Hermoor MacDuff

*The Blade and The Pygmy*

* *Part I: The Crown of Antlers*
* *Part II: Pages of the Void*

*Pydwellian Tales*

"*Fate is a **lie**. There is no form or destiny. No gods, just **fools** searching for meaning in the madness. **Even me**. If there's one thing I've learned, it's that **there is no reason**. Just **survival**,*"
—Hermoor MacDuff[src]

**Hermoor MacDuff, The Black Blade**, formerly called **Tuny** and known as ***Nosylykan** ("Dark Wolf")* to the giants, is a legendary mercenary and one of the few remaining members of the Old Order. As the leader of a band of mercenaries that travels between settlements searching for work, he becomes involved in a series of events that could upset the fragile civilization that humanity has established across Pydwell.

In the closing weeks of the Age of Division, MacDuff led his company on a quest in Pydwell's far north, where they encountered the bloodthirsty Crimson Rite and Archipelagan heiress Minerva an Kett, a child later revealed to be a beachwalker. Feeling a bond with the girl, MacDuff and the company vowed to keep her safe from both the Knot, a group of mage supremacists enamoured with Minerva's potential, and the Thalmonian Empire that began to march on the North, only to unravel a prophecy fortelling the return of the Dead King and the events of Ragh nar Roog. Through his own dreams and Minerva's mysterious talents, MacDuff discovered his true parentage: his mother was the powerful stringmaiden known as Vedma, while his father was Blaikoth, avatar of Radagon, Lord of Wolves and the source of his balvorn curse. Further, during the Battle of Hog, he discovered that he and Minerva were both children of Vedma. In the battle's aftermath, when the company split to prepare for Ragh nar Roog, MacDuff, unexpectedly accompanied by Faye and the sage Aatos, headed west to seek out Vedma, believing her powers could turn the odds in their favour.

## Biography

### Early Life and Background

#### Creation

"*The Whispers spoke, **and I obeyed**. Thus I laid with the Half-Wolf, and I lay with the brother of a king... [...] **Now my purpose runs short**. My children must face this darkness...**together**. My son, the **Shadow**...my daughter, the **Hero**...*"
—Vedma explains MacDuff's true origins[src]

Hermoor MacDuff was born in the winter of 8:442 to the witch Vedma and the half-wolf Blaikoth, servants of opposing Wild Lords, who had laid together in an act of unholy communion. Before the child could even finish his growth, Vedma, embittered by the sudden departure of her beloved, had him cut from her womb by the ghouls of Castle Mourn before immediately disappearing into the wilderness.

The still-developing child was submerged in a tank full of magical compounds and mutagens, a mixture that accelerated the child's development; within a few days he had grown to the size of a newborn. The compounds and mutagens accelerated and enhanced the development of his muscular and nervous systems, giving him strength and reaction times far beyond those of a normal man; as a side effect, the child began developing memories and pain responses after a few days, allowing him to perceive and remember the entire painful process. Unbeknownst to the ghouls, the child carried the balvorn curse; as a result, the boy demonstrated heightened resistance to magical treatment, necessitating the use of more potent rituals and alchemies on his developing body, thus giving him a significant edge over any warden created in the last few centuries.

The exposure to magical materials also enabled the child to begin perceiving his own Beach, a talent unique to mages, wardens and beachwalkers. Vedma, the boy's mother, immediately began invading her son's Beach.

##### Life at Caer Blygoch

Once he was just a few weeks old, the genetic and physiological experiments stopped; despite his very young age, the child had the physical appearance and mental age of a toddler, albeit one that had been traumatized by extensive experiments. The ghouls assigned him to Caer Blygoch, home of the Manticore Discipline, due to his resistance to the mutagens of that particular monster. He was delivered by cart to the keep's front door, where he first met Esken St. Raivan, lord of the keep and a legendary warden, who would become his father figure.

