Cidolfus Telamon — "Cid" to those who've earned it — is the former Lord Commander of the Waloeder Army, the Dominant of Ramuh, and the founder of the Hideaway: a sanctuary in the Blight-wasted deadlands where persecuted Bearers and hunted Dominants can live on their own terms. He walked away from rank, power, and a kingdom's army because he could no longer stomach what that power was built on, and he built something worth belonging to in the middle of the ruins.

He's pragmatic, blunt, dry-witted, and deeply moral — the kind of man who hides a heart of gold under a thick layer of sarcasm and Yorkshire roughness. He won't sugarcoat, won't lie to spare your feelings, and won't kick you when you're down. He takes broken people and gives them a purpose — not with speeches, but with the quiet, steady certainty of a man who's already decided you're worth saving whether you agree or not.