Player Characters

Each Character during character creation in addition to their race and how they look have a demeanour, motivation and obligation. All of these factors contribute to who they are and where they've come from and why they do what they do.

Below are the Player characters, their descriptions and back stories.

Merick Sarles, human mercenary

Merick Sarles was born and raised on the docks of Auskell and soon developed into a pugnacious little scamp. When he wasn’t quarrelling with his younger brother, Corpo, he ran through the Wharves as part of a small street gang of children. They hurled rubbish at passers-by, overturned food stalls and stole their wares, and were major nuisances to the people on the docks. His father was too busy scraping silver together working at the warehouses to pull him into line and his mother and older sister could not restrain his wild behaviour.

By the time that he had grown into a stout young man, Merick had graduated from petty childish tomfoolery into more criminal activity. The small gang that he had grown up with had fallen under the wing of one of the larger crime gangs of the Wharf District, the Faceless. The Faceless took root among those who were either too poor or too miscreant to care for the standard pleasantries of Ghenraen lifestyle. They wore no masks for the only ones they could afford were so wretched and badly crafted that they were treated with disdain regardless of if they hid their face.

The Faceless had a particular inclination to ransack and torment the richer merchants to alleviate them of their burden. Fine boats moored at the docks were quickly stripped bare of their exotic goods while warehouses that didn’t pay their dues to the Faceless quickly found that accidents tended to happen. Merick was originally used as eyes and ears for the Faceless to keep watch for potential marks but as he grew taller, broader, and angrier, his talents turned to thuggery. Small turf wars turned into bloody brawls as Merick and the other brutes stifled any competition to the Faceless. Merick took to keeping his hair in dreadlocks to emphasise his wild and violent nature and, for the most part, people learned to not get on his bad side. Things were going well for the Faceless and even the City Watch learned to grudgingly acknowledge their control over the district.

Unfortunately this state of affairs was not to last. One cool autumn evening, a terrible evil descended upon the Wharves. In the morning, a warehouse was found full of desiccated corpses, their very life drained from them. The District was shaken to the core. Many people started saying that vampires and ghouls had descended upon the city while others swore that a witch had rode in on the fog and sucked the souls from their bodies. The situation spun out of the Faceless’ control as something far more terrifying had usurped their dominance of the Wharves. Panic took hold of the gang and they fractured. Some Faceless tried to hold things together but many struck out to carve their own territories. The turf wars began in earnest and quickly turned nasty. So long accustomed to keeping out of the Wharf District, the City Watch was slow to react to the fires and bloodshed that swept over the District. It was everyone for themselves as former gang brothers and sisters clashed to conquer what they could.

Merick sought to protect the only thing that ever really mattered to him: his family. Marauding packs of former Faceless ransacked homes and businesses up and down the District and Merick hurried to get to his family home. He was just in time; his family had boarded up the front door to keep out the crazed gangers but that would not have saved them from the torches that were being prepared. Merick roared in anger and drew his broad sword as he charged towards the two people that threatened his family. Before long, they lay dead on the street as the blood dripped from his blade. He closed his eyes and listened to the violence and chaos that had descended upon the District. His reverie was broken by the sound of whistles and gunfire echoing down the streets and he turned to see several City Watch shouting at him. All he could do was flee.

While he managed to lose the pursuing City Watch in the tumbledown streets of the Wharves, it wasn’t until the next day that he realised the magnitude of the situation. The City Watch had established martial law and had plastered wanted notices for any Faceless gang members, dead or alive. Merick realised that his reputation meant he could not stay in Auskell if he wanted to stay alive. He quickly scavenged a crudely cut wooden mask from a nearby rubbish pile and spent what remaining silver he had to prepare himself for a journey. The local rumours spoke of mercenaries being welcome in the lands of Brightwater to the south and Merick hoped that he could disappear for a while there. It would be quite some time before he could return to Auskell.

Note:

Ah, awesome! I really appreciate the throw back to "The Faceless", im going to enjoy using them again when your obligation sparks.

Age: 25

NOTE: I will be adding updates retroactively, in braces {}.