Although he had no name, the boy was nicknamed "Tuny" by Esken, a name that meant "runt", for he was the youngest of the trainees. With no family to speak of aside from the other inhabitants of Caer Blygoch, the boy came to see his fellow trainees as brothers and sisters, particularly the future Hans of Gruber, Shae and Cullen.

For the next twenty summers, Tuny was raised at Caer Blygoch and was forbidden from leaving the keep or the mountainous wilderness that surrounded it. His childhood was nowhere near normal nor happy; on each day, Tuny and his fellow youths underwent extensive physical and mental tests, including combat training, interrogation, torture, and potion mixing. The hardest parts of his childhood were the Order's trials: a series of difficult, often lethal, tasks and experiments that tested a trainee's survival and fighting skills; they ranged from (relatively) simple obstacle courses to prolonged survival in the wilderness, all the way up to brutal experiments that often killed the weaker children. Tuny was not unique in his agony; in the aftermath of his Trial of Wheat, Tuny was so overcome by pain that he beat one of his fellow trainees to death in order to end his suffering.

Aside from training and trials, Tuny received an education from Caer Blygoch's Mistress of Sorceries, Elżbieta of Lŷr, who taught him language and gave him his Lŷrian accent. In addition, he was taught literacy, numeracy, science and magic. Although he was offered it, he refused worship of the nordling pantheon, preferring to revere the Lady of the Lake.

##### Trial of Fur

One of the Order's most brutal trials was the Trial of Fur: all the trainee wardens, each no more than 15 years of age, were carried into the mountain wilderness, far from the keep, and stripped naked with no food, water or weapons. They were given a simple task: hunt for food and clothing, and return to Caer Blygoch before starvation or the cold took them.

Tuny woke up alone, naked and freezing. Knowing his task, he broke a tree branch and began sharpening it with a jagged stone. In need of shelter, he found a shallow cave and built a fire, obsessively sharpening the branch into a makeshift spear; he did not stop until the point of his weapon could break the skin of his thumb.

The next morning, barefoot and shivering, Tuny managed to track and injure a deer; following its tracks, he found the dying animal, which he would butcher for meat and fur. As he began to work, however, he was ambushed by an unusually large wolf; instead of running, Tuny decided to battle the animal. Quickly overwhelmed, Tuny lured the wolf into his cave, and the wolf became trapped in the entrance. Tuny then slayed the wolf, and turned its hide into clothes and its bones into tools. Using its femur and an antler of the deer, Tuny built his first sword.

Now warm and fed, Tuny encountered another challenge: boredom. To pass the time, Tuny continued hunting and training himself with his self-built sword. Despite knowing that a warden must often change tactics, Tuny came to prefer the style of the Kihirrini sword masters: a defensive stance in which the arms are raised above the head and the blade rested on the shoulder, its tip pointing at the earth. He would use counters and blocks, tiring out his enemies before engaging in a flurry of two-handed attacks. Tuny mastered that stance in his cave, and would prefer it for the rest of his life.

Tuny's hunting success meant that his stretch of the wilderness had grown thin. On one of his hunts, he found the frozen bodies of two of his fellow trainees. After burying them, he briefly considered marching down the peaks to explore the world beyond; he nonetheless realized that such an idea was foolish and decided to return to the keep. For two days he trudged through the snow-covered wilderness, sleeping in hollow tree trunks and ditches, before finally stumbling across the narrow bridge of rock that led to the keep's front gate. Tuny marched up the mile-long bridge until he could finally see the keep in the mist.

All of a sudden, a gigantic arrow shot past him and embedded itself in the stone. Taking cover, Tuny searched desperately for his assailent, who would fire immediately upon seeing him. He realized it was the Red Bowman, the ancient giant that guarded the keep. Tuny managed to find a crevice in the bridge that kept him out of the giant's line of sight, but could not move forward without being impaled. He spotted beside him another youngster, torn apart by the giant's man-sized arrows. Knowing his makeshift sword had no chance of breaking steel, let alone the giant's arrows, Tuny decided that his only chance was to learn the giant's firing pattern.

