•ᛉ• 1. Birth & Upbringing •ᛉ•

                        

        Audloed Steabhán Coghlan was born in 1317 to an impoverished family somewhere in the province of Connacht, Ireland, most likely in some settlement bordering the modern-day Lough Allen. He was born toward the end of the Great Famine of 1315 in Europe where his family was already well adjusted to natural means of food gathering and medicine consumption. In the spring of 1315, unusually heavy rain began in much of Europe. Throughout the spring and the summer, it continued to rain and temperatures remained cool. Under such conditions, grain could not ripen, leading to widespread crop failures. Grains were brought indoors in urns and pots to keep dry. The straw and hay for the animals could not be cured, so there was no fodder for the livestock. The soil became extremely moist from the heavy rain, making it impossible to plow the fields ready for planting. The price of food began to rise. Prices in England and Ireland doubled between spring and midsummer. Salt, the only way to cure and preserve meat, was difficult to obtain because brine could not be effectively evaporated in wet weather. As a result, its price increased from 30 to 40 shillings. The height of the famine was in 1317 when he was born, as the wet weather continued. In that summer, the weather returned to normal patterns. By then, people were so weakened by diseases such as pneumonia, bronchitis, and tuberculosis, and so much of the seed stock had been eaten, that it was not until 1325 that the food supply returned to relatively normal levels and the population began to increase.

          With that warm welcome to the world, he was taught by his parents very young who were adamant he would not struggle through another famine as they had. While livestock plummeted, he would learn bow hunting from his father just as well as plant and herb gathering and uses by his mother. One could say, since childhood, he was destined to be a healer.

         

          As he grew, he was blessed with a little sister, four years his junior, named Fiadh. She wasn’t by blood however, as he himself found her orphaned while he explored and played on his own, as he often did. Meeting her solely in the meadows for games turned into him mentioning her existence to his parents. Who then coaxed her to them, as if she were a wild animal with the end goal of being tamed by humans, as her name dictates from the ancient root word for “wild”. He’d never had or would have a sibling, and his only interaction with children his age were those who happened to be playing outside nearby. He never attended school, given outside of the church, none existed. Schools weren’t introduced in the way we know them until 1831 AD with the introduction of state primary education. In which case, she was his only constant.  

             

          At the age of 12, Audloed began his schooling on the typical dirt floors of local buildings. Mostly vocational as it was his “comfort zone” to be working labor-intensive duties. He never felt like he contributed unless it was laboring under the hot sun, receiving burns, cuts and scrapes, or working toward the survival of himself and those he loved. The pressure to learn farming anyway was always weighing heavy on him socially and at home, but he found his true interest and heart in cooking and medicine creation. Given they were paths of both women and pagans, it was always discouraged. When seeking the support of his parents, who initially raised him in that way, it was still in his best interest to learn physical labor trades to truly succeed.  

          Since women were not often encouraged or even allowed to pursue education of any kind, she was raised well from his mother, but she was always tied to being out in the wilderness, as was he. Well into their teens and even young adult lives, they often escaped together to be truly alone and enjoy whatever nature, rain or shine, provided them in solitude and tranquility. It made it far easier to speak one’s mind, and it was certainly a place Fiadh was able to speak with him more freely. She often encouraged him to pursue a life better than this one. Something of higher callings like religion and medicine, but he’d always brushed those ideas off. He didn’t want to leave her nor ever imagined a life doing so, even if he were to return. 

          They mostly discussed topics that were often forbidden for people, men or women, to discuss without scrutiny or being labeled a witch, heathen, pagan, etc, which was a death sentence if it was ever made public and brought to trial. It was during these times that Audloed only really felt whole. He distanced himself from his parents and home/farm/educational lives naturally and spent more time with her alone in the untamed forests of Ireland. They loved to find old artifacts of their pagan and druid ancestors, trying to learn the wheres and whys, but making up their own stories and even songs of a piece’s origin was more fun and even fulfilling to dive into. 

          Though an unfortunate time came where she, and many in their small village, fell ill. It was a mere cold, but it turned pox-like and more deadly as time progressed. It heightened in the coldness of northern winter as well, as the air was chilled, dry, and all with a plantless landscape. He helped his mother in healing her, but wished it was during a time where plants were in abundance and he could learn more about concocting medicine that was forbidden to create.  She did speak about a woman that lived by herself, far into the reaches of forest, that still held onto the old ways and, very possibly, a medicine she could provide. She was in a very quickly decaying state, and he feared leaving her for a couple of months as that’d be how long it’d take to travel to this lone woman and return. He didn’t want to ever lose her though, and decided to at least try instead of sitting around watching her pass.

          He traveled for months. He was raided once by a couple of bandits, but had nothing on him worth any value anyways. Regardless, the more he escaped humankind, the more at home he felt. In the silence of late winter, the snow had melted enough to expose rock and old stumps of trees cut down long ago; evidence of human impacts and presence. He happened upon her lodge following these signs. It was in a state of decay, a mix of stone and organics. The stone was an ancient home built in the days of old, slowly being worked by the earth to be reclaimed. Most holes and spaces were filled with vines and coniferous branches. He entered, but no one lived there nor had for quite some time. In a way, he had the excitement to meet her as it was almost a validation that all of his and Fiadh stories were true, but the lack of stories that any of the items had were more telling - telling that no one had lived or even been here for years. He knew he failed her just as much as he wanted her here with him now more than ever before. She should be here and seeing this all with him. Under better circumstances, he would have thoroughly explored inside, but he’d have to return home with nothing to show for it. 

          When Audloed returned home, Fiadh had already passed a week prior to his arrival. He vowed to forever pursue medicine, as he never again wanted to lose someone he loved.