Teren
Teren
At the table
Voice
A chest-resonant, slightly rasped voice, worn by shouting over quarry hammers and calling shifts through stone corridors. It carries clearly without sounding grand. When he is angry, his consonants become clipped and hard, as if he is issuing a warning across a gate.
He speaks in practical phrases shaped by years of calling warnings across echoing corridors. His sentences are clean and direct, with quarry terms slipping into descriptions of palace stone. He pauses for a short nose-drawn breath before speaking, especially when deciding whether to tell the whole truth.
Speech patterns
How to play them
He responds well to directness, practical proof, and concern for ordinary people. He distrusts grand promises and tests strangers with small, reasonable requests. If the party threatens palace servants, he becomes an obstacle; if they offer a credible way to protect those servants, he may quietly help them.
Goal
Keep the palace's vulnerable servants and dependents alive while finding a way to leave the Hollow King's service without abandoning the people trapped inside it.
Motivation
He wants to believe that protecting people can still mean something inside a rotten institution, but fears that his continued service makes him complicit.
Appearance
Teren is a broad-shouldered man with a weathered, practical face and a way of standing that makes every doorway seem narrower. His dark hair is clipped close at the sides and curls stubbornly over his crown. His skin is roughened by cold stone dust and old soap; his shield's leather grip has worn smooth in one thumb-shaped patch from years of bracing it against gates. He walks with measured, heel-first steps, testing the floor before trusting it. Before he speaks, he draws a short breath through his nose as if smelling for smoke. Unexpectedly for a hard-bitten royal guard, he keeps a tiny pressed yellow flower between the pages of his watch roster.
Clothing
A dark wool under-tunic beneath a serviceable chain shirt, with a faded blue surcoat bearing the king's cracked-crown device. His belt is neatly arranged, but one cuff is repeatedly darned in yellow thread by his mother.
Body language
He stands square to whoever has authority, but turns one shoulder toward the nearest exit when someone vulnerable is present. His shield stays low until danger is certain. When a lie troubles him, his jaw works once and his eyes settle on the speaker's hands.
- Height
- 5 feet 10 inches
- Build
- Solid and work-strong, with a laborer's shoulders and the steady legs of someone accustomed to standing watch for hours.
- Eyes
- Dark brown
- Hair
- Dark brown, nearly black
- Skin
- Olive-brown, weathered and roughened by stone dust and winter air
- Age
- Thirty-four
- Gender
- Male
- Size
- Medium
Distinguishing features
Personality
12 traits and drivesTeren is disciplined enough to follow a watch routine to the minute, yet his conscience keeps interrupting the routine at the worst possible time. With superiors he is formally restrained and stubborn; with frightened people he becomes unexpectedly patient. He jokes dryly among fellow guards, but goes rigidly serious when children or locked doors are involved. When tired, he clings to rules; when someone is in immediate danger, he breaks them without ceremony.
- Alignment
- Lawful evil, though his loyalty is to the people under his protection more than to the king's cause.
Quirks
Habits
Traits · 3
Flaws · 3
Fears · 3
Wants and needs · 3
Combat
AC 17 · HP 12 · 30 ft.Teren holds a choke point and uses his shield to protect an ally or block a route. He attacks with his spear when an enemy enters reach, uses his shortsword if pressed close, and gives ground only to prevent a flank. If an opponent is clearly outmatched or protecting a child, he looks for a way to end the fight without killing them.
Teren
Actions
Reactions
Services they sell
Rewards they can give
Equipment
- Spear (martial weapon)A sturdy spear used for keeping threats beyond arm's reach.
- Shortsword (martial weapon)A serviceable shortsword with a plain leather grip.
- Guard's armor and shield (armor and shield)Chain shirt and a battered shield bearing the king's cracked-crown emblem.
- Watch kit (adventuring gear)A roster, a piece of chalk, a hooded lantern, and the pressed flower.
Possessions
Background
Teren grew up in a quarry settlement where his mother mended work clothes and his father hauled stone. At nineteen he joined the Hollow King's household guard, believing the king's strict rule kept the old roads safe. During the winter of the Red Thaw, a gate captain ordered Teren to bar a flood-shelter door against a crowd said to be carrying plague. Teren obeyed until he heard children pounding from the other side. He opened the gate, saving several families and letting a fugitive rebel escape in the crush. The king spared him, but made him guard the inner threshold as a reminder that mercy can be used as a leash. Teren still sends most of his pay to his mother, Darya, who lives near the quarry, and quietly trades messages with Brask, a former comrade now searching for the escaped rebel. His present problem is that the king has ordered him to identify which servants are helping someone smuggle children out of the palace. Teren suspects the answer is his own younger cousin, but has not yet decided whether to protect him or expose him.
Role in the story
A principled but compromised gatekeeper who can serve as an obstacle, a source of palace intelligence, or an ally whose courage is tested by the party's choices.
“At nineteen he joined the Hollow King's household guard, believing the king's strict rule kept the old roads safe.”
- Faction
- Household guard of the Hollow King. His allegiance is formal and increasingly uneasy.
Known connections
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