Chapter 13 Page 3
April 4th, 2016Ah, so you all were right. Chapter 13 Page 3 reveals that the vault was another trap laid by Cienan. Pénélope nearly wrecked it. Send better mortals, Cienan.
As for what exactly Pénélope is, the Almanac has a number of clues. Cienan is from Garthmoor, a large green and verdant (almost emerald) island. The mythology in Snow by Night is governed governed by the alchemical principle of All Is One. Everique has manitou, southern Japethe has manes. The islands of Albyn and Garthmoor have … something else. Reflections on a theme. Or maybe light through a prism of our perception.
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It’s taken two pages for these two to become my favourite interactive pair in the comic so far. That’s a rare pleasure in my jaded soul. -dramatic music-
Once again the writing and artwork come together to create one of the most beautiful stories I’ve seen and read in a very long while.
Well it seems she is taken of Celtic Mythology or at least inspired by it Sidhe is all I got to say. Perhaps pixie or sprite in origin it seems like you mixed it with a dryad and came up with voila Penelope though the way she likes to dangerously toy with mortals makes it seem like she is taken from the Unseelie side of things. Just a guess at the real world origins of her. Still nicely done and well laid trap he fell into this seems like this about burn Jassart in a nasty, nasty way I don’t see this in the long run ending well at all for either Jassart or little miss rebellious streak Viv there too.
Given Penelope’s supposedly partial Aileonian descent, it might be more useful to look to Spanish/Portuguese/Iberian traditions.
We’ve only just been introduced to her, but I feel like she may be a variety of the Iberian moura encantada – magical maidens who often act as guardians and are associated with nature, the underground, and shapeshifting. There’s a pretty good wikipedia page describing them – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enchanted_Moura.
Thanks for the link. I will happily check it out. I imagine Rusalka like many off your more nastier spirits. They are the spirit of women who have drowned, and will appear as beautiful maids who lead people into the river and drown them. Basic gist anyway. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rusalka there is link to them.
Interesting to read the Support Cast bio. Penelope is a poor local teenager who ‘considers it a stroke of fantastic good fortune to have the opportunity to work for Cienan’. Has this girl been done away with so the ‘Fair Person’ can take her place? And she’s also the latest in a long line of maids employed by Cienan. If they’ve all been replaced by Fae then the good folk of Sherbourg have more to worry about than Vivienne and Jassart’s acquisition of a weapon of mass destruction.
Unless she changes her appearance when she gets bored. Cienan is upper class with quite a collection, and also secrets. For centuries, people would do just about anything to steal or learn something to take down a rival–especially the nobility. A servant is one surefire way to get information. If Penelope changes her appearance, Cienan’s rivals would think he’s hired a new maid and she hasn’t worked for him long enough to know anything vital.
Penelope may STILL be poor local teenager. The fairy might used existing (living) person as a pattern to make the glamor. In fact, it might be better – unless Cienan has multiple fae as servants, I don’t think he is boring fae with normal servant work. But when he NEEDS the fae, he will give the servant some “free” time (allow her to get some sleep, for example) and (temporary) replace her with fae looking exactly as the servant.
Makes a lot of sense. Have the girl be your general maid, but when you need the help of your Fae just tell your human maid that she’s worked long and hard and should take a few days off with some nice paid leave and visit some family in the countryside or other colonies and then have the Fae transform into her and just resume as normal.
Can we be sure, at this point, Cienian is more “human” than Penelope?
I wonder as well. Are there magicians/mages in this world? Penelope seems to be acting in the role of a familiar.
Check out the Almanac entry for Aileon.
Oh, Jassart. Cienian is always several steps ahead of you.
Ouch. Human capability burn.
To understand Pénélope one would do best in consulting present day Celtic fairy lore.