T — Tankred the Silver Bear

 

The warrior who smashed doors, demons, and anything else in his way.

Some warriors fight with skill. Tankred fought with momentum. And skill. And a fancy sword.

Known across the region as the Silver Bear, Tankred had a reputation that arrived a few steps ahead of him, usually in the form of a splintered door or a story about something enormous that stopped moving shortly after he showed up. He was built like the nickname suggested: broad-shouldered, iron-armed, and possessed of the kind of stubborn endurance that made ordinary fighters reconsider their life choices.

Subtlety was never his preferred tool.

Where others scouted, negotiated, or carefully probed a threat, Tankred had a habit of solving problems with direct and overwhelming force. Locked door? Broken. Daemon snarling in the dark? Smashed. Something unnatural clawing its way out of a ruin? Very soon regretting the decision. His approach was simple, but in the sort of chaos that often surrounded Padua, simple could be remarkably effective.

What made Tankred more than just muscle, though, was the reliability behind it. When fear spread through a fight, when spells faltered and plans unraveled, the Silver Bear was still there, still advancing, still swinging. Companions learned quickly that if Tankred was between them and whatever horror was charging out of the fog, their odds improved dramatically.

And in a place where doors hid monsters as often as they hid answers, having someone who can smash both without hesitation turned out to be a very useful thing.