Beneath Banners and Crowns

Name -:- Tristan de Caerwyn
Age -:- 28
Gender -:- Male
Title -:- Knight / Sir
Occupation -:- King's Guard

Height -:- 185.4 cm (6' 1")
Weight -:- 17.5 Stone (245 lbs/ 111.1 kg)
Hair -:- dark brown
Eyes -:- striking steel-blue
Build -:- Broad-shouldered, athletic, battle-hardened physique
Scars -:- Visible is a thin scar crossing his cheekbone, a reminder of a duel in his youth; Invisible are many gifts of battle

⚡ By the soldiers -:- a comrade who would take a blade for them without hesitation.
⚡ By the peasants -:- a rare noble who treats them as people, not coin.
⚡ By the court -:- useful, but rough-edged, too honest for intrigue.
⚡ By rivals -:- dangerous, because his loyalty is not easily bought.


Royal Court records state Tristan is six feet and one inch in height, broad of shoulder and seasoned by war. Golden of hair, with eyes of steel-blue, sharp as a falcon’s gaze, and a scar upon his cheek from a duel of youth. His frame bears the weight of many campaigns, though his bearing is ever steady. He wears the sigil of his liege with honor, his armor plain yet well-kept, and his surcoat clean as a mark of respect. A knight forged by battle, tempered by loyalty, and sworn by oath to crown and realm.”

Sir Tristan stands tall at 185.4 cm (6'1"), his frame commanding yet tempered by years of discipline. His build is unmistakably that of a battle-hardened knight... broad-shouldered and athletic, carrying the strength of countless campaigns without the softness of idleness. His weight, a solid 17.5 stone (245 lbs / 111.1 kg), rests not in bulk alone but in a physique honed for endurance, resilience, and the relentless burden of armor and duty.

His dirty blonde hair is kept at a knight’s trim, practical and neat, though one stubborn lock often escapes across his brow, softening the severity of his features. His steel-blue eyes are his most striking trait... piercing yet world-weary, carrying the edge of a soldier who has seen too much bloodshed but refuses to falter. They are eyes that can unsettle with their sharpness, yet linger with quiet gentleness when he allows his guard to fall.

His jawline is strong, often roughened by stubble after long marches or campaigns, lending him a rugged gravity. A thin scar crosses his cheekbone, pale against his skin, a permanent mark from a youthful duel that reminds him daily of battles survived. Beyond this, his body bears the hidden scars of war, etched across his arms, torso, and legs... an unseen tapestry of pain and survival, known only to him and perhaps, one day, to someone he dares trust.

In dress, Tristan favors practicality over finery. His armor is worn but well-kept, every dent and scrape earned honestly. Upon his breastplate lies the sigil of his liege... modest compared to the ostentation of other knights... but his surcoat is always spotless, a deliberate gesture of respect for the order he serves. Even in steel, there is dignity in his bearing, as if he wears not just armor but the weight of every vow he has sworn.

When he moves, it is with the quiet confidence of a man accustomed to the battlefield... steady, deliberate, never wasting a step. Though not untouched by hardship, there is something enduring in him, something carved from iron and oath, that makes even his silence feel as commanding as a spoken word.


Tristan is stoic and dutiful, carrying himself with the quiet pride of a knight who has given his life to honor and duty. Beneath the armor, though, he is a thoughtful man, with a subtle wit that only appears when his guard is lowered. He is protective to a fault, often placing himself in harm’s way without thought for his own safety. Though disciplined, he harbors a gentleness rarely seen by others—a gentleness that the princess slowly uncovers.


✨ Likes: ✨

💥Swordsmanship -:- the ring of steel upon steel; the artistry of it.
💥The quiet discipline of training at dawn -:- sword drills, archery, and long rides when the world is still.
💥Simplicity -:- clean armor, a sharp blade, and honest words over courtly flattery.
💥The sound of rain on canvas during campaign nights -:- it soothes him despite its chill.
💥Old songs sung by soldiers around a fire -:- not polished ballads, but the rough, heartfelt kind.
💥Children’s laughter -:- reminds him of what he fights to protect.
💥Hunting hawks and horses -:- he treats animals with gentleness rarely shown to men.
💥The company of those who speak plainly -:- without masks or schemes.


