Ceridwyllia is an Unseelie Lost One in the Duchy of Magnolia's Home.
Overview[]
The Lost One who inhabits a freehold locked within a stand of pink magnolia trees outside of Natchez, Mississippi, has dwelled within her palatial dream prison for centuries, since the Shattering caught her unaware. A noble of House Eiluned, once known for her powerful sorceries and her affinity for nature, Ceridwyllia quickly pulled together as much Glamour as she could in order to construct a wall of dreams between herself and the harsh material world.
In her fear, she ripped Glamour from a band of local Nunnehi, destroying their faerie natures and removing their spirits from their part of the Dreaming. This action thrust her irrevocably into her Unseelie nature just as she completed the final enchantments to seal her entirely within a pocket of the Dreaming. The mortal world closed around her and abandoned her to her desperate, frightened, murderous dreams.
Over the centuries, Ceridwyllia has grown more and more maddened with her desperate state. Her nightmarish dreams have taken shape around her, forming themselves into hideous chimerical beings that alternately torment and grovel before her. Some of these creatures have begun to awaken to a kind of sentience and whisper to her of dark happenings in the world beyond her grasp. This only serves to intensify her fear that one day someone will penetrate her sanctuary and bring about her destruction. To this end, she has devised certain protections that discourage outsiders from approaching her guarded realm of Sweet Magnolia's Grove and punish those who persist or ignore her warnings. For her, existence within the Dreaming has become a perpetual sojourn in the realm of Nightmare.
Like all true fae, Ceridwyllia's abilities far exceed those of normal changelings. She possesses a keen knowledge of plants and herbs, has a truly enchanting singing voice, and, true to her Eiluned heritage, can manipulate anyone or anything to do her bidding (though she has little opportunity to do so in her present circumstances). She is a master of Sovereign and Chicanery with some knowledge of Dream-Craft and Primal.
Image[]
Ceridwyllia is tall and slender, with torrents of dark chestnut hair framing her delicate face and cascading in ripples down her back. Her eyes are a pale blue, giving her face the vacant innocence of a china doll. She dresses in gowns of black and pink gossamer, spun from dreams. Like all Lost Ones, she has no mortal seeming.
Personal[]
Every day they get closer, those who mean to harm her. She has held herself apart from the great coldness outside for what seems like thousands of years, though perhaps only a few days have passed since she hid within the Dreaming. It doesn't matter; only survival matters. To that end, she sends her fears outward from her home, hoping to keep herself safe and inviolate as long as she can. Sometimes she wonders what it would be like to break through her enchantments and step outside; most of the time, though, she owns that it would be her death.
References[]
- CTD. Kingdom of Willows, pp. 145-146.