Your Name _ Irene
Contact Information _ PM!
Time Zone _ Eastern Standard Time


Character’s Name _ Sir Cailin of Darroch
Age _ 37
Gender _ Female
Residing _ Usually at the palace during the training year for pages, but during the summer she resides either at Fief Darroch or in Patten (near the border with Flash) with her family.
Character Class _ Nobility
Occupation _ Training Master


Sexual Orientation _ Heterosexual
Overall Personality _ Cai’s world is colored not in black and white, but rather in shades of gray. Nothing is inherently right or wrong, good or bad, finite or infinite. It is this idea that shaped who she is and how she lives her life, for Cai herself is one of those shades, in between the extremes. This ‘in-between’ characteristic pervades Cai’s entire being, from how she interacts and relates to other people, to the very basic aspects of her personality.

Now, some (namely pages) would call her mean or at the very least tough, and they would be right on one account. She is tough in her capacity as a teacher and she does not try to hide it. It gives an air of authority that lends to her ability to teach effectively. If her pupils thought she was weak, how then might they react? However, Cailin of Darroch can by no stretch of the imagination be called downright mean. It just isn’t part of her nature, owing in great amounts to her personal view on the fundamental nature of the world (the idea of shades of gray). Unfortunately for some, she is by no means ‘nice’ either, at least not in the truest sense of the word. To Cai, niceties make people soft and unprepared for the cruelties that the world will eventually serve up onto the great plate of life. Her goal is to prepare her students – those sometimes-pretentious knights’-to-be – for such an eventuality, and those particular teachings do not include being kind and sweet like a baby rabbit. And while she may not be the nicest person you’ll ever meet, she does have a penchant for forgiveness. Because she does not view the world as black and white, Cai is more than willing to hear all sides to a story and take all aspects of a situation into account (this of course is very much dependant upon the situation). Of course, while she is forgiving to an extent, trust is another matter entirely, and though she does use trust as a tool for teaching, in her personal life she is very wary of giving it out willy-nilly, and guards her trust especially carefully.

Growing up in a militaristic household, it comes as no surprise that Cai is a very precise person. Unlike her father, who strove for perfection, Cai has come to the conclusion that perfection either does not exist or at least is unattainable by the human race. So instead, she strives for precision, something that she demands of all pages under her eye. Precision is attainable whereas perfection is not. Humans – according to Cai’s philosophy – are fundamentally flawed in so that humans cannot reach perfection, while on the other hand precision is a perfectly good goal for those who would dare attempt to strive for it.

With such a precise attitude, on would almost expect Cai to be fiery and temperamental, prone to shouting and in a constant battle with her volatile temper. This is most certainly not the case with Cai. While it cannot be said that she has no temper, it also cannot be said that she has a terrible temper. When Cai gets angry, she does so quietly – rather than loudly — as it is her nature to do. Most times, the person or persons who is/are the object(s) of her ire will be singled out and sent to her study, whereupon they will sit and squirm while she shuffles papers and does other rather insignificant work with the express purpose of making them squirm. Once she has deemed that those in question have had enough time to think and sweat, she will ask all present one simple question (dictated by the situation which brought him, her, or them to her study in the first place). So far, no one has dared to face whatever comes after the question if one does not answer the question.

In the public eye, Cai behaves as a noble should, brought up with certain values and behaviors ingrained in her mind from a very early age, mostly from watching her parents. Watching her parents also instilled in a young Cai a very strong sense of morality from her mother, balanced out by recognition of necessity from her father. Both mold her decisions in a military capacity; etiquette dictates her actions in her function as a member of the nobility. Conversely, when she is engaged in a more private situation, Cai tends to retain some sense of formality unless she is in the presence of very close friends, whereupon she will deign to loosen up and take a moment’s rest from being a tough, ever-determined Training Master.

Beyond all that, Cai is defined and known for her no nonsense, down-to-earth attitude. Some have even gone as far as to say that she lacks imagination, which is an absolute falsehood. Cai can be highly imaginative when she wishes to be so, especially with punishment work. That same attitude lends itself to a seemingly interminable patience (‘seemingly’, for even Cai has her limits as to how much she can deal with patience-wise) that makes for a level-headed mindset that has at times been made out to be a frosty demeanor on Cai’s part. Not that she cares. Cai takes little stock in what other’s think of her; she is what she is, and if those various others have a problem with it, well then they will just have to deal with it themselves. She won’t change for anyone; not her parents, not her friends, not even her husband. For the king she would make an exception since it would be an especially bad idea to break an oath of allegiance this late in the game.


