Tain's Page

	Description

		hort and wiry, Tain wears simple "barbaric" clothing: sheepskin leggings and boots, linen loincloth and jerkin, deerskin tunic, and a thick blue cloak with a polished agate clasp.
	He keeps his hair limed, either in spikes (for battle), or straight up (like a flattop). He wears long mustaches and a pointed goatee (both also limed), and has several blue woad tattoos, including a celtic raven, celtic sunburst, celtic knot, and a band around his left bicep in a serpent-weave pattern. Tain wears a woven belt of horse hair and hair taken from his enemies (he weaves in a few new strands whenever he can). He carries a long dagger made of a human femur (the hilt wrapped in strips of cured human skin) in a sheath through the belt; also a sling and a pouch of smooth stones, three steel throwing knives (in various places), and two steel dirks (sheathed behind his back beneath his cloak). He also wears a slim leather baldric with several small leather pouches attached, and may carry a leather bag when traveling.

	Background

		ain was born in a small village on the Isle of Mull in the Hebrides, the son of a Cruithne (Pictish) mother and a Laplander father.
	His father died while Tain was a young boy, and his mother Eilidh served in the clan chief's hall to earn food for herself and the boy. Left to himself much of the time, Tain grew up wild, spending his time among the hills and woods of the island. When Tain was a young lad of twelve summers, a stranger arrived at the village from the far north. He claimed to be the boy's uncle, Vilah, a Shaman of his father's people. A dream had brought him here, he said, and he must teach the boy the ways of the Spirits. Tain spent five years training under Vilah, learning the ways of the spirit realm and the secrets of dreams. Vilah made him learn also the writing of his mother's people, and arranged for local wise men to teach the boy the legends and secrets of the land. In the summer of his seventeenth year, Tain became a Shaman. He searched in the high airy places of the spirit realms, and found his Fetch, which he calls Caor Thine ("Thunderbolt"). Vilah pronounced the lad a man, and a guide to his people, then left for the north, saying that the dreams bade him go. But he set Tain upon the path to seek out another wise man, a wizard of great power in the south. Vilah told Tain he must learn this other magic, and use it to gain power so that the spirits would have an ally among these wizards. Tain travelled south until he came to the covenant of Crun Clach, where he sought out the Magus Seumas an Cat. Seumas accepted Tain as an "apprentice," and began teaching him the ways of Hermetic Magic. Tain also learned from the Criamon Magus Radislav am Polanach - although Tain must join Ex Miscellenea, he shared much with the eccentric Slavic mystic. Tain met several other advanced apprentices and new magi during those years, and made plans with them to form a new covenant when all were confirmed as magi of the order. Tain knew of an ancient site of great power on an island off the coast, where in centuries past the Diedne Druids had worshipped. It had been used later by a group of Hermetic Diabolists, and had lain empty for a century. But Tain knew the ways of the spirits, and knew the power of the site. Tain and the others began making secret preparations to rebuild the site, sending agents to scout the island and even sneaking away from time to time to visit the area themselves. Finally, when Tain reached the age of twenty-seven summers, Seumas agreed that Tain had learned enough to pass his "gauntlet," and confirmed Tain before the Tribunal of 1193. Tain and the other new magi immediately petitioned the Tribunal for the authority to rebuild Fitheach Tigh. Objections were raised, and defeated. Intrigue and deception, debate and persuasion - all played a role in swaying the Tribunal to their side. Finally, the opposition acceded that rebuilding a covenant on that site was a good idea, but put forth a counter-proposal that another group of young magi were better suited to rebuild a covenant on that site. This was a shocking setback, but with the support of Crun Clach, Tain's friends were able to narrowly defeat that counter-attack, and the Tribunal granted the authority to rebuild the Covenant. Together with his new-found companions Patrick of Mercere, Alcibiades of Merinita, and Philograccus of Bonisagus, and his bodyguard Ieuen Blackwell, he set out to rebuild the old covenant, and renew the ancient site of power. They were later joined by Titus Sculpas of Verditius, Doggath of Flambeau, and Fergus Ex Miscellanea, and a variety of consors, including Manus MacSomerled, Sean Campbell, Jean-Michel and Edward Spurious.


Birthyear	1166	Current Age	55	Apparent Age	38

	Tain is a Hermetic Shaman
	You can email Tain's player, Paul