For a day Tuny poked his head out from the crevice, promptly retreating as the great bolts rained down on him. Eventually, the rock around him began to crack from the strength of the arrows, and Tuny had rough guesses as to the Bowman's pattern. He dumped the heavy wolf pelt and supplies he carried before sprinting along the bridge, throwing himself into cover as the arrows arrived. He narrowly avoided one of them as it streaked past his head, its edge running along his cheek to give him a scar that would never fade. Unrelenting, Tuny charged forward, finally crossing onto the outcrop upon which the keep sat.

Exhausted, but elated, Tuny checked the injury to his cheek as the Bowman approached. Silently, it gifted him a shard of an arrowhead - made, Tuny discovered, of a pure black metal - before returning to its vanguard. Tuny reunited with his fellow survivors and his masters, who told him that he was the last to return and had been out there for 23 days. Tuny commented that he had not realized.

##### Painted World

When Tuny was just 17 years of age, the wilds of Caer Blygoch were suddenly burned by a magical explosion. Tuny and Dun were chosen to head out and investigate; they discovered the remains of an ancient castle, within which was a mysterious painting. Upon touching the painting, they were dragged into an otherwordly place called the Painted World.

The pair discovered that the realm was inhabited by twisted creatures that worshipped the Painter, the mysterious creator of the Painted World. Despite escaping the creatures' clutches, the pair were unable to leave or make contact with their world. Having learned that the inhabitants needed pure blood to renew the painting, Tuny offered himself to them; his cursed blood quickened the rot that the painting was undergoing, and any surface his blood touched began to rapidly decay. Realizing this, Tuny dipped his cut hand in the Painter's pot, spoiling its contents; in his rage, the Painter spilled the pot, causing another rift to open. Tuny and Dun dashed through, finally returning to Caer Blygoch with the painting - or at least a copy of it - now permanently mounted on the keep's walls. Esken revealed that the Painter was nothing less than Aromir, the first warden, who had been missing for centuries.

##### Final Tests

By his twenty-first year, he was one of only five boys and girls of Caer Blygoch that survived, at which point he underwent a final test: the Joining Ceremony, a trial of three. The first test was the forging of his weapon from saturnite, black steel, which he chose to mould into a magnificent longsword; he also crafted a shield boss from the saturnite arrowhead gifted to him by the Red Bowman.

Once he and his fellows had finished their weapons they were summoned, one by one, to the frozen march outside Caer Blygoch, where they swore the Oaths of the Order before being challenged by their masters; it was not a test of combat, however, but a testing of their commitment to the oaths: sparing their masters' lives would mean they had followed the Oath of Business, which is not to take lives for which they had not been paid. Each was then told that their time at Caer Blygoch was over, that it was no longer their home and that their lives would forever be spent on the move; they were then brought, one by one, into the Marching Shack, where their right palms were branded with the Mark of Ymiir by the entity inside.

Tuny woke the next morning to find Caer Blygoch abandoned and a single horse waiting for him. After taking what supplies remained in the pantry he took his new sword, horse and supplies and bid farewell to Caer Blygoch, as well as the name "Tuny", before taking off into the wilderness.

### Early Travels

#### Earning His Name

"*His name. What was it?"
"M...m...m...MacDuff. His name was MacDuff,"
"Then that is now mine,*"
—The nameless warden known only as "Tuny" takes the name of his first kill[src]

As according to warden tradition, the young warrior was born and raised nameless and would earn his name by taking it from his first paid bounty. For several months the young warden wandered the wilderness of Pydwell, a nameless wanderer searching for work and meeting all manner of interesting folk.

Around three months after leaving Caer Blygoch, the young warden accepted a contract for the death of one "Hermoor MacDuff". The exact circumstances of the job are unknown, but by the end the young warden had taken his target's name for himself: he was now known as Hermoor MacDuff. His exploits across Pydwell eventually earned him the epithet "The Black Blade", so named for his distinctive saturnite sword. His first monster contract after earning this name caused his path to cross with that of Godefroy Rohellec "Rohe" Borsodi, a higher vampire that became one of the young warden's few friends.

