2024 A : Ancestry

Decided to do a challenge, write a post for every letter of the alphabet. I hope to do a post or two a week. The original intent was to do it in the month of January, but there is too much else going on in the near future with interviews and the release of Fire and Redemption.

Starting off the challenge is A is for Ancestry. When creating characters, they have to have some backstory, a part of which is their ancestry. Who their parents are, their kin, and the land of the ancestors all comprise part of a character. Here is a few lines describing the ancestry of Brial of Clan Vreis.

Brial’s family tree as revealed in the Tear Stone Collectors is simple. Her parents died when she was younger and she was raised by her grandather, Feldt, head of Clan Vreis. The healer Betrys is Feldt’s sister making her Brial’s great-aunt.

But there is another aspect to Brial’s ancestry, not of blood but that of magic. She inherited her powers from her mother. But the line goes even deeper and can be traced through Betrys and her teacher, and her teacher, on back through the ages.

The story behind her gift still echoed in her mind. The book was the diary of the woman who taught Betrys, and the woman before her in what Betrys described as a long line of healers. Each bequeathed the book of their knowledge, research, and healing secrets to the next in line.

“But,” Betrys had explained, “old Iseldir had no kin. No one to give the book to, so she gave it to me to pass on to someone I felt could use it.” And when Brial had tried to give it back the other woman added, “I inherited my mother’s book, and when it is time, I will pass it along to Leri. So you see I don’t need this one.” She shrugged. “Maybe it can help you pass the time until you can get more formal training.”

~till next time, Helen