Byrdda, called "Bridesmaid" as a family in-joke for never having been married, is the unofficial envoy of the Order of the Gryphon to the Northlands, and is thus technically a subject of the Elurian Empire; however, she is also of the royal blood of Torness and therefore a princess. She has earned the rank of Knight Companion, and insists on it rather than her hereditary title. She is the daughter of King Haemund and his second wife Thulanaïs Aelisaïne, and is the youngest of their children.

Byrdda had always been more interested in fighting than child rearing, and after a series of disastrous attempts to arrange an honorable wedding for her, King Haemund eventually bowed to the inevitable and let her follow her heart. This ultimately led her to volunteering to fight a warband from the Giant Clans, a battle in which she was seriously wounded before being borne from the field by a Knight of the Order of the Gryphon mounted upon one of thoselegendary beasts. She became enamored of the fine armor and breathtaking skills of that Imperial military order, eventually joining their ranks despite being so far from home.

After many adventures and earning a place of honor among them, the Grandmaster decided that good relations between the Torvian crown and the Order was important enough to assign Sir Byrdda, as a member of both worlds, to act as the Imperial envoy.