Constance Shepherd

Constance Shepherd is a human fighter who appears in the Undesirables Campaign. She is played by I.W.

Description

Appearance

Constance is a young woman in her late teens that stands at an average height but has a stronger build than most people her age, due to being raised on a farm. She has straw colored hair that is usually tied or braided back to keep it out of her face and a ruddy skin tone with light freckles. Her eyes are a bright amber color that especially stand out in the sunlight. She speaks with a drawl that is often seen as endearing or comforting. Her clothing is plain and mostly homemade. Her most notable item of attire is the dark green, adamantine scale mail armor she has on.

Personality

As someone who grew up through hardship and hard work, Constance is wiser than her years let on. She seems very knowledgeable and patient, but has been seen to have quite a temper under the right circumstances. Above all else, she is a very hard worker and selfless with her time, often putting her own ambitions and goals on hold for those she cares about. She aspires to be a knight of Westfall.

Biography

Background

Growing up as a sheep herder, Constance's family were getting by with wool sales and their own home garden for the most part. Her mother died during Constance's birth, leaving her the only girl in a family of four. Although poor, she, her father and three older brothers were a very happy family. When she was twelve, her siblings were conscripted to protect their little village from bandit attacks and when they never returned, she took on most of the family chores. Her father fell ill a few years later, and unable to afford medicine or the services of a cleric, he passed away when she was sixteen. Constance kept the farm going as best she could, but alone it was too much for her. As a backup plan, she chose to prepare for a jousting tournament where the winner could make a reasonable request of King Brendan of Westfall. Enamored with her father's old war stories and viewing her brothers as heroes, she decided that she would request to join the Silver Knights Academy, as other commoners had before, and follow in their footsteps. As one of the best horseback riders in her village, she believed it was possible and was encouraged by others to try.
Making her own competition lances and creating a makeshift shield from an old wagonwheel, she had to settle on the quilted padding that went under her father's old armor as her only protection to enter. She would find that she was required to place first in the commoner's division of the jousting tournament to even be allowed to compete with the in the noble's division for the prize. Her skill on horseback proved superior to the other commoners and she was allowed the wild card position in the Knight's Tournament. Initially laughed at and even pelted with rotten vegetables, Constance still competed and won match after match, even defeating two famous members of the Order of the Silver Lance. In her final match, she lost to Tolliver Brambleheart. She scored the first points, but still was defeated by the end of the match, falling short of her goal so close to completing it.
While the crowd laughed once again, the king commanded they show her respect. Addressing her directly, Brendan of Westfall commended her skill and bravery and while he couldn't change the rules and grant her a prize as well, he decreed that should she ever wish to compete again, she would not need to prove herself worthy of challenging his knights again and would be allowed to joust at the noble level. He encouraged her to return for the next tournament, even stating he did not doubt she would join his knights if she used the defeat as a learning opportunity.
Inspired, she held her head high, but still broke down into tears once out of the public eye. Tolliver had followed her though, and offered her a position with the mercenary guild, the Undesirables. He saw that she was a gifted rider and fighter and assured her that some practical experience would do wonders for her and he would sponsor her in the next tournament. With decision before her, Constance sold her flock and her house to move into The Verdant Manor as a member of the mercenary team.
Since joining, she has only been given minor assignments though, and has most often been the babysitter for Sivak Gol'rotta's adopted daughter. The dragonborn has been training her in what free time she has and promised the young girl that she would get in on the big missions soon and gifted her a set of adamantine scalemail armor as a thank you for caring for the child and to prepare her for dangerous battles to come.

Undesirables

Following her loss in the jousting tournament, Constance was given a place on the team. She sat out of the events in Dugafjord, having stayed in Westfall to watch after Lor'anna. On the adventure to Wahi Kao, Constance was one of the members that took Muzu's offer to come along.

Relationships

Sivak Gol'rotta

The two became relatively close after Gol'rotta returned from Dugafjord. The dragonborn felt guilty for making her stay behind with her child, especially after seeing how badly she had been bitten while caring for her. Constance respects Gol'rotta greatly and the gratitude she is given from the Sivak captain is more than enough for the farm girl. The two train together, with Gol'rotta showing Constance how to use a wide variety of weapons and helping her perfect them. Gol'rotta seems to rely very heavily on Constance and trusts her more than anyone else with Lor'anna.

Lor'anna

Most of the time, Constance is only tolerated by the infant. In the beginning of the first time watching her, Lor'anna was more than a handful and actively misbehaved in protest to Gol'rotta being gone. The baby has give the young girl numerous scars on her hands and arms from biting her in defiance. This eventually changed when other kids around Constance's age began throwing rocks at the pair when they had gone to the market. As if aware of the farm girl's anger and her using her own body to shield her, Lor'anna has been much more behaved for Constance since. Nuha descibed the incident as though Constance was a mother bear, as she held Lor'anna while the farm girl dealt with the teenagers bare handed.

Character Information

Legacy

• Constance is the first commoner to make it to the final round of the Knight's Tournament on their first attempt.

Notable Items

• Adamantine Scale Armor: A gift given by Gol'rotta. Formerly belonged to Garth Darros.

• Clyde: Constance's draft horse and faithful companion.

Character Type
Non Player Character
Actor
I.W.
Date of Birth
Dulfa 26, 139AT
Place of Birth
Shale Ridge, Westfall
Class
Fighter
Cavalier
Affiliations
Undesirables

Family
Unnamed parents- (deceased)
Three unnamed brothers- (deceased)