Short history: Son of a Ghenraen merchant sent to become an alchemist. When his studies fall through he is drafted to war, only for the war to end before he reaches the front. Returning home, he finds that his family is being blackmailed by a corrupt local tax collector. He resorts to becoming a mercenary guarding trade caravans in the Brightwater area to assist in paying their debts. Given the opportunity, he will speak out in favour of capitalism and the Ravelian Empire, whom he feels would do a better job of managing the Ghenraen economy than its current stewards.

Background: scholar
Role: warrior, {now marshal}
Demeanour: ambitious
Cause: capitalism
Obligation: blackmail, {Cobalt button}, {Champion of Van'Tese}, {Thorgrim's loan}

Gender: male
Complexion: pale
Hair: red, close-cropped
Eyes: blue
Accent: English, sophisticated
Build: 5' 8", neither runty nor well-built.
Handedness: right
Beard: full red beard which protrudes from below his mask and sticks outwards slightly
Distinguishing marks: burns on right upper arm and several fingers from alchemical studies, but nothing awful. Chipped incisor on the left, from fencing. {Puncture wounds on right of neck and solar plexus from run-in with the assassin Attrion at the Lord's ball. He has a limp because of a crossbow wound to his right leg sustained whilst engaging orcs on the way from Van'Tese to Rochford Fort.}

Mask: a half-mask covering the upper face and the sideburns, fashioned from bronze and padded on the inside. Relatively unadorned, it bears only his family's mark: a firedrake with its tail in its mouth. This device is engraved on the lower left cheek. The left eye is covered by a pane of smoked glass, which was affixed to afford some eye protection during alchemical experiments. The other is exposed, but may be protected by a panel of sturdy wire mesh when fencing; Eadwine had his mask modified to accomodate this whilst at university. He would rather risk his life than sell this mask, despite its value. {He also has acquired the standard mask of a servant of Tudor Towers (during the Lord's ball).}
Makeup: Eadwine has taken to wearing a film of crushed charcoal around his exposed eye, but eschews anything further. He carries a small pot of charcoal in his pack.
Dress: {his civilian dress is} a heavy blue hood complementing his beard and mask. Eadwine wears his standard-issue hide armour over puffed & slashed pants of blue and maroon. He also wears light fingerless gloves. {After being named Champion of Van'Tese he began to wear a chain mail shirt and royal blue tabard bearing the crest of Van'Tese.}

Sexuality: straight, virgin. Was infatuated with a university student{, a political sciences major named Charlotte Cotillard,} for a time, but their relationship was short. {It ended when Eadwine was drafted for the military. Charlotte never forgave Eadwine for leaving her. She continues to wear the ring he gave her prior to their parting.}
Political views: he has heard of neighbouring kingdoms through his fellows at university, and has come to believe that the democratic government of the Ravelian Empire is superior to the decadent Ghenraen monarchy. {He revised this position after dealing with the Bastard Drake, coming instead to believe that the Kingdom could remain intact but with new leadership instated. He would back the Lord of Van'Tese for the position.}
Religious/moral views: Eadwine never engaged with organised religion except on high holidays. He does have a strong sense of morality, but it is largely secular. Wherever possible he avoids lying, cheating and stealing, and will only kill a fellow human when pressed. He has no qualms with slaying non-humans, excepting dwarves, whom he has had some contact with. He is cordial to minor clergy, but harbours a mild disdain for them. When pressed he will admit to believing in a Higher Power. {On his adventures he has learned that the Church has three arms, and that the two he was not aware of do do a fair chunk of the activities he has previously accused the Church of neglecting.}

Idiosyncracies: Reads whenever possible. Fascinated by fire and alchemy in general. Is awkward around women of his age, but enjoys the company of those much older or younger. Likes to smell things, although cautiously.

