Fengél Míach (/fɛŋɜːl miːɑʧ/)

Atlanthiel Kingfisher (a.k.a. Fengél Míach)

Fengél is one of the only river pirates of the mighty Bure River with a long and illustrious career that has yet to end in capture or death. She is an accomplished thief after nearly seventy years, an unheard-of longevity for the well-patrolled Bure River. She specializes in haunting cargo ships along Low Bure, and wild rumors fly around her theoretical bargains with local nagvari to help her steal from passing ships.
Like almost every pirate on the Bure, Fengél operates out of small, swift dugouts with a bare handful of . Under the cover of darkness and, often, fog, they slip up to larger ships, scale the hull to the closest porthole, and enter undetected. If all goes well, as it so often does for Fengél, the thieves will fill their arms with costly goods and vanish in their canoe before anyone onboard even realizes they've been robbed.
As a self-proclaimed "queen" of her part of the Bure, Fengél organizes nearly a dozen different gangs with their own boats, the largest of which are outrigger canoes. Rumors abound about her hideyhole buried in the wildlife and wetlands of the riverbanks, a veritable treasure trove hidden in muck and reeds and stinging insects.
Despite her infamy, relatively little is known about Fengél's hands-on role during these raids. Is she responsible for the low-lying fog that rolls out before her boat, hiding it from sight amidst the natural evening mist on the Bure? Does she possess the skill and tools to so easily unfasten and open portholes near the water line, allowing her crew entry into darkened cabins? Does she use magic to dampen the sound of their passage or hide them from side while traversing the ship's corridors in search of goods?
The one thing that is certain is that Fengél does not resort to combat unless truly pressed. The only weapons she is consistently seen bearing--when she is seen at all--are a pair of sai, which she uses skillfully but defensively.

But... Wings?

It is a rare child of the hy'Aeldvari indeed who is blessed with full-sized, functional wings--perhaps one in a thousand. Many more children--one in a hundred or two--are born with vestigial wings, sometimes properly-shaped but miniature-sized, other times deformed, asymmetrical, or misshapen. Because hy'Aeldvari are aligned with Wind magic, they have a deep connection with high open spaces, so these wing remnants serve as proof of their skyward nature.
Even those like Fengél who bear fully-fledged wings cannot often fly. Hy'Aeldvari are the smallest of the Aeldvari races, along with sol'Aeldvari, and tend to have light builds, but even so are not properly sized for powered flight on the wings they are given. With good fortune and considerable physical effort, a winged hy'Aeldvari may be able to "fly" for short periods of time--usually a directed glide or a wing-enhanced leap. Many of those with proper wings supplement their exertions with Wind magic to assist their levity and offset the disproportion between their weight and their wingspan; it is assumed that Fengél does the same, since she has been seen maneuvering through the air with considerable grace and speed.

Behind The Name

As is common among her people, the hy'Aeldvari, Fengél does not share her family-given name, Atlanthiel. Originally, she went instead by Kingfisher--the nickname she earned in her growing youth for her love of the water. Kingfisher spent nearly all of her days near, on, or over the river, becoming something of a local landmark as much for her habits as for her rare wings.
When she began her career in piracy, however, she quickly garnered a reputation as the only obviously-hy'Aeldvaren pirate, since no amount of disguise would conceal her fully-fledged wings. Over time, she won the badge of insult from many mouths of "Míach," a High Aeldvaren word describing a person who is either (or both) pathetic/beggarly and wicked/greedy.
As her fame and wealth grew, however, she began countering that name with a self-claimed title that was somewhat self-deprecating, but grew to be more true than not: "Fengél," a High Aeldvaren term for a noblewoman or ruler.

"If I was going to be Míach to these lísé, why not be Fengél Míach while I was at it?"

- Fengél on the acquisition of her title

Hymvari, who enjoy distorting Aeldvaren words, have come to call her Fen Gale, which they say is due to how she blows in from the greening riverbanks and just as quickly sweeps away.

Current Location

Bure River

Species

Aeldvari

Ethnicity

Zef'Aeldvari

Age

273

Pronouns

she/her

Eyes

wide, pale blue

Hair

short, feathery, light
an ombre of dark grey to near-white/off-blue

Skin Tone/Pigmentation

pale blue-white skin
light silver-blue feathers

Height

5'1"

Weight

110 lbs of lean muscle

A Pirate's Hideout along the Bure River

Hiding in the Reeds