| GOVANNON | ||
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| STORY | ||
| Tylwyth memories of their youth are
frustratingly incomplete, even beyond the shadows cast by the
passage of time. Eagan’s earliest clear memories are of the
passage between worlds with his family. His grandfather,
father, and mother, with what belongings they could carry, crossed
over to answer the call to war in another world. His grandfather, Ifran aep Ynyr, was a weaponsmith, and his father, Tegryn, a magically skilled warrior. His mother’s skill in the magical arts was even greater, with particular skill in reading portents. Eagan expected to follow his father to the battlefield as a shieldbearer, but this was not to be. Being told he was too young, he was left with his mother and continued learning the smith’s trade. During this time, his mother gave birth to his sister, Braith, one of a growing number of tylwyth who have only known Geb as home. Despite victory over the invading soldati, Eagan’s father was never to return from the Gate War, and only a few bits of damaged armor were recovered to show his passing. This was a period of travel for the now-homeless and undirected kindred: roaming from place to place, selling their craft, be it in iron or soothsaying. Braith began to show signs that she had inherited her mother’s talent for divination. Throughout, however, resentment in his lot grew in Eagan’s heart. The young man had missed his chance to prove himself in war. His father was gone and he lived in the shadow of his famed grandfather and gifted mother and sister. The young tylwyth ranged far from family, trading on his people’s mysterious reputation and swindling gullible mortals into buying “enchanted” trinkets under an assumed name: “Govannon.” Beyond what this duplicity inflicted on the victim, it brought infamy to the kindred, and word was soon to reach his family. His grandfather was appalled at the disrepute cast on his craft, and the two argued bitterly, leading to the family’s early departure from their latest encampment. For “Govannon’s” part, he set out angrily on another of his rambles, half-minded to never return. Kindred calls out to kindred, however, and dusk found him following the trail of his family. He arrived in time to see the denouement of a vicious attack on the band of tylwyth: his grandfather sacrificing a lifetime of his craft and sustaining a mortal wound in defense of kin and his mother perishing to save Braith from the abduction. Govannon was able to dispatch the briefly triumphant raiders and extract their intent in their dying breaths. The potent tools of his grandfather’s forge and Braith’s ability to divine the future had made her the target of the lethal intentions of a mysterious noblewoman of the south: the Marchioness. His sister was safe, but the sole remaining member of his immediate kin was sorely wounded in spirit. The newly contrite Govannon hid himself and the girl away in the quiet hinterlands of Dovenhead. The girl’s words, stilled with grief for a time, slowly returned, and her brother eked out a more honest living with his craft. The Marchioness, however, was not satisfied with half her aims met. Returning one day to their shared dwelling after selling his woodcarvings, Govannon found it deserted. His sister was gone and the stink of malign spellcraft lingered in the air. Govannon walked the lands of the south for some time, desperate for any sign of his kidnapped kin, or sign of his grandfather’s tools in use. He learned much of the wickedness of the Marchioness, but her goals and person remained beyond his reach, surrounded by secretive plots and loyal sycophants. He might have despairingly slipped back into his conniving ways to support his roaming but for a mysterious letter that set him on the trail of his nemesis once more, and introduced him to the first traveling companions he has known since he lost his family. A strange magic augments the deadly skill Govannon has with his spear: a ghostly image of a shrouded tylwyth striking his foes from unexpected quarters. It lingers about even in peaceable moments, perhaps not entirely until his control. Its appearance sometimes stirs hints of memory, of pacts Govannon’s father once made with his son’s service as surety. Barring sudden remembrance, the passage of his family has put the truth of the matter beyond his ken. |
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| PERSONALITY | ||
| A sadness and resentment hangs over the
tylwyth. He is bereft of home, family, birthright, and the
approval of the kindred. The ills of the world of Geb prick
at him, and he longs for a place he cannot but vaguely remember,
for it must have been a happier home before his family were sent
forth to war. With aimless drifting as the alternative, he cleaves strongly to duty and tradition, keeping what ways of the kindred he can recall and supporting the scattered tylwyth cantonments as best he can. Perhaps this devotion to duty is what makes Govannon as selfless in the defense of his adopted kin. Despite his antipathy to their world, he frequently interposes himself between them and the arrayed threats they face. Govannon is even handed and bears a wisdom about people hard-earned through his days of preying upon naivety. At times he seems older than his youthful bearing, though that is hardly rare among tylwyth. While these insights have served him well, he is nevertheless prone to risky impulse, and can be slow to detect manipulation, magical or otherwise, when it is turned against him. Befitting someone forced to scrounge to survive, the tylwyth can be a bit of a hoarder. His copious bergen fairly bulges at the seams with scavenged odds and ends, but for all its weight he hauls it without complaint. More than once the solution to a conundrum has emerged from its depths. |
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| APPEARANCE | ||
| Ever traveling, Govannon dresses conservatively
in dark, sturdy clothing only recently supplemented with more
fashionable choices selected by Elzbieta. Only rarely can he
be found without his armor of much-repaired chainmail and his
shrouding spangenhelm. In addition to that defensive panoply
he bears an arsenal of weaponry, some of his family’s craft, some
of his own, and others gathered on his travels. Keepsakes
from his departed family are tied at his wrists, an orange scarf
on his right and a green one on his left. His face remains mostly unseen to the other travelers, save for his piercing cerulean eyes and what bits of copper hair that emerge from under his helmet. Otherwise, he is overly tall and slender in the manner of his kind, as agile as a willow switch and at least three times as strong. |
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| OTHER / TRIVIA | ||
| > Govannon thought to seek the intercession
of the gods of this world to assist in his search for his
sister. Meeting a couple of them may have cured that
impulse. > Despite the soldati modifications and materials, the winged greatspear Govannon carries is unmistakably the art of his grandfather. > The markotny Elzbieta has pursued Govannon’s affections despite the obvious difficulties including but not limited to her being unable to see his face, and her being married to a dangerous bandit lord. For his part, he admitted that she means “everything” to him. > While in the elsewhere of Braith’s dreams, Lamina caught a glimpse of the tylwyth’s face rendered safe by the unreality of the place. > The shrouded image that accompanies Govannon in battle has been called an “echo” at times, leading to the apkallu flavored diminutive “Echo-chan.” |
