Dubhaine Family/Moira

Background

The third of three half-sisters, Moira is dark of both hair and complexion with prominent features and a sinewy frame. Her beauty is that of the winter storm, harsh and irresistable. Some girls are destined to be great warriors or powerful matriarchs, Moira aspires to both - the bookishness of her sister Brigdha is mixed with the athleticism of her sister Aoifa and in that marriage lies an ambition that knows only the bounds of honour. A true Dubhaine.

She is captain of The Imperial Cagilan Guard, a company of elite infantry drawn exclusively from Cagilan ex-patriots.

Personality

Moira is driven by a deep conviction that power should derive from the consent of the nobility, as represented by the knights of the realm. Democracy is close to her heart, although she would find the concept of letting peasants have a voice in the affairs of state incomprehensible: only the knights have both the education to understand the interests of the realm, and the commitment to serve it selflessly. Unfortunately her ideas run run foul of the usual practice of feudal patronage, and she finds it difficult to see appointees who fail to undergo election as anything other that oligarchic impositions on the body politic. This is an area where cooler heads would keep their opinions to themselves, but Moira has a temper and is prone to righteous indignation when her views are discounted out of hand: therein lies part of the reason for her self-imposed exile from the glorious Cagilan Empire as the Republican system of government can be oppressive to a young noble starting out on her career.

Whilst her temper is tempestuous it is rarely seen in full flow and to most eyes she is by turns charming, gracious and downright riotous. The men and women under her command are all hand picked for their courage and skill, and she shares a camaraderie with them that defies all social conventions: she accepts and encourages familiarity from those who would willingly lay down their lives in her service and reckons it no diminishment of her honour to listen to their opinions. However on the battlefield she presents a grim, humourless demeanour and exercises iron discipline over her company.

Honour is a significant factor in her thinking and she will not turn her hand against those incapable of harming her. This is an ancient notion of chivalry and is partly mixed up with her private spiritual beliefs, of which she is very reticent to talk. As such she does not engage in looting or the lynching of defenceless peasants. The men and women under her command would probably do these things without a second thought as many of those who follow her banner have experienced the joys of freebooting: perhaps if a situation triggered other, deeper emotions she would let them have their head but you can be sure her conscience would plague her afterwards. There is always a price to be paid for unleashing the shadow.

Personal Journal

Fontan, East Continent

Moira started her career in Krimml, accompanied by a small bodyguard. She distilled her small retinue of retainers down to the barest minimum: the five men who originally formed The Imperial Cagilan Guard. Her decision to give her allegiance to Fontan in its war with Sirion, Old Rancagua, Light of Fountain and The Obsidian Isles was based on their much-vaunted democracy and the injustice of a nation standing against so many others.

January 2008, The Oberndorf Campaign

Prior to commencement of the campaign, Moira swore allegiance to Marchioness Abigail Captain of Negev. At the same time she became embroiled in political controversy over appointment of the new lords of Montijo and Oberndorf, standing by the principle of accountable democratic institution of those posts in the face of broad public condemnation.

February 2008, The Akesh Temple Campaign & The Raid on Ashforth

Following her distinguished actions in the Oberndorf Campaign, Moira was assigned to the Democratic Guards for the final assault on Akesh Temple. The city fell early in the month, but the Light of Fontan government continued to put up stiff resistance for several days following the main battle and Moira was one of the judges presiding over the treason trials which followed.

Towards the end of the month she was inducted into the Lions and withdrew to Krimml to recruit a force worthy of the name, preparatory to the lightning feint through the Sirion marches that ended with the successful raid on Ashforth in Old Rancagua.

March 2008, Reformation of the Council of Defence

Low-intensity warfare and conquest in the Old Rancaguan Duchy of Kazakh, marred by political turmoil and an irreparable breach with Lord Sulliven over the reformation of the Council of Defence. Faced with an ultimatum and unable to ignore her responsibilities as a member of the Fontan Assembly, Moira resigns from the Lions and is reassigned to the Order of Thunder where she joins in the second wave of the assault on Avamar and the resecuring of the captured northern territories.