Donngal mac Dorn, Royal Kennelmaster

The most experienced of all the Beast-Masters, Donngal is the father of Dalton of Flambeau, Princeps of Lambaird. Born in 1137, he is now 88 years old. His son made him a Longevity Ritual, but by then much of the damage of age was done, and Donngal is now fading. He can still keep up with his dogs and hunt in the field, but not for much longer.

Donngal is Kennelmaster to the King of Briefne, and was Chief of the Beast-Masters from the departure of Kentigern to the rise of Fogartach, who defeated him in personal combat about a decade ago.

As evidenced by the fact that Donngal gave his own son up to become an apprentice to the Order of Hermes so that peace could be preserved, he is the sort of man to put the needs of others ahead of himself. However, he does not do so quietly or without considerable complaints and grousing. Donngal is something of a natural-born pessimist who believes the world is naturally fallen, everything is bad and getting worse, and anything good which happens is something of a fluke. He has a bitter sense of humor which the King of Briefne finds hilarious, which is part of the reason Donngal has enjoyed his post for so long. His magical way with dogs, of course, is the other part. He is the most powerful summoner of animals in all of Hibernia, maybe in all Mythic Europe.

Donngal has bound the Black Dog as his first familiar, but he also has two other wolfhounds which are also bound to him. He can lead a pack of up to 10 hounds into battle, led and magically strengthened by the Black Dog.

Age 88 (+2 Living Conditions, -3 Longevity Ritual)

Decrepitude 3

Size 0

Confidence 1 (3)

Virtues & Flaws: Hibernian Beast-Master (0); Master of Kennels (+1); Affinity with Animal Handling (+1), Animal Ken (+1), Cautious with Animal Handling (+1), Summon Animals (+3), Wealthy (+3); Family Ties (-1), Known Hedge Wizard (-3), Magical Animal Companion (-3), Martyr (-3)

Int 0, Per 0, Pre -2, Com +1, Str 0, Sta 0, Dex 0, Qik -2

Abilities: Animal Handling 10 (dogs) (185 + Affinity), Animal Ken 5 (dogs), Artes Liberales 1 (scripts), Athletics 2 (run), Awareness 3 (forests), Beast-Master Lore 5 (initiations), Brawl 2 (evasion), Carouse 2 (drinking), Charm 1 (dark humor), English 4 (lords), Etiquette 3 (lords), Folk Ken 1 (lords), Gaelic 5, Hibernia Lore 5 (Briefne), Hunt 9 (with dogs), Latin 5 (courtly), Leadership 5 (hunters), Profession: Master of Kennels 8 (breeding), Ride 5 (coursers), Single Weapon 5 (axe), Summon Animals 10 (dogs), Survival 2 (forests), Teaching 3 (related to his job)

Combat

Axe & Round Shield: Init -1, Atk +10, Def +6, Dmg +6

Evasion w/Round Shield: Init -2, Atk 0, Def +3, Dmg 0

Soak: +4 (armor)

Wound Levels: Light (1-5), Medium (6-10), Heavy (11-15), Incapacitated (16-20), Dead (21+)

Load: 7 = Burden 4; if not in combat, Donngal has a -4 penalty on many physical actions.

Gear: Axe, round shield, full reinforced leather armor, dagger.

Familiars

Donngal has three familiars. The first is the Black Dog; the other two are mundane wolfhounds. He can enter a trance during which he can see and hear through his familiars, but when he does this he has no awareness of his own body and cannot take actions.

Donngal typically fights in a single trained group of 11 individuals: he acts as Leader, the Black Dog is Vanguard, and nine wolfhounds (including his two other familiars) make up the rest of the group. This adds up to a staggering +55 trained group bonus. Donngal can lose 2 hounds from the pack before this bonus begins to go down.

Donngal's trained hounds Init +1, Atk +13, Def +8, Dmg +13; +55 bonus to Atk or Def each turn; 11 wounds inflicted.

Summoned Hounds

When Donngal uses Summon Animals, he typically summons mastiffs (Size -1). He can summon 1,000 such animals, though it has been many years since he has had a need to do so. To summon animals, Donngal rolls Com 1 + Summon Animals 11. If he rolls a 15, the hounds arrive in one round; if he rolls less than a 14 but does not botch, they arrive in two minutes.

Mastiffs fight in untrained groups of 5 each.

Untrained Mastiffs

Confidence 1 (3: Defending Donngal)

Combat: Init +1, Atk +11, Def +8, Dam +4; 5 wounds inflicted.

Siz -1

Soak: +1

Wound Levels: Light (1-4), Medium (5-8), Heavy (9-12), Incapacitated (13-16), Dead (17+)

Mass Combat Notes

Donngal's Mass Combat Modifier is 11 when he is commanding dogs. This is incredibly high. He is physically weak, but he commands his hounds so well, and knows how to use them in battle, that he can triumph in nearly any situation.

He has a +5 bonus to Soak when attacked by someone shapeshifted into an animal form.