Thanial Selwander

Thanial Selwander was a woodsman, and Marrec's mentor. He was the first to find the young male medusa-kin when he was lost as an infant; he was ultimately slain by his apprentice's petrifying gaze. Emmon and others in the village knew him as the 'Man in the Wood'.

History
Thanial Selwander was known in Marrec's village as the 'Man in the Wood', who came into town once every few years. Once, he found the infant Marrec sleeping in the forest. Noticing the snakes growing out of the boy's hair, he immediately severed them, without hesitation. However, knowing he couldn't raise the kid right on his own, he gave him up to a man in the village, Harmon, who also told the boy that he had found him himself. He took on the young man as an apprentice after he became a militiaman: the boy had escaped into the wild when his medusa heritage manifested during a battle against the Durang ogres. He schooled Marrec as a woodsman, and also inducted him to the worship of Lurue.

Eventually, he came clean to Marrec about his origins. He then encouraged him to embrace that heritage as a part of him, considering it healthier than repressing it. When the Durang attacked again, both Thanial and his apprentice came to the defense of the village. There, Thanial quickly came to fight the leader of the ogres, a gigantic specimen clad in a vile coat of flattened human skins. His sword was caught by one of the mouths in the armor, and then the ogre grabbed him; before he could bite Thanial's arm off, Marrec petrified the ogre. Unfortunately, the petrification effect caught Thanial as well, and when the ogre bowled over, Thanial's stone form was shattered.

Relationships
Thanial Selwander's animal companion was a wolf named Shira. He eventually took on Marrec as an apprentice woodsman.

Appearances

 * Novels
 * Lady of Poison