Beginning with the eldest, we'll start with one we do already know: Ullin of Iona.
While yes we do know him quite very well, we perhaps do not know him as well as we think.
In 'Come Hell and High Water' we will get to see a side of Ullin that even our Characters will probably never know about. He has kept many things to himself over his very long life. Some he might one day share with others; some he may never reveal ... even to us.
We know him as the mentor, protector, and friend of our fictional family.
He is probably seven feet tall, very slender (okay downright skinny), very Powerful, and very bald. There's an ungainly grace about him that endears him to us - and a strength that seems to have no bounds. He carries his authority almost carelessly but there's never been any question about it being quite very real. Ullin of Iona bears the Staff of Authority by the grace of the Holy Trinity and the Mother Spirit in particular.
So what are we going to learn about Ullin?
We're going to find out what is maybe his most personal secret, and we are going to find him at a time in his life that nobody really ever knew for sure even ever existed.
Enough about Ullin.
We've got a whole slew of other Characters to get to know.
Attitudinal Alia of Tarnos, for one.
Alia is the daughter of LittleEthan and his pert little wife Julia of Tarnos, as you might recall from Mamm of Dunnottar. She was only a baby when we met her; now she is a very old woman, although true to her name. They don't call her Attitudinal Alia for nothing. Ruler of the Tarnos holdings, she will brook no challenge to her authority. Not that anyone has ever tried to challenge her that we know of. She raises the colts and fillies of Red Rogue the Unruly and Ordha (just as unruly) with the love and discipline she would have spent on her own young ones had she had any. Her husband was reckless although charming and loving. He was chasing a bandit or some such and chased him right over a cliff, if I remember right.
When little Alianora Lairdubh (called simply Lairdubh as there are already enough Alianoras to try to keep track of) was born Keeper of the Faith, to follow Alianora of Dunnottar (see? three right there), old Attitudinal Alia of Tarnos chose little Lairdubh as her heiress.
Little Lairdubh has a Destiny to fulfill and it isn't going to be an easy one. She will one day wield great Power but must first learn to curb her own little tempestuous self.
On the day of little Lairdubh's birth Ullin of Iona shows up in his 'official' fancy dress robes so everyone knows there's something extra special about this little one. They are all called on to help keep track of her (she's an Alianora, after all) by Hart who is her designated Guard and Protector.
Hart was brought by Ullin as a newborn, some twelve years or so back, where he was sheltered for a time. Ullin 'adopted' him as his protege and teaches Hart a lot of Druid things that a lot of people don't know.
At any rate, Hart too has a Destiny to fulfill. He has a dozen or so battles to fight and a leadership role to play. He is our 'Arthur' Character, if you're wondering, although not so's you'd notice really. His life hasn't got much in common with the traditional version of King Arthur.
Hart is of an age with the Young Ones of Dunnottar. These are four cousins born in the same year as Hart: Colum, Saorsa (means 'freedom' in Scots Gaelic), and Marra and Mamm the Younger who are red-headed twins. The five of them grow up knowing each other pretty well as Hart is always with Ullin who is often at Dunnottar.
Colum, Saorsa, Marra, and Mamm the Younger take their early training on Dunnottar itself. Their parents are fully capable of training them, plus they've got the brothers of the Old Ones, Dedan and Saba, to help with that. Because Dedan and Saba have powers of their own that are a surprise the few times they wield them, these four Young Ones of Dunnottar get more of an 'education' than just about anyone else in the world. They wind up with powers that Dedan and Saba have shared with them and can throw fireballs and make snakes and such appear and disappear.
The four of them are ... well ... 'wild child times four' I guess might work. They get into all kinds of trouble but get themselves out of it by being kind, generous, creative, and more charming than the law should allow. Everyone loves the dickens out of them - when they aren't wanting to flay them alive.
