Valer Akos Tamaris

Valer Akos Tamaris, the Black Eye, ten thousand gold crowns.

He is known by two names and no face: the Black Eye in the illegal circles, the Bane of Souls everywhere else. The Ordo Aurorae offers ten thousand crowns for his capture, a figure set high enough that young blades understand they have no business trying. People take him for a liar because they take him for a demon. He has never been one, not once. Every time he grants a service, he asks in return for something that bears no relation whatsoever to what you came to ask him for.

Describing him

You never look at him long enough. Every time your eyes come back, something has moved: the fingers of the mask, an ivory body caught in the breastplate, the depth of a plate. His voice is cavernous and level, never hurried, never raised. He waits for your sentences to end. He leaves you the silence that follows, too. Not one of you dares fill it.

Playing him

Speak slowly. Never raise your voice. Answer what you are asked, nothing more. Do not lie: a chosen truth does all the work, and when a player thinks he has cornered you with a direct question, answer him exactly, and let him go pale for having learned. Then name your price, and let it have nothing to do with the matter at hand: a delivery to carry far from here, a magic object to bring back, a safe conduct into a stronghold. What you ask for serves another of your plans, and that is precisely why you ask for it.

What he says (rarely)

"I do not lie. That is a convenience for men in a hurry."
"You asked me whether he was suffering. He is suffering. Anything else?"
(very calm) "Keep your gold. You will bring me a casket. Closed."