Welcome to Aynslee!

Let me introduce you to Aynslee. No, not a person—the continent. It had a complicated past, one that I originally tried to weave into the opening scene of my story, set within its kingdoms. Let’s see what Colin had to say about it…

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“Once upon a time, in a faraway land, faeries and humans lived peacefully together. Using both their talents, their kingdoms grew in strength and riches. No other kingdom could outshine Avalon. Striking a treaty to always work together, the union between faeries and humans became sealed when the faerie princess and human prince were wed. Their children, being half faerie and half human, became known as faes.”

“Are you sure that is how it goes?” Lauriella asked, looking up from the paper she had been trying to read.

“Hush, who is telling this story?” Colin glared for a moment at Lauriella and turned back to his awaiting younger audience gathered around him. “Anyway, all was well in the kingdom until outsiders came. Men from outlying countries who didn’t have magic saw Avalon’s prosperity and wanted it all for themselves. They tried taking faeries and faes back to their own countries.”

Colin leaned forward, stared intently at the children, and whispered, “But their magic disappeared once they left Avalon.”

The children gasped.

“Colin,” Lauriella started, looking over her shoulder. They needed to go.

“So the men started to take over the kingdom, coming and staying, fighting over the land for their own.”

“Colin.”

“Soon the Kingdom of Avalon became divided, and the relations between faerie and man became strained.”

“Colin!”

“What?” He turned around.

“The ship is going to leave without you. Are you coming or not?”

Colin looked up to see that everyone else was aboard the ship. “Oh.”

“Are you really going to see faeries?” one of the children asked.

“Yep!”

“Wow!”

Lauriella walked over to grab Colin. There was no way she was missing this ship, considering the next one out to Aynslee wasn’t due for another week. “I don’t think there are any faeries left. That story, if true, happened thousands of years ago.”

“Spoilsport,” Colin mumbled. Colin turned back, waving, and said, “Bye, kids, see you soon. Charlie, good luck in Maisie. You’ll do great. No one can hit those high notes like you.”

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What Colin didn’t get to was that Avalon was eventually renamed Aynslee not long after, when the land was divided into what would become five kingdoms: Dàl Riata, Aeryn, Elbio, Erdyssa, and New Gwynedd.

There were three other kingdoms, but they had fallen to these great five. 

• Elbio had taken over the Kingdom of Carisle. 
• Aeryn had taken over the Kingdom of Gaunt. 
• Erdyssa had taken over the Kingdom of Trevena.

The intruders who established these new kingdoms tried to force the faeries and faes to do their bidding, exploiting the magical abilities. However, the faeries and faes refused. Most were slaughtered, while the survivors went into hiding. A true faerie hasn’t been seen on Aynslee in over two centuries. There are rumors that faes still exist, but they either don’t know they have fae abilities or hide them.

As the world around Aynslee modernized, they held back. Technology simply wouldn’t work on their land. They stuck with old ways, relying on what most claim is residual faerie magic to live. Outside countries felt they were backwards and not worth investigating. Who believes in magic in a world full of science and facts? Without magic, Aynslee was only good for wood exporting.

The relationship between outside countries and Aynslee grew more strained. Some explorers believed they were hiding something and searched for precious resources, but they never found anything of significant value, perhaps only small amounts of gold or ore. The kingdoms began arresting these explorers for unlawfully desecrating their lands, and eventually, a ban was placed on anyone traveling beyond the port cities.

Only recently did certain kingdoms lift the travel bans for those who applied for permits, which were scrutinized before being granted. Not many applied; tourists were turned down, and access was denied if you couldn’t prove a business purpose or a way that benefited the kingdom.

Lauriella managed to get a permit into New Gwynedd, and then secured other permits promoting the tour. She is one of the first to be granted approval to travel through most of the kingdoms.

So, if you plan to stop in Aynslee unannounced, you won’t get far.

We’ll dive into more Aynslee lore and people in upcoming posts. Stay tuned!

For Aynslee stories, please see “Reimagined AI Stories”!

Image: Enhanced by ChatGPT (made by Elowyn Merriweather)