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Tabard Alon is a pala-din with a human appearance in the service of Samot who clashed with the Ice Party in the Mark of the Erasure.
Appearance
In his first appearance in Autumn in Hieron 24: A Paladin is a Tool, Tabard is descrived as "a tall, dark human" in "sharp silver armor", who is missing his left arm. He wears a long blue cape with the symbol of Samot, a goblet in front of an open book, on the back. He has dark skin, close-cropped dark hair, and a bushy beard. He has the mannerisms of a career soldier and wears a long blade on his belt. He is "comparable to [Hadrian] in strength and height".
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When met again during Spring in Hieron 24: Closer to Kin, Tabard has the right half of his face revealed to be pala-din while the other half looks human. He has dark skin, curly black hair in a style that's shorter on the sides and poofy on the top (kind of like a mohawk but broader) and a big beard. His right arm is a stone arm while his left arm has been replaced with a metalic Anchor arm as a prosthetic. He wears red, orange and pinks, the colours of Alcyon, mainly.
History and Involvement
Autumn in Hieron
Hadrian, Throndir, and Fantasmo meet Tabard at the Mark of the Erasure, outside of the Tower of Samot. He commands a retinue of stone soldiers and introduces himself as "here on the behalf of Samot, the Good King, purveyor of knowledge, true friend to all men". He gives Hadrian, whose arm has been slowly turning into marble, a warning: "It is one thing to be devout, and another to be pala-din. The pala-din are tools, to be used, and discarded. ... But sooner or later, you will understand, that to be pala-din, is to be nothing."
Hadrian shows Tabard his marbling hand, and Tabard demonstrates that he can control Hadrian's hand. He explains somewhat cryptically: "It'll be a long couple weeks. And then, you'll need to be put away, for an even longer couple of weeks. After that you'll be fine. After that... you'll really be pala-din."[1]
Later, Tabard captures Uklan Tel in the Tower of Samot. He seems disappointed in having to capture the party, telling Hadrian that he could ask his master for some degree of amnesty, and that they would make good pala-din after all. Throndir shoots him in the right eye, giving Hadrian and Sunder Havelton an opportunity to attack. Tabard manages to recover and tackles Hadrian, pulling out his own eye and tellling Hadrian that "an eye is little to lose for Samot, God-King of us all". He battles fiercely against the party, eventually being injured enough that the skin on his chest is damaged and reveals stone underneath. Tabard is attempting to land a fatal blow against Hadrian when Samot arrives and freezes time.
Samot tells Hadrian that unlike Tabard, he would not make a good pala-din. When he unfreezes time, Tabard and Hadrian's positions are swapped, with Tabard suffering the fatal blow he was about to land against Hadrian. He makes eye contact with Hadrian "in a way that no one else in the world could. Because he knows what it means to promise something to Samot."[2]
Spring in Hieron
This section contains spoilers for Spring in Hieron.
Click here to reveal.
Tabard, previously thought dead, lives in Alcyon and is currently working to bring more people into Alcyon from the outside refugee camps of pala-din and anchor. He does not seem to hold a grudge against any of the Ice Party, and allows for the party from the Last University entrance into Alcyon for disscusion. He does not regret his service to Samot but holds some resentment towards Samot for hiding his true pala-din nature from him.