Bran Mak Morn

Story 29 - Bellum Horarium
Appearance: Bran stands head and shoulders over the tallest of the Caledonian men. He wears only a simple loin cloth, going bare chested and has been tattooed with a dark blue labyrinthine pattern from head to toe. He is known for wearing an enchanted necklace of children's skulls given to him by the dark druid Cathbhadh. He wields a massive silver Klaive with two hands and wears it in a sheath across his back. Unlike the other Picts and Caledonians, he is an albino with white skin and pink eyes. He has long white hair worn in a braid down the middle of his back. In winter, he wears a wolf fur cape made from the skins of his former pack mates.
Background: Bran was born the son of a Pict warlord and a Caledonian princess. He was the first of paternal twins; he and his brother Brennus were both born albino. The birth of the twins did not please the warlord, who took other wives and conquests in the hopes of producing better progeny. Princess Catriona was not pleased that her sons should be supplanted and sought out the dark druid Cathbhadh for a cure to her ills. In return for sharing his bed, the dark druid cursed the warlord to produce only damned progeny; countless Fomor were birth in this way and the warlord was forced to declare Bran and his brother his heirs. When Bran and his brother came of age, they were inducted into the Tribe of the White Howlers by their father a homid Ahroun whose deeds have passed from history. Bran quickly rose to become leader of his pack, with his brother by his side, they fought many foul Worm creatures. Then invaders from across the sea began to conquer the Caledonian Confederation, who called upon the druids and White Howlers to aid them in war against the alien threat. For three years they fought the invaders who called themselves Romans and in the end they won. But the greed of the thanes led them to accept bribes and tribute instead of complete victory over the enemy. Bran and his pack were outraged and sought out the dark druid Cathbhadh as his mother had decades before to find a cure to rid him of the Romans. Cathbhadh foretold that the Roman Empire would fall of its own accord in only two centuries, but Bran was not satisfied with this answer and demanded an end to the Italian invasion now. For his daring, Cathbhadh promised Bran victory against the Romans at the cost of his most beloved possession. In his rage, Bran agreed to the bargain and was given the 'Necklace of Morrigan' made from the skulls of sacrificed children and raven feathers; the necklace would make him the most feared Ahroun warrior of the White Howlers and Caledonians. But the necklace was cursed and for every victory that it granted Bran, it exacted something he truly loved. His personal war against the Romans and the necklace have already cost him several pack mates and now his brother. The death of his brother he blames on the Roman Julius Valerius, but in his heart, he knows it is the necklace that he refuses to take off. Regardless, he blames the Romans for his ills, as the only foe he could not destroy utterly.
Personality: Bran was once a warrior who took pleasure in deeds of heroism and daring, but now he lives only for fear, murder and rapine. The necklace is slowly corrupting him, driving him to perform darker deeds to satisfy his need for vengeance and to assuage his wrath.
Destiny: Bran will win countless victories against the Romans, his name will become a byword for barbarian evils and warriors will fear him, but ultimately the necklace will extract the last of his greatness from him when he enters battle with a Roman warrior of the Worm and falls, only to rise again as a night creature.
Bran's Statistics