1) Name: Avalerion ap Adar<br/>2) Alternate Name(s): Emrys Gale<br/>3) Title: King of the Demi-fey, Falcon-lord<br/>4) Physical Description<br/>...... Hair Color: Shoulder length and a light grey in color, soft feathers make up the lower third of his hair. When in his guise as "Gale", he hides this with a powerful illusion to make his hair seem that much shorter. To be safe he also changes his hair color to a deep russet.<br/>...... Eye Color: Instead of black, his pupils are a glacial blue. The Iris' are heterochromatic, the iris of the left eye is brown, while that of the right is a deep forest green. When in his guise as "Gale", he uses his powerful illusions to shift the colors around into the Sidhe tri-iris pattern with first the blue ring, then the green, then the brown.<br/>...... Skin Color: Pale, enough so that one can barely see the bluish veins in his skin. A true "Blue-blood"<br/>...... Glow Color: A deep blue, invoking a cloudless noonday sky.<br/>...... Age: 178<br/>...... Height: Normally: "doll sized"  as Gale: 5' 11"<br/>...... Ancestry: Son of Queen Arundel ap Adar and a consort. The House of Adar is directly descended from the legendary Adar Llwch Gwin, specifically the Fairy Wife of Drudwas ap Tryffin. As such Avalerion has a small amount of human blood from this mighty warrior who was his great grandfather.<br/>...... Marks of Power: As a descendant of the Adar Llwch Gwin, Avalerion has black facial markings similar to the malar stripes of a kestrel, extending from his cheeks to his eyes before turning and going away from the nose before disappearing into his hair. As Gale, he again uses illusions to hide this.<br/>5) Hand(s) of Power, if known: none<br/>6) Additional Power(s), if known:<br/>Fae Illusions: As one of the Demi-fey, Avalerion has an instinctive grasp of the magic that makes up the majority of his being. As such he can form glamour magics without need for great amounts of preparation, only a small amount of blood. Royal blood produces the most intense and powerful illusions, though his own will not suffice without sufficient preparatory magic. Typically Avalerion uses large and flashy illusions to mask the smaller and more important ones he has. An example would be illusioning up a thrown ball of flame to mask the illusion that his sword arm is in a place a few inches or degrees removed from where it appears to be.<br/><br/>Small enough illusions, such as those he uses to change his features as "Gale", are minor enough to mostly fade into the background magic of Faerie, being very difficult to detect.<br/><br/>Language of Birds: Avalerion's heritage from the Adar Llwch Gwin allows him to speak and understand the magical language of birds. He uses this to gather information, as birds see many things and aren't typically inclined to lie about them. In the past, this ability was seen as almost prophetic as a result. It is not. Should he will it, Avalerion can make his dispatch understood by select others. This does not extend to being able to speak it, or understand others speaking it.<br/><br/>Flight: As a Demi-fey, Avalerion can flit about with great maneuverability and speed. Because he does not have any wings, Avalerion tends to hide this ability when he is not wearing his cloak, giving the untrue impression that his human heritage makes him reliant upon the cloak to access this power. While he is shape-changed to human size, this power will not work as he is simply too big and heavy then.<br/><br/>Kiss of Birds: An ability said to be a gift from the Deity, Avalerion can heal the wounds of whosoever he kisses.<br/><br/>Shape-change: As a particularly potent example of a Demi-fey, Avalerion has the coveted ability to transform into a human-sized form of himself. Normally this does not change any of his features. Nor does this extend to clothing, necessitating he keep a few sets for use then. This power is one of the most closely guarded secrets of the Demi-fey, and Avalerion keeps it well.<br/><br/>7) Court: Demi-fey<br/>8) Godhead, if known: none<br/>9) Place in Story: King of the Demi-fey<br/>10) Special Stuff:<br/>House Adar Cloak: The cloak worn by Avalerion is styled like the folded wings of a Kestrel, the feathers and patterns clearly visible in the thread. It adjusts its size in accordance to the one who wears it, and is always snug and warm. With a motion, the wearer can also cause the cloak to unfurl into a pair of wings similar to those of a Kestrel. Avalerion has not disabused the commonly held rumor that this allows feature makes up for his human heritage, allowing him to fly. But neither has he told the truth. He finds it convenient for others to underestimate him at times.<br/><br/>Carnwennan: A dagger, styled similar to a dirk. Its clean blade hosts no markings of any kind, its broad blade guard no engravings. It is made out of a dull, matte grey material that seems to suck the color out of everything around it, the darkness out of everything, grinding them down into shades of grey. The hilt is a solid piece of white oak, with a ball of the grey metal serving as the pommel of this banal dagger. The story behind the dagger explains the unsavory reputation it has, even among those who wield it. When the great warrior Drudwas ap Tryffin went to war against the Pendragon, he used the oaths of loyalty through his marriage into the Adar Llwch Gwin to bind them to his cause. Specifically they were to fight the warrior who first took to the field. Fate, however, played a cruel trick. Arthur, who should have been first onto the field of battle was delayed, and the Adar Llwch Gwin were forced by their oaths to kill Drudwas. Being just and sorrowful for this unfair onus put upon the Adar, Arthur took on all responsibility for the death of Drudwas and paid weregild to the newly widowed Fairy Wife. That weregild was his dagger, Carnwennan, which had been used by Arthur to slay one of the most powerful Unseelie Witches of his time, an evil being that called herself the Midnight Witch.<br/><br/>The Carnwennan is a baleful dagger, having an almost animalistic hunger to it, seeking to destroy magic that it touches. It cleaves through protective magic with trivial ease, rending them like so much paper. The wounds it causes are also resistant to healing magics, and even a seemingly light wound can be draining to a Faerie creature. Being more or less pure magic, Carnwennan is even more deadly when used against a Demi-fey. Indeed, it is only the human heritage of the House of Adar that allows them to even wield it, and even then it does not protect them from the dagger's hateful bite or the discomfort all Faerie things feel when it is unsheathed.