Characters

Bralen is a mercenary from Hallowrise in Blackwood March, shaped by labour, war and hard winters. Broad-shouldered and scarred through the brow, he brings a working man’s knowledge of weight and strain to a trade that usually values his strength first.

He expects fair payment and an honest account of the danger. Years of seeing ordinary people bear the cost of other men’s decisions have made him blunt, suspicious of excuses, and attentive to who might get hurt. Beside Leaf, he asks the awkward questions while there is still time to act on the answers—and expects those answers to hold.

Aldric grew up among the marsh settlements near Nine Reeds, in a family shaped by ferry work and river ritual. Quiet and watchful, he often rests a hand on stone before entering a place. He can feel knocks and shifts that others miss, but finding words for them takes patience, and their cause can remain a mystery even to him.

Leaf has worked with him before: twice, Aldric felt a loaded wall shift before Leaf heard the mortar crack. He joins the crew as a listener and lookout, offering warnings rather than promises. Away from the ruins, he remembers which bakery salts its bread—a small pleasure he means to return for.