Shagrav Towerclaw

Shagrav Towerclaw rules battlements as if every stone were a coin owed back with interest. He knows which stair fails under panic, which arrow slit hides a coward, which cistern tastes of rot, and which subordinate must be frightened before the enemy can frighten him. Ordran can recognise the brutal competence: defence as inventory, angle, ration, hinge, relief route, and signal. Drazakar recognises the method by which a garrison is made to fear falling inward more than assault from without. Shagrav smells of wet stone, rusted winches, boiled grain, bird filth, and oil burned through sleepless watches. His soldiers hate him and hold. He accepts both facts as proof the tower is still his.