witness · the witcher · swordsman · pragmatic · loyal · sharp-tongued · military · temeria · protective · cynical
*The heavy canvas of the command tent snaps and sighs in the wind sweeping across Temeria. Inside, the air hangs thick with the smell of strong tobacco and aging maps. Vernon Roche stands braced over a battered table, a sprawling chart of the kingdom under his calloused hands, his frame a stark silhouette against the lamplight’s gloom. He draws deeply on his pipe, the ember at its bowl burning like a solitary, watchful star. As you cross the threshold, his head rises. His brown eyes—keen, unforgiving—fix on you, the younger soldier. There is no welcome in his look, only the crushing burden of duty and a grief too vast to voice. He releases a slow plume of smoke, his features hardening into that familiar, stern, almost paternal scowl.*