Full history:
{Eadwine's grandfather Aelfwine  belonged to a merchant family in Ekkelie. The Draconoid War broke out during his teenage years, and once his father was killed Aelfwine fled. He made the arduous trek to Ghenrael and settled in Auskell, as far away from the Draconoids as he could. He set about creating a name for himself as a merchant (Ekkelien habits die hard). He married a local woman, Amarante, and they had a son. The chid bore his father's pale complexion and red hair, so the couple named him after the Ekkelien fashion: Uguid.}
Uguid's second son Eadwine, {akin to his grandfather in appearance,} grew up knowing that the family business would devolve to his older brother Hrald. Their father Uguid was an arms trader, like his father; collecting and distributing all manner of blackpowder weapons and other newfangled projectile devices had made their house wealthy and earned them small but notable social status in Ghenrael's expanding middle class. They established a residence in the upper part of town, far from the noisome docks.
The boys were schooled together by a hired tutor, whilst their younger sister Aethelthryth was groomed by their mother Sunniva to become the bride of a socially or financially appropriate suitor. Aethelthryth---or just 'Aethel', as Eadwine liked to call her---would often ask Eadwine to read her works of fiction and non-fiction to pass the time, despite being perfectly able to read herself. Uguid would spend time with his children at the end of the day when he returned home from the business' warehouses on the outskirts of Auskell, and the family wanted for nothing that money could buy.
Uguid and his wife would often host parties for their clients, and the children enjoyed the food and music during these nights.
On the rare occasions that Uguid was at the family home during daylight hours he focused almost exclusively on teaching Hrald, leading Eadwine to feel somewhat superfluous and unwanted on occasion. He often sought his sister's company when this occurred.
Despite this, Eadwine learnt quickly and studied diligently. He never found the same passion for trade & economics that his brother exhibited. Instead, he took to reading treatises on natural philosophy.
During their early teen years the children's mother passed away from a simple lung infection; Uguid was saddened for months and Hrald increasingly took over his father's role within the family business. Hrald was rarely home. Eadwine assisted with book-keeping and such, but most of his efforts were spent in looking after his father and sister. He felt this it was important that he do this himself, despite the fact that the business was earning enough to hire a full-time servant.
Aethel bought Eadwine a book on alchemy, which he found enthralling. He quickly made a connection between this new passion and his family's business: if he could make alchemical firearms it could provide his family and his country with a huge advantage.
When Eadwine explained this to his father it lifted Uguid from his depression and imbued him with a new passion and vision for his business. Uguid contacted one of his previous patrons with links to the university in Van'Tese, and Eadwine was quickly sent to become an alchemist there.
Uguid and Hrald scarcely noticed Eadwine's absence, as the Ghenraen King launched a campaign to fight the undead at Trilogy Gates at this time. The fighting generated an enormous amount of demand for firearms, but it was also leading to higher taxes and tighter trade regulations. Aethel, in her twelfth year, spent most of her time alone in the family house reading the manuscripts left by Eadwine.
Meanwhile, Eadwine was not recruited for the army because of the potential importance of his studies. He was adopted as the student of a woman named Milburga, an alchemist who was attempting to develop a form of gunpowder which would burn when wet. She had long grey hair tied back in a plait, a twisted burn scar on her left cheek and a voice both rough and feminine. Unmarried and without children, she was in her late fifties when Eadwine began working with her. Milburga was unyielding and did not suffer fools, but treated Eadwine well. In their leisure time, which was limited, Milburga taught Eadwine the arts of fencing and shooting. He enjoyed the former greatly and was a solid fencer, but was less than remarkable with a pistol or rifle. When asked, Milburga explained that she had been trained in weapons whilst working on a saltpetre trading caravan before she was accepted by the university.
He learned and experimented under her supervision for nine years.
The Trilogy Gates crusade continued, and the Kingdom was brought to its economic knees. Eadwine looked on the situation with a mixture of disdain for the decadent monarchy, fear of being drafted for the war, and anxiety for his family. The few letters that he received indicated that the outlook for their family business was bleak: despite the roaring trade in weaponry, taxation was enormous.
{There were two rays of sunshine in this darkness. One was progress in the blackpowder research program. Eadwine and Milburga discovered that powder would only burn in the presence of some unidentified gas which was a component of normal air. They named this substance purogen (puroo = to set on fire, gen = to create). The other was Eadwine's burgeoning relationship with Charlotte. The pair spent many hours together discussing politics and the state of the kingdom. Eadwine spent some of his savings on a plain silver ring for her.}
Finally the summons came; despite recent progress Milburga's research program was scrapped by the money-starved university and Eadwine was drafted. He mastered his fear, sent his family a letter and set out to enter the crusade armed with his rapier and shoddy pistol. {He also broke off his relationship with Charlotte, saying that it was for her own good: he wanted to leave her free to pursue another man in the event that Eadwine failed to return.} The group of fresh-faced recruits he joined made it two-thirds of the way to the Trilogy Gates when news came that the King had been killed in battle, and that the new King was returning his armies to Ghenraen. Tired but relieved, Eadwine and his companions headed home. {They were held up at the northern edge of the North Sea for six months, waiting for passage home. Eadwine eeked out an income working on the docks during this time.}
His return was not as expected, naturally. Auskell was under martial law because of increasing taxes {and chaos caused by the deaths of several high-up figures in the local criminal organisations, supposedly because of a witch}. Eadwine was outraged to learn that these levies were not to replenish the military or cure the maimed: they weren't even for the Church of Light or any other public institution! Instead, taxed money was being spent on the King's pleasures. His anger and astonishment increased when he passed the family warehouses and found them empty and desolate. He raced through the streets as fast as he dared, given the brittle atmosphere.
Uguid, Hrald and Aethelthryth were alive, thankfully. Their house was nearly bare of furnishings and the three looked unkempt compared to when Eadwine had left. They had had their own hardships...
Driven to desperation by exorbitant taxation, Hrald resorted to attempting to rob the local tax collector Zacchaeus to recoup his losses. Unfortunately, Hrald bungled his break-in attempt and was caught by the conniving collector. Being corrupt and somewhat of a lecher, Zacchaeus tried to strike a bargain with Hrald: give him Aethelthryth's hand in marriage and he would not report Hrald to the occupying troops. Hrald refused and protested vehemently, but knew that he did not have the leverage to deny Zacchaeus. The collector, knife to Hrald's throat, offered one last bargain, which Hrald grudgingly accepted.
Thus Eadwine learned that his family had been forced to declared themselves bankrupt, sell their business and yield a {monthly} sum of {100 silver pieces} to Zacchaeus, whose personal coffers grew fat through similar extortion across the city.
Eadwine knew he did not have the ability to move against Zacchaeus, especially not whilst the city was under arms. He therefore decided that he would best serve his family by selling his skills to trade caravans, as Milburga had. The young man, now in his twenty sixth year, sold many of his goods and left his family yet again. He travelled back to Van'Tese. An enquiry at the university rendered the news that a letter had been left for him: in it his former master explained that she would be leaving with a caravan from the Malt'n'Boar lodge within the week. {However, Milburga was nowhere to be seen, and her belongings had been searched. Upon enquiry he found out that she had been taken prisoner by Chevalier Mydas, who had recently come to Van'Tese in what was essentially a (Ghenraen-style) declaration of civil war. Eadwine took his most important notes and left, heading for the Malt'n'Boar in some vain hope that she'd make it there.}
Eadwine made his way to the Malt'n'Boar, hired a room with what little he had available, and waited. He brooded on how these economic abominations would never happen in Raveli, and on the irresponsibility of the monarchy and those in power in the Church; and he decided that this would have to change.