✨ Dislikes: ✨

🐍 Courtly intrigue and manipulation -:- he has little patience for veiled threats or poisoned words.
🐍 Excessive cruelty, -:- especially when inflicted upon peasants or the defenseless.
🐍 Drunkenness -:- he rarely drinks, having seen too many men ruin honor and judgment with wine.
🐍 His own temper, when it rises -:- he fears becoming the kind of man who loses control.
🐍 Rain on the battlefield -:- not the soothing camp kind, but the blinding storm that muddies footing and drowns cries.
🐍 Seeing nobles spend wealth -:- on feasts while soldiers bleed and peasants starve.
🐍 Being treated as a pawn -:- especially by those who outrank him.


Born the son of a minor lord in the borderlands, Tristan was sent to squire at a young age, trading childhood for duty. His knighthood was earned not by bloodline, but by valor: at seventeen, he stood against raiders when others fled, holding the line until reinforcements came. For this, he was knighted on the battlefield.
He has since served loyally, never seeking glory, only the satisfaction of keeping his oaths. Though admired by fellow knights, he avoids courtly games and politics, preferring the field to the ballroom. Yet fate binds him to the royal household when he is assigned as the princess’s sworn protector—a duty that slowly grows into something more dangerous than any war: affection.


✨ Strengths: ✨

🔥 Exceptional swordsman and jouster.
🔥 Disciplined in combat.
🔥 Deep sense of loyalty and protective instinct.
🔥 Tactical mind, with practical leadership skills.
🔥 Gentle with the weak, stern with the cruel.


✨ Weaknesses: ✨

🕷️ Reluctant to express personal desires, burying them beneath duty.
🕷️ Haunted by the men he could not save in past campaigns.
🕷️ Discomfort with courtly intrigue and noble expectations.
🕷️ His honor often makes him predictable to those who would exploit it.


✨ Skills: ✨

🗡️ Swordsmanship -:- A master of longsword and arming sword; his strikes are precise, not wasteful.
🗡️ Horsemanship -:- Highly skilled rider, trained in both warhorses and hunting mounts.
🗡️ Tactics -:- Calm battlefield strategist, especially in defense and holding ground.
🗡️ Endurance -:- Built for long campaigns, carrying armor and weight without faltering.
🗡️ Jousting -:- Respected competitor in the lists, though not always favored for showmanship.
🗡️ Survival -:- Years of campaign life taught him how to endure with little food, fire, or shelter.
🗡️ Diplomacy (quiet kind) -:- Though not a silver-tongued courtier, he is a respected mediator among soldiers, trusted to defuse disputes with fairness.


✨ Abilities: ✨

🔮 Swordsmanship -:- master of longsword, spear, and arming sword
🔮 Unyielding Resolve -:- He has an almost uncanny ability to fight through pain and exhaustion, pushing past limits that would break lesser men.
🔮 Keen Instincts -:- Reads the rhythm of a battlefield quickly—knows when to press, when to hold.
🔮 Commanding Presence -:- Even in silence, his bearing makes others listen.
🔮 Protective Oath -:- He places himself instinctively in harm’s way for those under his care. Some call this foolish; others call it noble.



Early Life

Tristan de Caerwyn was born in the rugged borderlands where fertile fields gave way to wild forests and the mountains beyond. His father, Lord Edric, was no great noble but a sworn bannerman, a man of stern honor and little wealth. Tristan’s childhood was not one of silken halls or tutors, but of mud-stained boots, wooden practice swords, and long days riding with the household guard. His mother, Lady Elayne, was gentler ... teaching him letters, the prayers of the saints, and the value of compassion when steel was not the answer. She died of a fever when Tristan was only nine, a wound in his heart he never truly let heal.

