(© mtrommer Fotolia)
Tonight, I'll introduce you to Iolo – the leader of the Dragons. Iolo is something of a prickly character with a colourful background. Like Tewdur, he has strong nationalistic tendencies but these expressed themselves in more divergent ways in the past, in contrast to the latter's more distinguished background. Nevertheless, in the aftermath of the collapse he established himself as a Welsh militant commander and was instrumental in overthrowing the local despotic regime which had taken root in his part of North Wales, along with the assistance of Tewdur and his followers. He then became one of the dominant military forces in the area, based in Llanberis with its surviving industrial base. However, he is constantly engaged in some kind of dispute with one or more of his neighbours, and one or two of the feuds have been very long running!
A tall male in his 40s, with unkempt blonde hair which sits on his head like a mop, he is a man who is known to be both admired and mistrusted because of his past amongst other things. His disposition is often volatile, and his nationalistic tendencies often verge on the xenophobic. However, he has also been known to be pragmatic, and will happily accept English incomers who have escaped the troubles over the border but who wish to integrate into the Llanberis community.
His initial reaction to the arrival of Patrick is tinged by scepticism and suspicion (to put it mildly!) In fact, outright hostility is probably a more accurate description! As a result of the strange manner of Patrick's arrival, he initially believes the latter could possibly be an Ironside in disguise. He is persuaded not to take drastic action, but continues to maintain his doubts for a while after. However, circumstances and an initiative on Patrick's part cause him to change his perspective…..
Just as an aside, this is the eighth character feature I have posted and there are many more still to come. What do readers think of the overviews and the characters featured in them? Any comments would be welcome and I'd love some feedback!
Owen Law