Height _ 5’ 8”
Weight _ 145 lbs
Overall Appearance _ In a word, to the average passerby Cailin would look unassuming. Of an average height and weight, and with no bulging muscles to speak of, she could easily be passed of as anything but a knight, let alone a training master. And unlike some, she looks her age, and perhaps even a little older with her face lined and weathered from her own training and experiences as a knight as well as just from spending a vast amount of time outside. As I mentioned, even her strength is inconspicuous, for she has no tightly corded muscles snaking about under her skin every time she exerts her energy on a difficult task. Said muscles are most certainly there, and they are strong, but from the outside one would be hard pressed to come to such a conclusion.

Very little – if anything – about her physical aspects would make her stand out in a crowd (a trait well used in her youth to get close to other people without them knowing). Heavy dark brown hair the color of mud hangs down in an obscure point just beyond her shoulders, strands of premature gray streaking through the once solid mass of straight but not too straight hair. Her eyes are of a comparable coloring, and like the rest of her are quite average in appearance. Cai’s mouth and chin have a somewhat chiseled aspect to them, making her look stern whether she means to or not.

As a knight and Training Master, Cai prefers breeches and a tunic to dresses, out of practicality more than anything else, though she has been known to don a dress from time to time (in this case the event must be quite special for her to have such a change of heart). Along with her normal attire, Cai adds boots (worn and comfortable for training purposes, and spotless dress boots for certain other occasions) and depending on what she is doing, various pieces of armor and other such paraphernalia.


Family History _ Both Edren, Cai’s mother’s home fief of Verdorn, and Darroch have a long military history ranging from a position in the military to knights (a great many knights at that). One story is passed down about Cai’s great-grandmother on her father’s side, and though no one is sure if it’s really true that the now long deceased lady knight took on a raiding party of Scanrans and won. True or not, it’s one of those stories that just gets told over and over again, setting an example of what you can do if you set your mind to a problem.
Family _
Lord Dennic of Edren – father – 63 – living
Lady Eribet of Edren and Verdorn – mother – 60 – living
_______ of Darroch – husband – living
Christina of Darroch – daughter – living

Birthplace _ Fief Darroch
Background _ The only child of Lord Dennic and Lady Eribet of Edren, Cailin was their pride and joy after the three stillborns that had preceded her birth. As such, it would be expected that her parents would dote upon their only daughter. The Lord and Lady of Edren did not such thing. With military backgrounds through and through, they brought her up as a young noble should be brought up: with etiquette, history (with an emphasis on military history), riding, and of course, how to wield various arms. Despite such a military focus, for many years Cai had no desire to be a knight; the prospect just didn’t interest her, and she was more content reading and writing and riding than she was when her father worked with her on swordplay.

However, her mindset changed drastically the day she was allowed to try the lance. Now, her lance was very small, and the target very large, but little Cai could have cared less. She fell in love on the first pass of the quintain. This disturbed her father somewhat, for he was not of the stock of knights that actually participated in tournaments, and had never used the lance to any great extent. Nothing her father said would change the young Cai’s mind: she had her heart set on learning to use the lance properly, something her father could not teach her past a certain point, and she did eventually surpass his ability (this after she had become a page). Once she had been exposed to the lance there was no going back. To Cai, the next logical step was to pursue knighthood, a prospect that she had considered only briefly. As time passed during her years as a page, Cai came to enjoy the idea of attaining knighthood and she pursued it doggedly.

In her first year as a page, Cai still was not very serious about her commitment to working toward the status of knight, and it showed. Her written and spoken work was correct, albeit a bit sloppy, and her combat work was the same with the exception of the lance. This was taken note of, and it was only after a brief – yet very eye-opening – conference with the training master at that time that Cai began to look at her work in a new light. From then on, her work was all-around better, though she still focused intensely on her work with the lance, setting harder and harder targets for herself. For Cai, her time as a page passed all too quickly, though it came as an exhilarating experience to move on as a squire. Happy as she was to be a squire, that time of her life passed by without any events of spectacular or particularly memorable nature, of course, with the exception of the Chamber of the Ordeal, which is something she will never forget so long as she lives.