As the eldest son, Tristan was marked for duty early. By twelve, he was sent as a page to the castle of his father’s liege lord. There, the boy who had known only fields and hearth fires found himself in the press of greater halls, carrying trays, tending armor, and absorbing the rhythms of court. Though quiet, he was not dull; his keen eyes learned quickly what was expected of a knight ... not only skill in arms, but the bearing of dignity and restraint.


Squirehood and Knighthood

At fourteen, Tristan was sworn as a squire to Sir Alaric of Valemont, a battle-hardened knight with little patience for folly. Alaric was harsh, but fair, and under his stern tutelage Tristan was honed like a blade: learning not only how to ride and fight, but also when not to draw steel.

His true testing came at seventeen, during a border raid. Raiders swept across the valley in the dead of night, overwhelming sentries and scattering peasants. With his master absent, Tristan rallied a handful of men-at-arms and held a crumbling watchtower against the invaders until reinforcements arrived. By dawn, the ground was slick with blood, and the boy’s sword arm shook from exhaustion, but the village was spared. For this, before the eyes of his lord and men, he was knighted on the field, blood still staining his surcoat.


The Soldier’s Path

In the years that followed, Tristan earned respect as a steadfast knight. He fought in three campaigns ... skirmishes along the northern passes, border disputes, and one bitter siege that lasted through winter’s bite. He saw comrades fall, buried more than he cared to count, and learned that chivalry was not always gilded with glory. Sometimes it meant starving with villagers during a blockade, or shielding the weak with his own body while lords bickered over territory.

Despite this, his reputation grew ... not for brash heroics, but for discipline, calm under pressure, and loyalty unshaken even when orders seemed unjust. Men followed him because he stood where others faltered.


Reputation at Court

Though his valor was unquestioned, Tristan never sought favor in courts. He disliked the shallow games of nobles, the whispers and alliances made over wine and silk. He wore his armor as comfortably as others wore velvet, and the court found him both admirable and unyielding. To many lords, he was dependable, but unremarkable ... safe to trust with command, but unlikely to challenge their place.

Yet it was precisely this plain integrity that brought him to royal notice. When whispers of disloyalty stirred among certain knights, the King’s advisors sought men of unquestionable honor to serve closer to the throne. Sir Tristan’s name was spoken often, and soon his service was requested at court ... not as a soldier in the field, but as protector of the royal household.


Current Standing

Now twenty-eight, Tristan carries the weight of experience in every glance. His armor is scarred, his body marked by old wounds, but his spirit remains disciplined. His loyalty is to crown and realm, though privately he still questions the justice of lords who sit far from the battlefield. He arrives at the royal court with no ambition for titles or lands, believing his worth proven through service alone.

Unbeknownst to him, however, this new posting will test him in ways battle never did ... for loyalty of the sword is simple, but loyalty of the heart… that is far more perilous.

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The Worthy Knight

✨ “He is the tower that never falls.” Soldiers often tell of how Tristan once stood alone at a bridge for nearly an hour, holding off raiders until reinforcements came. Some claim he felled a dozen men single-handedly; others say it was fewer, but all agree his courage turned the tide.

✨ It is whispered among the common folk that he spares peasants from tithes when he can, paying their dues himself from his small stipend. This has won him quiet admiration in villages, but suspicion among lords who call it folly.

✨ Children of his father’s domain know him as “the knight with the storm-eyes” ... a figure both frightening and comforting, who they believe can see truth in a man’s soul just by looking at him.


The Flawed Man

✨ Some knights murmur that Tristan has never truly recovered from his mother’s death. They say this is why he drinks little, laughs less, and avoids the company of women at feast halls. A few cruel tongues call him hollow-hearted.

✨ Others claim he carries a temper that smolders beneath his calm. Once, during a tourney melee, he struck a fellow knight so hard the man nearly lost an eye ... well beyond the bounds of sport. Tristan himself said nothing, but rumor insists it was no accident.

