“With all respect, Master, cut the shit.”
True Name: Conall Cernach
Origin: The Ulster Cycle
Region: Ireland
Alignment: Lawful Neutral
Gender: Male
Hidden Attribute: Earth
Background:
The cousin of Cú Chulainn, and possibly the only Ulster warrior to ever rival him in accomplishments of martial skill and in the quality of his enemies. Where Cú Chulainn was Ulster’s unstoppable force, Conall was its shield and immovable object.
Conall was with the entourage of Conare Mór, the last great High King of Ireland, and was the only man to survive the hostel raid in which the High King was slain, but this was not due to any lack of valor or skill on his part. During the assault, he held all seven gates to the hostel simultaneously, and when he escaped, his right arm hung on by the sinews and his shield-arm had been likewise battered, only hanging on because his shield had stood the test of battle, littered as it was with thrown spears to the point where even the gold rim wasn't visible to the naked eye.
Conall would be present for many of Cù Chulainn’s adventures, including his confrontation with his son Connla, but had just as many adventures of his own. One of these included helping the Connacht hero Fráech retrieve his wife and herd of cattle from Alpine raiders, but Conall’s greatest feats of arms have seemingly always been acts of revenge. During the Siege of Étar, his brother and Cú Chulainn’s foster son Mess Dead fought a desperate defense of the fortress of Étar against a Leinster host numbering in the hundreds. Forbidden from participating, Conall could not save him, but when the other Ulster warriors returned after the siege, bloodied and in no shape to fight, Conall instead pushed on, killing the Leinster Warrior Mess Gegrai in a duel with one arm tied behind his back.
Of course, the most famous incident involving Conall and revenge is the death of Cú Chulainn. Not only did Conall fight a duel against his killer (once again with an arm tied behind his back, once again victorious), but Conall would spend the next several years hunting down everyone involved with Cú Chulainn’s death and carting their heads back to his widow, Emer, explaining why each of the six thousand heads he had collected deserved to die for what they’d done.
Given his legend's history with defense and revenge, Conall would fit in either the Shielder or Avenger Extra classes, but among the Standard Classes, Rider suits him best.
Parameters: STR C+ END A AGI B MAN C LCK C
Personality:
It'd be difficult to tell at first glance that Cú Chulainn and Conall Cernach are actually cousins. Not only is their physical appearance quite different, but their tempers are as well. Where Cú Chulainn is often likened to a frenzied hound, being calm and friendly only until the moment death is in the air, Conall remains calm and composed at nearly all times. His foster-father Cét once said that Conall possessed a "heart of stone" and he bears that out in a physical confrontation, his demeanor icy cold and focused until the moment he's seized victory. Outside of a life-or-death confrontation, he's often calm and grounded, something of a balancing voice of reason to his cousin's wild antics.
But this easygoing attitude betrays a warrior's pride. More than anything else, Conall values his
enech, the way he is perceived as a warrior. It was
enech, the risk of losing face after his cousin's death considering the oath they had sworn to avenge one another, that drove him to collect six thousand heads on Cú Chulainn's behalf. His unwillingness to lose face does drive him to fight 'fairly' to the point of dueling one-armed opponents with one of his own arms tied behind his back, but should his opponent cheat first, all bets are off. He is accustomed to receiving orders, and the most he will do is ask "are you sure?" or offer up suggestions of his own if prompted, but those who seek out the Rider class to recruit great tacticians will find him somewhat disappointing. He has the air of a calm veteran of many battles, but also the melancholy of knowing that his life amounted to a lengthy revenge tour that ultimately proved very little. His wish on the Grail, should he be summoned for such a conflict, would be a simple one: a chance to prove that he was always the better fighter between him and his cousin.
Class Skills:
Magic Resistance C: Cancels spells with a chant below two verses.
Riding A: All vehicles and all creatures but those of Phantasmal Beast and Divine Beast-rank can be used as mounts. This rank is high enough to have an aptitude for the Rider Class.
Personal Skills:
Battle Continuation A+: Several famous anecdotes involve Conall shrugging off wounds and recovering from battles no one else could have possibly lived through. Being the last of the Ulster warriors in the cycle to die only solidified his reputation as the one who could survive just about anything.
Seven Gates Warden B: A skill derived from Conall's legendary feat of defending the seven gates of a hostel simultaneously. He can designate a space (such as ‘this building’) or a person (such as 'my Master’). Should either be threatened or attacked, he can immediately appear at their side, shield raised, ready to fight off the attacker. In a building with multiple entrances, he can cover seven of these entrance points simultaneously.
Headhunting B: Among the warriors of Ulster, one’s status as a warrior depended on the ability to collect trophies, particularly the heads of other strong warriors. If Conall defeats an enemy in a fair contest of arms and he can manage to collect a trophy (such as a scale from a Phantasmal Beast or the head of an enemy warrior), his strength will increase with each collected trophy, represented by an increase in his Strength and Agility parameters.
Noble Phantasms:
Conall’s horse and the source of his Rider class affinity. While Cú Chulainn’s horse Liath Macha is a symbol of the beauty of the Otherworld, Conall’s is…not.
Derg Drúthach is a massive horse with a dog’s head, whose body looks as though it is constantly dripping with the blood of men. When it gallops, it does so with such fury that the dirt it kicks up looks like all the ravens of Ireland in flight. It foams at the mouth to such an extent that when it makes contact with the ground, it forms a dense mist that can even conceal the presence of giant horse and rider alike. Conall’s mount for most of his great battles, it also saved his life during his duel with Cú Chulainn’s murderer Lugaid mac Cú Roi, nearly biting Lugaid in half before he could deliver a killing blow to Conall Cernach. When Lugaid complained about the unfairness of the horse intervening, Conall merely gestured at the horse and said “bold of you to think I can control it.”
Gold-Stutted Shield of Ulster
Conall's second Noble Phantasm, a gold-speckled shield he carried in the defense of Da Derga's hostel. When its True Name is invoked, it forms a barrier around himself or the target he has designated with Seven Gates Warden, establishing a barrier that reduces incoming damage by 95%, reflecting any remaining damage that does make it through onto Conall, even if he is not the designated target. Should he be sticking to his self-imposed wish for an honorable and fair fight, the shield is empowered against attacks that would be considered 'cheating,' such as a lance that does not need to be aimed and will always pierce the heart. Who'd go and pull something like that, anyway..?
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Originally Posted by RoydGolden
It kind of makes me want to see a showdown between him on his horse and Rostam on his half-demon steed who could bite through dragon scales lol. And, of course, it makes me even more hype for more Fate/Ninth Wave 
