Eldan Mowbray is the second born son of Aileen and Fintan Mowbray, minor landed nobility (Barony of Mowbray),vassals to the Ruxton House of Weston. He was proceeded into the family by his older brother Torian… older by about 6 minutes. The family has gathered its wealth in both shipping enterprises and in the raising of horses. Eldan was raised learning all the things that a child of his station should know, from how to balance books to how to dance. He was well educated in history, mathematics and even music. He also spent time learning the basics of navigation and sailing the ships his family owned.
His parents added to the family about 6 years later, giving him his sister Tamsin. A few years after that their brother Davyd was born, and finally came younger brother Kieryn. His parents declared the family complete then, and it seemed it would stay that way.
When he was 14 he was squired out, with the thoughts of joining the Rioga when he came of age. He did join the Rioga when he came of age, learning the skills of combat while he was in their ranks. He also met and married a lovely young noble woman named Mairin. When he was about 20 years of age Mairin gave him his twin sons, Declan and Dylan. Strangely enough only a few days later, Eldan's parents gave him twin sisters, Emma and Eva.
Everything was going perfect in young Eldan's life until the year he turned 22. On the day of his 22nd birthday his brother Torian, a skilled rider, was thrown from his horse. Torian lived for three weeks before finally succumbing to his injuries. A month later his mother took ill and never recovered, the fever ultimately claiming her life after a long struggle. Eldan's own wife also took ill at the same time, but she recovered. Unfortunately the illness occurred while she was pregnant resulting in their daughter being stillborn.
Two months later his father died in an incident that was ultimately labelled an accident, but most knew it for what it was. His father could not live without his wife and he took his own life, leaving Eldan to become the new Baron and take over everything, including having to arrange a husband for his sister Tamsin when the time came and care for his younger siblings, including the twins, until they came of age. At 22 Eldan was left with 4 children nearing the age of 3, a roughly 11 year old brother, a roughly 14 year old brother, and a 16 year old sister all while trying to run the household on his own as well.
The newly minted Baron Mowbray settled into life as best he could. Mairin slipped easily into the mother role to 4 young children and basically big sister to Eldan's other young siblings, leaving Eldan to continue his role in the Rioga and run the rest of the estate with some of his father's trusted advisors. He eventually, with Tamsin's input, found a suitable husband for his sister and turned over the family shipping empire to the newly wed couple to run, leaving him the horses. Eldan has always held a fascination for horses and always loved riding. Taking over the family holdings allowed him to take the estate in the direction he chose with breeding, which Eldan was happy with.
Despite having 4 young children of roughly the same age, he and his wife did try to have more children. In the roughly ten year span since the twins were born, Mairin was pregnant 6 times, but they all ended in either a miscarriage or stillbirth. It was at the point where they gave up the idea of having more children when Mairin announced she was pregnant again and ultimately gave birth to baby Elyssa.
Eldan and Mairin were thrilled with the birth of their daughter, but their happiness did not last long. When young Elyssa was just 6 months old she and her parents were involved in a carriage accident. The incident was labelled an accident, but since the only survivors were a 6 month old and Eldan, who has no memory of what happened, accident is only a theory and the best they will get. Elyssa was the only one who came out unscathed. Eldan suffered severe injuries including injury to his spine which has left him paralyzed from the pelvis down. He has some brief bits of sensations in his leg as the injury is low on the spine, but it is not enough to allow him to walk. The injury also ended his time with the Rioga.
Eldan has been forced to adjust his life once more to accomodate his injury. The last 4 years or so have not seen Eldan leaving his estates. He has been mostly out of touch during that time as he adjusted to his new life. The time has seen him working with new crossbreeds for horses. Some say he has successfully crossbred the Weston Walker with the Skingaard Mustang, but no one has seen the debut. He still rides, and in fact that is his favorite activity. He has a modified saddle, but he is still an excellent rider. He has also kept up many of his former skills, though all from horseback. He knows war is not in his future but he does have a family to protect.
Of course now his sons and his sisters are 16 and he needs to start thinking of their futures. That means he needs to venture beyond his estates and back into the world at large to see what is available as far as potential suitors or apprenticeships.
Eldan has a manservant named Cai, who he is rarely seen without. Cai is a big man, roughly 6'6". He was hired from the stables to assist Eldan especially with mounting and dismounting his horse or whatever other tasks his injuries make it difficult to accomplish. Unknown to Eldan, Cai was placed with him by his sister Tamsin to help his brother and protect him if need be. Eldan has also been working on his jousting form, and how to ride in an unmodified saddle. He may never accomplish being able to joust in a proper tournament, but that doesn't mean he won't try.