✨ His sense of honor, though praised, is also mocked. “He cannot lie, he cannot scheme, he cannot play the game,” courtiers laugh. To some, this makes him noble; to others, a fool ripe for manipulation.

✨ A lingering rumor follows him from the border wars: that he defied a commander’s order to burn a village accused of harboring raiders. Men say he stood with the peasants, sword drawn, daring his own comrades to pass. Whether true or not, the story stains his reputation with whispers of disobedience.


The Unquiet Legends

✨ Among soldiers, it is said that the gods themselves guard Tristan, for arrows and blades always seem to miss their killing mark. Some mutter that he is blessed; others darkly jest he is cursed to survive when worthier men fall.

✨ At court, tales circulate of a duel fought in the gray hours of dawn. Tristan’s opponent ... a noble’s son ... was carried away bleeding, humiliated. No one knows what sparked the fight, but rumor has it the noble’s sister was involved. Tristan never spoke of it, fueling speculation.

✨ Finally, there are quiet whispers that he dreams of the dead. Those who shared his tent in campaign said he wakes in the night muttering names of men long buried. Some fear he is haunted. Others pity him.

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The Caerwyns have a history of service on the borderlands ...
respected for loyalty, but rarely remembered in songs.

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The Caerwyn family is marked by a tension between duty-bound knights and ambitious courtiers. Tristan embodies the first, while his cousin Ysandra and brother Corbin lean toward the second.

He feels the weight of legacy ... the Caerwyns are respected border defenders but not power-players in court. His service to the crown may change that, but not without friction from his kin.

Allies and enemies can emerge within his own family, making loyalty and betrayal not just matters of war, but of blood.

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Sigil

✨ Field (background) -:- Deep midnight blue (azure) → representing loyalty, vigilance, and the endless night of the borderlands they defend.

✨ Charge (main symbol) -:- A silver wolf rampant (argent) → symbol of watchfulness, ferocity in defense, and the family’s reputation as the “Wardens of the Border.” Wolves are feared but also guardians of their pack, echoing Tristan’s protective nature.

✨ Secondary Charge -:- Above the wolf, a broken sword crossed with a torch → the sword represents battles endured, the break symbolizes sacrifice, and the torch represents guiding light and perseverance.

✨ Border -:- A thin crimson edge (gules) → a reminder of blood shed for honor, a subtle warning to enemies.

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Blazon (heraldic description)
Azure, a wolf rampant argent clutching a broken sword sable and a torch or, within a bordure gules.

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Banner
🪶 Colors -:- Midnight blue background, with the silver wolf centered, the torch in gold casting a stylized light across it.

🪶 Shape -:- A long gonfalon-style banner (rectangular with three tails at the bottom), practical for both battlefield and courtly display.

🪶 Placement -:- The banner often flies from border keeps of the Caerwyn lands; soldiers paint a simplified wolf’s head on shields for quicker recognition.

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Motto

📜 By Oath -:-→ Their loyalty to crown and realm.

📜 By Vigil -:-→ Their endless watch on the borderlands, the sleepless guard.

📜 We Endure -:-→ The heart of their identity ... no matter the hardship, the Caerwyns stand unbroken.


Alternative shortened war cry -:- “Endure!” -:- shouted before a charge.

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🔱 Father –:– Lord Edric de Caerwyn (55) –:–
Stern and unbending, duty-bound, a laird of modest standing. Alive but aged, distant in affection. Loyal to his bannermen but emotionally distant, measuring worth only in duty fulfilled.

🔱 Mother –:– Lady Elayne de Caerwyn (deceased) –:–
Gentle and compassionate, her death from fever when Tristan was nine left a hollow place in him.

🔱 Self, eldest son –:– Lord Tristan de Caerwyn (28) –:–

🔱 First Sister –:– Lady Evelyne de Caerwyn (26) –:–
Known for her sharp wit and silver tongue, Evelyne thrives at court. Where Tristan shuns politics, Evelyne embraces them, weaving alliances and rumors with equal skill. She is protective of her family name but often clashes with Tristan’s blunt honesty.