<br/><br/>However, despite its dread potency, Carnwennan is still a dagger. Its reach is short, and its balance and shape make it unwieldy when used by someone of a Demi-fey's size. Mundane armor also stops it just as well as any other dagger.<br/><br/>History: Adar Llwch Gwin. It was the ancient name of Avalerion's family. Their heritage, their proud clan. Before the ascendency of the House of Adar the Demi-fey were not a people unified under a court like other Faerie creatures. Being, in a very real way, Faerie itself, moving from the clan like system they used simply never occurred to them. Some clans would ally with Unseelie, causing mischief as was their nature. Others would ally with the Seelie, still causing mischief but more of the type that tended to help more than hinder. As was their nature. And still others allied with neither court, keeping to themselves. The system worked, and few cared that they were slowly being subsumed by the Sidhe courts.<br/><br/>That changed with the rise to power of the Adar. While they had been a powerful clan, the Adar Llwch Gwin, who tended to take the form of hawks, were not the rulers of the Demi-fey by far. They were, however, fiercely independent. And like a few other Demi-fey clans they made alliances, dalliances, and marriages with humans at times. So it was that one of the mightiest warriors of the time, Drudwas ap Tryffin, was married into the Adar. It was a marriage alliance of convenience for both. The Adar wanted an ally in human affairs, and Drudwas needed magical aid if he wished to keep his independence from the Pendragon. Using his marriage oaths to the Adar, Drudwas secured the aid of his new family members, who he made vow would kill with first warrior who took the field of battle. Arthur was delayed to the field, however, and not realizing this Drudwas took to the field. Bound by their sacred oaths the Adar wept as they tore their human brother asunder.<br/><br/>While it was only a chance of Fate that caused this, being the kind and just king that he was, Arthur could not help but to feel responsible for the death of Drudwas. Thus he quit the war and gave Drudwas a burial fit for a warrior of his stature. He also paid weregild to the now pregnant widow of Drudwas: his own dagger Carnwennan. Being human, Arthur did not know much of the Demi-fey or magic in general, that being the purview of his mentor and advisor: Merlin. Thus he did not understand just what he had given up. The Fairy Wife did.<br/><br/>She soon gave birth to a half-human son Bran ap Adar. And when he came of age she gave him Carnwennan, knowing that only he among the Demi-fey could wield it. For his human blood protected him from the baleful presence of the blade in his hands. Bran was as ambitious as his father, and as fiercely independent as his mother. Using the Carnwennan and his raw charisma and powerful magic, Bran united the clans of the Demi-fey into a true court, styled after those of the Sidhe. In doing this he declared that the Demi-fey would not be subsumed and would maintain their affairs separately. Bran ap Adar was the grandfather of Avalerion, the current King of the Demi-fey.<br/><br/>Avalerion is the first King of the Demi-fey born on American soil, having been born to Queen Arundel 178 years ago. As such he is more in touch with modernity than many Fae. When he was younger, after just learning how to change his size, his mother ensured that Avalerion went to a human collage. As such Prince Avalerion, under the name Roland Blackwood, graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1883 with a Juris Doctorate in Law with a specialization in laws pertaining to Faerie citizenry. He is fond of his old school, and regularly sends endowments to it, under aliases of course, and attends the occasional lecture at the University, reminiscing about old friends and good times. After graduation he divided his time between the Demi-fey court and maintaining the Blackwood Law Practice he established in Indianapolis. After the fading of the Queen 75 years ago, Avalerion ascended to the throne of his court taking possession of the Crown and the Carnwennan, arranging for the "death" of his Roland persona and the closing of his law offices to enable him to devote his full attentions to the Court.<br/><br/>Being one of the few Demi-fey who can change their size, Avalerion established a separate identity for his shape-changed form after he ascended to the throne. When in that form he calls himself Emrys Gale, a sidhe belonging to neither of the courts and thus being more or less welcome in places where a Demi-fey King would not be. Gale is charming, always ready with a laugh and an offer for a drink, always refusing offers to officially join either court. It would be lying to say the King has not had his share of dalliances as Emrys. He does, however, make certain that nothing comes of them. The King's bachelorhood is a tool to be used to further the Court. And as always that is Avalerion's primary goal: To bring the Demi-fey greater security, greater prestige, greater power.<br/><br/>To this end, Avalerion has made polite overtures to the Seelie Court. The Demi-fey are widely known to have many secrets, as secrets are their primary trade. They know secrets embarrassing and dangerous to many of the nobles in all the Courts, and it is rumored some even more powerful and potent secrets. Avalerion plays off of this, testing the waters towards an outright alliance with the Seelie. While it is not widely known, the Demi-fey ARE Faerie. They are the land. They are the belief humans have in Faerie. Avalerion sees the storm-clouds in the distance, sees how the face of Faerie may be changed, and rumors that some wish not for two Sidhe courts, but one, with one Queen. The fear and darkness that the Unseelie will bring should they come to power over Faerie is not something Avalerion sees as advantageous towards the Demi-fey. In the past the Unseelie have had no compunctions against treating humans as chattel. So Avalerion seeks to bring about the opposite. But first he must see what the intentions of the Seelie are. First he must see about their new Princess.