Lord Arnulf Ritter

Arnulf Ritter is an Intisi by birth. He was just a child when the Greenwood War happened, and was not there when his uncle, Count Wilhelm Ritter, marched out to oppose the Salfeld coalition, only to withdraw and return home. He nursed some bitter feeling after that. To the young Arnulf, it seemed a betrayal. He voiced his frustrations in his uncle's hall. His uncle took Arnulf for a walk about the castle, and pointed out various knights and common soldiers, and asked Arnulf which he would be willing to send to their deaths and for what cause. Arnulf, sullen, said anyone should do so for their liege, to which his uncle wondered what liege that might be, whether it was the almost dissolved House Ascher, or the uncaring House Muhl, or if it would be the strong and energetic House Salfeld. The story is well enough known, because Wilhelm remarked on it to his court when he returned with his nephew.

Years later, after a decade and a half of rule by House Salfeld, Wilhelm received notice that they were seeking to bolster their numbers of knights. Arnulf, now well into adulthood, is a fine knight indeed, and his uncle never quite forgot that episode. Whether he is making a point or is just sending an able warrior to serve his liege, or maybe both, he asked Arnulf to enter House Salfeld's service. Arnulf's acceptance was a given, because for Arnulf, following the direction of one's liege is the right thing to do, and he is certainly not going to sully his own good name by being anything less than excellent.

The world for Arnulf is a place of straightforward rights and wrongs. It might not be that way for others, but it is for him. If other people want to do wrong, that is for them to decide, but Arnulf is a man who does right. Right, for him, means that he adheres faithfully to the orders of his liege. He might not like them, but that doesn't matter, because that is what is right. On some level, he certainly understands that House Ascher, Ritter's old liege, had no ruler even left, but even then, he believes that the right thing for his uncle to do would be to serve the simple idea of House Ascher, and defend its land, whatever the cost.

For years of adulthood, he soldiered for his uncle. That, too, is right, because Wilhelm is Arnulf's liege. Wilhelm asked Arnulf to serve the Salfelds, and that, for Arnulf, was essentially an order. Now Gerald Salfeld is Arnulf's liege, and now, that means the right thing to do is follow Gerald's orders.

The world is a place of rights and wrongs, and Arnulf knows his place in it, which is to do what is right.

He is a devout follower of Siegfried.

Arnulf would scarcely set foot in court, except that Gerald has told him that he really must visit Sanctuary, broaden his horizons, and relax. These are novel ideas to Arnulf, but ones he now feels obliged to follow through on.

Arnulf is a fine warrior and steadfast in his convictions. He is not exactly the best critical thinker ever.