🔱 Younger Brother –:– Ser Corbin de Caerwyn (24) –:–
A knight as well, but more political and ambitious than Tristan. Their bond is strained... believing the family must rise in courtly power, and sees Tristan’s rigid honor as a liability. Corbin thinks Tristan’s honor makes him blind to opportunity.

🔱 Second Sister –:– Alisande de Caerwyn (19) –:–
Married into House Roen, where she struggles with the expectations of her new household, as the Lady Roen. Writes to Tristan often, urging him to seek happiness, though her life is now consumed by her husband’s household. She remains one of Tristan’s few sources of warmth and counsel, sending him letters, though often unanswered.

🔱 Third Sister –:– Lady Mirabel de Caerwyn (16) –:–
The youngest sibling, still unmarried. Mirabel is curious, spirited, and often dismissed as “too wild” for courtly expectations. She idolizes Tristan and sneaks away from her caretakers to listen to his soldier’s tales whenever he is home.


💥 Grandmother –:– Lady Iseult of Caerwyn (79) –:–
Nearly eighty, sharp-witted despite her years. Known for speaking uncomfortable truths at family councils. Rumor says she was once a lady-in-waiting to the Queen’s mother, giving her old but potent court ties.

💥 Great-Uncle – Brother –:– Theobald of Caerwyn (69) –:– A monk in a distant abbey. He abandoned the sword for scripture, but still writes to Tristan, encouraging him to temper his steel with mercy.

💥 Uncle –:– Sir Gervais de Caerwyn (58) –:–
A knight of questionable reputation... Tristan’s father’s younger brother, a grizzled veteran knight known for brawling and boasting. Though loyal to blood, he is often drunk and unreliable, blurring truth and tale in his stories.

💥 Aunt –:– Lady Rowena de Caerwyn (48) –:–
Gervais’s wife, shrewd and practical, managing their estate with more discipline than her husband. She quietly disapproves of Tristan, calling him “too rigid for his own good.”

💥 Cousin –:– Lady Ysandra de Caerwyn (36) –:–
Gervais’s daughter; she married into wealthier noble family at court; ambitious, cunning, and sometimes uses Tristan’s name for her own schemes and political aims.

💥 Cousin –:– Ser Alaric de Caerwyn (28) –:–
Gervais’s son was knighted two years ago, proud and reckless. Looks up to Tristan but resents living in his shadow. Whispers that one day he will be the more famous knight of Caerwyn.

💥 Distant Cousin –:– Ser Merric Caerwyn (33) –:–
A mercenary knight who fights for coin abroad. Some say he dishonors the family name, others that he keeps the Caerwyn steel feared beyond the kingdom’s borders.


Allies
⚔️ Sir Roland of Valemont -:-
An older knight, mentor-like figure who often defends Tristan’s honor at court.

⚔️ Captain Merrick -:-
A common-born soldier Tristan once saved; fiercely loyal, serving as his squire and shield-bearer.

⚔️ Several village families -:-
In the borderlands, peasants remember Tristan’s defense and speak of him warmly as their protector.

⚔️ The Queen (potentially) -:-
If she sees his discipline and loyalty, she may become a quiet patron within the court.


Enemies

🪓 Lord Armand de Lierre -:- A courtly rival who despises Tristan’s plainness, mocking him as “the peasant’s knight.” Armand thrives in politics, where Tristan does not.

🪓 Sir Bastian du Roen -:- His wife is Tristan's second sister –:– Alisande de Caerwyn. Once, Bastian was a fellow squire... now a rival knight who holds a grudge after losing a tourney joust to Tristan. Whispers often that Tristan is too dangerous, too unstable.

🪓 Discontented commanders from the border wars -:-
Those who never forgave Tristan for rumored disobedience when he spared a village. They see him as a man who places his conscience above his orders.

🪓 Enemies of the crown -:-
Raiders and mercenaries beyond the borders still curse his name as the “Iron Wolf of Caerwyn,” for his refusal to yield ground.

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