Major Duerte

Major Duerte serves as a senior military officer and tactical liaison within the southern theatre of operations during the events of Fierce. Positioned as commender of the guard force attached to the Cottalemnese army command, he is tasked by the renegade Rojden with the secure transport and oversight of high-value assets, including Yngvild the Fierce and Noren. In the narrative, he represents the professionalised and disciplined wing of the southern forces, ensuring that logistical requirements and military protocols are observed during the movement of crown interests through the Kingdom of Salicia. He functions as a specialised guide for those unfamiliar with the requirements of a cavalry-based army, managing both their physical protection and their basic training.

A minor noble and an officer in the Cottalem Horse Guards. He's tasked as the liaison officer to escort Yngvild Helgasdotir when she is captured by Rojden. Yngvild gives him the slip in a roadside inn on the way to the Citadel of Kingdom of Salicia. He is then tasked with leading a cavalry squadron in pursuit when she flees the Citadel with Noren, having dragged him away from Rojden.

Physically, Duerte is characterised as a slim and fit man with a swarthy skin tone and dark hair. His professional life in the saddle is evident in his gait; he walks with a wide stance and is noted as being slightly bow-legged. He presents a highly formal military appearance, wearing a tight-fitting blue tunic decorated with silver lace that loops across his chest. This garment features two rows of silver buttons that form a V-shape from his waist to his shoulders. He wears pine green trews reinforced with brown leather on the seat and inner thighs, held by a silver embroidered waist belt that supports a curved sword in a polished metal scabbard. The trews have a double line of silver lace either side of the seams. For protection, he wore a conical polished steel helmet with a brim, cheek pieces and a wide neck flap. The cheek pieces were tied up just behind a distinctive white horse hair tuft on the top of the helmet.

Temperamentally, Duerte is polite, prudent, and highly efficient. He is a proponent of organised field craft, shown through his clay-and-brick field kitchen which allows for detection-free cooking while on the march. He possesses a characteristically cautious outlook on warfare, a trait that the heroes recognise as being compatible with their maxim “no rush to die”. While he is a capable commander of men and horses, he acknowledges his limitations, specifically regarding stealth operations that require “crawling about in the dark,” which he considers unsuitable for a cavalry specialist.

Duerte’s personal service in the southern campaign is defined by his management of the heroes during their transit between the Citadel and the city of Beretha. He facilitated their integration into the army's logistics tail, providing them with their first formal instruction in horsemanship through his subordinates, Jerre and Javier. During the siege of Beretha, he oversaw the heroes’ movement to the forward infantry lines and coordinated with the local officers to prepare for a distraction that would allow the party to enter the city.

Although he maintained a position with the covering force during the heroes' night-time parley with the Earl of Beretha, he remained ready to extract them should the situation deteriorate. Following the successful negotiation and the cessation of local hostilities, Duerte facilitated the heroes' return to the army headquarters. He was last seen recovering at a wayside inn after a period of intense activity, having been bypassed by his charges as they continued their journey south toward the Sierra Cobre.

• Rojden: His commander and the architect of his strategic assignments.
• Yngvild the Fierce: A hero he was tasked to escort and assist during the Salician campaign.
• Noren: A ward of the state whom Duerte provided with horsemanship training.
• Jerre: A trooper under his command who served as a primary scout and horse-handler.
• Javier: A trooper assigned by Duerte to provide riding instruction.
• Corporal of Horse: A senior subordinate who managed the cavalry’s day-to-day training and readiness.

• Kingdom of Cottalem: His sovereign nation and the source of his commission.
• Kingdom of Salicia: The territory where he conducted his military service.
• Beretha: The city where he oversaw siege operations and parley logistics.
• The Citadel: The military stronghold where he received his orders from Rojden.

• Honour: The professional currency that governs his interactions with both his superiors and his charges.
• Cavalry Tactics: The specialised professional field in which he possesses supreme confidence.