Ui Briuin Family/Caoimhe Ui Briuin

Caoimhe "Chasdubh" Ui Briuin

Full Name: Caoimhe Nic Donal Ui Briuin (Pronounced Kee-va Nic Doe-nahl oo-ee Bree-oo-in)

Nickname: Caoimhe Chasdubh (Pronounced Kee-va Kas-duv), This means Caoimhe of the Dark Curly Hair in her native tongue

Current Rank: Lady

Titles: Countess of Abaka

Former Titles: Dame of Sovonoval

Height: 5'8"

Build: Ectomorph

Hair Color: Black

Eye Color: Blue

Blood Type: +B

Sign: Libra

The Younger Years

Life within the Colonies was by and large a simpler and easier life than in most parts of the world. Because of its lax nature and relatively stable politics the second son of the Ui Briuin's family head Donal felt it would be the best place to set up roots when he left the East Continent. Taking his wife Meara Nic Aedh across the sea at the age of twenty five Donal sought to expand not only the Ui Briuin reach but his own personal prospects that he wouldn't have gotten on the East Continent. For five years Donal and his wife worked to build up their small demense within Sovonoval in the realm of Oritolon and their efforts paid off as their land prospered. Then at the age of thirty and twenty-eight respectively Donal and Meara were blessed with their first child, a daughter whom they named Caoimhe. Caoimhe in her youth was a bit of a rambunctious child whose spirit and passion carried her in everything she did (despite her mother's attempts to soothe the passion of her father's blood). In her studies she found herself an avid reader of histories, and to some extent that transitioned to etiquette. Yet it was in riding, archery, and spearwork that she found her greatest loves. Often the wild curly haired lass would settle through the lessons she had the most difficulty with for the promise of time in the yard with the master at arms. There she would compete against the house guard and Niall the squire boy her father set up in all manner of activities. This act of training and play between Niall and Caoimhe formed a bond that grew stronger with each passing year, and a competition between the two that worked to perfect their skills. It was also Niall, when they were kids, who in a moment of teasing gave Caoimhe the nickname Chasdubh as in his own words "No one would want to marry a girl with such wild curly hair." That being a point of pride for the young Caoimhe she promptly beat him with the blunt end of her training spear and declared herself Caoimhe Chasdubh proudly to the laughing crowd.

As she grew older that wildness seemed to dim a little, and show more in her younger brother Donn. She also learned the disturbing truth that the squire boy Niall was actually her half-brother born from an infidelity her father had curiously a year before she was born. This strained what had been one of her closest friendships from her youth some and when she confronted Niall about it he made her swear never to tell young Donn who greatly admired his older half-brother. In time Niall would leave their estate in Sovonoval to try and make a name for himself in Beluaterra, leaving Caoimhe without her close friend truly for the first time in her life.

A Dame of Oritolon

Within a few months of Niall leaving Caoimhe found herself growing restless in the land of her father. She wanted to strike out on her own, to try and make something of herself as he had done. The thought grew by the day, and when the feeling of being stir crazy had gotten to be too much she resolved herself to act. Meeting with her father and mother she announced her intention to set out on her own, planning to plant herself far from the Colonies to begin a life of adventure worthy of a Ui Briuin. All she desired was their blessing before going off to make a name for herself. What she found was a resistance that she did not expect to receive as both parents were worried about their first born going so far from their home. Especially when it would be Caoimhe to inherit the family demense upon her father's death. The two sides argued for hours on the merits of her carving her own path, and in time they came to a compromise. That she might set out upon her own so long as it was pledging herself to fight for the Republic of Oritolon. Having gotten the blessing and made the promise Caoimhe set out with a small contingent of the family guard she had trained with for most of her life to pledge her loyalty to King Ash and the Republic of Oritolon. She was twenty one years old.

Now at this time Oritolon was in a state of war with their neighbors the Khanate of Aren, and so upon declaring her fealty to the King Caoimhe and her Fianna set off to war almost at once. Marching from the safety of Sovonoval she engaged in her first major battle and experienced the thrill and terror of warfare. But Caoimhe's banner flew high as her Fianna and her charged through the hail of arrows into the enemy lines. The fighting was fierce and yet her spear took many lives before she was forced back with a light wound to her shoulder. Her Fianna fared a little worse than their Lady, and of their small number any loss was enough to cut their potential down. Realizing this, and with a order from the General of the Army, Caoimhe went to work actively recruiting soldiers into her fighting force. Bringing the Fianna from a small unit to fifty strong as the tale of her fierceness on the field spread and her prestige had shot up from a relative unknown.

The following months passed though with little to do beyond training herself and her soldiers. The army was amassing, but it was a slow process and so Caoimhe and her now fifty strong Fianna acted as a guard along the border region of Abaka while the military high command worked out their next plan of attack. During this time Caoimhe took little sojourns into the realm to learn more about this region so far from her home. Getting a feel for the people and the culture of the border realm whose values, while strongly Oritolon, had some influence from the citizens of the Khanate. In time those those days of peace would come to an end as the army was given a new commander in Kharyn Kye JeVondair. She was a woman whose vision of what could be for the military of the Republic inspired Caoimhe, and it was she in whom the young warrior of twenty one found a great deal of admiration. So with a renewed fire she spurred her Fianna on to action and another great clash with the Khanate. Yet the invasion would end in a defeat for the Republic and a great loss of life for her men under the enemy's arrows. Still when called to rally and attack once more Caoimhe and her reduced numbers eagerly did so. The core principle of the Ui Briuin that she held dear would not be ignored and with the backing of her fellow nobles the Fianna surged to fight once more. Alas they acted more as a bulwark for the archers than anything else, and by the time they reached the enemy line their numbers had been reduced even further. Only a handful were well enough to strike at their foes, and yet Caoimhe did strike. Taking some of those accursed archers down before being overwhelmed and captured by the Aren's. Following the battle Caoimhe spent a week in the Aren lands, a prisoner of their war, and yet completely ignored for the entirety of her imprisonment. Finally after the week had passed she was released back to the Republic, with news of a potential peace between the two nations.

The Rise of the Lady and the Pact

This news of a peace had come to quite the surprise to Caoimhe as she had just lost so many of her soldiers in the recent conflict. Yet it was not her place to question the order and so she remained quite as she worked to recoup her losses and begin training a new unit in the chance that the peace talks would fail. In the end the talks did go through, and peace would be achieved through a wedding of sorts. A Lady of the Republic would wed the Khan of Aren Karl Dodger and with her would come the region of Abaka as her dowry. In that same manner a Lady of the Khanate would marry a Lord from the Republic, and through the marriages the two nations would be bound together once more in alliance. The only problem seemed to be in finding suitable spouses for the Pact to be sealed. This was placed to the realm at large and it seemed there weren't many eager for the prospect of being married off. Especially when a new war strategy had been proposed and the Knights of the Republic were eager to try it out. Caoimhe was honestly strongly within this camp as she desired to avenge the losses of her friends by the Aren hands. Yet this would all change when her King sent her a letter asking if she would be willing to take up the marriage and bring about the peace he desired. For her part Caoimhe tried to politely refuse saying she did not have the strong family name and prestige suitable for being a Queen and the wife of the Khan. But that if there were no other she would do her duty to her King as the Ui Briuin knew their duty. Within the week of this exchange she was announced to be the candidate and Khan's future wife, and with that she was raised from a Dame of Sovonoval to the Countess of Abaka.