#### Slayer of Sissibus

Soon after earning his name, MacDuff travelled through the Serric Desert, a vast expanse in northern Pydwell home to rare and valuable creatures. During his travels, Hermoor came across a desert village that was starving due to the loss of their livestock at the hands of Sissibus, a particularly large and aggressive deathworm. Deciding to take the contract, the relatively inexperienced Hermoor, unaware of the intelligence of deathworms, became lost in the desert when he followed false tracks made by the creature. When he finally stumbled upon Sissibus' lair he found himself unable to pierce its thick hide, even with his saturnite sword. With no other options, Hermoor allowed himself to be swallowed by Sissibus, at which point he began to cut away at its insides, finally emerging from its stomach victorious. Hermoor removed a tooth and an eye from Sissibus and presented it to the villagers, who not only paid him his promised due but spread the tale of his feat along their caravan routes. Hermoor also fashioned a shield from its impressively durable hide.

#### Vanguard of Vaht'gern

A few years after leaving the Serric Desert, MacDuff famously defended the town of Vaht'gern from a horde of necrophages. It was after this feat that the name "Black Blade" began to spread around Pydwell, while the name "Hermoor MacDuff" was reserved for the few that knew the man himself.

### The Blade & The Pygmy

#### Meeting the Pygmy

In 8:472, while travelling through eastern Bohaem, MacDuff stumbled across a town troubled by a monster nearby that was stealing livestock. Hired by a local trader, MacDuff headed out to face the monster, discovering it to be a giant of unusually short height. Despite its dwarfism, the giant still stood almost a foot taller than MacDuff, and proved a worthy opponent. Their fight ended in a stalemate, exhausting them both, at which point the giant revealed he could speek Common: he was, to MacDuff's surprise, a giant of Hog, and thus far more civilised than the giants that roamed the countryside. Upon realizing this, MacDuff conceded the fight and turned to leave; the giant called him back, offering him a seat by his fire.

Exhausted from the cold and from the fight, MacDuff agreed and shared a bottle of vodka with the giant. He revealed his name to be Zolton Brievor, one of the few giants to venture beyond the hidden city of Hog in centuries. Born with dwarfism, causing him to stand just 7 feet in height, he had left Hog to travel and learn more about Pydwell, believing his height and fair face would prevent any commotion in the towns and villages he passed through. Zolton proclaimed his innocence when MacDuff inquired about the complaints of the townspeople; he revealed that he had purchased the livestock in question, not stolen it. Knowing well the culture of charity and honestly that the giants of Hog possessed, MacDuff decided to leave Zolton in peace, returning to town to interrogate the lying trader.

MacDuff found the trader in the local tavern and demanded the other half of his payment; the trader asked to see the giant's head, to which MacDuff retorted that the trader had deceived him: the giant was no thief, but a harmless traveller. Refusing to give payment without bloodshed, the trader rallied the drunkards against MacDuff, shouting typical insults usually directed at wardens. MacDuff easily fended off the drunk and angry townspeople until one smashed stone across his head; the blow would have killed a lesser man, and stunned the superhuman MacDuff. The townspeople began to kick and beat him, only to stop when Zolton, towering over all of them, appeared in the doorway. A riot ensued as the townspeople grabbed pitchforks, shovels and knives to slay the giant, allowing MacDuff time to recover and return to the fray. Unbeknownst to them both, this was just the first of many fights where they would come to each others aid.

In the end, the rioters were subdued and MacDuff paid in full. Bidding farewell to Zolton, MacDuff continued on his goalless journey across the continent. Just a few miles later, though, he realized that Zolton was following him; despite numerous demands that the giant cease his trailing, MacDuff finally unsheathed his sword, demanding to be left alone. Zolton requested that he be allowed to join MacDuff on his travels, offering free meals and drink for his company. Realizing that Zolton would not just disappear, MacDuff reluctantly agreed, his only demand being that the talkative pygmy giant quieten down and earn his own coin.