They're all tall and slender (actually slender, not skinny and bony like Ullin) with long long legs. Colum is dark haired and dark eyed; Saorsa is blonde and blue eyed (or is it green?); the twins have red hair, and the deep blue eyes of Alaric. Our OWN Alaric, not Alaric II who had no business bearing the name but that's another story altogether and we're not going to go into it here.
When the Young Ones are about twelve or so the New Younglings start coming along, led (sort of) by little Lairdubh. These are the children of the original Younglings of Dunnottar, although one of them is the son of one of their close friends, Comgaill of Dal Riata. Most of them belong to Dothann and Rua, and Brann and Andras (of Cornwall) - a half dozen redheaded girls with dark eyes and a half dozen blond green-eyed boys who are like clones of Brann. Four come from Diann and Corrbed, two girls and two boys.
Yep.
And that's just the 'Dunnottar Folk'.
The other half of Hell and High Water's story line has to do with a really ancient time. Not dinosaur ancient, but mammoth and saber-cat ancient is still pretty long ago.
We've got the first (that we know of) Mamm character coming into our story. She is Mamm of Phi and is in line to be Queen but we don't really pay much attention to that as her 'queen-dom' isn't exactly a part of our story in any real sense of the word.
In escaping a horrible event, at least the initial horrifying part of it, she rescues a little boy and the pair of them hook up with Danann of Phi (who is a true Danann as he's big, strong, smart, and maybe a little arrogant). These three Phi Survivors make it out of the danger zone of *North America* and get to *Australia* where Old Dan teaches them a thing or two or three about survival and then sends them on their way to do what they have to do when they have to do it by being where they're supposed to be when they're supposed to be there.
They stop in Morocco to pick up Clara whose people have been so devastated that only a few of the young ones choose to even try to rebuild.
Then they head to Andorra where they add Etan and Ellae to their group. Etan is the son of a smith (silversmith) and this is one strong and skilled little boy already. Ellae is the eldest daughter of a brood, and has a magical smile.
It is at Andorra's Gateway to the Realm of the Gentle Ones that the above group comes to join with another group of survivors.
This second group has been hanging out with the Gentle Ones for a while; before that they were at Orkney, which hosts a school of navigation that lots of folk come to for training.
In this second group, we find our own Alianora and her husband Drustann of Dunnottar. They have gone deep into the past in search of the true meaning behind the Faith which they will be passing on to little Lairdubh, the next Keeper, and they landed at Orkney.
There they met Elder, Coinne, and Deene - these are the figures of Authority at Orkney. Coinne and Deene are Star Folk come home to teach and to learn. Elder is an old man with cheerful eyes.
Also from Orkney are a pair of brothers who are Drustann look-alikes. They are Dru and Brod with whom Alianora has a love-hate thing going. They're as annoying as any brothers could be but look so much like Drustann (and have good hearts) that she can't help liking them.
There are two others who show up at the Gateway of the Gentle Ones at this meeting of the paths: Lann and Birchta of the Southern Forest (which has burnt to a crisp and is no more) have been rescued by the Gentle Ones and brought here to connect with the rest of this growing group of survivors.
Poor Alianora about has conniption fits when she sees all these people who look so very much like members of her own family.
Birchta and Lann look just like her youngest sister Aine and her husband Kalann.
Mamm of Phi looks just like Mamm of Dunnottar but has sea-eyes instead of green ones.
Danann of Phi looks just like Wally of the West, one of the brothers of Mamm of Dunnottar.
As they continue their journey, the group has to stop at the shore of the North Sea while they figure out how to get across to Orkney.
This is where our final Character, Maggie, joins them. She has been saved and kept safe (from the destruction got that the rest of her people) by the giant Eagles of the area.
And so ... the above is our Cast of Characters for Come Hell and High Water.
Welcome to our Story. Find a hearth to sit in front of and we'll tell you the Story as it unfolds. If you don't want to wait for this one, try this link to get you started on (or continuing with) the books before this one.
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