Now for another character present in multiple series – Sir John Guildford!
To understand John – actually, he goes by just Guildford to his students and friends – a fuller perception of the story as a whole is needed. Guildford first appears in Akin Minds at the Timeless Castle, where he seems to have been since his death. He is close to the Timeless One, Rex, Relus, and Cleria, having studied with them the arts of magic and swordplay.
The most interesting case here is that Guildford is a familiar face to Ryoku – he was his teacher in the physical world, and quite a recent death at the hands of a student who brought a gun to school.
In life, Guildford was a rather young teacher in his late twenties. Recently married, he also worked for the Brooklyn Police Department as an auxiliary officer to pay the bills. He worked quite closely with Darrold Vornaire, chief of police, and Brody Elethel, Dawn‘s father who died in the line of duty. In his police line of work, he was made aware of the great drug families of Brooklyn, the El’Salandier‘s and the Neseru‘s, both of whom had students in the school he taught at.
While he kept a close eye on Dagoriph Neseru, an older student held back several grades, Varis El’Salandier brought a gun to class. Guildford detected it and calmly confronted the student, who panicked and shot his teacher fatally. Guildford’s death was the motive behind the slaughter of the Day of Black, causing the absence of Ryoku’s left eye and the lifelong changes to each boy involved.
But while his students avenged him, Guildford’s soul was already gone to the spirit realm, and landed in the world of Lysvid. The Timeless One quickly took the non-vampire under his protective care and taught him much about the world, feeding his curiosity and need to keep learning. He trained under Relus Ashbane and Rex Dougo, two of the Timeless One’s best fighters.
After quite some time, he learned of the coming of one of his former students, Ryoku, a boy who he’d befriended years ago due to his involvement/rivalry with the El’Salandiers. Upon learning what was expected of him and how his soul had shattered months prior, Guildford steered the Timeless One to his aid, helped them recover the twisted sword Ragnarokkr, and eventually came to travel with his former student once more.
Though quite loving of all his students, he found a particular fondness toward Ryoku, Katiel, and Joey, the three who tutored Dagoriph and eventually helped him graduate. Though he became Ryoku’s teacher once more, he doesn’t hesitate to offer his aid to any of his students. Guildford is driven by a wealthy curiosity, a fondness for doing what is right, and a desire to teach.
His curiosity translates over to an adventurous side in the realms, driving him to train with dragons and eventually become quite a popular fighter in Syaoto. Under the tutelage of the Timeless One and his assistants, Guildford becomes a decent swordsman and magic user, later adopting the use of a twin set of hand-axes once held by a knight of Syaoto’s King’s Own. He also serves for a time alongside Lamont Declovin in Vortiger’s council, learning to ride and fight atop dragons.
To learn more about Guildford, and watch the young man progress alongside his former students, check out Sovereign Soul: Akin Minds here now, and stay tuned for Sovereign Soul: Serpentine Empire news this year!
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