Commander Wulfgard

Wulfgard, the Commander 

Wulfgard has commanded the guard of Valeford for more than twenty years, with an iron hand hardened by war. He trained those men who speak to no one, and he ground down, day after day, a scrawny younger son named Heldric. That son became the greatest knight in the duchy, and his name now drowns out the commander's. Wulfgard holds a stubborn grudge against him, as if he blamed him for the passing of time. He has been drinking ever since.

Describe him

He corrects a guard in a clipped voice, never repeating himself, and the guard doesn't look up. Not a buckle askew, not a plate out of place: his armor fits him as it did on the first day. He still carries himself like a hero from another age, with a face nothing warms. When he walks past you, a smell of clove, far too strong, fails to cover something else.

Play him

Speak in short, cutting sentences, without an ounce of empathy. Around Heldric, never speak first. Now and then, give him an excuse to step away, and bring him back standing a little straighter than before. Have everyone else speak of him in the past tense, "Now there was a commander," without anyone daring to say why. And keep, underneath, a man loyal to the stones and the crest far more than to the one who represents them: he says "the castle" where others say "the duke."

What he says (rarely)

"I didn't ask you to think. I asked you to hold."
"Dukes pass. The castle remains. I serve what remains."
(screwing the cap back on his flask, when someone mentions Heldric) "I knew him when he used to cry. Nobody writes that part down."