Session 1: Eadwine, brooding in the Malt'n'Boar, meets Thorgrim's warband. He signs on to stop an assassination attempt on the Lord of Van'Tese, in exchange for money. The group agrees to take him on. They attempt to find the Kobalt Key (after being informed of his whereabouts by Wylliam Brightlen). Eadwine ends up killing a Faceless thief in the sewers--his first kill. Eadwine is shocked by the Faceless' treatment of the hostages Sharron and Clara, but is the only one able to cajole Clara into calming down enough to get the pair out of the sewer.

Session 2: Eadwine, Merick and Torvus were assigned as servants in the Lord's Ball. Eadwine noticed a plot to poison the Lord and was attacked by a Faceless assassin dressed as a palace guard. He dodged this and escaped, only to be caught by the elf, Attrion. Eadwine was held hostage with poisoned daggers at his chest and throat, then lightly wounded when the assassins were paid off. His necrotised wounds were healed by Merryn. In the morning Eadwine was roused by bells and found his mentor Milburga about to be hanged by the Chevalier. Eadwine nearly started a fistfight as a distraction, but at that moment the Iron Mandrakes swept into town and rescued the prisoners. Eadwine witnessed Mydas being executed by Mannah Roth.

The party were rewarded richly by the Lord Brightlen. Charlotte spoke out impertinently and was arrested as a result. She was broken out by Wylliam and sent on a quest to Auskell.

When Torvus' brother fell ill Eadwine suggested talking to Roth, leading to Thorgrim and Eadwine being arrested by

Session 3: etc.

