Polaris Sonnevald, the Dreamer

Polaris, the Dreamer, is renowned as Vesarca's greatest living knight. Sworn to the service of Alrescha Lindthall, Duchess of Kapra, Polaris is a peerless warrior and veteran of battles beyond counting even at his relatively young age. Most famously, he has bested no fewer than four Messengers in practice bouts and tourneys, both on foot and in his Full Plate suit, the famed Eventide . Handsome, noble of spirit, loyal, and undefeated in battle, his heroic reputation is exceeded only by the very greatest of Messengers, and he is the the subject of songs from Kapra to Rokavut.   Rumors abound that Polaris possesses supernatural powers, though none can quite agree what these might be. Some say that he has the gift of foresight, and it is this power that grants him such seemingly effortless victory, seeing his foes' moves in his mind before they are made. Others claim that he can see "beyond" the material world, perhaps perceiving the invisible hand of the Menhir of Fomalhaut, or possibly even beyond the Black, if there is such a thing.   Despite his great acclaim, Polaris is quiet and reclusive, even gloomy according to some. Polite and humble, he has repeatedly declined higher title and greater fief from his liege, preferring to remain a mere landed knight. He is known for his gentleness toward the serfs, perhaps owing to his origins among them, and he is well-loved among the commonfolk. He dwells in solitude in a modest hold, Moonrise, on a small fief in the utmost north of Iphigea, deep in the chilly taiga. Unmarried even in his early 30s, he keeps the company of only a handful of retainers, and seems to keep only his squire, Anser Ebrens, in close confidence.   The few visitors to Moonrise say that Polaris spends much of his time in quiet contemplation, training during the day and gazing upon the empty black sky at night. Despite his glorious reputation, those who meet him in his own manse are often more unnerved than fawning; what, they wonder, is he always staring at? His piercing ice-blue eyes are said to look straight through you, and many are quietly relieved when his gaze invariably drifts back to the heavens.  

Biography

  Born Tevel ov Tesaph to a serf family of farmers in the County of Tesaph, Polaris was conscripted as a levy in the War of the Sterling Pretenders, where he served as a rifleman. He first found acclaim at the Battle of Boyaris Bay, when Rastaban Veartis, Duke of Kapra, was shot down in his Full Plate behind enemy lines.   His commanding officer dead and his detachment wavering, Tevel rallied his fellows and launched a daring - and arguably suicidal - assault across no-man's land to rescue his liege's husband. Tevel and his men stormed the enemy trenches under withering fire, and a handful broke through to the wreck of Lord Rastaban's Full Plate. Fighting on the edge of the wreckage crater, Tevel was disarmed by the enemy and surrounded. He leapt atop the wreck and manually fired its main cannon at point blank range, scattering many of the enemy. Picking himself up from the dust with blurry eyes and ringing ears, he took the sword of the unconscious Rastaban from the shattered cockpit and fought off the last of the enemy. He carried the Duke across no-man's land alone, delivering him to the forward base before promptly falling unconscious.   When he awoke, Rastaban knighted him on the spot for his valor, and bestowed upon Tevel the sword the young levy had used to save the Duke's life, the blade Faithkeeper. After the battle, a grateful Duchess Alrescha granted him the land upon which he would build Moonrise. He adopted the name Polaris, choosing from the Great Onomeia, to reflect his new status. The surname Sonnevald he took from the ancient, extinct house that once ruled the land he was granted.   Polaris rose quickly in his liege's esteem. He demonstrated natural aptitude in the ways of both war and courtesy, seeming to all as a knight born and raised, rather than an elevated serf. In the Tourney at Adeithal, just a few years after his knighting, he stunned the court by defeating the Messenger Zusa ov Prattesh in single combat in the final round. The next year, he would do what no other knight in history had: at the Royal Tourney of the White-Gold Palace, he defeated a Lancer, Aries Andermon, while piloting an aged, second-hand suit of Full Plate. For this unprecedented, glorious feat, he was granted the finest suit of Full Plate in the Duchy of Kapra: Eventide, the Sword of Dusk.