#### Brave Knights

Within a few days, the new travelling companions reached the city of Loket, the largest settlement in eastern Bohaem. While resupplying in the city market, Zolton spotted a knight clad in silver armour nail a notice onto the market board.

### A New Chronicle

#### The Pygmy Giant

In the year 8:492, MacDuff reunites with his friends Zolton, Isolde and George in southern Bohaem, reforming the Black Blade Company, and head north to join a mercenary unit at Raven's Crest, Norgard. Meanwhile, Minerva an Kett, heiress to Raven's Crest, arrives on the mainland with her father Brynjar an Kett to attend a ceremony hosted by her mother, Janna Raven's Crest. Shortly after the company's arrival, Raven's Crest is attacked by the Crimson Rite, a wildling raiding clan that commands blood magic. Minerva is shot through the throat with an arrow, and most of the town's inhabitants are slaughtered. Minerva repatriates before the company's eyes.

## Overview

### Physical Appearance

Hermoor is known for his handsome features, as well as some unnatural parts of his appearance that are a result of the experiments he was subjected to in his youth. For example, his eyes have been turned grey by extensive modifications to his vision, causing his eyes to glow in the dark. His hair is also unnaturally black, again a result of extensive mutations, and almost always matted. Hermoor occasionally applies blue war paint over his left eye before he heads into battle. His voice is described as "...horrible: coarse, gravelly, and raspy, like speech after one too many screams"; he is also noted for his thick Lŷrian accent, a strong contrast to his Norgardian name. Like all wardens, he possesses the distinctive nine pupils within the iris of each eye.

Upon transforming into his half-wolf form, MacDuff's rough but handsome features become beastial and malicious: his canines lengthen into sabres; his hair, already matted, becomes a thick fur impervious to bronze and steel. The Mark of Ymiir on MacDuff's right hand remains when he transforms; its reaction to his cursed blood puts him in indescribable pain, both in human form and half-wolf form.

    MacDuff's dangerous nomadic lifestyle has inflicted many scars across his body, ranging from claw marks to stab wounds, burns, bruises, chipped teeth and hundreds of broken bones.

### Personality

"***Motherless cur!** You have no honour!"
"I don't pretend to,*"
—Caradin and MacDuff following their duel[src]

As a man who has known little else than pain, suffering and disdain, Hermoor has been molded into an apathetic, cynical, ill-tempered nomad with an outwardly cold nature. Born and bred for killing, Hermoor has known little else than violence, hatred and fear his entire life. As a result, he finds it incredibly difficult to trust anyone other than Zolton, his oldest friend, including other wardens. He treats most acts of kindness with suspicion, and displays few positive emotions due to the extreme abuse he suffered in his childhood and the magical mutations that his body was forced to undergo. MacDuff is completely aware of what he is and how people view him - a killer for hire - and makes no pretensions of being a chivalric warrior: he often employs dirty fighting during duels, uses magic to dull weaker minds, and usually refuses to give aid without the promise of coin.

However, beneath his gruff and cold exterior lies a noble warrior overflowing with dry humour, empathy and endless loyalty towards his friends. His life as a vagabond and mercenary has given him an encyclopedic knowledge of Pydwell's history, people, cultures and creatures, a pool of knowledge often exploited by his compatriots. These qualities aside, he also possesses a wealth of cunning, selflessness and leadership skills, earning him the respect of even the most dastardly figures on the continent. He also possesses a dry and sarcastic sense of humour for which he is often ridiculed. Unlike most wardens he follows a strict personal code: he never accepts coin from desperate peasants; never interferes with political matters; never kills sentient monsters or those defending their territory, and always comes to the aid of his friends.

All of MacDuff's intelligence and reason vanishes when, consumed by battle rage, he transforms into a balvorn: a ferocious monster with predatory instincts that attacks anything - and anyone - he views as a threat, be it friend or foe.

