Isla Aukate
Father Nigel (left) enjoying a nice time with Symon the bunny (right)
Father Nigel (left) enjoying a nice time with Symon the bunny (right)

Father Nigel grew up the son of a very reputable family in Manhattan. His father was a lawyer, his mother was a respected psychologist and journalist. He was expected and groomed to some day follow in his father’s footsteps and had no doubt in his mind that he would one day grow up to become a lawyer as well. That was until he caught meningitis as a teenager. He doesn’t remember much from that time, but in the midst of his fevered dreams he is positive he met his guardian angel. And although his fever broke and his body healed, Nigel was never quite the same person ever again.

When he told his father that he felt called to the priesthood, Nigel was told that he would have to earn it on his own with no family support. Nigel nodded, and vanished from the house with only the clothes on his back. He spent time in the Job Corps and helped build roads and schools in South America until he had enough money saved up and had gained enough sponsors to pay his way through seminary.

He eventually reconciled with his parents who still quietly wait for their son to grow out of his ‘church phase’ and settled into a small church in Washington. Things were calm and normal for him until he got a call from an archbishop in Germany and a letter from the Vatican informing him that he was about to receive a very special and unique charge. And despite questioning it daily and waiting for someone to tell him it was all a joke, one day a creature walked into his office, pulled back the hood of her coat, and revealed herself to be a fluffy white alien cat who worked for a magical satyr out of a building a few miles away from his church.

Nigel believes that all of this is part of God’s plan, and takes his responsibility as the spiritual leader and advisor for Artemis (Or Clarion, as he calls her) very seriously. When she ended up on Aukate, he even managed to pay her a visit to help heal several deep spiritual scars that had formed from her recent encounters on the island. Nigel and Artemis write letters to one another regularly, and when possible, call. And through all of it, the young priest quietly marvels at the amazing world God has made and presented to him.