Characters:Dun Barethsol:Dern

Dern "the Blade" is one of Alek's more trusted allies. He fights using a buckler and steel longsword.

Dern is an entertainer by birth. Alek first met him in Norsheim-on-Forod while Dern was working as a townsquare tumbler. Several years later, the two men crossed paths again. By that time, Dern was also a consummate swordsman, carrying his buckler, longsword, and several steel daggers as his only weapons. Dern had become a Free Lancer. Alek recruited him as a hired sword and traveling companion. They have traveled together for most of a decade now. Alek trusts only Tewr Fell above Dern. As such, if Marcella were to capture Dern's marker and show it to Alek, it would be a psychological victory.

Dern has no skill in ranged combat. Instead, he tends to rush headlong into combat or to ran around the side of his enemies in an attempt to flank them. He is very agile and may even attempt to close the range to his targets by tumbling at them using his old acrobatic skills. He also has no skill in the arcane arts. Norsheim-on-Forod uses bronze bars as its internal currency, so Dern carries one that is legally-minted on one side and has been melted and marked a broken mace on the other side. This mark, although it is very like a rune, has no real power, since Dern intends it only to signify his scorn for men of the law.