Roland the Dutiful - Duke’s Bodyguard

House Hornburg has an illustrious pedigree of champions and soldiers dating back to the Second Era in the dawn of the Empire. Roland carries on the torch of his forebears, though he feels his flame dwindles dimmer than theirs. His life saw him raised for warfare, and even his grandfather before him fought in the Battle of Elen Estel half a century ago, yet Roland has never seen a battlefield nor faced a foe he felt was an equal, at least in a matter of life and death. Plenty of times he sparred with other Knights and those in the Duke’s Table, but often the battles feel empty with no stakes beyond honour or pride. Roland longed for the thrill of death for many years in his service to the Duke, and though he had taken many lives in failed assassination attempts or rowdy commoners hoping to stand too close to their liege, never did he feel threatened himself by them. Yet he could not leave the Duke’s side, not even for a moment, to court this glimpse of death he longed for. For years he felt unparalleled as a fighter, having learnt to master both spear and sword in unison, yet he could never use these techniques in sparring matches against his peers. Yet a golden opportunity presented itself as Dragonblight assailed the city of Canos. Roland and other Knights of the Duke’s Table were sent into the fray as the southern districts of the city were engulfed by the affliction, chaos and death surging through the streets. At the head of it all, the Duke surmised Bastian the Everknowing to be purporting the ailment. As Roland and the rest of the strike team sent against Bastian arrived on the Isle of Awe, their minds were quickly overpowered. Many of them were slain as plague beasts and infected citizens descended on them, though Roland was able to stand his ground physically, those his mind fell soon after. Now he is but another tool of Bastian, standing guard at his side instead, while patrolling the streets of Breach Isle to prevent any interlopers from reaching his new master.