Devon

Sir Devon and Teleria

„*Strength without compassion is violence. Courage without knowledge is recklessness.“*

* Sir Devon to Isohar

Sir Devon is a character from a series of role-playing sessions set shortly after the Siege of the Great Tree in the *Guardians of Ga´Hoole* background.

## Description

Sir Devon is a heavyset Great Horned Owl with a slight bluish tint to his gray feathers. Without being vain, he takes great care with his appearance, preening regularly; he believes that appearing uncouth or untidy would reflect badly on his ancestors, his lieges Boron and Barran, and the Great Tree itself.

## Personality

Sir Devon is solemnly devoted to being a Guardian and living the Ga´Hoole Code. Obsessively honourable, he can be awfully stiff and formal at times, but the same qualities make him a staunch ally and a noble friend. Even though he has proven himself to be an able swordsowl during the Siege of the Great Tree and trains diligently in the use of arms, he disdains combat, preferring to draw his blades only as a last resort.

Where Devon excels is at social functions: he can enliven a table with small talk and tales, always finding the perfect tone to put everyone at ease; Barran has more than once sent him to the Southern Kingdoms as a diplomatic envoy. His reputation for honour and trustworthiness has worked to his advantage in this kind of errand.

At the Great Tree, where owls are judged by their merit and not their lineage, Devon´s intense interest in his own ancestry is viewed as quaint. But he draws great certitude from the examples that his family has set. In each situation he asks himself: what would my mother have done? How would my great-grandfather, the herald, have solved this diplomatic mess? Often, the tales of his ancestors have sound advice for him that he can apply in the present.

Devon is a straightforward owl; he freely admits that he does not have the most flexible of minds, but makes up for this with utter dedication, assiduity and loyalty.

## History

### Education at the Great Tree

Devon was born Devon of Fjall, into a large and prestigious noble family of the N´yrthgaar; his mother Diana was a knight in the Kielian League, his father a skog (bard) from the Firth of Fangs. He was sent to the Great Ga´Hoole Tree to serve as a page to Queen Barran and get an education. The other young owlets often made fun of his thick Krakish accent, which he worked hard to get rid of. He made few friends, studying diligently and keeping mostly to himself, embarrassed by his bad Hoolian, until gruffly told by his teacher Ezylryb in Krakish, „An honourable heart needs no glib beak“. When he took this to heart and opened up to the other owls, his Hoolian quickly started to improve, to his amazement. He started to enjoy himself massively at the functions and ceremonies that he had hitherto avoided.

### Service at arms

Devon was tapped by the search-and-rescue chaw for his strength and endurance, and excelled in his training. Just before the event later known as the Downing, he was accepted into the Strix Struma Strikers as part of the outriders – large owls who used their weight and air displacement to break up enemy formations. To survive in this dangerous role, he was taught in the use of long weapons that could be used defensively to parry battle claws, and quickly adapted this style for search-and-rescue, skillfully drawing off and keeping busy those crows that threatened lost owlets.

During the Siege of the Tree, Devon distinguished himself against the invading Pure Ones, first in the vanguard of several vicious sorties, later gallantly defending the wounded against attacks and carrying them to safety. But the aftermath of the Siege saw him getting despondent and listless. He was devastated by the loss of his revered leader, Strix Struma, and seriously considered giving up his swords and taking up Ga´Hoolology.

### The Errand

When Teleria and Splinter left the Great Ga´Hoole Tree in search of the Lost Books and became lost in Ambala, Queen Barran asked Devon to venture into the Southlands and search for them. She did this as much to raise Devon out of his despondency as to help the young owls. Being sent on an urgent mission helped; Devon finally got over the death of Strix Struma and pulled himself out of the gollymopes.

From Ambala, Devon ventured to the border of Kuneer, where he found Teleria and Splinter and their new-found friend Isohar. When Isohar mocked Devon for being a spit-and-polish dandy owl with fancy blades rather than a „true warrior“, the two owls were on the brink of having a duel, but Splinter intervened and had both apologise to each other. In the course of their adventures, harried by Pure One patrols, Isohar and Devon became friends and battle-brothers, sharing the responsibility for the protection of the two young´uns between them.

After Isohar´s death drawing off the Pure Ones´ pursuit, Devon became obsessively protective of his two wards, up to a point where Teleria and Splinter threatened to leave him and continue their mission on their own. He finally (very reluctantly) agreed to let them take risks in their search for the Lost Books.

### The Duel with Ruthven

While the two young owls discovered the stash of books in the Shreeing Caves, Devon confronted Ruthven, Isohar´s killer, and challenged him to a duel, pretending to be in a blind rage and intent on revenge for his friend. Ruthven accepted; this was just playing into his talons. The Barn Owl counted on his force of Pure Ones being able to outflank Devon while he was occupied with the duel, and and attack Teleria and Splinter.

But Devon had outwitted the Pure One: he used his Outrider technique to smash through the formation and drew Ruthven into a narrow passage where the Pure Ones could not pass him by. There he fought defensively, using his skills and longer reach to hold Ruthven at bay until Teleria and Splinter had escaped with the books.

Ruthven suddenly realised to his chagrin that Devon was not motivated by revenge at all and had no intention of winning; the Guardian only wanted to draw the duel out as long as possible and buy time for his friends. Screeching with rage, the Barn Owl broke off the duel and led his soldiers out of the caves in futile pursuit of the escaped young´uns.

Devon later rejoined Teleria and Splinter at Isohar´s lynx cave, and they made it home to the Great Tree where they received a hero´s welcome. The usually stoic Devon was seen to cry when Barran passed on to him and his friends the dying words of Isohar: „I have died a happy owl for having known you three.“