Squire Adalbrath Mellestin, 17, is the third son of the lord of Brigmer. His father wanted Adalbrath to become a priest but the boy never had any inclination to choose that path. He joined the priesthood of Larani and the order of the Spear of the Shattered Sorrow as his father commanded but proved to be a disobedient and rather unenthusiastic acolyte. He shunned the discipline, played crude jokes on his superiors and generally showed a rebellious attitude. His father intervened and made him leave the order to become Sir Lardis' Squire. Sir Lardis promised Adalbrath's father to get some discipline reared into the him. While Adalbrath was very pleased to have changed his father's mind at first, few hours have passed since then during which he does not wish himself back to the quiet life and relative ease of the cloisters. The two knights and the sergeant at arms take it in turns to beat him black and blue during combat training or to have him exercise with the horses. Most other waking hours of his days are filled with dangerous patrol duty or hard work in the stables, the ostler delights in giving him the nastiest of the war-horses to care for. Any negligence on his duties is punished with an immediate extra round of combat training or by several hours of digging at the moat. Needless to say, Adalbrath is very miserable. He spends a few hours each week learning from the chaplain and the herald. Adalbrath has begun to cherish his lessons as both the herald and the chaplain are sympathetic and are doing their best to ease his lot.