Ser Fiónnan Perdel

Ser Fiónnan Perdel is a former knight lieutenant of the Order and a minor character in the Unnamed Story. Perdel is Rainer’s former master and surrogate father figure, with his involvement becoming more prominent as the stories go on.

History
Born and raised in the farmlands of Laedia, Perdel realized early on that he was meant for greater things than sheep herding. He quickly found his way into the household of a Temple knight, earning squirehood through sheer determination and quickly mastering all his mentor had to teach him, graduating from the Academy with honors at the age of 21. His height, agility and unseemly strength made him a clear choice for the capture squads, and that was what he did for not one but two tours. Even having seen the worst of humanity in that time, he managed to hold to his faith in the system, a rare example of a knight with a moral compass, and sympathy for those he captured. And no good deed goes unpunished. A final run-in with a rogue witch leveled his entire squad, leaving him on the edge of death. Out of four soldiers and one dragon, he was the only survivor.

With severe burns covering more than half of his body, the once very handsome man was left a horror, the sight of him frightening even seasoned Temple healers. The badly-disfigured Perdel, his wounds too advanced to be healed, was left with more than physical scars for his trouble. Retired from the Order with high honors, provided land and wealth with which to live out his days, he became a recluse, his optimism and faith deeply shaken by the event. He never truly recovered.

Personality
Once, Perdel was an idealist, firmly believing in the Temple and its methods, convinced of their righteousness and that their intentions were nothing but good. Then, he was set on fire, lost the sight in one eye and the function of one arm. It wasn’t until he was injured than he discovered the kind of bureaucracy he had put his faith in. His final conflict in the Order obliterated Perdel’s more merciful perspective, leaving him a fatalist with jarringly strict beliefs on both the treatment of magiborn and the Temple’s helplessness to control them. Despite this, he remains deeply loyal to the cause, and distains the thought of mercy being shown to those who abuse their powers. Stoic and dire, he speaks very little, every word measured to serve a purpose, be it to enlighten or to rend. No trace of his shy and well-meaning former self exists outwardly, showing only rarely to those closest to him.

The Unnamed Story
If Rainer is adept at anything, it’s getting in trouble, and he certainly does that. Taken into custody for his various mistakes throughout the story, culminating in one final misstep that reveals his true nature, Rainer finds himself on the opposite side of the Temple’s favor. Refusing to identify those with whom he “conspired,” he is warned of his impending judgment, and prepares himself to face it. What he was not prepared to face was the badly scarred and notoriously reclusive Knight-Lieutenant Perdel. Summoned from his property in Linkshire, Perdel points out the madness of his former squire’s behavior, reminding him of all that he taught him and questioning what drove him to act against their cause. Recognizing the Temple’s psychological measures at work—with his love for his master being wielded against him—Rainer instead questions whether Perdel would have taken him in if he suspected what he was. Perdel assures him that no magiborn would ever have existed under his roof, expression displeasure at the implication that he would have hidden such a thing from him. Now faced with the fact that even his master would disdain him for a nature he cannot control, Rainer resolves to do what he thinks is right in place of what he is told—and does so, to greatly chaotic effect.

UNS: Pyreborn
Perdel appears unexpectedly in the chronicle of Caspian’s past.

When the unnamed mage is finally apprehended by a capture squad, his only hope for survival presents itself in the form of the squad’s second-in-command—a much younger Fiónnan Perdel. What role the young mage had in his injury, if any, remains to be seen.