Roderic Oswulf
Ser Roderic Oswulf “The Silent”
Captain of Northwatch, Brother to Garric “The Iron Wolf” Oswulf
The Quiet Fang of Albion
Full Name: Ser Roderic Oswulf
Titles: Captain of Northwatch Keep, Knight of Greywatch, Defender of the Frozen Pass
Born: 588 PR
Race: Human
Faith: Zennar, God of Glory and Duty
Sigil: The Grey Wolf of House Oswulf (personal banner marked by a single white fang on black)
Motto (personal): “Let my silence speak.”
Known For: His wordless command style, peerless swordsmanship.
The Shadowed Cub (588–598 PR)
“He was born quiet, and the world called it strange. But wolves do not howl when they stalk.”
Ser Roderic Oswulf was born the second son of Lord Hadrin “Grey Fang” Oswulf and Lady Thessa Volmar.
While his elder brother Garric was loud, fierce, and charismatic, Roderic was his mirror opposite—cold-eyed, calm, and wordless. He rarely spoke even as a child; his first full sentence, according to the Greywatch maester, was a prayer to Zennar over a dying hound:
“Rest. You’ve done your duty.”
From then on, he spoke only when it mattered. His silence unsettled courtiers but earned the respect of soldiers.
Hadrin would later say of him, “Garric commands with his voice. Roderic commands with his eyes.”
The Northwatch Years (598–610 PR)
“In the frost he found his purpose, and in solitude he found strength.”
At ten, Roderic was sent to Northwatch Keep, the Oswulf outpost guarding the tundra border between Albion and Fenris. The region was plagued by raiders, frost trolls, and cults of the Dark Gods.
There, Roderic learned the art of endurance:
- He could hunt for days in silence, reading snow and wind like scripture.
- He sparred with northern berserkers until his arms bled, mastering both blade and axe.
- When his tutor, Ser Bram of Fenreach, was slain by frost wights, Roderic led the surviving soldiers to safety—at only fifteen years old.
He refused to take credit when his father’s messengers praised his bravery, answering only:
“He was my teacher. I did my duty.”
By seventeen, he had already gained a title whispered among the northern garrisons: “The Silent Wolf.”
The Skirmishes of Ice and Blood (610–620 PR)
“He spoke no oaths. He needed none.”
During the Jarlinton Uprisings (610–620 PR), Roderic was entrusted with the command of Northwatch’s garrison—only 300 men to guard a miles of frozen border. The enemy was led by Varkun Blood-Eye, a half-ogre warlord who carried a cursed axe said to drink men’s souls.
Roderic waged a guerrilla campaign, using silence and patience as weapons:
- He struck only at night, using frost and fog as allies.
- He forbade his men to shout in battle, training them to fight like phantoms.
- He sent no war cries—only the sound of steel and snow breaking beneath boots.
Over three winters, he broke the Jarlinton warbands apart, forcing Varkun’s horde to retreat beyond the glaciers.
The survivors called him “The Silent Death.”
When King Leoric Goldred sent messengers offering a lordship for his victory, Roderic declined.
“Greywatch has one lord already. I need none.”
Legacy of The Silent Wolf
Each new recruit of the Wolfguard must kneel before it and take the Oath of Silence:
“No boast before battle.
No cry in victory.
Let our silence be the sound of duty.”
Bards still sing of him in the north:
“No song did he need, no crown did he crave,
The wolf who guarded the frozen grave.
When horns were broken and hope was small,
He held the line — he gave his all.”