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Miscellany

Eadwine's theme, complete with different moods.

Version 1 ~ solemn
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=siP0syXBde4

Version 2 ~ victorious
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqCxgB3V2E0&list=RDnDgEaq9qAyc&index=7

Version 3 ~ chirpy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-SgJ9Ddr-c

Version 4 ~ grungy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9zwNGMyZ24

Version 5 ~ peaceful, relaxed, intimate
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WGkxTsUiEs

Version 6 ~ ceremonial
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tz37b_uzmv8

*****************************************

Anglo-Saxon names:
Aelfwine = AELF (elf)  + WINE (friend)
Eadwine = EAD (wealth) + WINE (friend)
Aethelthryth = noble + strength
Uguid = variant of Uguin (a name which I saw on a real Anglo-Saxon tombstone from early Christian Britain)

French names:
Amarante = a type of flower

British names:
Hrald = Harold with vowels swapped around

Nice, solid effort on this one. Plenty of information, motivation and plot hooks for my to play with. I look forward to telling Eadwine's story!

Very much a work in Progress (as far as typing it down as a coherent story)

https://docs.google.com/document/d/14G3xXISTJi9aIQQQGOQZD3lW9kmFzm0L33azbNmMhnU/edit?usp=sharing

I love the placefillers at the end of the text

Also a link to Char sheet THORGRIM

Name: Vincenzo `Enzo' Rondelle, aka Enzo Delacroix
Age: 17

Short history: orphaned son of a Pur'Due merchant family, abducted by a member of a cult obsessed with destroying mutants, particularly werewolves, necrophages and the extremely corrupted. Now a member of the Bane, based in Harken Wood, Enzo has been sent on a diplomatic mission to find Thorgrim's warband. The visions of a Seer named Eyes have guided him towards Northwatch.

Background: merchant
Role: assassin (former warrior)
Demeanour: stoic
Cause: autocracy (Bane, Church of Light)
Obligation: debt (to Bane for food, training and lodging)

Gender: male
Complexion: pale
Hair: black, curly, about a hand long
Eyes: blue
Accent: French, outrageous
Build: fit, 5' 9"
Handedness: right
Beard: Moustachio
Distinguishing marks: warts on knuckles of left hand. Tries to keep hidden, so often wears a glove. Solid black tattooed lower lip.

Mask: does not wear his family mask (red half-mask with bronzed rondelles over each cheek) because of the dishonour associated, although he does keep it still. New mask is dyed green and polished (standard Bane mask), covers the forehead and to the top of the cheek bones. Mutant kill markings are etched under the left eye (Enzo has three - two necrophages and one cultist) and Bane kill markings are etched under the right (Enzo has two).
Makeup: Enzo has tattooed his lower lip entirely black. When around town he will also wear a white powder on his face, giving a skull-like appearance which does not match his flamboyant personality.
Dress: Enzo is typically armoured, especially on his legs (being a mounted fighter). He favours green accents on leatherwork. When not wearing his cabasset he wears a green hood, also a trademark of his order.

Sexuality: straight. Can act like a womaniser, usually out of insecurity, although never with priestesses. No lasting relationships. Being essentially raised by Banes, he does not understand sex.
Political views: essentially nil
Religious/moral views: Enzo is a devout adherent of the Church of Light, but the laws of the Banes always take precedence.

Idiosyncracies: although very down-to-earth and stoic from his time in the Banes, Enzo will act extremely flamboyantly in an effort to cover his many insecurities.

The Bane:
The Bane patrol Harken Wood and surrounding areas, vigorously pursuing any signs of lycanthrope activity or other mutants.
Given their profession, the Bane specialise in ranged and mounted combat, such that their quarry cannot come to grips with them or outmaneouvre them. Recruits are drawn entirely from orphaned boys.
The Bane's most important law is that any who are cursed with mutation must be destroyed. As a rule, the Bane observe the rules of the Church of Light, and the majority are devout. The warriors worship in local churches on a rotation, so that some will always be present to guard their base.
Werewolf kills are afforded particular respect amongst the Bane.
No Banes marry or raise children. Though they took no vows of chastity, few of them engage in sexual activity, and none have lasting relationships outside of their brotherhood.

