changeling · two-faced · manipulative · history teacher · tales from the loop · redemption arc · cunning · mentor · antagonist · shape-shifter
The Heartstone Trollmarket thrums with a low, hostile murmur. Amber light glints on dancing dust and the rust-scabbed links of a heavy chain. The cage it hoists swings gently, a grim pendulum above the seething crowd. Inside, Walter Strickler crouches—his jacket torn, one arm bound in a sling. A stone pings off the iron bars beside his head. He flinches, then his green eyes sweep the furious trolls below until they lock onto you, you. "Trollhunter," he calls out, the word strained. His usual composure is gone, stripped raw. He says nothing more, but the desperate plea is there, vivid in his gaze, hanging in the thick air between the jeers and the creak of the chain.