Born in what would be our year 1696 to Fáelán (father) and Aisling (mother), Penn was the first child of the couple. Fáelán was the current emissary to the mortal realm and in the year 1700 was again due to visit the Parliament in the town of Edinburgh in order to discuss mutual issues and trade. Travel to and from the mortal realm was strictly controlled in order that none should find or harm the dragons of Tìr Na Arach. Deciding to take his young family with him, they traveled via the hidden paths arriving in Edinburgh on the 1st of February 1700.
Penny on cleaning duties at the poorhouse Discussions with the current leaders went well and following an evening stroll on Saturday 3rd February, the family were returning to their lodgings via the Meal Market when they were set upon by a gang of thugs. In his efforts to protect his family Fáelán inadvertently set fire to a nearby building. As he tried to control the blaze he was stabbed from behind by one of the brigands, the blade piercing his heart. During the initial scuffle, Aisling had seen fit to hide 4 year old Penn in the shadows of a doorway before turning to aid her husband. Outnumbered and with only a small stiletto blade to protect herself, she was soon overpowered. Penn watched in tears from the darkened entrance as the men, silhouetted by the flames spreading along the street, began to rifle the clothing of her parents bodies for valuables. Satisfied that they had taken all of value, they ran off away from the blazing buildings.
By this time the alarm of the fire had been raised and people were rushing from nearby streets - either to save themselves or to try and stem the blaze. Penn wandered in a daze over to her parents and knelt crying beside them until the rough hands of a police man pulled her away and she was passed apparently from person to person until she found herself sitting in a large cold room filled with sooty and crying children. Night progressed into day and slowly the room began to empty as parent's came in search of lost children. Even at her young age, Penn knew that noone was coming to claim her. She was on her own.
Time passed slowly for the young Penn in the poorhouse which became her home. Each day was the same routine - rise and wash at 6AM, rollcall, communal prayers followed by a small breakfast, work duties from 7AM until noon. Then an hour interval was provided for dinner and rest before another spell of work duties until 6PM, followed by a further hour for supper. At 7pm further communal prayers were said. The remaining time between 7PM and the enforced 8PM bed time was essentially free time however long days of cleaning the poorhouse (Penn's main duty due to her small size) left her with little energy for play. The constant teasing of the other children over her strangely pointed ears left her with little inclination to play. Such was Penn's life for the five years following the fire, until the arrival of a man claiming to be her uncle, Roibon.
In the wake of the fire of 1700 the bodies of Fáelán and Aisling had been discovered and eventually identified. Fearing that word of their murder might harm the trade agreements with the people of Tìr Na Arach, the heads of the Scots Parliament agreed to send a message to a prearrange location for such things; a message informing of the passing of Fáelán and his family in the fire which had swept the town. The surviving members of Fáelán and Aisling families mourned the loss of their kin, especially the young Penn. Feeling that it was his duty to carry on the family tradition of emissary begun by their great grandmother Aethelreda, Fáelán's younger brother Roibon began studying the various treaties in place. And so in 1705 time was once again due for an emissary of Tìr Na Arach to travel to the mortal realm.
Headstone of Fáelán and Aisling in Greyfriars Cemetery, Edinburgh After completing the necessary discussions regarding their trade agreements talk turned towards the deaths of Roibon's family members some 5 years earlier. Following a brief sojourn to the town records office, Roibon requested that he be directed to the resting place of his kin that he may pay his respects. In reality he was required to say the correct rites to allow their passing to the afterlife. Upon his arrival at Greyfriars, Roibon made his way to the assigned plot and looked down upon the marker stone
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