Gabriel Muriens

"Bringing you to fight the Wild is like buying a wolf to shepherd sheep."

- The Abbess

Ser Gabriel Muriens, also known as The Red Knight or the Captain, is the young commander of a company of mercenaries, contracted by the Abbess to defend the abbey of Lissen Carak from an enemy army of the Wild. He keeps his real name secret, and aggressively discourages questions about his background.

Appearance and Personality
Gabriel is a young man of about twenty; extremely young for a man leading a company. He has a mustache, in an attempt to make him look older. He generally wears a heavy scarlet cloak, from where he gets the name Red Knight.

He is shown to be a man who can inspire great loyalty and respect in his followers, as through his successful battle tactics he earns the respect of even the grizzled veterans of the Company.

Powers
Gabriel is a potent user of the Green Power, the power of the Wild. By entering his place of power, he can manipulate this power. His place of power looks like a twelve sided room. His power draws creatures of the Wild, who always go straight for him. Later on in The Red Knight during the siege, he learns how to harness the power of the Sun from Harmodius.

History
The Captain keeps his background and even his real name a secret to everyone. However, it is revealed that his name is Gabriel Moderatus Muriens, and the brother of Ser Gavin Muriens. Also, his mother is Ghause Muriens, the Duchess of Westwall and the King's sister. It is hinted that Gabriel is a child of incest.

In his youth, his younger brothers bullied and beat him relentlessly. He had a tutor called Prudentia, who trained him to use his Green powers, but later his mother tricked his brothers into killing Prudentia. Prudentia's spirit now resides in his place of power, as a moving statue. Afterwards Prudentia's death, Gabriel used his powers to fake his death, and fled his home.

At some point he became the commander of a company of mercenaries. In recent years, the Company has built a fine reputation working on the Continent in Galle.

The Red Knight
The Captain travels with his mercenary company via Albinkirk towards Lissen Carak in order to accept the contract with the Abbess. In a rich manor house outside of Lissen Carak they encounter a massacre of seven people by creatures of the Wild, despite being well within civilized region, many miles from the Wall. One of the victims is a nun who had been ripped open. Gelfred, the master of the hunt in the company, discovers that the nun was first shot in the back by an arrow of Witch Bane, and finds nearby a chain holding a small leaf made of green enamel on bronze.

In Lissen Carak, the Captain goes to see the Abbess. After some verbal sparing, she explains that in the last two years three farms have been destroyed by creatures of the Wild, and wants the mercenaries to rid her of the threat to her people and lands. The Captain interrupts to tell the Abbess about the massacre at the manor house, and the Abbess is aghast to hear that Sister Hawisia is dead. He goes on to explain that the chain found nearby indicates that there is a traitor in the abbey, though the Abbess is skeptical.

During this first meeting with the Abbess, the Captain meets the arrestingly beautiful novice nun Amicia. While the Abbess considers whether to engage the mercenaries, the Captain uses his powers to sneak into the nunnery, and finds Amicia. He kisses her, which she returns at first before boxing his ear.

The Abbess calls back the Captain to accept his mercenaries for the contract, at a price of sixteen double leopards per month for each of the thirty one lances, double for the corporals, forty for the three offices, and one hundred for the Captain himself. However, the Abbess adds conditions to ensure the good behavior of the mercenaries.

Gelfred scouts the creature that attacked the manor house, and the Captain leads a column of knights to kill them. As they near the beast, they dismount and form a skirmish line. The Wyvern attacks, and goes straight for the Captain. However, the Captain's spear-thrust is too fast and catches it in the throat. Despite the wound, the creature catches the Captain's head in his teeth, until he stabs it in the head. The column pile into the fight, with arrow and pole-axes, and continue to hack it until they're sure it is dead. But, Gelfred's power reveal that this is not the beast that killed Sister Hawisia. Seven men died killing the creature, including one of his officers Ser Hugo.

The Captain goes to see the Abbess to tell her that Lissen Carak has a problem with more than one creature of the Wild. The Abbess decides to extend the Captain's contract for the Summer, not only to hunt the beasts, but also to garrison the town. She also reveals that Sister Hawisia had also suspected a traitor in the abbey.

During the wake for the seven men killed, Gelfred insists tracking the creature of the Wild again. With none of the men sober, the Captain agrees to go with him for protection. Out west of Lissen Carak, Gelfred's powers lead them to clearing, and a great white stag, that Gelfred deems a sign from God. Where the stag had pawed the earth, they find the corpse of a man killed by an arrow; a Jack. A short time later, they encounter the creature they've been tracking. The Qwethnethog attacks, going straight for the Captain. The Captain slow the beast with his powers, and charges with his lance, spearing the creature in the eye, killing it.

Gelfred and the Captain make their way back to Lissen Carak with the Captain on foot since his horse was killed in the fight with the Qwethnethog. They need to camp for the night on the way, with the Captain casting a concealment to keep them safe. In the morning they find tracks of five, ten, many creatures. Back at the abbey, he meets the Abbess, and tells her that this is not a matter of a few isolated creatures, but an army of the Wild. Before she will agree to gather all the villagers, put the fortress in a posture of defense, and send word to the King for aid, she insists on more evidence of this army.

The Captain takes a company of knights out further West seeking the camp of the army. Over the crest of a hill, they find a dozen Irks camped. They quickly scatter the surprised creatures. Preparing an ambush, they keep moving forward. They find another camp, this time fifty Jacks, and scatter them too. The leader of the army of the Wild, Thorn, quickly realizes that the assault is by a mere fifty men, and is dismayed that his forces have fled from such a poultry number. He uses his power of will to send hundreds of Boglins, Irks and some Golden Bears in pursuit. The Captain orders the retreat, and they flee. As they are about to be overrun, they reach the prepared ambush, which fill the air with arrows. Thorn tries to use his power directly on the Captain, but his power slips off him. They reach their horses, and escape. Thorn throws fire over the fleeing enemy, but the Captain's shield of power protects most of them. Nine men died in the assault.

Back at Lissen Carak, the Captain goes to see the Abbess, and explains all they've seen. She puts the Captain in command of the fortress, although her priest Father Henry protests.

Theories

 * If you believe the hints that the story is an allegory of King Arthur. Mordred (i.e. The Red Knight) is the son of Arthur (i.e. The King of Alba) and his half sister Morgana (i.e. Ghause), only this time the kid is a good guy. In L'Morte d'Arthur, Morgana married King Lot of Orkney and had four sons, one of whom was Gawain (i.e. Gawin). This makes Guinevere / Desiderata, and Lancelot du Lac / Jean de Vrailly.