## Powers, Equipment and Abilities

### Powers

* **Enchanced Physiology:** As he was grown in a cloning device, treated with magic, and subjected to intensive training for years, Hermoor has been artificially enhanced to the peak of human physical condition.
	+ **Enhanced strength:** Hermoor is significantly stronger than the average human, able even to put up a fight with the likes of Zolton.
	+ **Enhanced endurance:** Hermoor is able to sustain and recover from wounds that would easily disable or even kill an ordinary man. He can drink a variety of toxic potions with little effort.
	+ **Enhanced athleticism:** Hermoor is able to fight and give chase far longer than the average human, allowing him to keep pace with the most agile of people and creatures.
	+ **Enhanced coordination & dexterity:** Years of training on Caer Blygoch's treacherous obstacle course, as well as years spent as a mercenary, have given Hermoor exceptional hand-eye and body coordination and thus balance. During combat, he fights with a mix of elegance and dirt and is capable of feats of great agility. He is also a skilled shot with a bow and arrow, despite it not being his preferred weapon. His dexterity is so sharp that he can famously cut arrows in half mid-flight.
	+ **Enhanced senses:** Hermoor's senses of hearing, smell and sight are all dramatically enhanced. His sight is so exceptional that he can catch or slice incoming arrows mid-flight, and he can easily see in the dark; he can smell blood, poisons and strong scents from a considerable distance; and his hearing is so sensitive that he can hear heartbeats. His senses are so sensitive they can sometimes overwhelm him.
	+ **Slowed aging:** While the magical enhancements to his body do not make him immortal, Hermoor, like all wardens and other magic-treated individuals, ages at a much slower rate than regular humans. In his fifties, his appearance is similar to that of a healthy male in his early thirties, albeit worn and rugged from a life on the road.
	+ **Accelerated healing:** Though by no means invulnerable nor in possession of a natural or unnatural healing factor, Hermoor's enhanced body - coupled with his nature as a balvorn - is able to heal from cuts and wounds relatively quickly.
* **Mark of Ymiir:** Like all members of the Old Order, Hermoor bears the Mark of Ymiir on his right hand. Burned onto his palm by the entity within the Marching Shack, the Mark allows Hermoor to cast simple spells that give him an edge in combat.
	+ **Fire casting:** Hermoor can cast either balls or streams of fire-like plasma that weaken enemy armour or burn them to a crisp entirely.
	+ **Shockwave:** When surrounded by opponents, Hermoor can generate a large kinetic force that knocks back any objects or people caught in its path.
	+ **Barrier:** Hermoor is able to generate a small barrier that repels both physical and magical attacks. Hermoor is unable to cast a large barrier to protect others, and it only stays active as long as he concentrates on the spell.
	+ **Manipulate:** Hermoor can induce a mental "cloud" in weak-minded opponents to force them to do as he says, usually for the purpose of calming them or infiltrating hideouts.
	+ **Dark magic sensitivity:** The Mark of Ymiir is very sensitive to dark magic and burns Hermoor whenever he is in the presence of such magic. The Mark burns him constantly due to his cursed blood.
* **Beach Perception:** As a result of extensive experiments and magical treatment, Hermoor, like all wardens, is able to perceive the Beach when he enters it in his sleep. As a result of his Beach, Hermoor has an extreme dislike, or perhaps even a fear, of water and swimming. His Beach is constantly invaded by Vedma, causing MacDuff to rarely sleep.
* **Therianthropy:** Hermoor was born a balvorn, a subtype of werewolf that only transforms when overwhelmed by battle rage. His transformation can be reversed by casting a calming rune, a task often left to Isolde. His transformation very rarely progresses to the full-wolf stage, the point where he fully loses control to his animal instincts.
	+ **Enhanced strength:** Hermoor's strength, already enhanced by magical mutations and training, dramatically increases in his balvorn form, allowing him to lift and throw heavy objects with ease.
	+ **Enhanced senses:** MacDuff's magically enhanced senses become hypersensitive when in his balvorn form, allowing him to track prey for miles.
	+ **Claws:** Hermoor's transformation causes his nails to lengthen and sharpen into deadly claws that can easily cut through armour and flesh.

