Manegold Aelious Grayle
Ser Manegold Grayle of the Eclipsing Strike. Of the Zeroth Tempo. Of the Golden Stags.
A Knight-Commander in his early thirties, Manegold's rise to prominence was seen as the miracle of his own generation, a combination of his skillful preservation of his Aura as well as his political acumen. He would be the first to admit, after all, that there are others in the Western House who are more powerful than him, more physically capable. He is no breaker of hordes, no defender of gates, and for that, there are those who detract from his accomplishments. But his sharp wit has propelled him to the upper echelons of command, and his martial philosophies have propagated into his entire House for being an Aura-based martial art that one could accomplish without Aura. The paradox confounds, contradicts.
And yet none could deny that an Aura Master of the Western House is worth more than an Aura Master of any other House. And if it came down to one on one duels, Manegold himself stands unmatched in the seven seconds that most of his duels last for.
After all, his namesake, the Eclipsing Strike, refers to a riposte that occurs at the same instant as his parry, in the very moment his opponent has committed too much to an attack to convert it into a feint. A split second manifestation of Aura. A golden flash, and then, it's over.
He is one of the leaders of the moderate faction in Grayle, believing that all is inevitably lost if Fendel doesn't even need to appear in order for humanity to destroy themselves. He, like many nobles, possesses an aristocratic veneer that serves only to hide cold calculations, but he still has a soft side that he reserves for his family. Though his marriage with Marquis Azurea Rhymisain, a well-esteemed woman who runs the Rhymisain family's central business of textile exports, was arranged, the two reportedly have a loving relationship and are expecting their first child within five months. In what leisure time he has, Manegold enjoys watching opera with his wife and traversing ridgelines in his lonesome.
He grows a beard to appear more mature and worldly, but if that's removed, he looks more like a man in the springtime of his youth.
There was no omen at his birth.