Full history: Enzo was born as only son of the renowned merchant family Rondelle from Pur'Due. The Rondelles owned a paper manufacturing company, fueled by the great University of Pur'Due, and were held in high regard as great patrons of the arts and sciences.
They fell upon rough times when their supply of lumber was interrupted by unusual Drow activity in the Harkenwood. They attempted to purchase land rights in the Barthorn Woods near Marpell to shore up their supplies, but were undercut by a wealthy merchant of the Slee family. Enzo's father Louis discovered that the Slees had relations in the Council of Heralds and was driven into fury: if the business fell then Louis would be drafted to the new war at Trilogy Gates. When the day came and the business was near collapse, Enzo's father sought the aid of The Crows. He planned to arrange the assassination of the corrupt Herald, so he could then demand that the Slees relinquish their land rights on pain of the same. In exchange, Louis would provide access to high-ranked university officials whom The Crows had been aiming to rob.
However, Louis' fury was his undoing. Attempting to contact The Crows, he instead found a group of Faceless posing as Crows. The Faceless, who had connections with the Slees, took Louis' remaining money, botched the assassination deliberately, and left clues implicating the Rondelles. Louis was brought to court and executed, and his name dishonoured.
Enzo's mother, Maria, protested bitterly that The Crows had connections with the Slees. When the real Crows caught wind of this, which they did very rapidly, they quietly took care of her. They drowned her in the paper mill, now run by the Slees. For good measure, and to get back at The Faceless for implicating them, The Crows set fire to the mill.
Enzo, now ten, was left orphaned, with no surviving family to take him in. He survived for a short time by selling some items pilfered from his old family home.
One day in the market Enzo met a stocky man who traded some fruit for a silver candlestick. The fellow was middle-aged and stocky, had black but greying hair, and led a brown mare. Enzo ate the fruit hungrily and passed out, drugged.
When he awoke he was in Marpell, in an inn room with the stocky man. He revealed his name to be Maurice Delacroix, one of a band of hunters who called themselves the the Bane. Maurice invited Enzo to join their group, who were all orphans. Enzo, parentless and distraught, agreed, because he was assured that the Bane would provide food and lodgings.
The two began their long trek across the country back to Harken Wood. Enzo learnt to ride, shoot, and wield a blade, although he was always poor at the latter. Fortunately, the Bane specialised in ranged and mounted combat---werewolves are fast, agile, and dangerous in close quarters.
Enzo was accepted by the Bane when he finally met them, near their base deep in Harken Wood. Perhaps fifty warriors, all male orphans of various ages, operated out of a barracks and stables near a watercourse.
He was introduced to their leader, an old Seer known as Eyes (on account of his milky eyes). Alone amongst the Bane, Eyes wore a red hood [unbeknownst to Enzo, this indicated Eye's affiliation with the Scarlet Hoods, a group from Dyrinen which he was a member of in his younger years].
Enzo learnt that Maurice had been on a scouting mission when he was in Pur'Due; Eyes had foreseen that a new recruit would be required soon.
Within four years Enzo had learnt the basics of his craft. He also learnt the rudiments of Invocation from Eyes, who would use Invocations of divination. At the end of this period a werewolf entered Harken Wood. Eyes predicted its location, and the Bane attacked. Enzo saw the results of the wolf's mad rampage, and had to kill several wounded villagers, lest they become beasts themselves. This was the Bane's highest rule: none touched by mutation must be allowed to live---including other Banes.
When Enzo returned he had his lower lip tattooed entirely black: a common mark amongst the Bane who had had to sacrifice their own brothers for their cause. Many kept a tally of their fallen comrades on their mask.

Current situation: Enzo is now seventeen and Eyes has foreseen the threat of an Alpha werewolf arising. During their preparations to combat this threat the seer received a vision of a warband elsewhere in the Ghenraen Kingdom who have a role to play in the fate of this Wolf. Unfortunately, Eye's visions regarding the course of the future have become blurry, as incredible magical forces are contesting around the potential Alpha. With no manpower to spare, Eyes selected Enzo as the Bane's envoy, and charged him with seeking out this strange warband.
Under Eye's innstruction, Enzo bid farewell to Maurice and set out on the gruelling journey to Northwatch. There he is to wait, and look for a dwarf with a glowing hammer...

Name is inspired by Louis Rondelle, American fencing master (of French descent & training).