Backstory
Setanta was the leader of a Hibernian raiding party who mounted a very successful attack on one of the Witch Queens' camps, killing many of her monsters and a high-ranking priest. After this event, the full attention of the Witch Queen was focused on Setanta and his band of roughly 50 warriors, and they had no option for survival but to flee the country. The plan had been to head for a country called Gall, where old tales told that there may be ancient allies.
On reaching the open sea (in a less than ideal ship; shipbuilding was not a strong point of the Hibernians, as attempting to sail away was (rightly) viewed as suicidal by the majority of the population,) the party was set upon by a storm, which lasted for several weeks.Suffering from lack of food and fresh water, many of the crew, including Setanta, fell prey to a fever which made them weak and wasted (to the point that whereas they had been sufficiently strong to challenge a large encampment of powerful monsters and mages, after full recovery they would only be about twice as strong as any old peasant ;) ). As the storm reached it's climax, Setanta was on deck, still giving orders and trying to put the boat beyond the Witch Queen's reach. At this point the ship capsized under a huge wave, and Setanta felt himself loosing consciousness as he was swept away from the boat.
When he awoke, Setanta found himself in a small dwelling, under the care of an old woman called Mab. She had found him on the Albion shore with some wreckage from a ship and a few bodies; most of the ship and the rest of the raiding party had not made it to shore (including Setanta's younger brother, Ferdiad.) Setanta talked of nothing but reaching Gall during the whole of his recovery; as it turned out, Mab had a son who commonly traveled from Albion to Gall as a trader; and she offered to bring Setanta across the country to the shipyard where her son docked, assuring him that he would be able to get free passage.
As soon as Setanta was fit to travel, he and Mab and a few of her neighbours set off in a caravan across the country. They made slow enough progress, although as they were passing through Grantabrugge, the caravan was set upon by "thieves". They managed to kill the drivers and everyone outside the trap where Setanta was lying, and by the time he had realised what was happening and grabbed his sword, Mab had been killed as well. Setanta managed to kill two of the "thieves", at which point the others raised their fingers in the air and mysteriously disappeared.
Quite hurt, Setanta stumbled towards a faint light in the distance. This turned out to be the Wessex Arms. And the rest is history. (Oh, and the thieves turned out to be nightmares attracted by the ritual circle in the pub.)
History
A few months after his arrival in Wessex, having worked for some time in the mercenaries' guild, Setanta continued his journey to Gall, only to be met with disappointment as any ancient ties there had been were long forgotten. Stranded for a while with no money, he found work for a while in Paris, employed by the Temple of Mallan who were strained to keep the flood of refugees from Teutonia under control. Having acquired some money and a new potential weapon in Mallan, Setanta returned to Wessex, where at least everyone could speak common. He rather quickly ensured that the roof of the damaged Temple of Mallan was repaired, and returned to his work as a mercenary.
Working steadily throughout the year for contractors on both sides of the moral divide, Setanta steadily rose through the ranks of the mercenaries to become guild captain. Immediately following this, he was recruited by Lady Darcy Nottingham for guard duty on a picnic in the fens (with maybe some other agenda, he wasn't listening that carefully.) They eventually stumbled upon the "Army of Mallan", which was in some internal turmoil. After a couple of small misunderstandings which were hilarious in hindsight for all involved, Setanta, Darcy and Findo returned a powerful blessing of Mallan to the god. True to form, Setanta was sure to extract a fair payment in return.
October of that year brought interesting news, as Setanta received a letter from a poor mistreated Hibernian who wanted to meet him. Although suspicious, he went along, and (dun-dun-DUN!) it was a trap! Saved only by his reputation within the mercenaries' guild, Setanta was held in the Temple of St. John for a week. Luckily the Hibernians didn't seem to regroup well, and as stories came in from further afield, it looked like there was going to be trouble.
