Baron of Port Sithagong
Oronto is the Commandant of the Imperial Marines
His Aide, Bodyguard, Chaplain and Grandson is Aian Ambarónë
Fighter/Sage 12/12 NG Harnic High Elf
Born the 3rd son of a minor elven noble on Harn, Oronto was never the strongest or quickest warrior. He seldom fights in the front row, though he enjoys taking the field and fights well, and he is at his best organizing and commanding troops. Even his personal engagements are characterized by carefully applied strategy, minimizing risks and maximizing rewards.
Oronto graduated from Eveal's Officer Training Academy, but after brief military service he resigned his commission and formed a mercenary company. His thoughtful approach to violence led to low casualty rates and regular successes. This, in turn, led to devoted loyalty in his men and officers. His Black Dragonflies (Named after his family crest) grew in repute, recruited better talents, and took bigger jobs.
After a local defense contract went particularly pear shaped, instead of saving a village from the 'giant spiders' the mayor had described, they wound up being enslaved by Neogi raiders as fodder for their life helm. Two weeks later the Neogi boarded a convoy of human vessels, traders out of Braal, and during the confusion Oronto led his (much depleted) company in breaking loose. Fighting alongside the traders, they killed the Neogi. His company made the best of a bad situation, and took a new contract to protect the traders' ships on their homeward voyage.
For the next hundred and forty years he organized and led crews of spacers' guards for merchants from the Rock, polishing the Black Dragonflies, investing in key equipment, recruiting key talents, and building relationships with other companies which he hired on for bigger jobs.
When the party passed through Braal, they were as shocked to find him there as he was to learn that Harn had fallen and that all of his family were dead. As the last survivor he accepted his family title, becoming Lord Sithagong, swore fealty to the Emperor, and was recruited for the Imperial Marines, where he quickly rose to command.
The officers of his old mercenary company are now happily embedded in his staff, and he has more than a century's experience of organizing and directing shipboard soldiery. He has been a key force in shaping the Imperial Marines, and they have taken much lower casualties than they might have under his direction, retaining skilled veterans and training new recruits. He is a very popular commander.