Claidna

Claidna’s tale begins with a lone pinecone that fell from its branch into the nest of a thrush. Rather than push it from its nest, the small bird kept it among its eggs and sheltered it day and night. When the eggs hatched, so too did the pinecone. Its wooden scales opened to reveal a Fae with bristled wings and skin to match the vessel of her birth. The Rhythm sang her name to her: Claidna. Though Claidna could fly from birth, she did not leave the nest and the bird that had nursed her, and remained with them well after she outgrew the other hatchlings. When she could no longer fit in the nest, she took to sitting on the tree’s branches, and as she became more confident she explored the surrounding pines and the forest floor. Seasons later, Claidna reached her full size and with a few gentle notes and caresses wove herself a home at the foot of the tree, so she could still hear and learn the songs of the birds she called family. Later, following the Rhythm’s guiding tune, Claidna met other Fae and shared with them the beautiful songs the birds sang. Stories of the new Fae that lived a quaint life with the birds spread and more and more Sylvan journeyed to her part of the Mistwood to hear her songs and feel her touch, including an Elf who had once been a warrior but whose wounds had forced him to retire his sword. When he listened to Claidna’s song, the pain of his old wounds faded and the scars vanished from his skin. Not two moons later, another Elf, this one suffering from prolonged sickness, arrived at Claidna’s home and asked for a song, and was healed. One came with a dying flower which, with but a touch, Claidna restored to full bloom. Soon, Sylvan came every day to ask Claidna to cure their ills and mend their injuries. One of these was a Fae so beautiful of heart and body, with curled, ivory horns that reflected the sunlight in dazzling ways, that Claidna fell hopelessly in love with them, and decided to finally fly the nest and follow them to the great Sylvan city of Nyresa. Claidna settled with her partner, and her healing chants granted her the title Lady of Birdsong among the Fae folk. But she could not get accustomed to life in the city. Though built from nature, the city housed thousands of minds all linked to the same Rhythm, and its song Claidna had once found soothing and enchanting now banged deafeningly in her head. In the city, the number of Sylvan needing her powers seemed endless, and with every ailment she cured, the more her voice rubbed raw in her throat and the more empty she felt. Every song took a sip of her power, slowly draining her over time. She longed for her old home and the comfort of her birds, to hear them sing to her, but her partner cherished the comforts of civilization too much to leave the city. When Claidna could stand Nyresa’s noise no longer, she left in the night, her lover still asleep. The moment she left the city’s boundary, her mind calmed as if she was finally resting after an arduous sprint, despite the ache she felt in her heart for leaving her beloved behind. It had been like cutting off a limb to save herself from a trap, a sacrifice necessary for her greater wellbeing. She returned to her house under the tree and discovered a new brood of birds roosting in the nest and learned the sad news of her family’s departure from this world. Despite the avians’ different bloodline, these birds sang the same songs of Claidna’s family and they welcomed her like an old friend. Bereft yet hopeful for the forging of new relationships, it seemed her life would return to normal. But Claidna was not aware that timber-thieves from the outside world had moved into her pine groves during her absence, nor did she know that her beloved was coming to beg her to return to Nyresa. The two parties found each other first, and Claidna stumbled upon the remains of her dearest Fae and followed a trail of blood to the Humans who had killed them and taken their horns as a trophy. Claidna tore the Humans apart with tooth and claw. The Sylvan say the Lady of Birdsong is a lonely spirit who surrounds herself with feathered friends to replace the flock the long-lived Fae had outlived, and that she never speaks to the Sylvan, for she fears she may once again become too attached to someone she dare not lose, or lose her voice to endless demands. Humans, however, speak in hushed tones of a soft voiced creature of pine that slaughters any who wander too deep into the Mistwood.