Vigil-Keeper Orestes Vahn

Vahn’s master ordered him to hold a line during a retreat. The retreat ended, the master died, and the officials who inherited the campaign could not agree on who had the standing to release Vahn from his duty. None of them wished to assume responsibility for being wrong.

So Unbroken Watch remains near the old boundary. Its hull has accumulated mismatched plates from ships that came too close or offered material in exchange for safe passage. Vahn maintains a record of every encounter, hoping one day to present a complete account to someone authorized to receive it.

Beneath his white mustache, his voice is courteous and worn. He will hear a traveler’s reason for crossing and may even help them find another route. He cannot simply abandon the line, because the order is the last clear thing his master left him. He is beginning to wonder whether that clarity has become its own trap.