Dino found us some story inspiration hiding in the top of our laundry closet! (At least, that’s what he thinks he did. He wasn’t just taking a nap while I do all the work…) As November and the accompanying NaNoWriMo challenge loom with this coming Sunday, I finally finished my novel’s outline. I’d like to introduce my main character, Catriona Scott, and her family’s faerie feud.
The Catriona Faerie Feud: A Backstory
Several centuries ago in Scotland, Catriona’s great-great-great… well, you get the point… Her grandmother was born. The original Catriona skipped across the Scottish hillsides until the day she ran into the glowing creature leaning against a tree.
Catriona had heard of faeries before, but she had never seen one. Now, the faerie reached out and offered Catriona the gift of Second Sight. Bewildered, Catriona accepted the gift and returned to her family.
A few years later, Christianity touched the lands where Catriona’s family dwelled. Most of her tribe scoffed at the idea of a new religion. They didn’t see anything wrong with the Druidism and list of nature gods and goddesses that had been with them for as long as anyone could remember. It wasn’t until Catriona heard the missionary speak of angels that her ears perked up.
The messenger angel Gabriel sounded an awful lot like Catriona’s faerie who gave her Second Sight. As the missionary continued to teach, Catriona started to notice spirits fighting above the clansmen. She recognized the faerie/angel spirits returning to the missionary, and the darker spirits returning to the tribe.
As the spiritual battle became more and more clear, Catriona converted to Christianity. Her decision led to most of her clansmen accepting Christianity in time.
Preptober Brainstorming
The original Catriona’s family grew and grew until they landed across the ocean in the United States of America. By 2018, she had two grandchildren who each wanted to recapture the spirit of this family lore. The Scott family named their daughter Catriona, but they normally called her “Cat.” Though the parents didn’t intend it, Cat also inherited Catriona’s gift of Second Sight.
Across the family tree, the Scott’s cousins named their daughter Fae. They rejected the part of family lore where the faerie was revealed to be an angel. They preferred their Druid roots, and Fae used her divining sticks to compensate for her lack of the Sight.
Of course, when the two families meet, the feud doesn’t stay buried for long. This time, the feud will affect far more people than the two girls themselves.
Research
Have you ever heard of the Second Sight? I can’t wait for my book on Celtic Mythology to arrive from the library so I can learn more about the history that shapes Cat’s present.