Lachdanann An'Dubh

Lachdanann An'Dubh is an Etrandish Warrior and the leader of the Black Eagle Company, a group of mercenaries.

Early life
Born as the only son of the landlord who owns Talon, in Etrand, as the son of a nobleman, Lachdanann was expected to become a valiant knight, but early on, it was realized that knightly honour was far from him, let alone defense of the weak. "A knight is sworn to valour, his heart knows only virtue, his blade defends the helpless, his might upholds the weak, his word speaks only truth, his wrath undoes the wicked." - he was taught. There was no problem with valour, as he was always somewhat of a temerarious daredevil, but to protect the weak was out of the question, as he was a future landlord, someone who is destined to tax his people to oblivion...

His father hired a tutor for him, so that he should teach him the art of putting his thoughts onto ink and reading it back, so as to strengthen his faith, to make him more of a suitable heir. When young Lachdanann already knew the letters and the works of some of the more famous poets and writers, his father decided that it is time for him to learn how to swing arms. Every single one of the training officers was his master, who all taught him how to swing all the weapons, and to an extent, how to shoot. At the age of thirteen, he was good with the sword and the spear, and even his pain tolerance was far greater than that of other boys of his age. During the fencing lessons, his thinking and style became far more militaristic, and he was far less of a haughty noble boy. As such, matters of the estate started to interest him less and less, and he started to feel far better in the tavern, among soldiers and bards. This period of his life had a serious influence on him, as he heard many stories about heroic deeds, heroic battles, get-rich-quick schemes that actually worked, and prospects growing reputation.

At the age of seventeen, he became one of his father's bannermen, first as a cavalryman, then as the commander of a whole battalion's worth of heavy cavalrymen. He respected his superiors, and he did best to comply with the orders he got, which quickly advanced him on the ranks. It took him four years to become a lieutenant, then he unexpectedly got himself discharged. His father was happy and was prepared to hand him over the estate, but instead of accepting the inheritance, his son took his equipment to himself and left the estate, not caring one bit about his protesting father, who in his anger disowned the disobedient son. So began three years of wandering....

Wanderings
The life of a wanderer was much harder than what Lachdanann thought, and the first weeks and months were spent lacking even basic necessities - yet he was adamant to stand still and stay on his legs in spite of all these vicissitudes. Of course, that was easier said than done, and was a failure, so he degenerated into an ordinary highwayman who made his living from robbing travellers for a while.

One day, things did not go as expected: he attacked someone armed, someone who was far more trained than him, who quickly disarmed Lachdanann and gave him some good kicking too. He was prepared for certain death, but the man smiled, helped him up and talked to him. This is how he learned that the expert armsman was no one else than Ergyryad De'Danan, who was a mercenary captain, and on his way to find job. He gave two choices to the boy: the first one was not so pleasant, as it would have involved him breaking all of his bones and leaving him in the forest as food for the wolves. The other, however was far more interesting: join his company, where they will make a true warrior out of him. This is how the boy became a mercenary... boy... who was already twenty-one years old.

Their name was the White Eagle Company. They got their name after their flag, which was a white eagle on an orange background. The time spent under their wing is what made Lachdanann an expert swordsman, and he improved his skill in regards to polearms as well, and quite obviously also gained quite a few good friends. Most of his knowledge comes from a man named Asartes, who was the weaponmaster of the team, and had the skill to know who was the best at which weapon. Lachdanann got his shield, a longsword and even a new suit of mail: a piece of chainmail covered with a black tunic. The time spent with the eagles was one full of adventures, but he never thought that one day, he would lose his partners. During one of their journeys, they ran into a greater armed group which did not let them march forward - only in exchange for a good sum of money. Money was not a problem, only that these people haven't been in a battle for some time, so they were eager to put their weapons to use. The two teams clashed with each other, and the eagles did not care about the fact that their opponents outnumbered them two to one, until their numbers slowly started dwindling. They killed two enemies for every casualty they themselves sustained, but eventually, it became unsustainable, so they decided to flee. Every manner of organization became nonexistent, and everyone fled whereever their eyes led them. Ergyryad fell victim to a lethal arrow, which made their case even worse. Lachdanann could thank his horse for the fact that he could get away with only one cut on his arm. He escaped to Steelhelm, and spent the next few months there, until he decided to go on another adventure and find those partners of his that survived, while offering his services to people for money as a sword for hire. Once he finds the survivors, he will reorganize the Eagles under his own leadership.

The original FRPG
Lachdanann An'Dubh appeared on the forum on the 20th of March, 2010, but did not take part in any adventures.