NovelPantheon

Buhndemog Lonuid

Dwarven elder and councilorveteran earth mage and loyalist commanderSee biography and relationships

Biography

Role in the story

Buhnd first takes an active role as one of three retired elemental masters recruited to train Arthur Leywin. Alongside Hester Flamesworth and Camus Selaridon, he treats the new general's problem as inefficiency and habit rather than a lack of raw mana. Buhnd spars, critiques, and pressures Arthur to read terrain and opponents while conserving strength. His warm insults and appetite make the lessons feel informal, but the standard he enforces is survival against enemies who will exploit waste and overconfidence. (Chapters 183–194)

The dwarven monarchy's treachery and Rahdeas's arrest pull Buhnd from retirement into political leadership. He enters the Council under his full name, rejects the idea that a traitorous court speaks for all dwarves, and accepts responsibility for a kingdom divided between Dicathian loyalists, Alacryan collaborators, and civilians who distrust every distant ruler. Rather than wait for human or elven occupation, he places his own forces under active orders to locate enemy cells and radical factions in Darv. His authority comes from choosing to repair dwarven representation after others discredit it. (Chapters 203–205 and 218–227)

Buhnd contributes more than a racial vote. He challenges optimistic assumptions about Agrona's losses, analyzes how Alacryan spell specialization becomes an advantage in coordinated warfare, and argues that battlefield formations cannot be judged like duels. At the same time, his loyalist taskforces pursue hidden Alacryans through Darv's tunnels while Mica Earthborn handles threats beyond ordinary soldiers. He cannot instantly reunify the kingdom, but he supplies the Council with dwarven forces, local knowledge, and a leader willing to name both collaboration and legitimate civilian grievance. (Chapters 203–205, 218–227, and 233–235)

When Arthur leaves for Etistin, Buhnd declines the chance to return to open battle because Virion Eralith needs help at the castle. He also warns Arthur that people are waiting for him to return, speaking as a mentor rather than a commander chasing glory. The choice places Buhnd at the center of Cadell's infiltration. He fights when the Scythe attacks the Council headquarters and is left mortally wounded by corrupting soulfire that even Sylvie Leywin's life aether cannot purge. (Chapters 233–241)

In his final moments, Buhnd uses the time Sylvie buys not to ask for rescue but to give Arthur information and order him away. He declares the castle and Council lost, identifies the attacker as a Scythe, and insists that Arthur can still serve Dicathen only by surviving. Arthur buries him in an earthen tomb, while the loyalist forces and hidden refuge Buhnd helped prepare continue after his death. His consequence is therefore both personal and institutional: a teacher dies protecting command, but his plans leave others means to resist collapse. (Chapters 240–253)

Appearance and personality

Buhnd is an elderly, broad dwarf with a large belly, thick limbs, and a heavy white beard. His brawny frame and decorated robes can look almost comic, particularly when formal clothes sit too tightly across his body. Retirement and appetite disguise rather than erase physical capability. In training he moves with deceptive speed and pressure, and in Council chambers his size and blunt presence make him difficult to ignore even among monarchs and Lances. (Chapters 183–190 and 203–205)

He is jovial, earthy, impatient with ceremony, and fond of food, drink, and blunt profanity. Buhnd's humor is not passivity: he interrupts evasive officials, challenges convenient optimism, and can shift from teasing mentor to angry representative when dwarven betrayal is minimized. He dislikes the meeting table and would rather act directly, yet accepts political work because Darv needs a credible voice. His last concern is similarly practical and affectionate, using fading strength to push Arthur toward survival rather than asking the younger mage to avenge him. (Chapters 183–194, 203–205, 233–241)

Relationships

  • Arthur Leywin: Buhnd begins as Arthur's earth-magic examiner and becomes a trusted elder. He punctures Arthur's intensity with humor while correcting inefficient technique and later sits beside him on the Council. At the castle, Buhnd spends his final breath warning Arthur away from a fight he cannot win, placing the student's survival above his own rescue. (Chapters 183–194, 203–205, and 233–241)
  • Hester Flamesworth and Camus Selaridon: The three retired masters coordinate Arthur's wartime training, each bringing a different elemental and tactical emphasis. They also help construct a hidden refuge in case Dicathen's command collapses. Buhnd's death separates the group, but the shelter they prepared gives Virion and other survivors a defensible place after the castle falls. (Chapters 183–194 and 240–253)
  • Mica Earthborn: Buhnd and Mica represent two forms of dwarven resistance: he organizes loyalists and political repair, while she acts as Darv's Lance against the strongest enemy forces. His taskforces support her tunnel operations without removing her command agency. After his death, the dwarven cause continues through Mica and the soldiers he placed in the field. (Chapters 203–205 and 218–235)
  • Virion Eralith: Virion relies on Buhnd as a Council voice after the Greysunders and Rahdeas betray Dicathen. Buhnd questions strategy openly but chooses to remain at the castle because the overburdened commander needs him. Their collaboration ends in Cadell's attack, which leaves Virion mourning both his son and the dwarf who helped hold the Council together. (Chapters 203–205 and 233–241)
  • Rahdeas: Rahdeas's collaboration with Alacrya splits Darv and leaves Buhnd to rebuild dwarven credibility. Buhnd condemns the traitor's damage without claiming that every disaffected dwarf is identical to him. His task is to oppose Rahdeas's network while giving loyalists a dwarven authority that does not depend on human or elven control. (Chapters 203–205 and 218–227)
  • Cadell: Cadell attacks the castle through the access created by Alduin's betrayal and overwhelms its defenders. Buhnd resists despite the difference in power, suffering a soulfire corruption that spreads faster than Sylvie can heal it. His final report gives Arthur essential warning about the Scythe even though Buhnd cannot defeat or escape him. (Chapters 237–241)