### Equipment

#### Armour and Apparel

* **Coat:** Hermoor's fur coat keeps him shielded from the harsh winters of Pydwell.
* **Deathworm-leather shield:** Hermoor's shield is made from the leather-like hide of the deathworm Sissibus, the creature that Hermoor famously slew in his youth. Hermoor was unable to break through the creature's thick hide, even with his saturnite sword, and as a result the shield is effectively indestructible and can withstand a significant amount of force and stress.

#### Weapons

"*Weapons are my livelihood,*"
—Hermoor MacDuff[src]

* **Black Blade:** Hermoor's favoured weapon is the Black Blade, a longsword made from saturnite that he forged as part of his Trial of Joining. The metal's unique properties allow the blade to withstand incredible amounts of energy, both physical and magical, making it effectively unbreakable. The blade is almost pure saturnite, but includes a diamond tip to more effectively penetrate armour and flesh, as well as rare alchemical metals to create small pores along the length of the blade, allowing applied oils and charms to remain for an extended duration. The blade is straight and sharp, ideal for stabbing and slashing. According to the Oath of Business, Hermoor only uses his saturnite sword for kills for which he has been paid.
* **Shortsword:** Hermoor carries a shortsword in a sheath at the base of his back. The sword is almost exclusively used in situations where he has not been paid to kill his target or his saturnite sword places him at a disadvantage i.e. in enclosed spaces.
* **Carving blade:** Hermoor's carving blade is used to cut the palms of himself and his clients in order to seal a contract between them.
* **Bow:** While not his preferred weapon, Hermoor is skilled with a bow. He also uses a set of arrows tipped with magic-sensitive metals, such as silver, which can be used effectively against magical creatures.
* **Wristblade:** A gift from his fellow warden Hans of Gruber, MacDuff's hidden blade is worn in a gauntlet on his left arm. MacDuff did not use the blade until his fight with Caradin; after locking their swords together, MacDuff used the blade to damage Caradin's arm to such a degree that it required amputation.
* **Saturnite dagger:** Following Esken's death, MacDuff took his greatsword and, in accordance with warden tradition, melted it down and made two new weapons: a dagger for himself and a shortsword for Minerva.

#### Gear

* **Potion belt:** *To be added...*
* **Nepheli's Eye:** Gifted by the druids of the Serric Desert, MacDuff's Nepheli's Eye is capable of dispelling magical illusions and enchantments.

### Abilities

"*I don't **save**. I simply **kill**,*"
—MacDuff's philosophy[src]

* **Master combatant:** Even among mercenaries, Hermoor is an exceptional fighter with decades of experience in several forms of combat. Having undergone much more extensive magical and physical treatment compared to his fellow wardens, Hermoor's reaction speeds and muscle movements are lighting fast, giving him exceptional assault and defence skill. He is a master of six different combat styles and among the finest swordsmen on Pydwell.
* **Encyclopedic** **knowledge:** Being a mercenary means that Hermoor needs to always be one step ahead of his enemies when it comes to monsters. Fortunately, thanks to years of reading about various monsters and their weaknesses, Hermoor has amassed knowledge which allows him to craft the proper bombs, create the proper oils, and cast the proper spells in order to always have the upper hand in a fight.
* **Ambidextrous:** Hermoor is able to use both his left and right hands equally well, although he tends to favour his right. However, due to having the Mark of Ymiir on his right palm, Hermoor is forced to wield his sword with his left hand while casting spells.
* **Expert horseman:** Decades of vagabonding has made MacDuff an expert horse rider. He favours northern horses for their loyalty, intelligence, resilience and courage. His current mount is a snow-white mare named Snjór.
* **Smithing:** Alongside learning basic weapon maintenance, MacDuff also learned smithing during his youth. Alongside his fellow trainee wardens, MacDuff forged his saturnite weapon himself, and has made shields, daggers and armour pieces for himself on a few occasions. He is able to follow warden custom by melting down the saturnite weapons of deceased wardens, reshaping them into new equipment; the most recent example of this was when he melted down Esken's greatsword and forged a dagger for himself and a shortsword for Minerva.

