Branwen's bio

    Branwen is a woman of short stature even for her time and an average somewhat slim figure. Her skin is very pale so she can appear at times sickly and tired. Branwen's face has been described as "Quite pleasant to gaze upon." or as one drunk Angle soldier in a Monkchester alehouse said to his friends "Look men, that ones easy on the eyes! AHhahahah- *COUGHS*". Speaking of eye hers are aquamarine and in the right light seem as though they pierce straight through to ones soul. She usually has her eyelids painted for ceremony to appear as a second set of eyes. Outside of ceremony she simply paints them a dark blue. Branwen's hair is black and she keeps it long down past her backside but fairly neat with a comb made from yew wood.


    Branwen was what you might call peaceful phlegmatic most of her life but with some sanguine attributes. She often considered the feelings of others before her own. Ever since she was young her vision was poor only getting worse over time; to which she is now nearly blind. This had made her rather passive and reliant on others. However when it comes to what Branwen now considers her calling she is very confident. What many christians deemed a curse her new pagan family consider a gift. Telling her "The gods are taking your sight in this world so that you may peer into theirs with clarity.".

(BTW what she what we would now call retinitis pigmentosa. A disease that causes a slow degeneration of the retina)



        Branwen was baptized as Leofflaed of the Attwater. Her father was a Thane named Eardwulf the Younger and her mother was a common freeborn woman named Hild. For nearly two hundred years her people had owned land around north of what is modern day Leeds in what was then the Kingdom of Elmet. They claimed that they could trace their ancestry back to the ancient pagan clans of Ynys Mon. The clan had built their first homestead on and island in the middle of a lake from which they would continue to rule. When the Angle kingdom of Northumbria finally conquered Elmet many of it's people particularly in the Attwater's area refused to adopt the Angle's ways and stuck to their own Brittonic culture. Branwen's clan was among the first few to adopt the Angles culture and names. This was in order to gain favour with the Ealdormen and most importantly the King of Northumbria Eadwine who bestowed upon them the surname Attwater. Of course this made them unpopular with many other clans of the area; especially the once feared Urien clan who claimed to be ancestors of the legendary king Urien Rheged.

        Over the years these two clans had several hostile encounters with the Attwater's usually coming out on top. Eventually they both tried to come together to find peace. Eardwulf was the oldest son of the Attwater's so his father Eardwulf the Elder made plans to have his son betrothed to Brina of the Urien. However Eardwulf the Younger refused to let this happen; he quickly married a young village girl whom he had greatly fancied for a while now. This action obviously infuriated the Urien clan who vowed revenge for this grievous insult.

        A year later Branwen was born in mid-autumn as Leofflaed her mother and father were overjoyed. They called for a feast to be held for all the people serving them on the island. Over the next thirteen years the hostilities with the other clans had all but stopped. The Urien clan when refused by Eardwulf the Younger instead married their daughter Brina to the Eiddin clan. During those thirteen years Branwen learned to cope with her near blindness, and to do many of the same tasks expected of any other noble girl. Unfortunately it was also during this time all other children Branwen's parents had were stillborn. Eventually the Attwaters had assumed that after all these years their long time rivals had given up their sworn revenge; if only they were right.


        When Branwen had turned fourteen her parents bethrothed her to a young Thane of twenty years known as Aethelstan of Chenaresburg who was currently the only male heir of his clan. Aethelstan was lucky his father Oswald had secured a fairly substantial amount of land before passing on to ensure his son would be well sought after. Within a month after some negotiations Aethelstan arrived at the Attwater's home; stepping of the boat he was a sight to behold. Much taller than Branwen and with golden blonde hair and a beard covering his strong jawline. He seemed to carry himself very well and showed great respect to Branwen's clan introducing them all to his mother Mildred and sister Frideswide. Aethelstan was the embodiment of the perfect Angle Eardwulf had said to his wife Hild. Later on that day Branwen had some time to talk with Aethelstan alone even though this defied tradition. It seemed to her that he was kind, confident, brave and also very ambitious. He had dreams of becoming a powerful Ealderman of Elmet perhaps even one day more. When the next day arrived all the island servants scrambled to prepare the wedding. By late afternoon everything was ready.

