Maddak Eyes of Skyiron

<i>‘Sunseekers are all a bit touched in the head, but they’re not all fly-by-night daredevils. Some of them can be quite reliable, given proper inducements. For instance, take... well, I shan’t name names, but let’s say I’ve got a man on the surface who knows when and how to speak softly and tread quietly, and when and how to do quite the opposite.’ – Supreme Engineer <color=#774418>Hurndig</color></i> * Maddak is a ranger, scout, hunter, and spy who works for the Grand Council of the Skyiron Dominion in general, and Supreme Engineer Hurndig in particular – often in less-than-official capacities. He is what his people call a 'Sunseeker', a rare kind of Dwarf willing to travel the surface world. Sunseekers garner a mix of respect and mistrust from their fellow Dwarves, and are often seen as eccentrics and vagabonds. In contrast to many such freewheeling Sunseekers, such as <color=#1C5480>Dilgol</color> – with whom Maddak has a long-standing professional rivalry – Maddak is serious, businesslike, calm, and reliable. Officially, Maddak is tasked with delivering intelligence reports on the doings of the great powers of the surface world. Unofficially, he often gathers exotic materials for Hurndig’s cogwork and alchemical creations, and tests them against challenging obstacles and extreme conditions. The greatest symbol of Maddak and Hurndig’s partnership is Maddak’s ‘blasting-rod,’ a firearm similar to <color=#72307F>Isbeil’s</color> Fyr-Gun and Dilgol’s ‘bangscorcher’. Hurndig had to pull many strings and made a wide variety of tempting promises to Isbeil to convince her to share some of her weapon schematics, before creating a prototype weapon based on them in strict secrecy. He gave it to Maddak as both a gift and an obligation: Maddak was to use it in the field and find out its strengths and weaknesses. Maddak adapted the quirks of his weapon to suit the tactics he had honed over years of hunting beasts, spying on powerful people, and exploring the wilderness. One element of this is the maximization of the physical and psychological impacts of his thundering, destructive weapon. By overloading the device to make a brighter, louder blast than is strictly necessary, he can frighten off predators and overwhelm his foes' senses. He knows intuitively how the blasting-rod's deafening report will travel across the terrain, and has devised strategies to bounce and echo the sound such that his target becomes tricked into thinking the shot was fired from somewhere else, potentially a considerable distance away. Maddak’s clever applications of his blasting-rod combine with his years of experience in all types of environments to create decisive advantages. No matter the weather or terrain, few of his enemies can match his capabilities. Many who believed themselves to be in an unassailable tactical position have been brought down when Maddak has triggered an avalanche with his blasts or shot out critical support beams to collapse the structure his target was hiding in. Recently, Maddak has caught wind of a place called the ‘Gloom Lands’ and its grim forests, spoken of as the most enigmatic and remote unexplored site in Teleria. He is itching to embark on an expedition to them, with or without official endorsement from his patrons.