Sir Duncan Goldenheir, Lion of Dawn
Sir Duncan studied his company surreptitiously. This was the group that was to save Aerion, and what a group it was. Sir Roland, who for all his boastfulness at the very least Sir Duncan knew would be a competent fighter, the half-dwarf, the Elven Knight, of which Sir Duncan had seen very few of the sort in Ethora, et cetera et cetera; they were an eclectic bunch, to be sure. Then there was this Catskull Mclung fellowโSir Duncan had already decided he was not fond of him. The man seemed rather skeevy to him, the funny way he spoke bothering Sir Duncan in a way that he could not quite place. He had an air of unpredictability, and Sir Duncan, judging from the way he had been carrying himself already, decided he would be a loose cannon, someone to watch out for.
When the monks posed the quest, there was only one answer for Sir Duncan. He had known it since he had stepped foot in the Tower, he had felt it in the air as he had clambered up the spire's steps, and he had felt it in the very way the sun glinted through the great monolith's towering glass panes; he was Andal's chosen, and he knew the Great Lord Andal had placed him here in this very moment to accept this quest. All his life, he had wondered who he was, and why he had survived as long as he had. Why did he get left on those monastery steps? What did the Lord Andal want with him? For what purpose was he surviving, striving for? To what end was he to achieve in the Great Lord's game? But now, everything, all the noise, all the wondering, all the not knowing, all of it deafened; now, he knew what his purpose was. The story of Sir Duncan Goldenheir still had it's most important chapter yet to arrive; he had a greater purpose to achieve, he was put here for a reason. He had always known that he was to be a part of something greater, a great player in some ineffable great game, but he had not known why or what; otherwise, why else had the Great Lord Andal brought him to the Knights' doorstep?
This quest was the sign he had finally been waiting for all these years. The Great Lord Andal had put him here, right now, in this colossus of a tower, to accept this quest. He knew it.
"I, Sir Duncan Goldenheir, in the name of the Great Lord Andal, hereby do accept this quest. Until my dying breath, I will do everything within my power to restore these shards. Should it kill me, I will die a happy man knowing I did so serving the Great Lord's Purpose."