        The ceremony was short and sweet. By the end the sun was setting; it was time for the feasting. With everyone in a drunken merry mood including most of the guard; no one noticed the boats waiting on the lake shore surrounding the island after the sun had set and darkness fell. Slowly under the cover of night men filled these boats and quietly rowed towards the island in the center. As they departed from their boats the few guards on duty were quickly cut down. They were only discovered by accident when a bodyguard of Aethelstan named Osmund went outside to relieve himself. Upon seeing an island guard being slain he quickly ran towards the small chapel of the island and began to ring the bell before running inside to tell everyone what he seen. At this point the feast was over. Everyone was just starting to settle down for the night. Aethlestan was getting undressed alongside Branwen when he heard the bell ringing and Osmund shouting. He quickly put his shirt and belt back on then grabbed his sword removing it from the scabbard before running out of the room. A few minutes later Osmund entered the room wounded on the left arm and covered in blood. He told Branwen that Aethelstand ordered him to find and secure her safety; that she was to be spirited away off the island and toward safety. As Osmund took Branwen by the arm and escorted her outside she could hear fighting all around. Even the bloody screams of women and children filled the air. When they had reached a boat Osmund found himself outnumbered four to one. He fought like a mad man lashing out at any man coming close to Branwen. However one of them eventually was able to hit Osmund in the back of his knee causing him to fall. Just as he was about to be killed Branwen hurled herself into the men surrounding Osmund, but she was quickly tossed aside. Standing above Branwen one of the men held up his sword and was about to strike down onto her before being killed by an axe thrown into the back of his head. Eardwulf came at the men suddenly cutting one down and disarming the other before slitting his throat. Osmund took advantage of this distraction quickly grabbing his sword from the mud he stabbed it through clean through the remaining man. Picking his daughter up from the mud Eardwulf turned to Osmund explaining to him that these men are of the Urien clan and that his daughter would never be safe in Elmet anymore. He held out Branwen to Osmund who took her into his arms as Eardwulf yelled at him to flee with his duaghter while he held off anyone else who would try to stop them. While rowing away from the island Branwen could hear her father fighting. The screams of other men cried out before she finally heard his own voice scream in agony. Tears streaming down her eyes she knew from then on life would never be the same.

        Over the next few months Osmund took Branwen from village to village never staying for too long in any place as they made their way north. Eventually when Osmund felt they were far enough away he decided to settle down in a village called Wykeham south-west of Monkchester (Newcastle). As they began to settle down Osmund found work at a farm that mainly produced cheese and wool which they would bring into Monkchester to trade with. Branwen's work on the farm consisted of mending worn out clothing and knitting socks or what ever else was needed. From time to time she would be allowed to accompany Osmund and others into Monkchester It was a humble life they lived now but certainly a lot better than being dead. That was how life was for the next year and a half.


        Mid-autumn came around and Branwen turned sixteen. Osmund could no longer deny the feelings he had developed for Branwen and confessed his love for her the day of first snow fall that year. All seemed to be going so well for them Branwen accepted his affection agreeing to marriage which would have to take place in Monkchester. Unfortunately soon after Branwen began to complain of headaches and hearing voices. She said her dreams were filled with images of death. The villagers quickly concluded that she must be possessed by an evil being; they wanted to exile her into the wild to fend for herself but Osmund begged them to let him seek help first. He had heared of an old man who lived in the woods with his followers not far from Wykeham.

        A day later Osmund returned to the village followed close behind by a tall hooded figure. The villagers stopped in their tracks upon seeing the hooded man following Osmund. Some of their whispers and muttering could be heard, they were obviously not pleased to see such a person in their village. Osmund and the mysterious man entered the wooden hut Branwen was sleeping in. Standing beside the bed the hooded man held out his hand over Branwen remaining silent for a moment until finally he spoke. He had said he felt an ancient bloodline flowing through her; that her ancestors must have been once mighty rulers long before any Christ God came to this land. Hearing the man speak Branwen woke up asking who was there. Osmund told her that he found a man who could help her. The hooded man began to speak once more telling her that his name was Llywelyn but before he could continue Branwen reached out and grabbed his hand. Llywelyn seemed stunned for a moment as if he was speechless before clearing his throat and continueing. He went on to explain that what he saw from her touch confirmed what he had suspected when Osmund told him of what ailed her. He said that this was not the work of an evil being but rather the Gods coming into conflict within her mind; he surmised that she must have been baptized in the name of the Christ God but deep in her heart never truly accepted this. When Osmund asked what could be done Llywelyn told him nothing could or should be done to change this and she should no longer remain among these villagers. It was hard for Osmund to accept this but eventually he agreed with Llywelyn saying they would accompany him from now on. However Lylwelyn immediatly denied Osmund saying that his heart was with the Christ God not the Gods of old. He told Osmund that he could not accept him among his people until he had truly come to realize there was not one single God in this world. Lylwelyn could see how dear Branwen was to him he told Osmund that if he wanted her to live in peace this was the only way. That when Osmund was ready he could come find and join them. With a heavy heart Osmund kissed Branwen goodbye as she soon after set out alongside Lylwelyn heading out of the village and deep into the woods.

        Among Lylwelyn's people Branwen found a true home and peace of mind. Due to her black hair and small size they began it was they who first called her Branwen (Beautiful raven). So she soon adopted this name leaving behind her old Anglo name of Leofflaed. Lylwelyn himself decided to take her in as his apprentice. He felt she had a very strong connection to the Gods; that she had a natural gift to speak with them, and he wanted to help guide her along. It wasn't long before Branwen began to think of Lylwelyn as a father figure. With the love and loyalty she felt for him and her new family she vowed to never leave them and to always remain true to her belief in the Old Gods. Two years would go by with Lylwelyn and his Guardians of the Otherworld as they were called. They moved from forest to forest gathering some more followers as they went. What the future held in store Branwen only saw small glimpses of, but what ever would happen it was sure to be interesting indeed.