Tiber Harden

Tiber Harden, trusted by a whole town, except by the one person who mattered.

A locksmith for twenty-five years, never once a shadow on his honesty, always ready to walk the weaker home. His build comes from a blacksmith's apprenticeship, where he never shone but forged himself a body that reassures as much as his smile. Only one ever judged him unambitious and left slamming the door: his daughter. Since then he holds the keys to the whole town and sometimes drinks one too many, alone in a corner, wondering if she was right.

Describe him

You're massive, bald-headed, with the forearms of a man who held the hammer before the keys. Your face is hard at rest, but it softens the moment you smile, and you smile easily. You wear your keys at your belt and you always offer to walk someone home. People trust you on instinct, without knowing why. But when the tavern empties, your gaze settles somewhere else.

Play him

Play the quiet, kindly strength: offer your help, walk people home, reassure them by your presence alone. Never boast about your trade, answer plainly, let people work out for themselves that your word is worth gold. Every now and then, open a stubborn lock in a few motions, without forcing it, as if it were nothing. And keep, underneath, what you don't say: your daughter leaving, and that one drink too many when no one's watching.

What he says (rarely)

"Leave it, I'll walk you home. The streets aren't safe this hour." "Twenty-five years of keys, and never once a door quietly opened. That counts, doesn't it?" (low, a drink in front of him) "She thought me unambitious. Maybe she wasn't wrong."