Tillaume

Tillaume is the butler of House Ladrian on Scadrial.
== Appearance and Personality ==
Tillaume is an aging man with a long face who commonly wears his black butler's uniform and white gloves. A man trained as a servant in accordance with the ancient Terris ideal, Tillaume moves with an inevitability, and his personal feelings on subjects are always carefully hidden. However, Tillaume is a staunchly conservative man, very concerned with ideals of duty and responsibility, as well as good behavior and decorum. Tillaume is also very worried about the financial status of the house and dislikes when Wax spends money. Despite his inability to openly express his views most of the time, Tillaume has become adept at communicating his opinion with a simple look, raise of the eyebrow, or the occasional eye roll.
Tillaume is a decent person, but his loyalty to Edwarn Ladrian trumps any sense of morality he might have. Tillaume is aware of the plans of the Set, at least to some degree, and is willing to do what is necessary to make them come to fruition. However, he does not completely understand what might be required of him by the Set, such as being ordered to assassinate Wax. Tillaume is far more comfortable with quieter service, such as spying on Wax. He is not very experienced with any sort of criminal activities, so he is very nervous when asked to do anything in that vein.
Even though Tillaume is willing to do what is asked of him by the Set, he is still very fond of Wax. He tries his best to guide Wax on a path that will avoid drawing the eyes of Edwarn, so that Wax will be safe from him and the Set. If he realized that he might one day be ordered to kill Wax, he would have tried even more diligently to stop Wax from causing trouble.
Tillaume loves tea with a passion and is an expert at manufacturing any type simply by mixing several base ingredients. Even if his master does not request it, Tillaume will interrogate him until he picks a type of tea for him to serve. He can mix it precisely to determine a specific flavor or to grant benefits such as a clear mind or alertness.
== History ==
=== Early Life ===
Nothing is known about Tillaume's early life, or how he came to work at Ladrian Mansion, but he was a loyal servant of the house for many years. Tillaume served as butler to High Lord Edwarn Ladrian. He was aware of Edwarn's secret plans with the Set, occasionally participating in quiet ways. When Edwarn faked his own death, Tillaume accompanied him to the manor house where the Ladrians were staying although he was not present for the false carriage accident. Even after Edwarn faked his death, Tillaume remained in contact with him.
=== Serving Waxillium ===
When High Lord Waxillium Ladrian returned to Elendel from the Roughs to run his house, Tillaume also served as his butler, although he remained loyal to Edwarn and followed Edwarn's orders. Tillaume supported Wax as he attempted to slowly repair his reputation, which had been damaged by his initially rude and eccentric behavior. When Wax slipped off into the mists during parties held by both Lord Stanton and Lady Aving Cett, Tillaume drafted letters of apology to the hosts. After Wax's behavior at House Cett's party, Tillaume convinced Wax that he needed to stop trying to be a lawman and commit fully to his people and his house. Wax gave Tillaume his Sterrions, shotguns, and mistcoat to be put somewhere safe. Edwarn Ladrian ordered these items stolen, so Tillaume turned them over to Edwarn, who kept them in the foundry beneath the Ironspine Building.
Over the next several months, Tillaume spent his time patiently shepherding Wax away from his former Roughs behaviors and into the model lord that Tillaume wanted him to become. He also hoped that this would keep Wax from drawing the attention or displeasure of Edwarn, who was prepared to have Wax assassinated if he began interfering with Edwarn's plans. Wax was well behaved, at least for the first few months, and Tillaume believed that he had successfully discouraged Wax's more rustic behaviors. When Wax was preparing for his meeting with Jackstom Harms and his daughter Lady Steris, Tillaume helped him get dressed. He also served them refreshments and escorted the Harmses out of the building after the meeting.
As Wax began to dig a little more into the Vanishers and their crimes, Tillaume was surprised, as he had thought that he had sufficiently suppressed Wax's lawman instincts. Tillaume again attempted to push Wax back onto the course of responsibility and lordliness, reminding him that the house account ledgers needed to be reviewed and that his people depended on him. He told Wax that even though he had been a great lawman, at this point what his people needed was a great leader and lord.
=== Assassination Attempt ===
The day after the Vanishers attacked the Yomen-Ostlin wedding dinner, Tillaume discovered that Wax had spent an exorbitant amount on metallurgy equipment and became very agitated about the expenditure. Tillaume also welcomed Lady Marasi Colms to Ladrian Mansion. He escorted Marasi up to Wax's study to converse with him. However, Tillaume did not approve of Marasi visiting Wax, let alone spending time with him in private. At some point during this day, Tillaume received orders from Edwarn that he had to assassinate Wax. Tillaume planned to poison Wax's tea and then cover the murder up with an explosion that would appear to have emanated from Wax's metallurgy equipment. In order to protect other members of the Ladrian household, Tillaume sent everyone he could away on errands, and then drugged Limmi and Miss Grimes into unconsciousness and hid them in the pantry.
However, Tillaume had never committed an assassination before and never had expected that he would be asked to kill Wax, so he was nervous about the assassination attempt. He made the mistake of preparing only a single cup of tea, instead of three, for Wayne and Marasi. Wayne snatched the poisoned tea and drank it quickly. While Tillaume tried to quickly make another poisoned cup, Wayne felt the effects of the poison and warned Wax and Marasi. Tillaume attempted to shoot Wax, but Wax managed to Push his metal button into Tillaume, wounding him. While Wax and Marasi were distracted tending to the injured Wayne, Tillaume crawled over to the basket where he had hidden his bomb and detonated it. Wax, Marasi, and Wayne escaped the explosion using their Allomantic and Feruchemical abilities, but Tillaume himself was consumed by the explosion and killed.
=== Legacy ===
Although Tillaume ultimately failed to kill Wax, his actions had two important impacts. Wax's personal effects, his guns and mistcoat, were stolen and moved to the foundry beneath the Ironspine by Tillaume. If Tillaume had not stolen them, Wax would not have had them for his final confrontation with Miles Dagouter. Also, Tillaume's betrayal was one of the things that tipped Wax off to the fact that Edwarn was still alive. As it was unlikely that the Vanishers would have been able to bribe a loyal and long-term servant such as Tillaume, Wax deduced that Tillaume was simply working for Edwarn, the man he had been serving for many years.
== Notes ==