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Writer's pictureL.L. Stephens

Character Notes: Legon Rebiran--Shield to Dorilian's Sword


Legon is an important secondary character in the Triempery series and is one of a handful of characters who appear in every book. He first appears in Sordaneon as a companion of Dorilian’s and, like Dorilian, Legon’s character grows and acquires depth. They experience many of the same events—but in different ways.

 

Legon and Dorilian were born in the same year, 2/1850 and same month. [For the curious, that would be the fourth month of the Triemperal year, i.e. midsummer. Dorilian and Legon were born in the equivalent of our July.] Legon is the sixth and youngest son of Terveryen Rebiran, Bas of Anit-Rebir, a border domain located in the mountainous northeast of Sordan’s Hierarchate. The domain’s trade consists primarily of taurak—stocky thick-wooled goats—carpets and other woven goods, and furs from bordering frontier lands.

 

Legon’s brothers were boisterous and contentious, competing with each other in the taming of wild horses and taking of each other’s’ possessions; they eventually turned to hatching plots to overthrow their father. Terveryen also had three daughters. Though pure Staubaun and noble, the Rebiran family was neither renowned nor wealthy and as the sixth son Legon was unlikely to ever inherit Anit-Rebir’s Basarchate even if he survived his brothers.

 

Childhood and Meeting Dorilian

 

Dorilian Sordaneon was seven years old and his mother had just been murdered when his maternal grandfather Sebbord Teremareon spirited him to Askorras. Sebbord sent out a call to the domains to send their sons of the same age to be considered as companions for Sordan’s future ruler. Terveryen considered the call a golden opportunity to get his youngest son into a good—and less fraught—situation and sent Legon to Askorras with a decent horse, a good sword, and an aged slave. Terveryen also told his son that he was there to secure a spot—and if he did not he was not to come back.

 

 As a candidate for a Highborn prince’s retinue, Legon was positioned to fail. Though his father had given him the best the family could provide, his horse was average, his sword and clothing only ordinary, and his slave infirm. Other boys were better outfitted and were attended by tutors or educated slaves—and in some cases their fathers. Physically, Legon was gawky and thin, lacking good looks. His education had been meager. He was also unemotional and tenacious, a child of few words.

 

The choosing of the Royal Companions took place during two weeks of games, tutoring sessions, and interviews. Legon won none of the contests and did not impress the tutors. Sebbord initially questioned whether Legon possessed the right attributes to be a companion to Dorilian. Dorilian, for his part, was withdrawn and short-tempered and denounced having to choose any of the boys.

 

For one contest the boys were paired as sword and shield—warrior and battle guard—for mock battles. Legon was assigned to be shield for a larger boy who wished to fight alone; to do so the larger boy allowed their opponents to team against Legon, knocking him down. Legon sought to rise each time but his partner swept his limbs to keep him down. Legon’s partner proceeded to show off by defeating both opponents, for which prowess he was praised. He and other boys then made a show of mocking Legon for failing his defense. This happened two days in row. Following the second day of fights, Dorilian descended from the viewing stand to approach Legon, who was standing alone.

 

“He mocks your efforts,” Dorilian said. “You wear his spittle on your face. Why do you keep fighting to defend him?”

 

“He is my duty.”

 

Dorilian returned to the viewing stand and said to Sebbord, “I want him.”

 

Legon became a member of the Royal Companions and did not return to Rebir to disappoint his father.

 

Youth

 

Along with twelve other youths Legon attended sessions with the same tutors as Dorilian, took part in the same athletic and military training, ate at the same table, and accompanied Dorilian as part of his household when he traveled to Sordan. Legon became known to—and eventually won the approval of—Tutto Rhunnard, Dorilian’s weapons teacher and eventual sword master. Dorilian made Legon his choice of companion for activities which required spending time together, such as sharing a tent during campaign training or having a bodyguard in his room.

 

When Dorilian was fifteen, his father and grandfather sent him away to school at Permephedon. He chose Legon from among all his companions to accompany him. In this way Legon encountered and became known to the Malyrdeon Princes and also the Khelds, including Stefan Stauberg-Randolph. Stefan and some other Khelds attending the school orchestrated an attack on Dorilian at which Legon was not present—and for which Legon never forgave either Stefan or the Khelds. When Dorilian was sent back to Sordan, Legon went with him.

 

Legon continued to be a favored companion when Dorilian became Sordan’s Heir. He was present at Dorilian’s wedding to Daimonaeris and undoubtedly met and was known to Nammuor. When Dorilian went to Hestya with Sebbord to open the Rill node there, Legon was with him. Dorilian included Legon in discussions of Rill capabilities and plans, and also confided in him about dealings with Esseran spies and contacts. Dorilian assisted Legon in purchasing land in Hestya in advance of the Rill opening.

