Malcolm of Dalriath

Prince Malcolm MacCavan

"Ask not if the quill is mightier than the sword, but whether a strong arm or a keen mind is the abler wielder of both."
—Wisdom of Saint Callum

Born into a proud clan of warriors and a great lineage of kings as the youngest of four children, Malcolm MacCavan lived most of his life safely removed from the burdens of Kingship. His grandfather Cavangyl, forged a unified kingdom from the chaos of the War of Splintered Shields and brought the clans of Dalriath together under one banner, and his father Eramon expanded the borders of Dalriath and won bloody concessions of treasure and territory from both Strathmorne and Brythonkeld. While his older siblings were raised in their father's image, Malcolm was free to pursue his passions for history and natural lore, studying under Taliesin, the Merlin of Dalriath. Nobody could have anticipated that it might fall to him to lead the hosts of Tyndrum one day, but fate is a fickle thing, and in recent years the royal house has been beset with misfortune and tragedy.
Lachlan, his father's tanist, died when Malcolm was only 13, succuming to a virulent illness that even Taliesin's wisdom could not cure. Far from the hero's death his grandfather had earned, he died feverish and bedridden in a remote hermitage of the druids. Embittered by his son's fate, Eramon has not yet forgiven the druids for their failure, even as his own health fails.
Fate's cruelty would be unrelenting, however. Four years later, Diarmid, Malcolm's other brother, was leading his thanes and clansmen on a hunt when he was set on by a blood-mad boar, grown wild with rage and mighty beyond all reason. Many a good warrior fell to its tusks before at last the beast was brought down. Morag, Malcolm's only sister, escaped the slaughter with her life but not her wits—whether it was grief that drove her mad or some fell magic, she vanished into the deep forests of the north without a trace, leaving Malcolm alone as his aging father's tanist. With his father grown bitter and reclusive, Malcolm's mother Rhiann has done her best to reign in the thanes and chieftans of Dalriath long enough for Malcolm to come of age and take his father's place, but Dalriath is a nation of warriors, and without a warrior king there are many both within its borders and beyond who would seek to exploit its weakness...

Current Location

Tyndrum

Species

Human

Age

19

Pronouns

he/him