Conscription (1309 MH - 1312 MH)
She entered the military under the alias of Joanne Temson at the age of seventeen, young for a Darmia. Whisked away from a noble life, albeit within the House of Gattly, she had never wanted to join the military and had been pressured by her uncle, Lord Edward Gattly, to do so. As such, it came as no surprise she found the experience to be highly unpleasant. Two years of gruelling training would only bring more reasons to despise combat, as news would reach her of the death of her elder brother. He had died of illness, but Irene blamed the service for keeping her separated from him and deeply regretted not being there for him.
However much he may have hated it, however, she began to show talent. She was a personable individual, notably more so than the typical rank and file, and likely due to her noble upbringing. Her gregariousness would get her into trouble, but also keep her in the minds of her superiors. In training, her ability to lead and novel thinking shone through, thus after she was formally called up, she was assigned a troop of her own as a sergeant.
The Bunting House Halberdiers (1312 MH - 1318 MH)
Sergeant Temson was infamous for her tactical acumen, utilising her skills in a security role while serving with the Bunting House Halberdiers. She handily dismantled several criminal enterprises operating in Bunting, rising to the rank of colonel after a few years. After clamping down on a human lead revolt in the neighbouring town of Inthscote, Temson gained important experience in both siege warfare and fighting in urban environments and earned another promotion to the rank of brigadier general.
The Reconquest of Lower Malton and Reassignment to the Halberdiers (1318 MH - 1327 MH)
She was again reassigned, this time to the border of the Kingdom and oversaw the combined forces of two neighbouring counties. The decision was not coincidental however and Brigadier Temson, was mustered to fight in the reconquest of Lower Malton, a portion of the a duchy that had recently been occupied by roaming Kedomites. While official war declarations were never made, it was widely considered such and soured already bad relationships with the southern nations. Always eager to avoid the fight, here Temson was forced to take part in the combat. Her lacking skills here had been masked previously by her distance from conflict, commanding from afar, but were exposed here.
She was severely injured, nearly killed, but for the intervention of another Darmia, one Paul Carrius, who dragged the wounded Brigadier to safety. She had lost a large chunk of her forearm and would still have died of blood loss or trauma had mages not intervened to heal her. The rapid healing was done at a cost however, as the no amount of magic could recover the tissue lost in the wound, and so Temson was crippled. Still a bright mind, she was transferred away from the front, and assigned back to the Bunting House Halberdiers as a ranking Brigadier Colonel. ‘Relegated’ to the war room, tragedy would strike House Gattly again, as her two of her cousins would be killed in combat. One, on a compliance mission in the Corona Imperii, and the other in the same border combat she had just been pulled from.
The duchy was fairly quiet at this time, and so Temson spent more time enriching her understanding of military strategy. Her handicap undoubtedly saw her overlooked in selection, but after another successful spell with the Halberdiers quelling yet more corruption, this time intervening hostile takeover by the local Smith’s Guild on the Guild of Trademasters, (following a temporary embargo on exports), she was finally made a General and sent back to an active combat zone, Silvillud.
General of the Protectorate (1327 MH - 1341 MH)
Silvillud is an odd place to serve, as invasion is always treated as imminent, but equally seldom faces any serious threats owing to an abundance of soldiers and little of anything else. Despite this, bandits are well known to inhabit many of the numerous ruined fortifications, ironically, particularly those close to Quillus. Security had been one of Temson’s strong suits and no doubt lead the decision, sure enough, she once again flourished earning respect among the soldiers and the eye of the Lord Protector.
Service with Messex (1341 MH - 1341 MH)
When an opportunity arose in the early 1340s to take a sizeable force to assist a Cathirian Messex in conquering its Hythnetic neighbour, Thyssex, she was awarded the coveted position of Marshal of the Field. At this time Gattly was forced to give up her alias, as nobility was required for this position. It was also at this time that she became the heir apparent to the duchy of Thornhill with the death of Edward Gattly. With her yet further notoriety, she was able to muster quite the force to assist the Mexen army and was instrumental in one of the first conflicts of King Aethelstan II. The choice to assist benefited Palingvyre, as they had first pick to recover some of the Cathirian Relics that had fallen into Hythnetic hands over the centuries, as well as furthering the buffer between their ally Rusager and the advancing Gnomanic state of Warslavoj.
Becoming the Duchess of Thornhill (1341 MH - 1373 MH)
A victorious return saw Irene go home where her father would then abdicate his title for her to take over. The old man was senile and many viewed him as quite mad, so the decision to abdicate was rarely viewed as solely his own. Although still retaining the Marshall of the Field position, Irene’s military service took a back seat as she now had to adapt to dealing with domestic matters. She married Paul Carrius in 1346, having hired him as a bodyguard after returning home. The pair had three children over the next three decades, two sons and a daughter, and have two grandchildren from their eldest son. By all accounts domestic affairs were uneventful, with the city of West Gromborough being stable throughout.
Silvillud Interregnum (1373 MH - 1378 MH)
For a brief period Lady Gattly was the de facto ruler of Silvillud as an interregnum took hold. The death of the Lord Protector was in opportune, as the Palish King, Richard II had been in a coma for the past two years and so could not appoint a successor. Richard would finally pass away in the 1377, and John II would appoint his successor shortly after this.
Decennary (1378 MH - 1388 MH)
As a reward for her service, Lady Gattly was granted a Decennary over the Palatine Guard of Scottingly. A ceremonial position, this appointed Lady Gattly as the Lord Palatine for the a period of ten years, but offered little in the way of actual military work. During the period she did however strike up a personal friendship with Queen and furthered her connections within the royal court.
Promotion to Lord Marshal (1397 MH)
After another quiet period where she returned to West Gromborough again, the Lady Gattly was appointed the Lord Marshal of Palingvyre, the highest military rank outside of the Crown and the de facto highest authority on military affairs. She is the first of the Unknown to hold this role, as well as the first women.