A working biography of Tanith O Marcaigh

Childhood:

Tanith was born to Fergus O Marcaigh and Eileen Gerrety. Fergus is the well-respected Marshal to Lord Virgil Thorburn’s horses. Tanith was born out of wedlock, and under some strained circumstances ended up living with only her father on the Thorburn estate. Fergus did not know how to deal with the emotional side of parenthood and raised Tanith under the false impression that she was a foundling. He used this lie to retain an aloofness, to avoid the fatherly expression of love, though eventually they established a bond of relaxed affection that both were comfortable with. Life on the manor left little room for frivolities like love, anyway. The simple fact was they both had each other’s quiet company and a single unending duty; horses.
By age 10 Tanith had finished any sort of schooling she would receive at the hands of the manor’s clergyman. She could read some and write her name, recite the Lord’s Prayer, and sew. These skills seemed completely useless to Tanith, however, and as far as she was concerned their conclusion just opened up three extra hours of the day to spend on her real education in the stable yard. Fergus took on his daughter as his full-time apprentice, and her deftness with the animals was undeniable. She even established a few new training techniques that Fergus incorporated into his routine.
Lord Thorburn would never allow a woman to ascend to the rank of Marshal for his estate, but he allowed Tanith to work because as a child she did not require a salary. Throughout her adolescence she became painfully aware of the fact that when her father retired the position would go to one of the less talented stable-hands. It was a bone of contention that gave Tanith a chip on her shoulder, but she never really accepted that as her future, because her life had been so strictly adhered to order that she assumed something would shift in her favor before the time came, as things tended to do.
An indispensable aspect of Tanith was her light weight, which allowed her to start breaking in horses via riding before they reached their full size without injuring them. This boon hastened the overall training period of each mount, saving Lord Thorburn a lot of money in the long run. A poor diet and a natural inclination to wiriness kept Tanith from filling out as most young women do, so her duties never had to be abandoned.

Personality: The only perspective that Tanith has on herself is in relation to her orphan status and her horses. Fergus raised her on a faerie-tale story of his discovery of her; he was transporting some Hobbys to a horse dealer and a snake on the road spooked them. A couple took off into the woods, and he pursued them. Though it was midday inside the towering, gnarled trees the sun was blocked out and he could hardly see his hands in front of his face. The echo of the horses whinnying sounded dimly and he followed their noises to a strange clearing, flooded with misty air and huge mushrooms. In the center of the space the Hobs were nuzzling a wicker basket. Fergus recaptured them with no problem, so enthralled were they by this parcel. He opened it and gaped as he saw a babe lying there, just looking at him. She had a full head of black hair and she was big, no question, at least a half-stone. The wicker basket must have held oats before it held her for their scent was still strong within it. The Hobbys kept nuzzling her and searching for the treats but they couldn’t find any. And even though these huge creatures were nuzzling her all she did was giggle and smile. Fergus took her home with him and raised her alongside his foals n’ colts. In reality Tanith was conceived by Fergus and the wife of an often-traveling cloth dealer. She was brought to term and born without the man’s slightest knowledge, and after she was taken to live with Fergus.
As a direct result of her father’s story, Tanith sees herself as someone slightly removed from the ordinary. She does not acknowledge this in any conscious sense, but she does not see her anger or sadness as the same as other’s; to her, her feelings are somehow more deeply felt. Even so she is extremely self-contained, usually to her detriment as the build-up of emotions leads to volatile outbursts. These monumental eruptions only justify her mindset, as their caliber is considerably more powerful than the more complacent, average folk around her. Fergus punishes her strictly after these episodes, embarrassed by her abandon, but Tanith is not easily swayed by physical force. She lives very much inside herself, projecting personalities onto the horses to keep her company. Other children her age quite appropriately found her snobby and inaccessible.
The general dislike directed towards Fergus’s daughter from her peers only ripened with age, leaving Tanith with no marital prospects. This vaguely distressed Fergus, though he had never really considered the idea her getting married.



Skills: Horse-training in the areas of warfare, domestic, and hunting- Very rudimentary understanding of mounted swordsmanship-Literate- basic knowledge of farming- birthed over 2 dozen foals- shoed hundreds-