A short time later, Setanta was hired by Master "Sacrafice" Edgar Folly of the Warlock's Guild to escort the current Prince of Wessex to his father's Coronation in Caledonia. (Payment is still pending.) Arriving to find the place deserted, it turned out the King had been betrayed by some of the local tribes! The group arrived just in time to fend off the attackers until the coronation, and Setanta (among others) was named a Knight and charged with protection of Prince Samuel. The King was lost in the mist as the group stealthily returned to the boat, stopping only briefly so that Setanta could solve The Mystery of the Wine Skin and recieve the ominous fortune that his "journey would be over soon."
More evidence of trouble brewing in Hibernia came from the Cymrian Contest he attended as part of the Grantabrugge team, where he was told they had caught several Hibernian spies. (Incidentally, the Grantabrugge team won the contest, and Setanta received a Nice Hat as a surprise.) This culminated with the new King Samuel taking off to invade Hibernia without even discussing it with Sir. Setanta first. Although tempted by the "alternative" job offer that weekend, Setanta went with a small group to try and Damage the Witch Queen's defences in Hibernia while another group went to rescue the king. The mission was successful, the only casualties being a few Humacti who probably weren't too annoyed about it anyway.
As the ships sailed from Dubh Linn, Setanta jumped from the side and swam back to shore. He regrouped with his old clann, and discussed a very important mission for the near future.
Returning to Grantabrugge for his mission to bring knowledge of the gods and magic to Hibernia, Setanta was met with a most fortuitous opportunity; the Temple of Azrael had been having a lot of trouble with a particular undead, and were offering a large reward to whoever managed to destroy it. The mercenaries' guild had been going from strength to strength, and this was coupled with the decline of various other city crime control forces. Leading a crack team of mercenaries, Setanta completed the job for the Azraelites. This brought a lot of good press, although fears run high in some circles that this new kind of undead (an eight-foot flaming eyed creature known as a "Marcus") may be seen again in the future.
Character
In Hibernia, Setanta always had to do whatever was necessary in order to survive. He has found that in Albion, you can do quite a bit better than survive if you're prepared to do "whatever is necessary". Although his primary motivation is to acquire enough money to reach Gall, he finds it somewhat amusing that people would rather give him money to kill things rather than kill them themselves. If he didn't feel such a sense of duty to return home and rid his country of the Witch Queen, he would feel quite happy to stay in Grantabrugge, at least for a few years.
His Hibernian background makes him highly suspicious of any kind of "spooky powers", especially magic and miracles, which he has only seen wielded by the Witch Queen and her servants. He is more distrusting of magic than the gods, but that's just because in Hibernia all such powers were known as magic.
His upbringing has given him the firm view that it is the duty of men to do the fighting, and the women should do whatever it is that the women do. He has been quite impressed with the skills of some of the lady warriors he has seen in Albion, and admits that they do not have the same imperative to optimise social roles. It's not that he objects to women fighting; he just thinks they could be used for better things. (and I don't even mean in that way!)
Humour
So there have been a few humorous incidents involving Setanta which I think are worth preserving, the first being a few things which happened on my first night at tt (notice the distinction between character and player names:)
On entering the Wessex arms for the first time
Setanta: Argh, I'm bleeding.
Arianne: Drink this. Hands him a flask of shiny green liquid
Stephen: Do I actually drink this?
Arianne and Nell: Yes.
Stephen: No, I mean do I *actually* actually drink this?
Arianne: Yes.
Elizabeth (horrified): Noo!!!!
On trying out for the Mercenaries Guild
Sarge: Ok, let's see how good you are. Hit me.
Setanta: Really?
Sarge and Miriam: Yes.
Setanta: ok.
Swiiiing....*tiny little larp tap*
Sarge: *blinks* No, go on, hit me!
Stephen: Wait, you really want me to hit you?
Sarge: Yeah, of course!
Stephen: Alright...
Swiiing... *tiny little larp tap*
Sarge: Seriously, hit me! Give it all you've got!
Stephen: You actually seriously really want me to hit you as hard as I can?!
Sarge: Yeah, I can take it!
Stephen: Right.
Swiiing...*THWACK!*
Sarge: Aargh!!!
Clare: Urm, what she meant was, "say single"!
And who could forget:
[22:39] <LucieR?> ...Generally people walking around with no clothes on are causing a breach of the peace.
