As many of you know, the character of "Culann of the Brigantes, the Black Brehyrion", is a big, dark, scary kinda guy. His life has been marked by struggle and tradgedy, but he has become the living embodiment of Neitzsche's "...that which does not kill us makes us stronger..." maxim.

He is the son of the blacksmith Coeiran and the herbalist Belobha. His father is of pure Britannic blood, his mother is Celtiberian. He was always a big boy, and grew even bigger working the bellows in his father's forge. He killed his first man, a Pictish raider, at the age of eleven. It was also during this battle that his father was slain before his eyes. It was after this battle that Culann received a gift from his mother. It was a special gift - a family heirloom passed down through many generations. It became his symbol, for no one else in his tribe used such a weapon. The gift was an ornate falcata, a Celtiberian curved sword of surpassing power and beauty.

At the age of eighteen, was elected to the position of War Chief by the brehyrion Rhodri. After many campaigns against Romans, Picts, the Catuvellauni, The Iceni, and many others, Culann had proven his worth to his tribe. King Rhodri became his closest friend, although the youth's natural hot-headedness and propensity for solving things with his fists (or worse) frustrated the aging brehyrion. This was not to last for long.

When Culann was twenty-seven, rhodri passed to the next world. Having no heir, the tribal druids decided to select a king form among the titled positions of the tribe. Culann was elected unanimously, if only for his warskill and closeness to Rhodri.

Culann has reigned for almost seven years now, and most of those years had been uneventful. Shortly after the event that became known as the Battle of Mons Graupius (84 CE, for those keeping track), the Roman governor Agricola decided that the Brigantes were too powerful to be allowed to thrive. Striking at the root of the tree, so to speak, proved to be a fatal strike. When the soldiers came to collect Culann (the Brehyrion had been wounded during a skirmish with a rogue band of Roman mercenaries), they had an easy time of taking him to Rome in chains.

For almost two years, the Black Brehyrion has been away, with his tribe crumbling in his absence. He returns now to his home, worse for wear, and bringing a Roman woman with him. It is here we pick up Culann's story...