Gaius de Malvallet

(Born 732 in Bowcourt, a relative of Sebastien de Malvallet, Baron Faircourt. Died Brastor, 5 Frost 805)

Grand Master of the Knights of the Wrath of Michael, and in summer 805 appointed "Knight-Marshall of the Orders of Light and charged with the destruction of the Dark Circle, its creator, and any that would aid and abet her". Additionally invested as Lord Lieutenant of the Michaeline Order, and "Sword of Michael" by Archbishop Mordeaux, Sir Gaius was, from the Conclave of Heat 805 until his death in Frost of the same year commander of all Unified Western Church forces arrayed against the Dark Circle.

The appointment of Sir Gaius by the Archbishop was over considerable protest from some factions within the Church, and while the Archbishop's motives in making this contentious appointment remain unclear, they appear to have been influenced by Gaius's brother, Bishop Bernard de Malvallet.

Sir Gaius's approach to warfare was characterized by his personal motto "Igni ferroque" (By fire and iron), and he was often criticized by many who felt him to be a Michaeline extremist. His critics most often pointed to an incident in 764 when as a Knight-Commander in pursuit of suspected Aim cultists in the Aquilan town of Meiseldorf, he ordered the artisan's quarter set alight, and had those who escaped the flames put to the sword in the belief that they must have been protected from the fire by demonic powers, ordering: "Kill them all, and let Michael weigh their sins".

Well known to be deeply suspicious of mages, in Breeze of 805 Sir Gaius ordered an ill-advised attempt to arrest the Slippery Rock coven, an act that caused a number of Michaeline knights to require curse removal. He was also involved in ordering the arrest of Carzalan citizens and their forcible transport to Mordeaux for trial on charges of 'seditious libel (normally considered statements impugning the authority of government -- but in this case extended to "scandalum bellorum"; spreading false rumours about the state of the war, liable to cause panic, and injurious to the public good).

These acts brought an official protest from Duke Leto, and an order from the Archbishop to desist.