#*goldcrests

the goldcrests; eadric spinebreaker

though much of his early life remains undocumented, eadric earned a name for himself in the late 10th century due to his participation in the conflicts of the era. he harboured dreams of subjugating the wizarding world to his will, allying himself with salazar slytherin, one of the founders of hogwarts. they shared the same hunger for power, and thus their friendship was doomed to end in blood because neither one was willing to share it.

eadric received the epithet spinebreaker for both literal and figurative reasons. he and his dragon-mount thorog were a fearsome sight to behold and eadric was never averse to unthinkable violence. he fashioned his wand out of dragon bone using magic that has since been lost to even the wisest lore masters.

eadric and his wife vela had one son together, elyris, later known as goldcrest. he had an idea of building a great dynasty but was killed before he could fulfill his plans. elyris was very young at the time of his father’s death, and so everyone thought that he would fade quietly into history but elyris was about to prove them wrong...

the goldcrests; theodric goldcrest

theodric was born during the 13th century, and the night of his birth was illuminated by a great comet. this had been foretold and thus great things were expected of the boy. his father aegar favoured theodric over his older brother elyan and all his life he was treated as the chosen one, the one to finally bring the goldcrest rebellion to its glorious conclusion. this favouritisim drove a wedge between theo and elyan, who felt ignored and replaced by their father. theodric didn't show any particular talent for leadership and insted wished to gain the approval of his brother, much to the annoyance of both elyan and their father. like others of his family, theo also had the benefits of his great grandmother's blood magic that made his bloodline long-lived and capable of unusually strong magic. before theodric could fullfill his grand destiny, his family was attacked by a group of vampires. while his mother kerina was killed, he himself and his brother were turned into vampires. their father searched in vain for a cure, and eventually put the boys under an enchanted sleep so no one would find out about their vampirism. aegar was slain in battle and the boys remained under the enchantment, until they were woken up by the blood of their distant relative proteus gaunt, some 600 years later. the brothers started going by the names elian and theo goldcrest, after their grandfather elyris's old epithet. they realized they had to put their differences aside as they found themselves in a completely different world than the one they'd fallen asleep in. they went back to school and began to search for an artifact their father had created, a crown to grant its wearer powers beyond imagination. theo was not as influential or personable as elian could be (and knew they needed to be to achieve their goals), so he rarely kept up with any of his mortal connections. he felt disconnected from the wizrding world, and thus, during the 1920s and 30s, theo was working together with a radical by the name of adam brynn, who was trying to further the rights of squibs and expose magic to muggles, although eventually his ideology turned to destroying all of wizardkind. theo didn't agree despite his vampirism and the two became enemies. he didn't want to kill brynn, though, since he had feelings for him. eventually brynn's movement was defeated and he disappeared, presumably changing his name and living the rest of his life among the muggles. theo chose not to look for him. years passed, and theo and elian didn't age. instead, they continued their search of the crown, going by several different identities. in the 21st century they returned to hogwarts after finding out that the secrets hidden at hogwarts could help them locate their long-lost family heirloom. while at school, theo met john arthur, the relative and doppelgänger of his old nemesis brynn. theo began to solve the mystery of why they looked so alike, and eventually grew rather fond of john who was nothing like his ancestor, but actually a good person. the two began a relationship and theo eventually turned john into a vampire as well. he also ended up reconciling with his brother and they were able to be a family again.

the goldcrests; elyris goldcrest

elyris, born some time in the late 10th or early 11th century, was the son of the infamous eadric spinebreaker. he took up the mantle of his father and lead the goldcrest rebellion until his death. it was said that his mother, vela the blood-witch, had used ancient magic while pregnant and that's why elyris was able to wield fire magic so aptly, and lived to an impossibly old age. neither vela nor elyris ever confirmed whether this was true. he was the first one to use the name goldcrest, given to him due to the shape his patronus took. at first, it was used to mock him, but elyris quickly turned the nickname to his advantage. he married lady nienna wenlock who became a beloved leader in the goldcrest rebellion. their son aegar would later create a proto-deathly hallow, a crown which was meant to give its wearer power so great that no one would be able to stand in their way. because the goldcrest name was expunged from history, few today know the story of the rebellion and the great and horrible deeds committed by this one family in their search for power and glory to last an age.

the goldcrests; adamanta and eilian

adamanta and eilian were the mother and father of eadric spinebreaker. not much is known about their lives, and very little about their deaths. eilian endeavored to construct an artifact to enhance his magical abilities and in doing so was cursed. the circumstances and effects of the curse remain unknown, but it was most likely painful and connected to facial markings that appeared on its bearers face. years later his grandson elyris and great grandson aegar would attempt to create their own version, eventually leading up to the crown of might. eilian was killed when eadric was very young, most likely due to the curse that plagued him. adamanta on the other hand, lived and supported her son's conquest of the wizarding world. she held a seat of power at the family's castle and supplied the beginning stages of the goldcrest rebellion. adamanta did not get along with her daughter-in-law, vela the blood-witch and disapproved of her methods. she died under mysterious circumstances a year before her son. many believed it was vela's doing, but there was no proof either way.

