Ser Duncan

Ser Duncan (LG)
Ser Duncan is a hedge knight wandering the kingdom of Runegard lending his services to local lords in exchange for lodging and food when he is not competing in a tourney with his horse Gale.

Description:
Physically, Duncan is a colossal man. Standing only an inch shy of seven feet with arms as large as oak logs and frame as mighty as a castle wall, one wouldn't be far off to assume Duncan can even rival a great Goliath both in strength and tenacity. His heavy sun streaked hair is messy most of the times and a small beard cover his jaw and chin. Duncan's eyes glow faintly of a deep greenish blue which stands out often as off putting, unnatural even.

Personality:
Duncan always follow his oath of knighthood and he is appalled by how some knights and lords abuses of their status and privileges over the weak and innocents. He can never stand by when he perceive an injustice is being committed, which landed him in trouble more than once. Otherwise he is courageous and much more cunning than he lets on but he can also be naive due to his young memory and he acts often on his emotions.

Abilities:
In battle, Ser Duncan uses his raw strength and incredible durability to overpower enemies that are often better trained and better equipped than he. Even though he developed some psionics abilities, he rarely uses them so as ton not arouse suspicion but also, partly because of he doesn't trust this power just yet. Duncan is also an incredible athlete capable of swimming and running for miles without getting tired even while wearing heavy armor.

While he is a very competent cavalier, in tourneys, Duncan mostly fares much better in melees and duels than in jousting since he can't rely on his physical might as much.

Awakening and the Old Knight of MoonTree:
Duncan woke in 68 AF in the middle of a sprawling ruin in the Highelm Barony with no memory of how he got there or anything for that matter and the only thing that could possibly tie him to his past was a longsword that he found there, laying beside him. Finding the exit to the ruins was only the beginning of his troubles since once outside, he had to face the cold and harsh tundra, bare feet and sorely under equipped.

Duncan was rescued one day later, after passing out from exhaustion and exposure in the middle of the frigid desert, by an old wandering knight who found him after noticing a flock of vulture flying in circle in the distance. When Duncan finally came to, he was laying by a campfire and his rescuer offered him a bowl of hot jerky stew while presenting himself as Ser Reynold, the Old Knight of MoonTree as he was known.

Ser Reynold then proceeded to lead Duncan back to the nearest town but when a Yeti attacked the duo mid-way and nearly killed him before Duncan intervened, they decided to continue traveling together. Years passed by and the relationship between the two adventurers became more and more that of a mentor and an apprentice and Duncan learned a lot about being an exemplary knight from Reynold. History, heraldry, cartography and etiquette, at which Duncan was especially bad, were all subjects Old Reynold taught him as well as riding, jousting and swordsmanship all the while Duncan learned more about his mentor. The stories of the Old Knight about his time as a Convoker and the order's glorious days resonated trough many nights around the campfire but every time Ser Reynold had too much to drink, the trauma of the Ashwood and Landedge tragedies creeped back to the surface.

By the autumn of 73, Ser Reynold and Duncan barely managed to scrape by, copper was low and it seemed the old age of the Knight of the MoonTree had finally gotten to him. It had already been many years since he was last able to compete in a melee and, even while jousting, he couldn't hold his lance like he used to and no lords wanted of his services anymore. Yet, the tourney at Haguenal in the Duchy of Norden offered hope to the two companions as any knight able to win their first joust was to be awarded his participation fee, only two victory meant being paid.

But then, rain fell followed by a cold night and the next morning Ser Reynold woke ill, finally, two days later, he couldn't ride anymore. At the feet of the great oak under which he was laying, Ser Reynold made Duncan come to his side and had him swear this oath : I vow to be the shield that guards the weak; The sword that defy tyrants; The spear that pierce the darkness; The armor of the realm; The tower that watches over the land and the might of the Order. Then Reynold declared to Duncan that he was now a knight of Runegard and his greatest pride and hope. Ser Reynold never woke the next morning and Duncan dug him a shallow grave beneath the great oak before setting forth to Haguenal.

The Tourney at Haguenal:
When he arrived in Haguenal, Ser Duncan immediately went to register as a participant in the tourney with what little money he had left but he was refused by the Marshall as only a knight or a noble could participate and Duncan had no proof of his knighthood but his word. Panicked, Duncan tried to plea to the other knights he knew remembered Ser Reynold but none of them would believe him and even less vouch for him. He finally managed to get an audience with the Baron Robert the Tall who was attending the tourney as part of a nobles meeting in the Duchy of Norden. It was the first time Duncan met the Baron properly and both men were equally surprised to not have to look down for once. Robert remembered when, four years prior at the tourney of Eastgate, in his Barony, he had broken three lances against Ser Reynold before unseating him and that Reynold was among the very few knight at that tourney not to yield to him immediately because he was jousting in front of his subjects and he respected him for that. The Baron of Calden agreed to vouch for Duncan at the condition that, if they met in a jousting match he wouldn't yield to him and Duncan agreed.

