The Ill Starred
Target of Gaessa (Daeth)
This companion hails from Battania and in her companion_strings.XML files she's called Imulir. Cursed to remain unwed because death stalks her. More info in the cut content section below. ↓
So while her appearance is not canon, her name could be considered canon as Imulir the Ill-Starred.
Companion Story
A women came to her father's hall with a claim of having "The Sight". She claimed to see "the mark of the Faeries" on Imulir when she was just a baby so the woman performed divination (which is when someone interprets signs to predict the future or understand current events -- like fortune-telling) she claimed Ilumir would grow up to be a great beauty but that any who'd take her hand in marriage would be met with a terrible fate - that she is cursed. Hence, Ill-Starred.
(The fairies of the past were a real fear and were thought as dangerous and powerful beings who were sometimes friendly to humans but could also be cruel or mischievous. Fairy myths are mainly associated with the Celtic cultures of Ireland, Scotland, Cornwall, and Wales.) Imulir's father took the claim pretty well, he made light of it laughing and paid the woman for her time then sent her on her way.
But there may have been some validity to that woman's claims. Three of Imulir's suitors died one after another. One by spear, one by fever, one by falling off horseback. Imulir decided she must do something. She left her home and has been on the road since - taking up arms, far from her home and family so no man would ask her father for her hand. She has also decided to avoid towns as best as she can and smith her own weapons.
Her Summary
"I come from the highlands. My people were suspicious folk. It is easy to them to get into their heads that a child, especially a girl, practices witchcraft. I had two neighbors die of fevers within the same season, and so I was chased from my home and driven to fend for myself. Which I can, and did. I forge my own weapons and can wield them as well, but now I'm looking for steady work."
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Cut Content and Dialogue
Some parts of her story vary. In the final segment of her dialogue in the wanderer_strings.XML she summarizes her whole story which seems to be a earlier version of her story before it was revised:
She believes she is cursed with "gaessa". Gaessa translated from Welsh to English means "it came" but translating that phrase to Welsh gives us "Daeth", which then means he came in English. In Celtic folklore there's a legend called The Ankou, in Welsh it's called The Angou which is essentially the Grim Reaper, seems to be what Imulir believes is haunting her.
She believes she is cursed with "gaessa". Gaessa translated from Welsh to English means "it came" but translating that phrase to Welsh gives us "Daeth", which then means he came in English. In Celtic folklore there's a legend called The Ankou, in Welsh it's called The Angou which is essentially the Grim Reaper, seems to be what Imulir believes is haunting her.
Ankou ↓
More changes can be found between the wanderer_strings.XML and companion_strings.XML files also.
In companion_strings she states her father died of grief. But in the one we get in game she states she left far from home so no man will ask her father for her hand, implying he's still alive. Additionally, the woman who came to her father's hall claimed she had "the Sight", but in the companion_strings file she says she claimed to be able to speak to the "Otherworld".
The line abought the Otherworld is linked to Christianity so this is an interesting change. Ancient Celtics were pagans for sometime before Christianity took hold and dominated the Britannia regions - (paganism is any religion other than one of the main world religions, specifically a non-Christian or pre-Christian religion aka Thor, Odin and the ancient Greek religion that has Zeus and Athena and more) - Celtic pagans were said by Caesar to believe in reincarnation. Maybe this change and the inclusion of divination were made to maintain the Battanians resistance to the Empire and their influence - to preserve their unique culture and stay accurate as in-game, though they've lost tons of land, the Battanians are still fighting and haven't been assimilated yet by the Empire.
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