Xalbadore de Purceleon was the first born son to the wealthy and illustrious Count Vitamario of Purceleon. Vitamario himself was the first born son to Count Arsenio de Purceleon. And so the line goes. The Purceleon family is among one of the eldest and most respected noble families in the Country of Uol. They made their fortune through sea travel and trade of Wine, Gold and Silks and gained their title through Naval Service to the country and the acquirement of massive amounts of land and slaves of war.

Originally, their coat of arms was a simple banner of white and red. (White for the purity of their house, a Red for the bounty of wine which gave them wealth.) But, over time, as their reputation as avid and skilled hunters rose, they added the Golden Arrows to the foreground. Xalbadore was considered one of the greatest of the Purceleon Counts in several generations. He doubled their accumulated wealth and land with a series of wise and possibly divinely inspired business acquisitions.

He married young; to a woman he truly loved. The woman he fell in love with was ten years his senior. He saw her perform for his father and knew immediately he would never love another. Perhaps it was Ylessa that touched his heart at the moment, but he knew he had to marry her and that she would accept him. He looked older than his age, people often mistaking him for an older man due to his height and confident baring. In many ways, he was ageless, though it was really just his personality that made him so, in his later years, his age definitely wore on him, though he retained his suave disposition and appearance.

Baroness Lucia was a skilled songstress and musician. Her voice was always flawless, perfectly pitched and so sweet it could melt the sternest of hearts. Her voice had attracted countless suitors to her side in her 24 years. She had no interest in any of them. She was a wild and free spirit, hard for any to contain. However, when she saw Xalbadore in the crowd, she swooned. That day, it is said she played her harp so well that everyone in the room fell in love with the first person they laid eyes on. They say she sung such a melody, that the Gods stopped what they were doing to listen. She sang for Xalbadore.

To win her over, Xalbadore learned to play the pipe organ. While his voice was never as good as her own, he was able to woo her with his clumsy ballads. When he finally had his father approach hers to make arrangements, Lucia had already begged her own father to do the same. The dowry was small, but the mutual satisfaction gained both families each others respect. They were married three years before Xalbadore’s father Vitamario died and two before Lucia’s father passed on. Through the deaths of their parents, they both acquired large amounts of land. Xalbadore, being the shrewd business man that he was, was able to acquire all the land between the two plots as well, bringing them together into the Purceleon province.

In the three years before Vitamario died, Xalbadore and Lucia spent much of their time traveling. They spent a year abroad in Viroth and another in Yarsin. Lucia performed for the nobles of these lands and Xalbadore made several contacts which later made him vast amounts of wealth. He was able to sell his foreign wines and silks at hefty profits. He also made good contact to sell his slaves and workers to the other countries.

Returning to their home in Uol, Xalbadore and Lucia spent their time together. For two years they had been trying to conceive a child to no avail. Soon after Vitamario died though, Lucia conceived. Xalbadore held a joyous celebration for all of his slaves and peasants. IN the city of Purceleon he held a festival in honour of Ylessa for blessing his wife with a child. He gave them a week of rest and became known as the compassionate Count of Purceleon. He treated Lucia, the love of his life, like a goddess while she was with child, bowing to her every whim. In her pregnancy, Lucia grew fat, but even more beautiful. It was as if Lucia’s own fertility brought wealth to the Count’s land. The year of her pregnancy, the eight months from spring to spring, brought with it the greatest fertility the Purceleon province had ever seen. The wine produced from the grapes in that year is still thought to be the sweetest and best kept.

By the time Lucia entered labor; Xalbadore was one of the wealthiest land owners in all of Uol. He had some of the most loyal servants and one of the best shipping crews in the entire country.

Lucia did not survive her labor. Though, the child did. A baby girl. Xalbadore, overwrought with grief, could not bring himself to look at the child for the first month of its life, leaving it with the wet nurse. He fell into a dark depression. The child was left unnamed for the first year of its life. In the midst of his grief, Xalbadore found himself lost and without hope. It was said that even Ylessa herself could not lift his heart from the depths of its grief. In fact, it was only a dream of Lucia herself that finally broke his depression.

Nearly a year after her death, as Xalbadore slept in a drunken stupor, Lucia came to him. She was as radiant as ever. It was as if death had risen her up and brought out her true beauty. Xalbadore was overcome, even within his dream. In his dream, he made love to her, showered her with adoration. The dream played on in silence, each moment sweeter than the last. As they parted, she finally broke the sweet silence. “Name our daughter Catalin and care for her.”

