"Life is not measured in the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away."

Magdaline's Story

The Child She was born on Beltane, on a rare full moon. Those present at her birth sent for the Chief Druid. The scent of soft Jasmine filled the room upon her delivery. She did not have the milky blue eyes of the just born, but bright green eyes observed those around her. When he arrived the wise man bent to examine the child, she grasped his Ash staff with her tiny hand, and her birth dagger with the other. It was hoped that this child would be the savior of the old ways, in the age of Roman domination. She played games with her brothers, games of war that taught her to use the sword. When they trained, so did she and the other girls of the village. When she was a toddler, she stumbled upon a wounded animal. She approached the injured beast with no fear and laying a tiny hand upon it, she healed it. She made a friend, and became known as a healer, and a caller of cats. She often wandered from her mother’s side to watch her beloved Da at the forge. He was a renowned smith; known for the beauty and strength of his weapons and jewelry. For those he loved, they were often enchanted. Thus was the sword that he made for his sons and daughter. At the age of six, she went to live with the Drui, learning the old ways. Ways of words, and herbs. She did not like the shape shifter, and avoided those lessons. She could feel the earth’s heartbeat beneath her feet, touching a plant she could feel its life force as well. She grew in wisdom, and strength. At the Beltane of her twelfth year she would be named the Chief Druid of her clan. It was a day that she would never forget. The End of the Village As the ash staff was about to be passed, when all the couples lay in their Beltane stupor. The village was attacked. The girls were herded and placed in cages while they watched their families tortured. They watched as their village was burned, their history destroyed. Happy with the “prizes” they had obtained the attackers left a small force behind to guard the girls, and went on to the next village. The girls remembering the stores of ale told the guards where to find it. The guards thinking them simple minded though spirited, stripped them bare, and played games with them. Magdaline organized the young women, and they revolted. The girls escaped, leaving the heads of the guards on pikes outside the village. Each went their separate ways. Magdaline unable to leave her home hid in caves nearby, creating for herself a place of safety. When the village was once again deserted, she returned to the forge, and retrieved the sword her father had made for her dubbing it Kernunos, repairing the dirk her that was her birth right. A Numbed Presence She took her skills and bartered them to the highest bidder. She went to war with the highest paying party. Selling herself to win where none thought it possible. Having trained without armor she wore none. She was a striking figure on the battlefield, coppery locks bound with leather, pale skin, and bright green eyes. Her petite body, curved and strong was a distraction to many of the enemy, and cost them their lives. She became cold and numb, only allowing the memory of the horrors she had seen to penetrate, thus fueling her drive. Until the day she met Liam, a young warrior who had survived the same things she had, she began to find that her feet felt the earth beneath her again. They were wed, but lived as paid warriors. This ultimately would bring a bitter end. At the age of fifteen she was both wife, warrior and soon to be mother. She stayed behind during battles using her healing skills, but when an opposing force overcame her army, she watched as her young warrior died at the hands of a sadistic Englishman. Grabbing her sword, she attacked, taking down several, but the English Lord, tried to take her life, and succeeded in stealing the life of her child instead. Once again, she survived when those she loved died. Alone As soon as her body would allow, she took out on her own again. She found friends that risked their lives for her, though a fierce leader abused them, and prostituted them. She returned the favor by using her powers, as she never had before. She possessed the leader, making him peel away his very skin, then healed him, then started all over again, until his ultimate demise. It was then that she learned that like her childhood friend, she had a beast to call as her own. The great cats. By killing their leader, she sat herself up to take his place. She left and went into hiding, not wanting to be close to anyone or anything again. Nera sought her out, showing her how they shifted and how it was nearly impossible to die from simple wounds; as long as they had strength to shift they could heal. She agreed to travel with them, protecting the ones who could not stay away from pain. Her beloved Nero was one of the ones who learned to love pain, and because he could heal he rarely said no, and didn’t know when to stop. This often lead to his near death before Maggie found him and carried him back to the pard. Often she had strange experiences, her body temperature flaring to high proportions from a simple wound, and though she was hot to other humans, the heat from the pard is what she craved. Laying Naked in the pile of bodies her body would heal quickly and without scarring. Thus it was in the Pard. Affectionate, passionate, unselfish, fiercely loyal, the pard brought her back to the Magdaline she was as a child. The Change She started to feel strange and unbalanced again. Often she felt as if another presence was looking out from her very eyes. She happened upon another young warrior, who taught her not to fear her beast, who helped her learn more about the Pard. RyuFoWong became a close friend, and it was with him that she allowed herself to become fully the Nim-Rah of the pard. Knowing that he would allow her to harm none, she shifted her first time to the joy of her Pard.