Mana, aether, and abilities

Buhnd is a veteran dwarven earth mage whose strength lies in precision, terrain control, pressure, and efficient reinforcement. He is powerful enough to train a silver-core general and lead soldiers, but the corpus does not establish a white core, Lance artifact, aether art, or definitive maximum combat output. Age and retirement shape how he uses experience, emphasizing judgment and economy over spectacle.

Earth shaping and terrain control

Buhnd shapes stone and soil into barriers, spikes, platforms, markers, tombs, and changing terrain. In training he controls pressure and footing to make Arthur respond to the ground as an active opponent rather than a neutral surface. His constructions can support defense, close routes, and define the terms of an engagement. He favors the minimum shape and force needed for a task, teaching that large spells are not automatically better when they consume more mana, obscure allies, or create openings during casting. (Chapters 183–194 and 240–253)

Earth responds quickly enough for Buhnd to combine casting with deceptive physical movement. His large body hides speed, reinforcement, and close-quarters pressure that can surprise a younger opponent expecting a stationary conjurer. That does not make him invulnerable. He is retired, carries the constraints of age, and never demonstrates power comparable to a Scythe. Cadell's decay-infused soulfire penetrates the castle defense and continues reproducing inside Buhnd despite life-aether intervention, establishing a fatal limit to ordinary earth protection. (Chapters 183–194 and 237–241)

Instruction and combat analysis

Buhnd identifies inefficient mana use, predictable attack selection, and the difference between winning a demonstration and surviving extended warfare. Working with Hester and Camus, he builds exercises that force Arthur to integrate elements, read several opponents, and control output over time. The resulting improvement becomes useful against mana-beast hordes and coordinated enemy groups. Buhnd's teaching does not grant Arthur a new core stage or transfer a spell; it changes decisions, economy, and the practical application of power Arthur already possesses. (Chapters 183–194 and 218)

His analysis remains valuable in the Council. After Arthur describes Alacryan marks and specialized spellforms, Buhnd rejects the assumption that narrow spell access is a simple weakness. He recognizes that a lifetime refining one technique and coordinating complementary roles can outperform a versatile duelist on a battlefield. The conclusion informs Dicathian training and force planning, though it cannot immediately overcome Alacrya's larger institutional advantages or the presence of retainers and Scythes. (Chapters 203–205)

Command, logistics, and political leadership

Buhnd organizes loyalist forces to clear Alacryan cells from Darv, assigns taskforces through the tunnels, and represents dwarven conditions before the Council. He understands that collaboration grows partly from social exclusion and the collapse of legitimate authority, even while he orders action against those actively aiding invasion. This combination distinguishes his leadership from simple retaliation: he restores a dwarven chain of command, supplies local information, and takes responsibility for a divided kingdom without claiming instant unity. (Chapters 203–205 and 218–235)

He also plans for institutional failure. With Hester, Camus, and trusted allies, Buhnd helps establish a concealed refuge marked for those who know how to find it. The shelter cannot prevent the castle's fall or save Buhnd himself, but it gives survivors a destination when centralized command is destroyed. Like his final warning to Arthur, it reflects strategic restraint: preserving people and continuity can matter more than holding a position whose defenses have already failed. (Chapters 240–253)

Items

  • Council robes: Buhnd wears decorated formal robes when he introduces himself as Darv's new councilor. The clothing marks an office he accepts after other dwarven leaders betray Dicathen; it carries political symbolism rather than a demonstrated enchantment or personal combat power. (Chapters 203–205)
  • Transmission reports: As councilor, Buhnd receives strategic reports and contributes analysis of Alacryan specialization, dwarven unrest, and likely retainer or Scythe deployment. The records belong to the Council's command system and are useful only when leaders interpret and act on them. (Chapters 203–205 and 233–235)
  • Hidden-refuge marker: Buhnd creates a standing stone and precise route marker for the shelter prepared with Hester, Camus, and other trusted allies. It is intentionally conspicuous only to people who know the instructions, preserving access after the floating castle falls. (Chapters 240–253)
  • Earthen tomb: After Buhnd dies from Cadell's soulfire, Arthur Leywin shapes the ground into a tomb worthy of his mentor. It is a memorial made for him, not an artifact Buhnd owned or used. (Chapters 240–241)