Origin

Just at the turn of the thirteenth century to the fourteenth, two sisters were born within a very magickal family: Mór Sine in 1297 CE and Aingeal in 1298. This family was an ancient practitioner bloodline with its origins stretching back into prehistory. Along with the actual Craft of magick, this bloodline had a shapeshifter thread, so that certain members could transform completely into a leopard by way of a ritual handed down through the generations.

Both of these sisters were witches, but Aingeal was by far the stronger magickally. Mór Sine on the other hand was a shapeshifter who could turn into a very large black leopard.

Mór Sine was the older of the two, but she was shy and withdrawn. She was quite content to lead a life on the farm, do her chores, and grow old living a simple life. Aingeal, on the other hand, was intrigued by the magickal world that she was a part of. She wanted power and adventure, but her family frowned upon such activities for a woman, and forbade her to use magick unless in was in total secret. Mór Sine sided with the family, convincing Aingeal to stay and take up her duties. Mór Sine was curious about the life of magick, but she settled for the safe adventures of listening to stories of deeds done by wizards, werewolves, dragons and the like. Mór Sine loved hearing those stories; Aingeal wanted to live them. Finally in 1315, Aingeal was all set to run away when something peculiar happened: Mór Sine fell in love.

Seamus Uasal, meaning Seamus the Noble, began seeing Mór Sine as he found her quite charming and admired her strength and commitment to family duty. They would have a short courtship and then be married. Aingeal was full of jealousy. If Mór Sine had not backed her family’s wishes for her to lead a “normal” life, then Aingeal would have left ages ago. Besides, Seamus was quite attractive and quite a catch. He had many cattle. So, as a final gesture of revenge, Aingeal planned to lure Seamus away from Mór Sine and into her own arms, until she left him to go adventuring. But it was going to take a great spell to lure Seamus away from Mór Sine, since her hold on him was strong.

On a cold, cold night Aingeal performed the spell that would rip Seamus and Mór Sine apart. Seamus quickly became bitter and unsatisfied with Mór Sine, calling her a simple peasant and a whore. He fled her arms and was then beguiled by Aingeal. Several weeks passed. All were shocked at this turn of events. Mór Sine was heartbroken.

Seamus and Aingeal announced plans to wed. However, shortly before that date Mór Sine discovered the truth she had suspected. She discovered that Aingeal had cast a spell on Seamus to turn his feelings away from her and into the direction of Aingeal. Ironically this was discovered while Mór Sine was engaging in an attempt to smooth things over with her sister. So, Mór Sine decided that enough was enough. She was going to break the spell of Aingeal’s, and win back Seamus in the process.

Mór Sine changed herself into the big black panther using the ancient ritual of her ancestors. She sneaked over to where Aingeal was staying and killed her in a violent and offensive manner. When the deed was done, Mór Sine came out of her spell and cried. She had not meant to kill her sister, only to hurt her, to scare her, but Mór Sine’s emotions had taken control of the beast within her. Her guilt mounted.

When the news came about what had happened to Aingeal, the entire community went on a search for the beast. Seamus led the hunt, but no beast was ever found. They attributed the horror to outside occult forces, causing a village that was once open and flourishing to become wary and suspicious, practically banning outsiders. Seamus soon returned to the side of Mór Sine, and after a brief rekindling of their affections they were wed.

Mór Sine was a good wife and eventually a mother, but Seamus could always feel that there was something not quite right. He asked her on several occasions and she always had the same reply: She felt guilty that her sister was no longer with them; perhaps they could have patched up their differences. Seamus sensed there was something more, but he would not press her. Eventually Mór Sine fit herself into a niche of both dutiful wife and mother, but the guilt of her deeds and of her regrets plagued her greatly, more each day. She would never forgive herself and that would play a sorrowful role in the life of future generations.

In 1316, a son was born to the couple. A daughter followed in 1318.

A decade and a half later, Seamus, Mór Sine, and their two children moved to a more gracious location, as Seamus had been knighted. Their son, William, an expert with the bow was full of life and adventure. He was a good hunter and planned to follow his father’s footsteps into knighthood...if he could. Their daughter, Antigone, on the other hand was quite the opposite. She was quite sullen and kept to herself most of the time. Her moods became worse as she matured. Finally, in 1334 when she reached sixteen, Antigone retreated totally from her family, rarely coming out of her room.

