Herbert
Biography
Tribunal agent and anchor-point casualty
Herbert infiltrates the Borderland through living fireflies and represents the Tribunal in the contest over Storm Eyes, advancement candidates, and the anchor point. He pressures Saul while maneuvering against Pei'er and the Stargate Council, then tries to preserve the old sealing method by using other wizards as expendable material. At the decisive anchor-point struggle, contact with the Sixth Rank-derived fragment instantly overwhelms his Third Rank structure, mutating and killing him. His death becomes a later example of how completely an anchor point can rewrite a lower being's magical fluctuations. (Chapters 571–701 and 999)
Appearance and personality
Herbert can appear as a bald man or divide his presence among countless glowing fireflies, making him difficult to corner. Proud, political, and ruthless, he treats casualties as acceptable costs when they secure Tribunal control or prevent a rival from taking the anchor point. (Chapters 571, 631–701)
Abilities
His firefly divisions provide surveillance, remote manifestation, fire magic, and survival so long as viable insects remain. That distributed defense offers no protection against the anchor point's higher-order assimilation. (Chapters 571, 631–701, and 999)