## Relationships

### Zolton Brievor

Hermoor and Zolton's friendship, as well as its bizarreness, is a driving factor behind their relative fame throughout Pydwell. The two are described as being as close as brothers, and are two of the most famous mercenaries in all of Pydwell.

Their friendship was born from battle; MacDuff was hired to kill a monster stealing livestock, only to discover the giant in question was one of Hog, an eloquent and civilized people that rarely left the safety of their city's walls. When MacDuff confronted the dishonest locals, the giant joined him in the resulting brawl. Revealing his name to the Zolton, the talkative giant asked to accompany MacDuff; the warden reluctantly accepted, not knowing that it was the start of a brotherhood.

The pair earned a name for themselves - the Blade and the Pygmy - by ridding the duchy of Vladland from a pack of wendigos, created by a nightmare called the King in Antlers.

### Minerva an Kett

"*I won't allow that girl to know even a **fragment** of the pain I know,*"
—MacDuff prepares to leave and rescue Minerva[src]

Hermoor has developed a paternal bond with the young Minerva an Kett, demonstrating a protectiveness and affection for her of the like never known to be developed by a warden. Their bond is later explained by Vedma to be far deeper than friendship: they are half-siblings, both born from Vedma as part of the Wild Lords' meddlings in fate itself.

### Hilda Meridottir

MacDuff and Hilda grew close during their time together in the Black Blade Company; for MacDuff, it was as close romantically as he had ever been with another person.

### Esken St. Raivan

"*I always believed...you had it in you. That you would...lift that sword...**forged from the night sky**...unite us. Burn away the **blood feuds** and the **hideousness** of some of our kind. It could have been **you**. **The Night King!***"
—Esken rants to MacDuff about the title of Lord Commander[src]

### Aatos

"*I'll be okay. **I've got the bird**,*"
—MacDuff about Aatos[src]

## Appearances

### Draconis

#### Part I: The World Beyond

* "The Pygmy Giant"
* "The Nithing"
* "A Wolf Prowls Silent"
* "Sienam Vardara"
* "The Bloody Baroness"
* "Where the Predators Play"
* "Before the Fall"
* "Something Ends"

## Trivia

* MacDuff is named for the character of the same name from the Shakespeare tragedy *Macbeth*. Like the character from *Macbeth*, Hermoor was "from his mother's womb / Untimely ripped" — meaning that he was born by caesarean section.
	+ The name "Hermoor" is taken from the Norse "Hermóðr", a son of Odin and a messenger of the gods
	+ His childhood nickname, "Tuny", means "runt" in the language of the Tarv barbarians
	+ Hermoor's name in the Elder Tongue, *Nosylykan*, is a direct translation to "dark wolf"
* Hermoor carries a myriad of scars as a result of his life as a mercenary, including but not limited to:
	+ A gouge beside his mouth on the right, sustained from a sharp arrowhead during his Trial of Fur
	+ A scar above his heart that was sustained in his early days as a mercenary
	+ Two parallel scars on the right side of his torso that were sustained during his fight with Sissibus
* Despite being born and raised in Bohaem, Hermoor does not identify as a Bohaemian, nor any other nationality. His surname, "MacDuff", is of Norgardian origin, and he maintains a Lŷrian accent as he was taught speech by Elżbieta of Lŷr, mistress of sorceries at Caer Blygoch.
* MacDuff is one of the few non-giants to be entrusted with the location of Hog.

## References

1. ↑ Zolton mentions that "Tuny's story" begins "fifty or sixty years ago"