Finally a knight, Cai spent her first few years in that capacity traveling the realm, rooting out bandits, aiding the occasional village that was in need of assistance; the sorts of things one would expect to do. At long last she returned to the capital for a longer than average stay, and it was then that the rest of her life really began. The old training master was retiring and – Cai thought it to be rather out of the blue – asked if she would be interested in taking over the position in his stead. For a long while the young knight was at a loss as to how to answer. She had so many years ahead of her, couldn’t she just wait? But no, she knew that she could not, that someone else would take the position. So, in an attempt to prolong her time to decide she asked why he was asking her in the first place. The old training master replied quite simply that he thought her right for the position. Needless to say, it was just vague enough to be unhelpful in Cai’s ultimate decision, but the way it was said, the sense of trust that was imbued in the phrase made the whole situation feel right rather than awkward. At the time, she did not know why she answered yes – what young knight is going to opt to spend a large amount of time at the palace? – but later she came to the realization that the old training master had been spot on in his judgement, something that pleased her immensely.



It was early yet, and the gray of the predawn hour still hung over the palace grounds, heavy and humid in the summer air. Some of that watery light filtered through the sheer curtains that adorned the windows in the Training Master’s study, casting wavering patterns upon the large oak desk that serves as the room’s focal point. Stacks of papers and scrolls teetered precariously as a slight breeze whispered through the chamber, rustling their edges ever so slightly. One such pile tipped just a bit too far and toppled over, right onto the figure who was currently flopped over on the desk top, sleeping. Having a stack of paper fall on you is a surefire way to wake up, and is almost as effective as a pitcher of ice water only not as messy – though it does remain a pain to pick up all the scattered documents. However, it is rather hard to arrange to have a pile of paper fall on your head at just the right time, making an effective method of waking up into a downright annoying one since the surprise factor can make for some very cranky recipients of this particular wake-up call.

Cranky would be a drastic understatement in the case of the training master; perhaps not so drastic (or cliché) as the understatement of the century, but drastic enough to be noticeable. Cailin sat up abruptly, blinking eyes bleary with sleep as she removed a piece of parchment that had settled atop her head. Almost mechanical in her movements, she set about picking up the mess, resettling the other stacks as she did so. Cai went about her work quietly, which was generally not a good sign, though it was hardly unexpected. Who wouldn’t be in a foul mood after staying up long past the midnight hour for many nights in succession going over various requests and letters, only to be rudely awakened by a toppling heap of those self-same documents?

Cai had lost count of how long it had been since she had gotten a truly good night’s rest. Too long, that was for certain. She couldn’t help the twist of a smile that erupted onto her face; she could just imagine the whispers amongst the pages when they saw just how quiet she was. Actually, she did find the rumors about the various levels of her quietness and what they meant to be quite amusing. It was only true to an extent, because rumors, by their nature, exaggerated any topic they were focused on.

Finishing with the papers, she ran a hand through her hair, pushing it up and out of her face. She had hoped to at least get a little more sleep than usual that night, but after the incident late that summer with the highwaymen who had decided to attempt to take advantage of the people living on Fief Darroch land the paperwork had piled up. Now she wished she had taken on the assistant she had been offered, but she wasn’t going to let her pride suffer by admitting that she did in fact need a bit of help. No, she was going to deal with that fallacious decision herself, and if it meant an incredible lack of sleep, so be it.

Sauntering over to the window that overlooked the practice yards, Cai watched the first rays of sun paint the view in the soft pastel hues of early morning, waiting for the moment when the great disk rose high enough in the sky to gild the curtain wall in a ribbon of shimmering gold. It was her favorite time of day. Perhaps the setting sun was just as spectacular, but she wouldn’t know. None of her windows faced the west.

So engrossed was she in the sight of the rising sun – it was rather calming – the brisk raps on the door made her start. Only somewhat curious as to whom it could be who was calling at that early hour, Cai said in an offhand tone, “Come in.”

The door swung open and a guard stepped in. Cai thought he looked far too awake for that time of day, but then, he most likely hadn’t been halt the night poring over huge packets of parchment written in impossibly small handwriting.

She nodded at the young man, indicating that he could give whatever message he had. At any other time she would have expected a page for a message, but it was still too early for most pages to even be awake.

Bowing in an impossibly correct manner the guard stated his message crispy, “A hostler requested that I inform you that your mount broke through his stall door again, and that no one dares go near him to return him to another.”

Cai barely stopped herself from rolling her eyes. Gedan, her massive bay charger had a mind of his own; a mind that was hell-bent on breaking out of every stall or enclosure he was subject to. Cai respected her horse as she would a person, but one of these days the horse was going to run straight through Fief Darroch’s coffers with his penchant for destruction.

“Thank you. There will be no return message. I’ll see to this myself.”

Dismissing the guard back to whatever duties he had to fulfill (early as it was, she was at a loss as to what those could be) and exited the study, striding purposefully down the corridor in the direction of the stables to deal with her wayward horse.