Full Name: Lothar Nordenzwang
Title: Rittmeister
Monikers/Aliases: "Lothar Dolchhand", to his old infantry unit; "Joom-kuhn" to the Dhallii fight promoters; "Southern Boy", to his mercenary buddies trying to get under his skin.
Age: 30
Gender: M
Race: Hooman
Ethnicity: Osterman
Social Class: Commoner
Bloodline: 42% Oster, 30% Nordic, 17% Dwarven, 8% Averian, 3% Hallii, 0.1% Neanderthal
Occupation: Mercenary
Character Bonds
- I have heard of Kalegen's exploits and am suitably impressed.
- The Ire Witch's ways are strange and confusing.
- Dhaeric's character was once my enemy, but we have since reconciled.
- The Redblade has been to my homeland more recently than me.
- Constanze has too many secrets for my liking.
- Palladius "Splinter" Glycas helped me get where I am today.
- Lucia Schwarzmantel is my lover, or was, or could have been... it's complicated.
- I will never give up on Vera Wollands.
- Loewentann is soft, but I will make him hard like me, using only my hand and a wad of spit.
Twelve Questions
What are your memories of home like?
I was never accepted in my village. The others thought less of my mother because she had willingly slept with one of the Northmen when our village was occupied. Because of this we had to live on the outskirts. My only friend was Vera, who lived close by. Her parents told her many times not to talk to me, but she would come and visit anyways. We used to explore the woods together and find our own adventures. Vera was the only thing about home that I actually miss, besides my mother.
What is your family like, blood or otherwise?
I have not seen my mother in fifteen years. I don't know if she is even still alive. My father I never knew, only that he was one of the northern invaders. My mother told me that he was not a cruel man. He protected us when I was only a baby. But then he left, and I never knew him.
Have you ever been in love?
Yes, three times. The first was with my friend Vera, though I was too young at the time to realize that was what it was. The second was to a hallii whore I knew when I was stationed at Inner Dhal. She had the most caring eyes I had ever seen, and she was good to me. The third time I fell in love was with the daughter of my former employer, her name was Ella von Wickten. We got married shortly before a plague, but she died, and our unborn child along with her.
Is there anything that you find delightful?
The sun's warmth on my face in the morning. The freshness of a summer rain. The rush of victory that follows every brush with death. The love of a good woman. These things are what is best in life.
Who taught you to survive?
Gloria Gaynor.
I had many teachers. The boys in my village taught me when to fight and when to run. Loewentann taught me how to make the forest my home. Sergeant Boll taught me how to fight. Palladius Glycas taught me the wisdom of a warrior. Messer von Wickten showed me a life beyond war. One day I may even live such a life.
What is it that makes your blood boil in anger?
Lies. Slander. Betrayal.
When was the first time you ever killed someone? What was it like?
When I was thirteen, I came home to find my mother arguing with a man from the village. Their voices were raised, and then he struck her. I don't remember much of what happened, but I began punching and kicking him until he pinned me against a wall and beat me repeatedly. Somehow I got my hand on an axe, and I struck him across the face with it. He fell to the floor and I struck him again and again, until I finally realized that he was dead. For more than a week my sleep was haunted by nightmares. After that, mother and I had to leave the village and hide in the hills for a while.
Do you put any stock in the divine?
There are many powers in this world I can't explain, and I will not try to. There are also many mortals in this world who claim a connection to the divine, yet all they do is lie and manipulate. I heed the spirits that reveal themselves to me in my struggles, and I give no thought to the ones that don't.
What in the world terrifies you?
Magic. A warrior can face many things of this world with a keen mind and a ready blade, but magic is not of this world. There is no technique that can be learned for defending against magical forces, other than to stay as far away from them as possible.
What is the thing you fear coming to pass the most - rational or otherwise?
That my death will be meaningless, and my killers will laugh as they look upon my corpse.
What do you value most in the world?
To be free.
Do the ends always justify the means?
Anyone who would say yes to such a question is a fool.
Capabilities
Handy with a spear. Handy with a sword. Shit with a bow. Good on a horse, but he is no knight or cataphract, only a scout and chasseur. Knows a thing or two about northern bushcraft. Has experience with military sieges, and surviving long nights outside of city walls. Has a sharp eye and a good ear for danger. Also a good ear for bullshit. Not too bad looking, either, if I do say so myself.
Appearance/Equipment
Lothar has two horses: an Andalusian stallion named
Lohengrin, and an Arabian mare named
Helmwige. When he travels, he alternates which one he rides and which one is carrying his spare equipment, although Lohengrin is the one he takes into battle, having been trained for war.
When traveling on foot:
Wears a mail hauberk and coat of plates, and a byzantine-style helmet with aventail. Commonly wears a dark cloak over top of his armour. When on foot he carries a 7-foot boar spear in hand, and a kite shield slung over his back, over the cloak, from right shoulder to left hip. Sidearm is a high quality spatha, 36 inch blade, with nordic runes upon the fuller and guard. On his right hip is a general-purpose hatchet, and a side-satchel is slung from his left shoulder to his right hip (under the cloak). He sometimes carries a 12-inch bollock dagger on his right hip in place of the hatchet, particularly if he's traveling through a town or city, whereas he wears the hatchet when in the wilderness.
When mounted:
Weapon in hand is a 10-foot menaulion lance, while the boar spear is stowed with his pack horse, along with two other lances. He also wears mail chausses to protect his legs, which are not worn when on foot. On his pack horse, there is also a crossbow and a quarrel of twenty bolts. He will sometimes ride with the crossbow in hand, particularly if he is hunting, but normally rides with his hands free if he is only scouting, or with lance in hand if he is expecting a fight.
Additional equipment on the pack horse includes a League paramerion, just as an extra sword in case something happens to his spatha.
Personality
Quiet and stoic, for the most part. Lothar prefers to observe people first before engaging with them, and has little interest in hollow pleasantries. He is a man who just wants to get the job done and not be interfered with in the process of doing it. A lifetime of fighting has made him decisive in battle, but has also made it difficult for him to form close bonds with anyone. Most of all, it has made him wise enough not to invite the wrath of gods or supernatural beings by taking superstitions too casually. In keeping with northern traditions, he holds trustworthiness as the most important trait a man can have. He dearly guards this trait in himself, and will judge it accordingly among those he meets.
Biography
I was born and raised in the wilderness around Rygils. My mother was a weaver. My father I knew not. I was drafted into service at the age of fifteen to fight against invading northmen. I fought the Elisabethans after that, in Eisenzach, and then against the Golden Horde in the south. While I began as an infantryman, my talents took me to the role of light cavalry. In my twenty-third year, I was wounded in battle and enslaved by a Dhallic warrior named Ojen. For about a year, I worked in Ojen's household, until he sold me to a master of the fighting pits. There I won many battles until I was bought by a passing merchant, whose name was Claude von Wickten.
I served Herr von Wickten as a caravan guard for three years. So pleased was he with my service that he offered me to marry his daughter, Ella. I agreed, but within the first year of our marriage, a plague took her and our unborn child. The Von Wickten estate collapsed into bankruptcy, and I ventured north as a lone mercenary. I met some friends in Hollfen, and from there, we traveled to Hoxter, as there had been a call for mercenaries in Ruhigreich. We joined a company called Steitz's Salvation, where I met even more old friends. I have been fighting with Steitz's Salvation for the past three years, and because of my experience they have given me command of a troop of thirty horsemen. It is to these men under my command to whom I am most beholden.