Xalbadore awoke and went to his child. He wept over her crib, for the first time truly seeing his child. He picked her up and was overcome with joy. Cradling his child to his chest, he named her.

“My sweet Catalin.”

Four years later, Xalbadore and his daughter traveled Uol. He took her everywhere with him, afraid that if he should take an eye off of her, she would disappear as Lucia had. They traveled to the inner regions of Uol. This is where Xalbadore met Lady Jacqueline at her coming out ball. Lady Jacqueline came from an illustrious family. Her grandmother had been the daughter of the third born son of the Hadeen Family. Her grandmother, Gwytholin, had been married to a wealthy and powerful Duke of Uol to ensure trade relations between Uol and the Hadeen family. Gwytholin and the Duke Uolo had two sons and a daughter. Gwytholin’s daughter, Genevier, had been married to one of the Duke’s Barons to stop a minor land skirmish. Genevier was Jacqueline’s mother. She was a regal but rather plain looking woman who possessed incredible inner strength and fortitude, as well as a wild and incorrigible spirit. It was said that it was Genevier who truly controlled the Barony and had brought it its recent wealth and prosperity.

Jacqueline, on the other hand, was demure and shy. She possessed great beauty and soft touch. Xalbadore saw nothing in her though. Not until Catalin spoke to him. “She would make a good mother for me.” Catalin told him in confidence. Xalbadore, overwhelmed by love for his daughter, immediately went out and asked for Jacqueline’s hand. He had little to no love for the woman, but he found her pleasing to look at and of sweet disposition.

The pair married quickly. A year later, came the birth of Xalbadore’s second daughter. For several months, Xalbadore once again fell into a depression, thinking of the birth of Catalin that had sent his love Lucia to Annwn. Jacqueline did admirably in the birth. It was relatively fast and she quickly regained her strength. She cared for the child, naming her Zora at the request of her mother Genevier. “She’ll be a little fox, trust me.” Xalbadore wanted little to do with his second born daughter. He left her care in the hands of Jacqueline and the nursemaid.

Only a year later, Jacqueline gave birth to Xalbadore’s third child. A boy this time. Xalbadore, now having an heir, was greatly pleased by this and gave the boy his own name: Salbadore. Still, he doted on his eldest daughter Catalin, buying her expensive baubles and fancy clothes. He treated her like a princess. As Salbadore became older, he doted on him as well, trying to groom the boy into himself. This left Zora, his middle child, sadly neglected.

She constantly sought her father’s approval, going above and beyond the things expected of her. Still, she was over looked. She spent her time with her younger brother, listening to his stories of their father. She took up falconry and hunting to be able to spend more time with her father and brother. Soon, her skill in falconry matched even her father’s, though he didn’t notice. Xalbadore did not mean to overlook his daughter, he just didn’t think about her. When her teachers were praising her aptitude in mathematics and history, he was busy with business. When her Etiquette Mistress was praising her grace, he was busy arranging Catalin’s marriage. When the hunting group praised her skill with a bow, he was busy praising his son’s. She was simply, unseen.

This caused her heart sadness, but also gave her great conviction. She spent most of her time with her brother, at first to gain the approval and admiration of her father, but later, simply to be with her brother. The pair became inseparable. Together, they went to school, hunted and raised falcons.

While Xalbadore was nearly unaware of Zora’s existence, Jacqueline saw Zora. She watched her first child grow into her own mother and, while she said nothing, she found it amusing. Jacqueline kept her distance from her daughter, unsure how to deal with such a strong willed child. However, she adored her, just as she had adored her mother. From the shadows, Jacqueline spoiled her little girl. She would go out of her way to purchase the best falcons for the hutch, making sure Zora would have access to them. She would hire the best tutors for the girl to encourage her studies. She hired a team of archers under the guise of training for Salbadore simply so Zora could also learn from them. Jacqueline, though demure and soft-spoken, was quite clever and intuitive. She had an incredible cunning about her. She wanted her daughter to become a great woman. To become something she could never herself be.

Zora, on the other hand, had little awareness that her mother had gone to the trouble to do these things for her. She was inherently selfish with everyone save her brother and her father. She took the things she desired and childishly coveted them. Truly, she was even selfish with her brother and her father, imposing herself on them as much as she could. She learned to hunt just to spend time with the two of them. She trained her falcons so she could make Salbadore want them. She tried to make him jealous. However, she would also do things to make her little brother look better in the eyes of their father. On hunting trips, she would let Salbadore have the first kill. Yet, true to her selfish form, she would get more kills. She would let Salbadore have the choicest bits of proffered food from the kitchens, but she would take more.

