•Character Name: Lady Eira Mared Hywel
•Gender: Female
•Age: Eighteen
•Height: 5'2"
•Appearance:
At her modest 5’2”, Eira was always admittedly jealous of her elder sister’s, in her opinion, more
graceful height. Well into her nubile years, she was still often seen and treated as a child, which she faulted not only to her girlish stature, but to the fact that she was not the eldest. Even Gwillyn, her younger by a year, was often allowed more responsibility and independence then Eira herself. Though that, she knew, was not due to their age, but to the simple fact that God had borne him a man, and she a lady. An unpleasant reality of life the girl accepted at face, but resented at heart.
Her brown eyes were the same richness as her hair, which was a few shades lighter than her siblings, and contrasted well with a skin tone becoming to women of her stature. The girl was very fond of burgundy, champagne, and colors of a similar pallet, and her wardrobe attested to such favor. Like her sister, and any moral woman of her day, Eira dressed modestly, tight collared dresses, and long binding sleeves to match. Her chestnut hair was rarely, if ever, seen out of the elaborate crown braids she’d perfected in her childhood, and so its profound length was lost to anyone besides the matrons charged with her or her elder sister. Either way, her shear veils did well in hiding away the silky wisps of hair that had fallen out of their place in her braid.
•Personality: The middle, and perhaps, the least important of three children; one sibling the eldest, and the other, the heir, Eira has lived her life with a grudging knowledge that she was often, and would perhaps always be, ignored. When men propositioned her father for a daughter’s hand in marriage, they always requested the hand of his eldest daughter, Catrin. And he always denied them. Though Eira herself, truthfully, did not yet wish to be married, she did however resent the fact that she was never sought after like her sister. This led to a budding envy toward Catrin, one not filled with malice, but still, in the dark recess of her mind, it tick-tick-ticked to her subconscious, a reminder like that of an inconvenient itch, of her own inadequacy.
However, being the middle child did have its benefits, as Eira sustained a healthy relationship both with her elder sister and younger brother, along with a laxer upbringing comparatively to Catrin, who had far more expectations placed upon her. Though Eira was not exactly sharp tongued, she was a very free thinker with varying conventions on what ought to be acceptable of ladies such as herself. Most of those thoughts, however, Eira keeps unspoken, only rarely sharing them with Catrin or Gwillym, because she was bright enough to know how dangerous an unfiltered mouth could be. Still, once impassioned, the girl chomps at the bit to rant and express her ideals, and so she has taken an interest in writing, under the guise of wishing to master her penmanship, but in reality, it is not the flowery shape of the words that interests her nearly as much as their meaning. Save a few essays of free thought she keeps hidden within the bindings of her thick bible, Eira burns her writings shortly after their conception.
Though Eira was not exactly untrustworthy, she was exceptionally sneaky, often venturing from her expected place within to keep, sometimes within the company of Gwillym, and sometimes on her own. It was a trait only she, the forgotten middle child, could properly develop because surely if Catrin or Gwillym went missing for as long as she sometimes did, they’d be discovered gone. However, for Eira, her mother and matrons often figured the girl was in her room, reading or practicing her writing, when really the girl was elsewhere. On the rare occasion she was caught, Eira was able to either lie or play dumb, and because she was treated as no great importance, the girl escaped with a light punishment in most cases.
•Nobility Title: Viscountess
•Martial Status: Unmarried
•Biography: Born in the height of winter, Eira was the second daughter to Viscount Gwallter Hilarius Hywel, who had been hoping vehemently for a son to secure his legacy. However, instead the midwife presented the man with a second daughter, and though he did not resent the girl, he was however, disappointed. She grew up under the constant supervision of different nursemaids and matrons, taught the manners of a lady from a very young age, though her interest in courtesy feigned as the girl’s mind blossomed past such arbitraries and repetitions quickly. Still, she learned as she was meant to, though never prided herself in the same way Cadi always had.
As children, her and her elder sister had been inseparable, Catrin, a green eyed four-year-old, dragging behind her the bundled toddler that was Eira, playing dress up and treating the girl as her own personal doll because at the time, Eira’s understanding of language was limited to babbled words and points, so she was unable to protest. As they aged, they would play together in the courtyard, soon accompanied by an even younger sibling, that cherished son Viscount Gwallter had always wanted.
She was not an exceptionally naughty child, nor was she pure in her goodness, though like most, she bobbed between the two hemispheres, reciting her prayers, though sinning all the same as mortal men were prone to do.
Just beginning her adult life, Eira knows that soon the freedoms of her youth will be stripped away by the oppressive nature of marriage, should her husband so wish to rid her of them, and so with an almost nervous zeal, the girl clings to what childhood remains, while still yearning for the independence of adulthood she knows she likely will never have.
•Starting Location: Montgomery
•Likes: Writing, listening to gossip/talk of the war, riding
•Dislikes: Her own shortcomings/irrelevance when compared to her siblings, lectures
•Notable Skills: Master penmanship, adequate sewing
Cadi is of a fair height for a woman, with fair skin and dark hair typically hidden by her veil. Sea foam green-blue eyes and a precise nose sit above a thoughtful curved mouth and a quizzical brow. Cadi dresses as a woman of her station is expected to, with her curling black hair covered demurely in a veil, her skirts long and her sleeves as well. A shawl typically draped over her shoulder or through the crook of her elbows as her home land can be a damp and chilly place.
