In Áes Camáir folklore, there are a number of humans who upon their deaths were elevated to demigod status. Some of these heroes claimed in life to be a child of an Áes Camáir god who copulated with a mortal human, or a lineal descendent of such a union. Others were born fully human and mortal, but were elevated by the grace of the gods in recognition of their great deeds in life. None of them grant divine spells to their clerics or priests. Rather, like a saint, they are prayed to as potential intermediaries who might intervene on their behalf with the other gods.
- Finian ap Cadman – Warrior figure known as the Giant Slayer
- Mother Una – In the early years of the Goblin Wars, before Ádair ap Uedán ascended to the throne, Mother Una saved her people during the Siege of the High Reaches
- Ádair ap Uedán – Baseborn lad chosen by the gods to unite the Sonaide Bri and serve as their High King.
- Myogan, the Kestrel – A great wizard who served as advisor to King Ádair
- Twyndír Amhrání – Legendary princess, younger daughter of a king who was making her marry a foreign lord. Despondent, she considered drowning herself in a pond. The fairy queen Rígan Lúan took pity on Twyndír and turned her into a songbird. As a bird, Twyndír joined the Fairy Cavalcade and in time was made into a fairy herself.
The Ádairiad
The Ádairiad is a collection of epic poems in Áes Camáir folklore penned by an ancient bard, Gwytheon. It tells a series of tales about Ádair ap Uedán, a baseborn lad chosen by the gods to unite the Sonaide Bri against goblin invaders. Once the goblins were beaten back, Ádair built a great palace called Trevena where he reigned until the palace was destroyed by a powerful demon named Baylígûr.
The major figures in The Ádairiad include:
- Mother Una – In the early years of the Goblin Wars, before Ádair ap Uedán ascended to the throne, Mother Una saved her people during the Siege of the High Reaches
- Ádair ap Uedán – Baseborn lad chosen by the gods to unite the Sonaide Bri and serve as their High King. After the goblin wars, he built the greatest palace ever known, Trevena, which was later destroyed by Myogan in an effort to destroy Baylígûr, a powerful demon inadvertently brought from the outer realms.
- Queen Whenfara – Wife of King Ádair. Tragically, all of her babies were stillborn until a final set of twins was born mere months before Trevena was destroyed.
- Myogan, the Kestrel – A great wizard who served as advisor to King Ádair
- Gwytheon – Bard figure to whom many of the oldest ballads about King Ádair are attributed. A collection of ballads about King Ádair, collectively called The Ádairiad, are believed to have been written by Gwytheon.
- Lafáil Ravenwyrd – Dark and powerful sorceress who appears in some legends of King Ádair. Some also conflate her with the Raven Queen of the Shadar-kai.
- Numaria – Female apprentice of Myogan who later inadvertently summoned Baylígûr, a powerful demon who brought down Trevena.
- Baylígûr – Powerful demon or devil whom Numaria was tricked by Lafáil Ravenwyrd into summoning in the final days of Trevena.
Ansel Feirmeoir’s Escape from the Wild Hunt
Long ago in the time of legends, Ansel Feirmeoir was a young farmer who was about as average and ordinary as one could be. One day, he saw something fluttering in a briar bush. Taking it for a small bird, he went to rescue it, only to discover that it was a tiny pixie. She kissed him on the forehead before disappearing, leaving behind a slight glow that soon faded.
Thereafter, Ansel was gifted with extraordinary luck. At night, he could always pick out the correct path home even when the clouds blocked the moonlight. When dicing with his friends or playing cards, he always chanced to win just enough to come out ahead, but not so much that his friends wouldn’t play against him anymore, especially when he bought rounds of ale with his winnings. When a potato blight struck one year, he happened to have switched to growing turnips and carrots that season. When all the lads started to woo the miller’s daughter, it was Ansel she chose to be her husband. And when she gave birth to three healthy children over the next decade, the midwives all said they had never aided with such easy childbirths.
Many years later, when Ansel was now a grandfather, he was visiting an ailing friend two towns over. He lingered with his friend, and it was therefore much later than he planned when he finally set off for home. Though there was no moon out that night, he could still make out the path easy enough. Then suddenly he heard a terrible howling in the distance. Across a meadow, he saw a man with an antlered helm riding a black warhorse. The man was surrounded by black mastiffs that belched fire, and they had picked up his scent. It was the the Wild Hunt, and they meant to take him with them.
Terrified, Ansel meant to flee, but his legs were as if turned to pudding. The Hunt was so close he could smell their sulfuric breath when suddenly a glowing light appeared. It was the fairy again, the same one he had rescued so many years earlier when he was just a young man. The fairy kissed him on the forehead in the same spot when she had kissed him when he had rescued her. He blinked and found himself safe on his own doorstep, far from the danger of the Wild Hunt.
Thereafter, his uncommonly good luck disappeared. He was now no more likely to win at dice or cards than anyone else. When the occasional blights came, his farm was affected with everyone else’s. And at night, he had as much trouble as anyone in finding the path home. But though his special luck was gone, it had served him when he needed it most, protecting Ansel from the Wild Hunt.
Twyndír Amhrání and the Fairy Queen
Twyndír Amhrání was a legendary princess long ago in Áes Camáir folklore. She was the younger daughter of a king who had pledged her hand in marriage to a foreign lord. Despondent, she considered drowning herself in a pond. The fairy queen Rígan Lúan took pity on Twyndír and turned her into a songbird. As a bird, Twyndír joined the Fairy Cavalcade and in time was made into a fairy herself.