Like her grandmother, she grew into an incorrigible child who spoke her mind. She was strong willed and wild. In public, she could put on the face of primness, but outside of that, she was a rebellious child. In town, she would often sneak away from the nursemaid with her brother and take him exploring. She was a blunt child, often spotting the obvious that others didn’t. She grew bored with things easily, causing her to become a thrill seeker. The only things she never became bored with were her falcons and her brother. From time to time, she even became bored with archery.

When Xalbadore finally sent his son away to be properly schooled and trained to take the family title and lands, Jacqueline watched as her daughter fell into a deep depression. More and more the child shut herself away with the falcons, skipping her lessons and other duties. It was around this time that Catalin became pregnant with her first child. Unlike Xalbadore, Jacqueline did not like Catalin. She found the girl spoiled and, though beautiful, a bit dim. But, on this matter she held her tongue, as she did on many things. She also saw that Zora did not like Catalin and in return, Catalin despised her little sister. She knew that her daughter could never compete with her sister in looks, but she also saw that Zora was better at nearly everything else, save for music (a talent Catalin had inherited form her mother).

Xalbadore held a week of celebrations when he found out his daughter was to produce him a grandchild. This celebration was even larger than the one he held for her marriage celebration. Zora was once again swept aside by everyone except her mother. Frustrated and alone, Zora began to act out. She would sneak out of the house at night to go to her secret refuge. She had found it with Salbadore on a hunting trip when they had gotten separated from the rest of the group. The small cave. It was nothing special, but it was her refuge away from everyone. So far as she knew, only she and Salbadore knew of it. This is where she stored her treasures.

She would often sneak away to her cave instead of going to her lessons. She would take her best falcon with her and train it. She would take her falcon simply for company. It gave her someone to talk to. It was during this time that she found an injured falcon. It lay in front of her cave as if waiting for her to find him. It was young and had been attacked by a fox, yet still lived. She scooped up the bird, taking as a sign from the Gods that this was meant for her and her alone. She cared for the bird day in and day out until it came back to health. Using her other birds, she taught the young falcon to fly and to hunt.

“Winger… you are my Winger.”

Catalin remained after the week of celebrations to spend time with her father, who, as always, doted on her. Catalin’s husband was a business man like Xalbadore and was away on business, so, in truth, she was simply lonely.

Catalin threw herself into making Zora’s life miserable, but Zora either didn’t notice or simply brushed it off. Her attention remained on her bird. Tensions grew around the house between the two of them. Catalin entered her second trimester and her heart turned meaner, more spoilt and selfish.

Zora was fully aware of her sister’s cruel intentions to her. But she knew her father favored his first daughter and would see anything as her own fault. So, she tried to avoid Catalin. However, the tension started to wear on her. Slowly, her temper prickled to the surface, something she had learned in her etiquette classes to control. When Zora finally exploded at her sister, she did it in the worst possible way and at the worst possible time: in front of Xalbadore and Jacqueline. Her father slapped her in front of everyone, even the servants.

Filled with anger and indignation, Zora shouted at him next. She did it a way that only an incorrigible child can get away with. However, Xalbadore did not let her away with it and slapped her again, this time sending her to the ground with his strength. Stubborn and wild, Zora rose again and continued to shout. The third time her father reached his hand out to smack her, she moved her head and the hand swished in front of her face. “You little fox!” Jacqueline cried unable to contain her glee at the action and will of her daughter. Xalbadore glowered and stalked out of the room, Catalin following after him. “Impertinent, horrible child.”

Zora, uncertain what had just happened, rubbed her burning cheeks. It was then that Jacqueline knew her daughter was destined for things greater than she could provide. She set out straight away to write to one of her Hadeen uncles in Viroth. Zora, on the other hand, was crushed by her father’s words.

She ran to her sanctuary with Winger and her other prized falcon. She stayed there for a week, surviving only on what she could catch herself. At the end of the week, it was her mother who came out to her cave. In it, she found a sad, dirty little girl curled up in a corner talking to her falcons.

Fearing for her daughter’s health, she had her brought to her own reading quarters along with the birds. “I am going to send you to Viroth to study.” Zora remained silent, angry and bitter. “I am sending you to study with your uncles. You will study magic.”

“Don’t wanna.”

“You’ll get to explore new lands and you can take your birds with you. It will be good for you.”

“Don’t wanna, Salbadore needs me.”

“I think he’ll manage without you.” Jacqueline embraced her daughter and Zora burst into tears. The girl, barely twelve years old had already known the rejection of a man she loved.

So, Contessa Zora Juliana Genevier de Purceleon sailed for Viroth.