Kastenlos

Kastenlos was born in the city of Pellenore to a middle-ranking infantry officer in the Company of the Royal Oak and the daughter of a talented carpenter. Given a rudimentary education, it was expected that he would become a clerk in the royal bureaucracy, but Kastenlos longed to be like his father. At the age of seventeen, Kastenlos ran away from home and enlisted in the Company of the Red Lion, one of the lesser companies of Veracia's infantry.

He fought well, and his abilities in management meant that he was soon commissioned from the ranks and given command of a platoon of infantry. He fought bravely, albeit briefly, on the northern frontier, and rose to command the company. When a wound in his leg hospitalised him, he was offered a transfer to the Iscalis garrison by an old associate of his father and he took this offer, commanding the town watch and helping to administer civil discipline.

This ended with the fall of Veracia, however, and he found himself and his garrison attached to Caunen's Army of the North as they trekked north along the River Isen. Brennus, the main garrison town of the north, turned out to be empty and Caunen proposed marching to the Northern Province to contact the Allied barbarian tribes, but by this time Kastenlos had lost what little faith he had had in Caunen's leadership.

When five of his Iscalis Town Watch came to meet him, suggesting that they assassinate Caunen then escape in the night, Kastenlos reluctantly accepted the suggestion. The plan failed, however, and Kastenlos was killed by Caunen in a duel. He was beheaded, and his body was buried in an unmarked grave outside the city walls.

Kastenlos was popular with his men, a talented administrator and above all a realist. His experience as a front-line soldier had taught him to mistrust charismatic leaders and causes: after his first battle, he fought only when it was necessary.