A couple of weeks after Antigone had retreated emotionally, William noticed that she was going out at night. He was going to advise his parents, but instead decided to follow her. She led him into the nearby woods, not suspecting he was close behind. There she stripped naked and danced in the moonlight. This sight horrified William, now suspecting that his sister was a witch. He ran from the woods and missed the most important part, where Antigone changed into a big black cat.

Mór Sine had hidden her magickal origins from both her husband and her children, so it was not surprising that William would be afraid of such an occult sight. He ran to tell his father, but stopped. Antigone may be a witch, but she was still his sister. His father had instilled firm family loyalty in him. He would be silent on the matter.

About a week after William had made his discovery, the cattle in the nearby village began to turn up dead, mutilated by some vicious beast. Seamus was called on to hunt for the thing. He asked William to accompany him with his bow. For three nights they hunted and for three nights they found nothing. Mór Sine went to Seamus and begged him not to continue the hunt. She claimed that it gave her bad memories of what had happened to her sister. Seamus would not heed her. On the fourth night, William noticed that Antigone was gone. He hoped that he and his father would not run up on her practicing her witchcraft. He thought how disastrous that would be.

On that fourth night Seamus and his son William crept around the forest, looking for any dark and foreboding creature. It found them. Suddenly from out of nowhere a big dark shape attacked Seamus. It sank its teeth deeply into his chest. Seamus screamed and his sword fell. William pulled back an arrow and let fly. His arrow struck true and pierced the heart of the black creature. The beast, which was a big black panther, fell to the ground. William went to his father who was dying. He then grabbed his father’s sword and slashed the cat’s head off. He once again turned to his father. He picked him up and began to carry him home, but then saw a sight that stabbed at his heart even more. His sister, Antigone, was lying down in the dirt, his arrow in her chest. Her head lay next to his foot, where the big cat’s head had fallen. William sank to his knees in shock as his father died in his arms.

After William recovered somewhat, he went to deliver the tragic news of the deaths of his father and sister to his mother. When Mór Sine heard it she wailed like a banshee and fell over in utter shock. When she came to, she relayed the story of her and her sister Aingeal to her son. She told him everything and begged for his forgiveness. William ran out of the house in horror and never came back. Mór Sine buried her daughter privately, but was forced to endure a public funeral for her husband, who as a knight was an important person. Afterwards she took her own life. Thus, through her deeds, but mostly though her guilt, Mór Sine had cursed her family for all time. It was no wizard or God that cursed this family, but the guilt of one person over her past.

William Uasal ran to Inverness, Scotland, where a number of the Chattan Clan lived. He sought to find out more about the past and his mother and aunt. He found little, but was welcomed within the Clan when they found out both his heritage and circumstance. William was accepted into the Chattan Clan. He married and fathered several boys and one girl. All seemed normal.

A cursed Chattan can only die by her own hand or by blood-kin. That is how it began, with one sister killing another. The immortality is like a penance to serve for the past sins of the mother. Immortality may not sound like much of a curse, but the psychological punishment is effective: living year after year, watching herself become more and more insane and driven by blood-lust, while, at the core of her being, sickened at what she has become. They are doomed to walk the earth, knowing that they have to kill or be killed. The bloodlust comes from that one moment when Mór Sine killed her sister in utter hatred. To deny this bloodlust will cause certain madness and suicide.

The curse is determined by magick within both parents. So, if a Chattan man carrying the Curse were to marry a witch, either a practicing human witch or a woman with born-witch blood in her, then any girl they would have would be cursed. Any boy would carry the curse.

If a Chattan male who carried the curse married an ordinary woman the chances they would have a cursed girl or curse-carrying boy would be fifty percent (odds of 1 in 2). If a Chattan female is not cursed, then she will not pass the curse on. (Obviously, if a male does not carry the Curse, then he won’t pass it on.)

Seamus Uasal (Seamus the Noble)	Type: Human Born: circa 1295 CE, in Scotland Died: 1334 CE, in Scotland
Mór Sine	Type: Shapeshifter; Black leopard Born: 1297 CE, in Scotland Died: 1334 CE, in Scotland
Aingeal	Type: Born-witch Born: 1298 CE, in Scotland Died: 1315 CE, in Scotland
William Uasal	Type: Human Born: 1316 CE, in Scotland Died: circa 1370 CE, in Inverness, Scotland
Antigone	Type: Pureblood-Morph; Black leopard Born: 1318 CE, in Scotland Died: 1334 CE, in Scotland Note: The change from shapeshifter to morph is part of the Curse.

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