Description

Personality

Likes: hard work, horses, intelligent people, honesty.
Dislikes: women that act like his sister, laziness, toadies, court life.
Fears: losing his strength and ability to work, being tied to a life of ceremony.
Skills/Talents: Strong swimmer, handy with a sword,
Weaknesses: mathematics, military strategy, dancing.

General Personality: Honest, polite, and hard working, Kenneth seems more suited to the life of a common blacksmith than that of a Lord. Though a well-trained knight, he is not particularly brave or thirsty for battle, and has quiet pride. He is self-conscious and fears looking the fool in front of others. Although he may not look it, he is kind-hearted, and understands and appreciates those who differ from the court's 'norm', being so different himself.

History

Kenneth was born the second son, and middle child, of a loveless arranged marriage. His father was hard working and loyal to House Winsler, while his mother was a sophisticated, ambitious woman, who tried to persuade her husband to ally to the stronger House Damian. However, knowing his wife was as stupid as she was ambitious, he completely discounted her opinion in all things political, trusting her only to run the household as efficiently as possible. In response, after giving birth to their son Matthew and thus fulfilling her marital duties, the two began to live apart. Ten years passed in that arrangement before a riding accident badly hurt young Matthew, and left the Lord and Lady Cavanaugh unsure of the future of their House and heir. And while she wanted nothing more to do with her husband, she grudgingly agreed that another child would be needed. That child was Kenneth.

(A few years after Kenneth's birth, a third and last child was born: Julia. Unbeknownst to all but Julia, who was told at her mother's deathbed, she was not fathered by Lord Cavanaugh, but a lover she had taken.)

When Lord Cavanaugh died, his wife acted as regent for Matthew, but when he came of age she was unwilling to give over the authority to him. So he poisoned her, slowly, and her death was blamed on a long, wasting illness. In an effort to assure his continued reign over Cavanaugh, he sent Kenneth off to train as a squire at the age of twelve, hoping he might meet a grisly, accidental end. For the next four years, Matthew lived in peaceful security, while Kenneth trained to enter knighthood. When he returned home to swear his allegiance to his brother, Matthew hosted a large celebration ... with malicious intent. After humiliating Kenneth with his lack of formal education and inclination to it, the then sixteen-year-old decided to confront his brother and ask why. Matthew's cold, cruel response was that he didn't want Kenneth's presence and felt him a threat. Seeing the opportunity to escape from a life of politics and ceremony, he suggested they fake his death and both would be satisfied.

And thus Kenneth apprenticed himself to a blacksmith in the port cities, knowing that if his brother ever decided a true death would be better, he could not reach him there. Fourteen years passed and he took over the smithy he'd been apprenticed to. Thus it came as a surprise when he was contacted by a servant of his sister Julia, with a letter begging him to come home and take his place as Lord Cavanaugh, as civil war was breaking out. Despite his misgivings, he returned to his long ago home to take up the responsibility, only to find things were worse than Julia let on.