Eilonwy Penrose || Twenty Six || Museum Curator || Regalian
âGirl? Girl?! If it werenât for this, girl, you would still be in the Horned Kingâs dungeon!â
Despite being born in Wales and living with a name that should be very indicative of that, Eilonwy Penrose has spent very little time in her homeland. Her family fled the country when Eilonwy was six years old and has not been back since, leaving Eilonwy with only the faintest memories of the place and a few pictures to prove she ever lived there in the first place. Most of her life was spent living in France and her parents rarely spoke of Wales or why they left it in the first place, despite Eilonwyâs constant curiosity. Anytime that she asked anything about how they had grown up or what their home had been like or why they never went back to visit, she would be quickly brushed off. Though she loved their home in France, she was still often frustrated with this secrecy. She always felt as though there was something missing from the story of her life, something important that she was being kept from. This often drove a little bit of a wedge between Eilonwy and her parents, particularly with her mother. Angharad was always a bit strict on her daughter, often to the point of sheltering her too much, which drove the very outspoken and adventurous Eilonwy mad at times. Though everything that her parents did was ultimately in the interest of protecting their daughter, Eilonwy would not come to fully understand this until it was too late.
Eilonwy didnât start discovering her heritage until she was eighteen, when she stumbled upon some strange books in the attic. Filled with sketches of various plants and symbols and strange words in a language that Eilonwy did not recognize, she was both intrigued and initially frightened of it. She felt strangely drawn to it and managed to sneak the book back down to her room without her parents realizing. Any time that she felt certain she wouldnât be caught, she would pull it out from itâs hiding spot, flipping through the pages and trying to make sense of what was written in it. She was able to carry on like this for a few months until her mother found out and all hell broke loose in the Penrose household. The realization that Eilonwy had the book sparked a huge fight between Eilonwy and Angharad which ultimately led to the truth finally needing to be revealed. Eilonwy came from a long line of Welsh enchantresses and the book she had found was the family grimoire, passed down from mother to daughter for generations. This lineage was also what forced the Penrose family to have to leave Wales in the first place. Angharad had seen in a dream that an ancient and dark magic was beginning to stir in their homeland once again that would put both herself and her daughter at risk by anyone seeking to use their abilities to awaken it. Determined to protect Eilonwy, she had moved her family to another country, abandoned her magic practices, and tried to shelter Eilonwy from their family history as much as she possibly could. She would not elaborate on what this dark magic was at the time, but only made Eilonwy give her back the grimoire and promise not to go digging into this anymore. Struck by how terrified her mother seemed to be, Eilonwy agreed and that was to be the last the spoke of it for a few more years. Though she kept her promise not to dig into her own family history more, Eilonwy couldnât help but be curious about the history surrounding it. While studying history at university, she dedicated some of her free time to looking into Welsh folklore and came across the legend of the Black Cauldron. Just as she had with the grimoire, she felt some sort of draw towards this story, but kept her promise to her mother and did not pursue it farther. Not until she was twenty two, at least, and her mother was no longer around to tell her not to.
Eilonwy was not at home the night that Sawyl Black found her family. She had been out with friends, celebrating her recent college graduation and only learned of the evil that had befallen them until she returned home that night to see her house surrounded by police tape. Her parents had both died under mysterious circumstances and their house appeared to have been ransacked. From the moment that she got the news, Eilonwy had the innate sense that their ancestry had finally come back to haunt them and the first thing she did once the authorities let her out of their sight was to go back and search the house herself, filled with relief when she found the grimoire safely tucked away in her motherâs room, though she was at a loss as to how whoever had come after them had not found it. She could only assume that her mother had shielded it somehow. Though devastated by the loss of her family, Eilonwy knew that she now had a greater responsibility on her shoulders than before. With her mother gone, someone had to protect her familyâs magic â and possibly the world, should this ancient power really be re-emerging. Before she could do much of anything, however, Eilonwy knew she had to leave France. As much as she would miss the country she had called home for so long, she knew that whoever had come looking for her family and their grimoire would not stop searching for it. Her only chance was to run. As quickly as she possibly could, Eilonwy made preparations to move across the ocean to New York City. A location that she chose, if for no other reason, just based on a feeling that it was where she should be.Â
Eilonwy settled into her new life quite easily. She began working as a museum curator, overseeing an exhibit on the French Renaissance. She started volunteering with the Make a Wish Foundation, making new friends, and putting whatever free time she had remaining towards researching the Black Cauldron and practicing her magic. To the latter goal, her progress has been slow. So far she is still able to do little more than conjure small baubles of light. To the former goal, her progress was, for a while, even slower. Though she suspected the Cauldron was part of the reason she was drawn to New York in the first place, finding an actual location seemed to be proving impossible. That was until fate seemed to set Eilonwy on a collision course with the very people she needed to help protect. Henwen Black started working at the same museum as Eilonwy and the two girls were fast friends, though Eilonwy has been keeping most of what her research had told her about Henwen and her family to herself for the time being. She isnât really sure how much they know or what the best and safest way to broach the subject would be. In the meantime, she is trying to look out for Henwen and her brother, Taran, in case Sawyl tries anything. Henwen has proved easy to get close to, though Taran has been much more difficult. Taran and Eilonwy started off butting heads quite frequently and while Eilonwy got on famously with Henwen and their mutual friend, Fflewddur, Taran was much more of a challenge. Still, the two of them have managed to settle into some sort of a friendship and Taran certainly has a heroic sort of charm to him that Eilonwy canât ignore. She likes him, in spite of their differences, and believes the pair of them can take on anything. Whether the trouble comes from Sawyl, Aaric, or the whole Bedeviled faction, the just have to work together to beat it.Â
â Â Based on Princess Eilonwy from The Black Cauldron
â Â Friend and Co-Worker of Henwen Black
â Â Potential love interest of Taran Black
â Â Enemy of Sawyl Black
â Â Curator at Museum of the City of New York
â Â Make A Wish foundation volunteer
â  Œ light enchanter
â Â Fluent in French and English
Faceclaim: Evanna Lynch
Availability: Taken