the goldcrests; vela the blood-witch

vela the blood-witch was born some time in the early to mid 10th century. she was a powerful seer and a user of blood magic. she lived in the woods, preying on villagers to steal infants, whose blood she used to remain young. in the last decades of the 10th century, she met and allied herself with eadric spinebreaker a powerful wizard intent on conquering the british isles. the two married and eadric achieved greatness with the help of vela before his untimely death (some say it was vela's doing, after eadric was no longer useful to her). after that, vela focused on the son they had together, elyris, and shaped him into a great leader. she fled with baby elyris and hid him from eadric's enemies, biding her time. when elyris was old enough, he returned to continue his father's work, while vela mysteriously disappeared, never to be heard from again. vela was the one to receive the goldcrest prophecy and she shared it with eadric. vela saw the opportunity to seize power and influence through eadric and she took it, effectively becoming the mastermind behind the entire goldcrest rebellion.

the goldcrests; kerina slytherin

kerina slytherin was the great granddaughter of the hogwarts founder salazar slytherin. she was always headstrong and wanted to carve out her own path. she married aegar by her own choice, although both of their parents had hoped to further their own goals by arranged marriages. kerina had political ambitions of her own but preferred to work behind the scenes instead of taking on an active leadership role, like her predecessor nienna had done. keeping up a certain standard of appearances was important to kerina and she was always immaculately dressed. she and her husband had a close relationship but it became troubled, when aegar began to favour their younger son theodric, since he was said to be the chosen one. kerina grew closer to the pair's elder son elyan, while aegar took theodric along to his travels and raised him to be a leader. kerina didn't want elyan to be sent off to fight in the battles of the rebellion but was overruled by her husband. she always knew elyan had a good mind for politics and that he would have been a better successor. she did care for theodric as well, but felt as though he was being taken away from her and struggled to form a close bond with him. kerina died when elyan was 18, in the same attack that turned the boys into vampires. her death broke aegar's heart and fundamentally changed the family's dynamics. henry of alderly named one of his daughters after her.

the goldcrests; elyan goldcrest

elyan was born in the 13th century to aegar the uncrowned and kerina slytherin. his family had long been embroiled in a bid for power over all wizardkind and thus he grew up surrounded by politics and warfare. elyan's younger brother was theodric, born under the prophesied comet and thus his father always favoured him, raising him to one day take over the rebellion, although he was the younger son. elyan had a strong military mind and he commanded his father's army. he was also intelligent and better suited for leadership than his brother. elyan and theodric didn't get along, and elyan resented theo for being the chosen one. despite not having been born under any comets, elyan had the affinity for fire magic that ran in his family ever since the days of vela the blood-witch and eadric spinebreaker. he was also a parseltongue from his mother's side. when elyan was 18, his family was attacked by a group of vampires sent by his father's enemies. elyan and theodric were both turned into vampires, while their mother was killed. their father aegar was not present at the time of the attack but began feverishly searching for a cure for vampirism when he found out. eventually, he was left with no choice but to cast a spell on his sons to make them sleep so the secret of their condition wouldn't spread. he continued looking for a cure until his death. elyan and theodric were left under the enchanted sleep, only waking up hundreds of years later in the late 1870s, when they were discovered by proteus gaunt, a member of their mother's line. his blood awakened the brothers and they rejoined society, attending hogwarts again. while at school, elyan changed his name into elian and began using his grandfather's old epithet goldcrest as a surname. he befriended malcolm stolberg-burke and primrose gray as well as met and fell in love with a muggleborn hufflepuff by the name of henry of alderly. the two were together until henry's death decades later. as the years passed and the brothers didn't age, they went by several different names and identities. elyan's goal was finding the crown his father and grandfather had worked on, a proto-deathly hallow that could offer anyone who wore it unlimited power. they attended school again in the 2000s, once albus dumbledore was out of the picture (due to his interest in the deathly hallows). elian continued serching for the crown and faced opposition when others, such as gabriel grimm also tried to get his hands on it. despite the rocky start to their relationship, elian and gabriel did eventually get married. as for theo, elyan always had a complicated relationship with his brother but ultimately they loved each other and knew the value in working together.

the goldcrests; aegar the uncrowned

aegar the uncrowned was the son of elyris goldcrest and nienna wenlock. for many years, he and his father lead the goldcrest rebellion together, and gathered a great number of followers. he took over leadership of the rebellion at the death of his father and held great influence in the wizarding world. he, like his father and grandfather before him, strove to rule over all of wizardkind. with all the power he held and the armies he commanded, aegar was king in all but name and thus he became known as the uncrowned, a slight he did not take lightly. aegar was influenced by his father's experiments, and succeeded in creating a powerful object called, in posterity, the crown of might. it was not perfect though, and he continued working on it until his death. he married kerina, the great granddaughter of hogwarts founder salazar slytherin and they had two sons, elyan and theodric. when his younger son was born, the prophesied comet finally appeared on the sky and that made aegar certain that it was theodric who was meant to unite all of the wizarding world under one banner. this caused a rift between him and his elder son. due to the power he had, he made many enemies. one night, those enemies sent vampires to attack his fortress when he was away. kerina died protecting her home and family, while elyan and theodric were turned into vampires, perhaps by accident or perhaps on purpose to mock aegar. the loss of kerina affected the family greatly and aegar made it seem like his sons had also perished in the attack, while he begun to look for a cure for vampirism. eventually he put his sons under an enchanted sleep so he could find the cure before their condition was discovered by the wizarding community. however, he was defeated and killed by his enemies before he could fulfill his goal, leaving elyan and theodric's fates uncertain.