Quinon Hexshade¶
Blood Hunter of the Order of the Diamondback, adoptive father and mentor of Trout Brightshield. Deceased — killed protecting Trout and Rodrick from The Dread Gloom.
Overview¶
A tiefling raised in brutal poverty in a city's "Devil Quarter," Quinon became a hardened, exacting Grandmaster-in-training and later teacher, shaped by a life of violence he never fully escaped and never wanted to pass on unexamined.
History¶
Early life and the War of the Snake¶
Born to nothing in the Devil Quarter, Quinon killed four attackers who burned his family's home when he was fifteen and was sentenced to hang. He was freed the night before his execution by Ethelvin, a recruiter for the all-female Order of the Succubus, who instead delivered him to the Order of the Diamondback at Castle Shain — he was the oldest novice by far, but was trained regardless. His teacher was Grandmaster Achulon, a cruel green dragonborn tyrant who killed many novices in training. Quinon survived ten years of abuse, becoming the sole survivor of his cohort's Hunter's Bane.
As the broader "Schism" movement spread among Blood Hunter orders (rejecting single-Grandmaster tyranny and demonic patronage in favor of draconic power and a ruling council), Quinon led the rebellion at Castle Shain — the War of the Snake — personally killing Achulon by throwing him from the castle's tallest tower.
Teaching Trout¶
Given command of novice training by the new council, Quinon lost an entire cohort of eight to the Hunter's Bane and withdrew from teaching for years, hunting alone (including killing and taxidermying something called "the One Beneath"). Plagued by recurring nightmares of "black wings and a shrill cry," he was eventually persuaded to train once more — and, en route back to Castle Shain, purchased an infant from a starving gnome family: Trout.
Quinon trained Trout and his cohort with the same exacting cruelty he'd endured, but the bond that formed was real: near the end of Trout's training, of eleven novices only Trout and Rodrick survived the Bane, and Quinon confessed, in his final moments, "I am proud of you both."
Death¶
When the Dread Gloom attacked Castle Shain, Quinon led Trout and Rodrick through an escape tunnel, taking a fatal acid wound covering their retreat. He died just outside the ruined castle and was buried by his students on an overlook facing the desert.
Personality¶
Cold, dry, exacting — "adequite" was his highest praise — but with real tenderness underneath, shown rarely and without sentimentality (playing harp for young Trout on a castle wall; his dying words).
Family / Relationships¶
- Rescuer: Ethelvin (Order of the Succubus)
- Killed: Grandmaster Achulon
- Adoptive son/student: Trout Brightshield
Sources¶
Quinon backstory.docxTrout Brightshield.md/Trout Brightshield.docxTrout stories.docx