 

The next year saw the assassination of Sebbord Teremareon at Merath, an event for which Legon was present as an officer in Dorilian’s bodyguard. During Dorilian’s rebellion later that year, Legon served as a primary co-conspirator, enlisting Terveryen in Anit-Rebir to secure secret passage across the mountains into Neuberland by way of Cibulitan retreats. Legon was captured along with Dorilian by Marc Frederick and was sent to Simelon to be held. By all accounts he was bored there. When Dorilian was released, Legon was freed also and he continued to serve as Captain of the Heir’s Bodyguard.

 

Legon was not present at the Demise, where Dorilian’s security was being provided by the Hierarch’s Eagle Guard—but he was in Sordan to witness Dorilian’s return. He followed Dorilian’s orders to imprison the Epoptes within the Rill station; he also led Sordan’s troops—and commanded a mob of enraged citizens—against the Imperial Garrison, securing Sordan against any Esseran assault and thus assuring the Hierarchate’s independence. After his coronation Dorilian named Legon Commander of the Eagle Guard, the Hierarch’s own troops.

 

Appearance

 

Legon is of pure Staubaun lineage. His family’s origin goes back to the Return and almost certainly contains some Aryati. This heritage shows in Legon’s height—though scrawny as a child, as an adult he is taller than most—and lean, toned physique. He has a narrow face and sharp features. His eyes are dark brown and the hair on his head is a light golden blond. Because he spends much of his time outdoors training his troops, his fair skin is suntanned; as with most Staubauns, Legon has little body hair and no facial hair apart from eyebrows and lashes.

 

Legon does not often show emotion. Occasionally his mouth betrays that he’s feeling anything at all. It’s said that his expressions range from blank to unreadable. His gaze is most often described as a flat stare.

 

For most of his appearances in the series Legon wears the garb of a soldier. In Sordaneon he wears the emerald and silver tunic and black chlamys of a member of the elite Sordaneon Royal Guard. He later acquired the talons of an officer of the Heir’s Bodyguard. Upon Dorilian’s ascension to Hierarch, Legon gained the crested helmet, silver armbands, and pleated tunic of the Commander of the Eagle Guard. He wears this uniform without fail—though in private he will don trousers or lightweight tunics.

 

Personality

 

If it seems Legon’s role in the series is Dorilian-focused, that’s because Legon is Dorilian-focused—and has been since the day they met. Becoming the Highborn prince’s companion was Legon’s way out from life under his harsh father and the fists of his brothers. Seeing Dorilian for the first time convinced Legon that he was in the presence of someone special. Dorilian must have felt the same because the two boys formed an unbreakable bond of mutual integrity and trust.

 

Legon’s combination of intelligence, doggedness, and deep devotion to duty has earned him the respect of even the highest people in Sordan. All know where his loyalty lies. Marc Frederick respected this trait and Legon’s reputation as shield to his Hierarch’s sword is just as exemplary in Essera or Mormantalorus as it is in Sordan.

 

Those who know Legon well often point to his quick and dry sense of humor. Legon also is fond of games and gambling, though he does not pursue the latter to excess. Indeed, he is very good at winning. For activity, Legon is one of only a few who can match Dorilian in stamina and often accompanies his Hierarch on runs. He is also excellent with a sword and accurate with a spear.

 

Tutto Rhunnard considers Legon one of the best soldiers he ever trained. From Tutto, Legon also gained knowledge of lr—or mage created—weapons. His association with the Sordaneons has meant Legon knows far more than most people about the reality of godborn powers and how they might be used.

 

Questions arise about Legon’s personal life because he keeps it deeply secret. He has no wife, no children, and no known lovers. His finances are secure and he quietly reinvests whatever revenues are generated by his Hestya properties. He is rumored to hold two Hestya Rill slots in shell partnerships, possibly with Deleus Suddekeon. He sees his father or surviving brothers occasionally when any of them visit Sordan but he has not traveled to Anit-Rebir since the one time he did so with Dorilian. Because he does not write letters, his father and birth family never hear from him.

 

Legon and Dorilian

 

In the early books, Legon is one of only a few people Dorilian considers a friend. The others—aside from Marc Frederick—are Tiflan Morevyen, Tutto Rhunnard, and Noemi. Legon doesn’t consider anyone to be his friend except Dorilian.

 

Dorilian trusts Legon above any other non-relation. Only Marc Frederick ranked higher in Dorilian’s regard. Whatever action Dorilian wishes to be done, Legon will do it. Whatever matter Dorilian wishes to be resolved, Legon will undertake. Only occasionally will Legon question what Dorilian asks—but Legon has the stature to ask, something few people are given.

 

In the series Legon is perhaps the best example of the kind of loyalty Dorilian commands. Legon also provides a continuous thread of commentary on where other characters stand. In The Second Stone, Legon dislikes and distrusts Hans, in no small part because of the circumstances in which he first encounters him. Hans is Stefan’s brother and a Kheld—and Legon holds strong views against both. He considers Hans a threat.

 

He may well be proven right in the end.

 

 

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