Johnnyn Kart

"'Johnnyn Kart is a good friend of mine. He leads the Keen Lances, and they make their camp at Hillgrove. It would help us to go there.' ~ Mikhael Strand, convincing his allies to beseech the Keen Lances for help"Johnnyn Kart is a former knight, turned mercenary captain and childhood friend of Mikhael Strand. At different times of the story he was both a close ally of the Brotherhood as well as an enemy, as his allegiances lay with his friend Mikhael. However, currently he occupies a senior position in the Nameless Brotherhood, having come to understand its importance.

Appearance
Johnnyn was a tall, somewhat lanky man with a narrow and gaunt face, yet wide shoulders. He kept his hair short, yet had a thick, well-groomed beard. He preferred humble, yet quality clothing in darker colors such as blue and black, and wore a set of rather well-maintained plate in battle.

Personality and Traits
As one of the chief captains, and founder of the Keen Lances Johnnyn was a calculating, pragmatical and patient man. He was mostly dispassionate and interested in his own gain, but had a sense of honor and tried to be chivalrous and lawful in his conduct, seeing himself as a noble above all. He tended towards being taciturn and humble in his interactions with equals.

Early Life
Johnnyn was born in Musterhall, shortly before its annexation by the Empire and smuggled out of the castle as an infant by an elderly manservant of House Kart and brought to Hillgrove, the local lord Kennyth Ashwood a friend of the Karts. He was then raised as a ward of the lord, being trained at arms and tutored in history, mathematics and knowledge of animals. During this time he befriended and was befriended by a fellow squire - Mikhael Strand, a child of the wealthy Essaiah Strand of Loneport. The two became close friends, as both found each other's characters equitable to their own.

Later Mercenary Life
As he grew Johnnyn came to realize that he would get no lands from Kennyth ,and would be at best work as an armed enforcer for a lesser lord. Dissatisfied by this he began plotting to reclaim his ancestral lands. In the year 1999 he was contacted by Mikhael, who had succeeded his late father and promised lands in the Droplets and a campaign to reclaim Musterhall by his friend. He was emboldened by this and attempted to raise an army to assist in Mikhael's campaign against house Blutt. This army, made up of mercenaries and other disowned nobles that Johnnyn spent a good year wandering the Union to gather would become the Keen Lances. He would not gather the army in time for Mikhael's war. He heard news of the complete devastation of House Strand and the vast reparations his friend had to pay. Half an year later, a down-on-his luck Mikhael turned up at the gates of Hillgrove and sought asylum. During this time Johnnyn had created a mercenary company out of his makeshift army and offered Mikhael to join as a sergeant in it. For the next five years he and Mikhael - now posing as Johnnyn's long-lost younger brother - Eimille undertook a series of campaigns.

"Induction" Arc
Johnnyn had sent Mikhael Strand to bargain a deal with the younger Lord Gale for the hiring of the Keen Lances. He was worried as Mikhael didn't return.

"Siege of Hillgrove" Arc
After the secession of the Forest Boys, led by Gavin the Younger, Johnnyn was forced to take the company into hiding in the woods around Hillgrove. As he prepared for a siege he managed to find an oddly deformed Mikhael in the woods and enlisted him and his companions in the siege. During the siege he oversaw the assault of the posterior wall of Hillgrove with the company's mage tower. Later he helped Mikhael, Senecius and Lithiel with the subduing of a mysterious creature that had been masquerading as the tree on the town square, getting his men to pull the creature down onto the ground, shattering its rocky form. He also helped Mikhael pen a letter to Teena Iskaar - an acquintance of his, who was part of House Iskaar - one of the great houses in Magistris which according to his friend would help the both of them get control over Hillgrove. Johnnyn gave Mikhael his savings accrued from working at the company, as Mikhael annouced his temporary departure from it. He also took Mikhael and his allies hunting.

"Unraveling Conspiracy" Arc
With Mikhael away Johnnyn Kart had been stripped of his temporary lordship and and relegated to his previous role as mercenary captain as the city had been given to Martin Gale by the great houses of Magistris. As Mikhael came back from his voyage to Rivertwixt he informed Johnnyn of a mysterious letter he had received. Johnnyn then explained to his friend that he had been marked by the Crimson Wings, and that his life was in severe danger. Later on he was approached by Mikhael for assistance in his new quest to stop the Shadows of the Horizon, of which he had been made aware earlier. Johnnyn agreed to give him some men for his expedition into the Rotlands to retrieve an artefact of the False Gods.

"Into the Night" Arc
Johnnyn Kart was mentioned by an impostor of Dlob as an informant for the Nameless Brotherhood in Hillgrove. He was later inquired after by Gladys, to no particular result. She did find out that he was a friend and most likely-ally of Mikhael Strand.

"Lengthening Shadows" Arc
The Keen Lances and Johnnyn Kart were mentioned again, during one war council as having begun a march towards the Black Pool.

"The Shores of the Void" Arc
Johnnyn was discovered in a cell in Magistris by Gladys after his defeat, the destruction of his company and imprisonment at the Battle of Bryaglee. She offered him his freedom and the possibility to reacquire lands if he came with her. He accepted and followed her in her quest to uncover the truth of the gods.