the Kithain exit, but one still plagues the Fianna to this day. He had found a lover in a woman named Izabau, and he had fought to gain her acceptance within the court. A mere Burgess, she was considered beneath the station he had risen to. Ilysianna had made McDonough a duke for his service to her court, but he cast down his title for the love of Izabau. All his sacrifice was thwarted when a servant of his father, Duke Belasko, appeared before him with a geas. Forced to return to his father, McDonough set Izabau up in his quarters within the freehold. He had enchanted her, having been trained by Centruo on the use and wielding of Glamour. The forced and sudden departure levied upon him by his father and his servant Dubhfiach was the final straw for the embattled and fragile woman. Misunderstanding the Fianna's departure, and thinking it final, she took her own life. The Banality of her actions was part of the crippling effects that led to many of the Kith fleeing the freehold.
In the interim, Kyrasha took the grief-stricken galliard and offered comfort, but revealed to him her Wyrm-tainted soul when she tried to rip from him a part of his own. In his rage, he very nearly killed her. Instead, his attack only ruined her face, and he left her broken body with the king, knowing that the next time they met, even the king might not save her.
Another Burgess won his heart a time later, but the end result was nearly the same. Morrigan Rahenane had the fiery temper to match his own, her arrogance and livasciouness proved to be her undoing, earning her the enmity of several members of the court. Ilysianna banning of Burgess from the freehold led to McDonough's bitter combating of such a proclamation. He won, in the end, but the strain of the fight and the efforts of a few court members led to Morrigan's departure from the court, obstinsively on business, but none, including the duke, expects her return. Oddly enough, it is one of Morrigan's most vocal critics that soon held the Fianna's attention. Kelzyia, sister to Kerrgon, stood up to him, and afforded him some grudging respect after they fought. In subsequent searches for the missing king, the two became fast friends.
After king's return, the court of the Ravenmanes settled somewhat. The king, forced from his fae memory for some time, was manipulated into leading a Dauntain attack against the freehold, having previously quashed a number of others. The Ravenmane Kith rallied against the attack, and drove off the assailants, but at a cost; McDonough very nearly died from his wounds. It was only DePhroge's healing and Kelzyia's hurculean efforts at death's very door that saved him in the end. Now more closely bound to Keli than ever before, the two began to realize that their friendship was growing into something more. Both moved slowly, wary of their past failures, and their hesitation doomed them in the end.
But in the times following the attack, another of Belasko's plans came to fruition. Led by his lieutenant Dubhfiach, a small army of Fomori attempted to raze the freehold. Led by Cailte, the Kithain of the Ravenmane court rallied foreth and drove them back, apparently killing Dubhfiach in the final battle. The fight did not end without casualties; in the aftermath, Kelzyia was nowhere to be found.
Despondant, Cailte left Toril behind, vowing not to return until he found Keli. Then came word that she had been taken prisinor by Belasko himself. Knowing it was a bait to draw him in, Cailte refused to step into the trap. Spending his time away from Toril, he lost contact with most of its denizens, save for Emira McDaniel, a Fianna ragabash, who tracked him down and became a close friend, and in time, much more. Having denied their mutual attraction since they had met, circumstances intervened, in the form of a pranksterous mage, who inflamed in them their submerged passions. They became lovers, and cemented their relationship. Then came the realization that Emira was carrying their child.
With nowhere else to go, the two Fianna holed up in the wilderness of Minnesota, until her past caught up with her. The remnants of a Black Spiral Dancer pack hired to wipe out her former pack found them, and it was only Cailte's forsight to call in reinforcements that saved them. His mother, Diana Stains-of-Blood, entered the frey and with her pack's aid, killed the BSDs. She carried her son and his lover back to her sept, to recover... and to face the elders and be held accountable for their transgressions against the Litany.
Recent History
The verdict was swift and decisive. Swayed by the adamant refusal of his own mother to forgive him, Cailte was banished from the Sept's land until such a time as his mother could accept him again. Leaving again with Emira, stripped of rank and renown again, shamed, the pair of Fianna left again for Minnesota. Even then, happiness eluded them. As the months passed, Emira became more and more restless. One morning, five months into her pregnancy, Cailte awoke one morning with a goodbye letter. Emira said that she needed to find herself, and Cailte knew that anything he could say or do right now would not be enough. So, after a month of searching fruitlessly, making his way across the country, he ended up on the west coast, outside San Francisco. There, a new chapter in his life was to open, but the town itself proved crawling with leeches, and even as he became known to the city's Garou, the small forming pack was decimated by the death of one of their own at the hands of ancient Kindred. Knowing that the city or its environs was no place for him to raise a cub. So he left, back to the cabin in Minnesota. He waited for Emira, but they missed each other as he took a trip east, to Ravenspoint, in Connecticut. Perhaps there, he might find a place to be the father he knew he was soon to become.
It wasn't in the cards. Through a myriad of errors, he alienated Emira from him, his desperate attempts to become the family man he was honorbound to become. Her absences wounded him, but he kept silent instead of confronting the problem. In a ill-fated, grasping plan to draw Emira into her obligations as a mother, he left Ravenspoint with their metis daughter Meave for the umbral realm of Avalon, where he was raised. Instead of uniting them, Emira's worry caused a mage to come looking for him and Maeve. Their fist encounter found Cailte thrown into the future by the willworker, and when he returned to pull Cailte back, the time spent there had unhinged him a bit. Attacking, Cailte nearly killed the man, only to have something lash out at him, burning his tattoo fetish from his face, feeding the energy there to the mage to keep him alive.
He lay dying there for days, only the chance visit by his cousin, Autumn Lander, saving him. She took him back to her home to recover, and her husband Peter, himself a master mage, gave him lessons in the ways of their kind. Emira had moved to New Orleans with another cousin of his, Zoe, and so when he was able, Cailte left to go south, in order to be closer to his daughter.
Now, he waits, impatiently. The man who scarred him also threatens his daughter, something that will be brought to a reckoning someday soon. Emira keeps Maeve, refusing any apologies he can offer. Knowing that his hopes of family are ruined, Cailte keeps the facade of an amused, carefree man up as he can. Already, the chinks show. It is only a matter of time before something changes... the only constant anymore.
That constant took him north, across country's corders, to the French speaking province and city of Quebec. Family keeps him split between Canada and the New England town of Ravenspoint. Nothing ever completed, he waits on something of which he has no idea. That thing came to fruition the last time he spoke with Emira. Ultimatums were made, and his heart faded a bit that day, when he knew the only way to be the father to Maeve that she deserved was not to try to be her father at all. And so, Emira and Maeve he left behind. Malaise, even Harano might have followed, if not for his adopted family.
Though they have parted company, they still keep in distant contact. For a time, he wandered aimlessly, region to region, busking to fulfill the musician in him, and hunting as a wolf to fulfill the basic needs of hunger. Strangely, he found himself drawn to Paragon City, though now he knows that fate was at the cause for that, for there he has reuinted with his once liegelord, Centruo.