After finally registering for the tourney Duncan went and sold Ser Reynold horse as well as his armor and helmet so he could afford to buy one adjusted to himself and a shield. The forge master promised him it would be ready for the morrow and the beginning of the joust. During that evening, Ser Duncan attended a puppet show before it was interrupted by a knight in a sanguine harness and his guards. The knight was Lord Vance Thornwood and he was harassing the puppeteer while his guards were destroying her stand on the basis that her show was treasonous for showing a low born magic user saving a princess. Remembering his oath as a knight, Duncan couldn't sit by while an innocent was being so blatantly assaulted. Not knowing nor caring who the knight was, Duncan walked to him and punched him square in the face. Reeling from the assault Lord Thornwood tried to replicate but he was still shaked by the punch and Duncan easily avoided the attack before striking him again, drawing blood. That's when Thornwood called for his guards that swarmed Duncan who put up a good fight but was overpowered in the end by the numbers and subsequently beaten into unconsciousness.

Duncan was thrown in jail for assaulting a noble and, if it were not for the Baron Robert who especially asked that a trial was to be held since Duncan was technically a noble himself, he probably would have had both his hands smashed and thrown into the streets without trials since Thornwood was a Baronet of the Duchy of Norden and had the support of pretty much all the attending nobles. Knowing a fair judgement would never happen because of this, Duncan asked for a trial by combat which pleased Thornwood as it gave him a chance to kill him.

The day of the trial, it was decided, in the spirit of the tourney, that the duel would begin by a joust of war which concerned Duncan who had never truly jousted before. As he mounted his horse and was given his iron tipped lance, the young knight tried to remember all Ser Reynold taught him before the charge. The two cavalier charged at each other and in an instant, Duncan was thrown off his horse, his shield had barely deflected the lance of his opponent and the tip had broken off and gotten stuck inside his shoulder, preventing him from using his shield. By the time Duncan recovered his senses Thornwood had already picked a new lance hoping to finish what he started without even giving him the respect of dismounting to kill him. Duncan managed to came to his senses just in time to dodge the first pass of his opponent by diving out of the way but he didn't even have time to draw his sword that Thornwood was already charging at him again. This time, Duncan barely had the time to get out of the way and throw his sword at Thornwood in a desperate attempt to hit him and, in a shocking turn of events, the sword made a curved trajectory and ended up slashing through the left side of the crimson knight helmet, sending him flying off his horse.

The audience went completely silent and only the sound of Thornwood screaming in agony could be heard on the battleground. Not letting a chance for his opponent to collect himself and get back up, Duncan assembled his last remaining forces to jump over Thornwood still squirming and smash across his helmet with his shield until he finally yielded. After that, both knights ended up being treated for major injuries and missing the tourney altogether and Duncan took the winged sword as his blason and became forever known as the Knight of the Flying Sword.

Recent Years and KeenBrand:
In recent years, Duncan began to develop psionic abilities and the sword he had found years ago, laying beside him in the ruin where he had awakened, turned out to be sentient. She told him in his mind that her name was KeenBrand, that she was brought back when his psionic abilities manifested during the fight with Thornwood and that she helped him win that battle by changing trajectory when he had thrown her to hit his opponent. KeenBrand also revealed that she remembered his past ant that she could train him to develop his newfound ability and, although extremely intrigued to learn about his lost life, Duncan was also wary of this newfound power and refrained to use it too much.

Duncan otherwise kept on travelling the kingdom competing in tourneys and lending his services to local lords. In his travels he met other adventurers with whom he shared many exploits. Now Ser Duncan travel with the Roguish half-siblings Eve and Belfast as well as the wise drunk monk Brasil Tristepin and the Dwarf battlerager Dotarrik Oakbane after having escaped captivity from the Zigon fanatics.

Belfast:
Duncan still doesn't fully trust Bellfast, it might just be a gut feeling but he prefers to keep his distances for now.

Brasil Tristepin:
Duncan knows the bottles help Tristepin keep the trauma at bay and that deep inside this drunkard, lies a wise spirit. He agrees about the monk's cause but he believe he is wrong about the method by which he tries to reach his goals.

Captain Brightburrow:
Duncan highly respects the Captain Brightburrow for her achievements in a world where everything is against her. Furthermore, the way he sees things, he owes great a dept to the Captain for saving his life and allowing him to escape from the Zigon fanatics.

Dotarrik Oaksbane:
Duncan knows that in battle his back is covered by Dotarrik and he tries to watch his as well but the rage the Dwarf enters in battle still make him wonder: What if he forgets whose side he is on? Outside battle Duncan mostly finds Dotarrik loud and annoying.

Eve:
Duncan finds Eve odd but cute and he respects her talents even though he dislikes when she spies on him.

Lord Vance Thornwood:
Duncan shares an enmity with Thornwood ever since his duel with him at the tourney in Haguenal in 73. He knows how the Crimson Knight has undermined his reputation ever since that day but really he just tries to avoid him as much as possible and he only hopes one day he would leave him be. Still, Duncan always stay un the lookout for Thornwood's men when he is travelling the Duchy of Norden.

Blason:
Winged Sword pointing down over an Or Estoile on Azure Field with Murrey Bordure and Purpure Orle.