Mere mention of the name “Greigur” on certain streets in Stormreach elicits either a sharp turn of the head or a suspicious furrowing of the brow from those nearby—and for good reason. Greigur, a member of the feared Sentinel Marshals, is the head of the House Deneith enclave and one of the most powerful men in Stormreach. A Karrnathi transplant, he is a grizzled veteran of the Last War who delights in the capricious nature of “justice” in his adopted home. When a dangerous criminal is on the loose, the Storm Lords eventually come to Greigur, since they know that he will find the fugitive. What becomes of the fugitive will doubtless prove a lesson to others—all of which serves to make the city that much more secure.
Stormreach lies outside the purview of the Korth Edicts, and this fact gives Greigur’s operation an edge that other Deneith enclaves cannot match. With the bevy of religious and cultural tensions aflame in the city, only the longtime residents dare to entrust the security of their homes and businesses to the city guard, many of whom are former criminals. House Deneith therefore does a booming business in Stormreach, with the finer houses, shops, and almost every building in the Temple district paying out to Greigur for regular security assistance. Some whisper that Greigur, with all his military might, must aim to wrest control of the city from the Storm Lords someday, but such speculation is idle. Greigur is perfectly content to play both neutral party and dutiful house member, all the while amassing greater and greater wealth and—much more important—fear from the city’s residents.
Greigur’s tough exterior has one chink: He is in love, or the closest thing to love a man like him can hope to feel. Most of the city’s power players are aware that Lady Paulo Omaren, the Coin Lord who oversees Forgelight, is “in bed” with Greigur d’Deneith, but few suspect that this is the literal truth. The two recently began a clandestine affair, one that has resulted in the unforeseen development of genuine affection in Greigur’s cold heart.
As a result of this distraction, Greigur leaves much of the day-to-day operation to his right-hand man, Captain Birne, a former savage whom Greigur rescued from barbarism and raised like an adopted son. Sharing Birne’s distrust of magic and those who wield it, Greigur encouraged Birne’s studies and training specifically in that regard and now takes pride in how potent an adversary for spellcasters his protégé has become. Birne, a mountain of a man who stands almost seven feet in height, is fiercely loyal to Greigur and can often be seen standing off to one side of his lord, leaning menacingly on the hilt of his masterwork two-handed sword.