Gunthar d'Garamont



Gunthar was the weapon-master of Garamont, serving as the mentor of the Castellan of Bastonne's two sons, Calard and Bertelis.

History
A grizzled old knight, Gunthar was not as fast with the blade as he used to be, and he often found himself exhausted when a decade ago he would have felt nothing. Nevertheless, the ageing knight's skill with blade and lance was still unparalleled in all of Garamont, indeed, in all of eastern Bastonne. He continued to fight in his simple, old-fashioned, functional armour. It was battered and dull with age, though it was meticulously cared for, and was as strong as it had ever been. Still, it looked ancient in the eyes of his young pupils, a relic from a time long past...

Without a son to carry his name, Gunthar feared he would be forgotten. He sometimes regretted having never wed, and this brought back painful memories. He was haunted by the question of what might have come to pass if he had met her first, but she had already been betrothed to the Castellan of Bastonne, Gunthar's lord and closest brother-in-arms. He had never spoken a word of his love for the Lady of Garamont to any living soul, and it was a secret he would carry to his dying day. He would never have dishonoured himself, or them, by voicing his feelings. Instead, he had pushed them deep inside. It was a source of much rumour and gossip as to why he had never wedded, but only Gunthar knew the true reason.

He had been distraught when his love had died. He had wept for her, and it was out of love for her that he had stayed within the Garamont household to oversee her son Calard's training. The boy had lost his mother at a tender age, and within the year his twin sister, his constant companion and shadow, was taken by the Fay Enchantress. Gunthar loved the Lord of Garamont like a brother, and knew that, in his heart, he was a good man, but when his wife had died, something within him had died as well. All warmth towards the young Calard had been sucked away, and he had said barely a civil word to him in all the years since. Gunthar could understand it. Calard was the spitting image of his mother, and it must have caused the Castellan great pain to look upon the boy.

Furthermore, Gunthar loathed the new lady of Garamont with a silent passion, seeing her as a cold, jealous woman. He was honest enough with himself to know that part of his dislike stemmed from the fact that she was, in his eyes, replacing the lady of the household, but he believed that he would have disliked the woman even if circumstances had been different. She was cruel to servants and peasants to the point of maliciousness, a trait she seemed to have sadly passed on to her son Bertelis, and she had made life for Calard growing up in the castle a misery. With a father who was cold and distant, and who had eyes only for his second son, and a vicious stepmother who derided him at every chance, it was no wonder that Calard struggled with issues of anger and self-doubt. He often wished that he could help somehow.

Source

 * Knights of Bretonnia (Series)

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