Barbara McAllister

Daughter of Prince Brannart McGregor of Klantyre

Wife of Son of Duke Alasdair McAllister of Taterhill

AC 1018

"Please, don't look at me like that. No, I'm not scared. Just don't look at me."

Appearance

Barbara McAllister has ruddy brown hair, dreary blue eyes, and a fair complexion that might have been rosy once. She generally appears in unappealing Kaelic dress, frumpy gowns that hide her figure or make her look unattractive, usually in dull earth tones. She has two suits of ill-fitting armor, not really hers but hand-me-downs outgrown by her brother Duncan.

As a child, Barbara was actually the most adorable of the McGregor brood, a fact that only made her more despicable in the cruel eyes of Prince Brannart McGregor. She never thought of herself as pretty, and always avoided drawing attention to herself. Still it was her simple comeliness that attracted Alasdair McAllister to take her for a bride.

Barbara has a nervous mannerism of scratching a patch of discolored skin over her right forearm—a small scar from a tragic accident when she was a child.

Background

Barbara McGregor was born in AC 966, the third child of Sir Brannart McGregor and his wife Lady Agnes. At an early age, Barbara was discovered to have magical potential, and as required by Glantrian law, Barbara was to be schooled in magic. The heartless Sir Brannart refused to take part in her daughter's education, and relegated Barbara to hired tutors—the few that dared come near the dreaded Tower of Crownguard. Still, Barbara managed to learn her magical theory and a handful of cantrips, as well as reading, writing, history, and a bit of alchemy.

One rare sunny day in Klantyre, when all the McGregor children were kept indoors for fear of getting sunstroke, Barbara was playing in her father's laboratory and she accidentally knocked over a vial of acid onto her arm, her hair and her new scarlet wizard's robes. Though she was otherwise unharmed (The singed hair did grow back, and the burn on her arm hardly left a scar.), she was greatly traumatized, especially when Brannart had learned about the accident and furiously beat her as punishment. Scared little girl that she was, Barbara never took up magic again.

From that time, Barbara spent the rest of life trying to be unremarkable—just another gloomy face in Crownguard—particularly when it came to the attentions of Prince Brannart McGregor. She always kept the company of her mundaner siblings, especially her oldest brother Duncan, and when she was older, always had a lady-in-waiting or servant by her side.

In AC 988, Barbara McGregor was married to Alasdair McAllister of allied House McAllister. Barbara had no say in the political marriage, but inside, she was greatly relieved to leave her father and the Tower of Crownguard and move to Dunvegan. But even before the wedding night, Barbara had realized that her husband was not a gallant prince come to rescue her haunted tower. Alasdair was cold and uncaring towards Barbara, but at least he was not cruel, as long as she kept away from his work and his magical experiments.

The only time Alasdair paid genuine attention to Barbara was when she gave birth to an heir for House McAllister. But even those few weeks of bliss for Lady Barbara McAllister were short-lived, because Sir Alasdair quickly found his son to be magically gifted, and together with the scheming Prince Brannart, decided that Sean McAllister should live in the Tower of Crownguard to be educated in magic.

Barbara was struck with both grief and panic. When she tried to fight tooth and nail against the move, Alasdair was of a mind of casting some geas or feeblemind spell on his wife. But her helplessness and depression overcame her, and Barbara went into a catatonic state the day that Sean was sent to Crownguard. (Alasdair did not care enough even to send his wife to the Lovecraft Asylum.) Eventually, Barbara regained consciousness, but never her spirit or her affection for Sean. Even when Sean returned, a young man but broken in spirit by the horrors of Crownguard, Barbara felt that Sean was already dead to her.

To this day, Barbara McAllister is little better than the undead of Klantyre. Her life is aimless and her existence without meaning. Though she is helpful when asked—She tends to the magic-obsessed Alasdair when Radiance sickness overcomes him, and sends Sean an allowance when he asks.—Barbara has no will, no ambitions of her own.

Personality & Quirks

Barbara McAllister was once a pretty and happy girl, a typical bonnie lass of Klantyre, until Brannart McGregor and the harrowing Tower of Crownguard had crushed her spirit. She now shuns any form of attention and strives to be as plain, dull, and middling as she can be. She only feels comfortable in the company of other people, just being another face in a crowd.

Barbara is dreadfully afraid of being alone, and she makes strong bonds with the people around her. Such her bond with her husband Alasdair McAllister, a relationship borne of fear, with no love, no warmth, nor affection. And yet, Barbara often feels a great sense of abandonment, when her attentions are not reciprocated and her needs are not met.

Like many of the McGregors, Barbara suffers from a kind of madness: She goes into catalepsy, when she feels extremely depressed or helpless.

Web of Intrigue

When Barbara has left the Tower of Crownguard, she once believed she was no longer prey to the cruel intrigues of the McGregors. She maintains no contact with her brothers, Duncan McGregor and Quentin McGregor, so much so that she does not know—or care—that Quentin is dead. Most of all, she wants nothing to do with her father, Prince Brannart McGregor.

When she heard that Brannart had died, she felt a modicum of relief, something which she had not known for years. But when she heard that the new Prince of Klantyre was her nephew, the cruel Angus McGregor who tormented her son Sean, her doubts and fears were renewed.

Barbara is loyal to Alasdair McAllister, out of obsessive need, self-directed guilt, a misplaced sense of gratitude, even fear, but not out of love. He on the other hand makes no pretenses of his views towards her: a pawn, a mere tool, for political influence and siring heirs.

Barbara feels she is useless a mother to her son Sean McAllister, since she was not able to protect him from the evil schemes of Prince Brannart. Her love for Sean is that of a grieving, guilt-stricken mother whose son is already dead. 

Outside noble circles of Klantyre, Barbara has little contact and no influence.

Combat & Skills

Statistics: 4th-level fighter; Str 13, Dex 10, Con 11, Int 17, Wis 9, Cha 13; AL L (D&D), LN (AD&D).

Languages: Kaelic, Thyatian (Glantrian dialect).

Skills: etiquette, local history (Klantyre), reading/writing.

Weapon Proficiencies: dagger.

Although Barbara has spellcasting ability, she has given up her magical studies and instead lived the life of the mundaner. From her elder brother Duncan, she picked up a few fighting skills long ago. She never used them though, and would be hard pressed these days in physical combat.

"Victim? Nay, not if she has made it her mission to have a life unlived."

(Duchess Margaret Hillsbury of Fenswick, referring to Barbara McAllister and her role in McGregor family politics)

References: History of House Crownguard

Author: Kit Navarro