Bio

Flann is the son of Phelim and Eannagh Libhaoia McPhurriskey; he is the oldest of 6 children; his three brothers are Phelim Og, Shane and Eoghan; his sisters are Grainne and Deirdre, his family lives in the small town of Baile an Draoi (Ballyandry).

More or less the last stop before entering the depths of the wyld, Ballyandry started life as a minor farming settlement carefully maintained at the edge of the forest. The town has grown since then, but not very much; certain staple industries of small agrarian towns such as millers and tanners are nowhere to be found. Woodcutting is subject to a variety of stringent regulations, although the gathering of fallen branches, limbs and trees is allowed. Despite many request by various farming families over the years, the boundary with the woods remains constant, with occasional expansion of farmland being allowed in the direction of the river. Blacksmithing is and has been the province of the Gow family for as long as anyone can remember. And there are folk tales repeated every generation about the curious Samhain practices of the Gows; the strange lights in the woods that come from a clearing that no one can find at any other time of the year; the origin of the hereditary limp that all of the firstborn males are afflicted with and the custom of those same firstborn taking the name Weyland once they reach adulthood.

Given its location, the town has become a waypoint for many adventuring groups as they restock supplies before venturing on to a forgotten ruin or unknown tomb. Some of them even return and a very few choose to stay. Occasionally a researcher of some kind (usually associated with an arcane or divine organization) will pop up and ask a bunch of impertinent questions, but the Ballyandry, while friendly, tends not to air its dirty laundry in front of strangers. The town is by and large welcoming to such groups as they frequently provide a much needed infusion of capital in a town that still functions with a largely barter economy. Children are a not infrequent result of these stopovers, as such things will happen. And all children of such unions are accepted, if not prized by the community, at least for such time as they chose to stay. The emigration rate is fairly high, as most citizens on reaching adulthood, elect to seek their fortune elsewhere.

Flann is an oddity, even for his town, however, other than a reputation for strangeness garnered when he was a young lad not much is generally known. His mother, Step-Father and Aidan Dubhuisce (the druid attending his birth) know more, but even they don’t know much. Flann’s blood father passed through town during Bealtine the year before Flann was born; Eannagh doesn’t remember much of him. Phelim is aware that Flann is not his child, but doesn’t much care as such things are common (if not always so mysterious) after spring festivals in the back of beyond. When he was born, Flann had a strange marking up the length of his back. It resembles a stylized metallic dragon twining around his spine. No-one, including the High Druids or the Ollamh college has been able to pinpoint the meaning of this mark, although everyone concerned is relatively sure that it can be taken somewhat literally.

As a young child Flann preferred to spend time by himself, this is not to say that he didn’t get along with other children; Flann’s strong sense of justice endeared him to the weaker children, just as his willingness to take on rather foolhardy dares ensured popularity with the more robust. On his 12th birthday Flann, as with all children of his people received his geasa (Ballyandrians take geasa more seriously than most). In Flann’s case, three; he is not to trouble the dead, nor to beguile the minds of the living and finally he was told that he will face his doom after betraying a faerie woman. Flann was also informed that his “will lies heavier on the world than most” which didn’t make much sense until the incident with Jenny Greenteeth.