If you’re a long time reader of this publication, Alekest needs no introduction. You know him from his past adventures, like the slaying of the UnSevered Beast or his solitary stand at Cedartree Station. Maybe you forget some of the details, his angst-filled childhood, the fraught years after his mother’s death, his uncanny dreams. Well, Knight Pickman seems not to be a reader, if her confusion at the Margrave’s arrival is any indication.
Alekest san Geraint is a Shape Knight (the "Porcelain Knight") and Margrave of Tescano, a territory in the western part of Sangfielle. He aims to find Zevunzolia. Just as Katonya is an archetypal Cleaver, Alekest is an archetypal Shape Knight.[1]
He is an artist who works with porcelain molds and other materials, making statuary, figurines and other things, including his own armor and the death-defying porcelain heart.[2]
Appearance
He is a middle-aged Black man, with thinning and greying hair and slightly receded eyes; his face cast is Chiwetel Ejiofor. He wears armor that resembles porcelain, which is why people sometimes call him the Porcelain Knight. It is actually made of a white marble-like substance which he believes comes from Zevunzolia, which he collected in bits and pieces from other seekers of the city.[1] The helmet has engravings of tusks and teeth on the faceplate, visually similar to those on Lando Calrissian's skiff guard disguise[3] or Plo Koon's mask.[1]
He briefly wears an off-white seersucker suit for dancing in "Passage on the Jade Moon Pt. 3".
History and Involvement
He was initially a major Fortune fallout for Pickman, which she received in "Hark! The Citadel Beneath Pt. 1": "Hunted. The Shape Knights have found your heresy. A hunter has been dispatched." After he and Pickman both saw the scale model in "Hark! The Citadel Beneath Pt. 3", Zevunzolia retroactively became a part of his history.
He recalls having had dreams about Zevunzolia since he was a kid, especially its white marble walls. Its perfection haunted him to the degree that at one point his family thought he was seriously ill. He inherited his estate upon his mother's death, but left to become a Shape Knight and investigate Zevunzolia. He has been a Shape Knight for 20 years, and killed a few Wrights along the way. His travels have given him some interesting expertise, including knowledge of how to counter the runes of the Magistrates.[3]
Alekest first meets Pickman directly when they both turn out to be passengers on the Jade Moon and he begins pestering her to share her knowledge of Zevunzolia.[4] She eventually concedes to share what she knows, and hands over her alternate universe books.[5] Once the Jade Moon completes its journey, he travels with the Blackwick Group and assists against the Pale Magistrates. After the wax incursion, he joins Es and Duvall in resting at the Blackwick HQ,[6] where he soon meets the missing members of the group and helps locate Marn, Bucho and Pickman in the church of the Triadic Pyre.[1] Alekest then gives Pickman his porcelain heart in exchange for the books she gave him earlier. He stresses repeatedly that this is a non-romantic gesture, as he is gay.[2]
He helps the group find Polyte,[7] and is in town during the arrival of the Carnival of Moted Light, but not seen much, eventually taking his leave from Blackwick as the Blackwick Group splinters.[8]
Alekest offered his help to Pickman in tracking down Maleister Price, but she turned him down, which is why he doesn't end up following her in "Six Travelers: Pickman". He does manage to get a message to Pickman expressing his friendly envy and asking for her help in figuring out the recent changes to Concentus.[9]
Relationships
Pickman
Pickman is initially distrustful of Alekest, as she wants nothing to do with Zevunzolia and assumes he is either a Wright of the Seventh Sun or just another schemer. She also finds his wealth and position as a margrave irritating. Despite this, Alekest persists in speaking with her to explain his relationship to Zevunzolia, until she concedes enough to give him her alternate universe books.
His experience as a Shape Knight and help with the various challenges of the Blackwick Group end up causing Pickman to accept him. In return, he entrusts her with his porcelain heart, in the hopes that it will protect her. They both affirm at this point that neither of them are interested in the other romantically.
Although Pickman consorts with trains (and he was, prior to the intervention of the scale model, after her for heresy), he seems more confused and alarmed by this behavior than angry.
By "Six Travelers: Pickman" they have become genuine friends; he is the only person not present in Zevunzolia who we see Pickman mention in her journal, and he somehow manages to reach out to her (despite the obvious difficulty involved) with a concerned letter.
Appears in
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Sangfielle 44: Wax, Ichor, and Iron Pt. 1
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Sangfielle 45: Wax, Ichor, and Iron Pt. 2
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Sangfielle 40: Just Returns Pt. 4
- ↑ Sangfielle 34: Passage on the Jade Moon Pt. 3
- ↑ Sangfielle 37: Just Returns Pt. 1
- ↑ Sangfielle 41: Just Returns Pt. 5
- ↑ Sangfielle 46: Wax, Ichor, and Iron Pt. 3
- ↑ Sangfielle 50: Dead in the Dust Pt. 3
- ↑ Sangfielle 56: Six Travelers: Pickman