[22:39] * Toast looks at it, sniffs it, and then prances over to Panama's lap
[22:39] * Lucius gets a drink from the bar and sits back down
[22:39] <Nedjem> I know of many such places. I did not visit many, alas, as I was always pressed for time. T THEN AGAIN<
[22:39] <Setanta> that is the general intent of going round in armour too...
[22:40] <LucieR?> Erm, actually I am wearing armour so I can better stop other people causing a breach of the peace.
[22:40] <Panama> Or at least cease a breach of the Lucie
[22:40] <LucieR?> Being, you know, in charge of this militia you seem so fond of disparaging.
[22:40] <LucieR?> ...nah, a breach of the Lucie is a completely different matter.
[22:40] <Setanta> but you are a woman!
[22:40] * Miriam shrugs, sits down next to Panama and strokes Toast some more
[22:40] <LucieR?> ...*really*?
[22:40] <LucieR?> How *can* you tell?
[22:40] <Setanta> .... I think
[22:40] * Nedjem murmurs "And apparently a lot harder to achieve than a mere public order violation."
[22:41] <Horace> Setanta, I hardly know you, but I'd like to offer some advice...
[22:41] * LucieR? glares
[22:41] <Horace> If you're drunk, I'd sober up quickly. And if you're not, I'd get drunk quickly, because that way it'll hurt less.
[22:41] * Dion gives an uncharacteristic grin
[22:41] <Panama> I'd agree with Horace completely.
[22:41] <Horace> Thank you.
[22:41] <Setanta> manly words indeed.
[22:41] * Alric thinks he had best help Setanta
[22:42] <Miriam> Setanta, don't insult Lucie or I'll be forced to punch you
[22:42] * Nedjem suddenly grins and lifts his glass "A Toast - i am so sorry no pun intended - to the memory of our dear departed friend. I do this pre-mortem so he can join in, yes?"
[22:42] <Panama> I don't think you'll have to, Miriam.
[22:42] <Setanta> wait a second...
[22:42] <Alric> Setanta, the fact that Lucie is a woman has nothing to do with her ability to lead the militia
[22:42] <LucieR?> ...Would you like me to explain a few things about how women are in fact allowed to be in charge of martial organisations through merit, ie skill with weapons?
[22:42] <Setanta> Sarge is a woman!
[22:42] <LucieR?> Or shall I just smack you?
[22:42] <Alric> Those rumours in the Gossip about her and bikinis seem to be clear slanders
[22:42] <Panama> Ah, you're in the army?
[22:42] * Setanta ponders deeply
[22:42] <Dion> Setanta: Do sit down and be quiet.
[22:43] * Dion catches Setanta's eye and grins a little
[22:43] <Setanta> no, merc.
....
....
....
[22:45] <Setanta> alright I admit you are capable of leading the malitia. It was a mistake of me to assume that such an organisation involved a great deal of leadership.
[22:45] <Dion> (uncharacteristically smoothly) I believe a few cultural difference must needs be accounted for, is all...
[22:45] * LucieR? twitches, goes for her sword, and then sits down again carefully
[22:45] <Dion> Different lands have different ways.
[22:45] <Panama> And why do you now believe it doesn't, Setanta
[22:46] <Dion> Setanta, I suggest you guard your tongue while you still have it.
....
....
....
[22:49] <LucieR?> Here, it's not that unusual for women to be competent military leaders. And you're here, so you play by our rules.
[22:49] <Alric> Peace is my aim as well. Duels can achieve that better than butchery
[22:49] <Lucius> Also, if you start fighting in here now we're liable to be thrown out.
[22:49] <Panama> One day I would like to discuss the difference with you, Sir Alric. Not right now, however.
[22:49] <LucieR?> I hope you aren't suggesting I'd try butchery, Alric. Just a swift cosh to the back of the head.
[22:49] <Dion> (very loudly) I AM CURRENTLY THINKING ABOUT DOING INAPPROPRIATE THINGS TO LUCIE WITH A LARGE LEEK!
[22:49] <Dion> ... There.