Tongueless

Also known as Tongueless Obsidian Guard

Minor
First seen · Book 4 · Ch. 27

Gender: male
Age: over 50
First appears: Book 4 · Ch. 27
Books: 2

Tongueless emerges in Iron Gold as a silent, enigmatic Obsidian survivor whose mutilated body and rune-marked skin speak of a brutal past, yet whose quiet loyalty earns him a place among Darrow’s rescue party. In Dark Age, his brief return as a cannon-wielding veteran ends in a savage execution by Ajax, transforming him from a steadfast ally into a grim symbol of the Obsidians’ expendability. Across the two books, his arc shifts from a living testament to endurance and quiet camaraderie to a stark casualty of tyrannical power.

Description

A pale-skinned Obsidian man past fifty stands six and a half feet tall with a gaunt and thin build, his spine protruding like a fossil beneath sun-starved skin. Greasy white hair spills from a deeply receding hairline distorted by a half-completed scalping that indents the front of his head like the bottom of an egg, while a filthy beard covers his chin. His face is saturated with tattoo ink including spirit eyes on the eyelids that stare when he blinks over deep sunken black intelligent eyes that watch with sinister mathematical curiosity rather than a warrior's posture. The backs of his knotted hands are embedded with solid black Obsidian caste crescents, and runic blue tattoos mark his lower legs as he moves with the presence of an Ice shaman. Tongueless is thin and barely six and a half feet tall, a man past fifty with pale skin and a deeply receding hairline. A filthy beard frames his face, while a half-completed scalping leaves the front of his head indented like the bottom of an egg. Runic blue tattoos cover him in remarkable profusion, including spirit eyes that seem to blink with his own; black crescents are embedded in the backs of his knotted hands. His ill-fitting guard's uniform hangs awkwardly, its short trousers leaving his tattooed lower legs exposed, and his silence gives him a stark, watchful presence. Towering even while seated cross-legged, his old Obsidian frame is a hulking mass of pale, frost-bitten skin stretched over corded muscles and ancient scars. Deep-set eyes peer from beneath bushy white brows, his face a craggy landscape of deep wrinkles, a wild tangle of long white hair and beard framing a lipless mouth that gives him his name. He wears a patchwork homemade exoskeleton of dented metal plates and reinforced joints, a prominent hole gashing through the chest armor, with a heavy ripWing cannon strapped to his shoulder via thick cables. His presence looms like an unyielding monolith, gnarled hands folded patiently, evoking the silent menace of deep-space ice.

Connections

Family & partnersFriends & mentorsRivals

Apollonius au Valii-Rathlistener
Tongueless acts as a silent listener to the captive Apollonius, visiting him daily to hear imagined violin music; the relationship remains one-sided and confined to Iron Gold.
Darrow of Lykoscomrade
Tongueless earns Darrow’s cautious trust by guiding the rescue party and saving his life; the alliance is brief and ends with Tongueless’s death in the following book.
Sevro au Barcacomrade
Sevro champions Tongueless’s courage and pushes for his inclusion among the Howlers, though the Obsidian’s death prevents any deeper bond from forming.
Ajax au GrimmusEnemy
In Dark Age, Ajax executes Tongueless in a brutal display of dominance, ending the Obsidian’s life and cementing their relationship as one of victim and tyrant.
VC
Videli cu Yancravictim
The warden is implied to have imprisoned and mutilated Tongueless, including cutting out his tongue; the enmity is established in Iron Gold and remains unresolved.

Story so far

BOOK 4Iron Gold
- Tongueless, a tongueless Obsidian with spirit-eye tattoos, serves as an Obsidian guard at Deepgrave.
- He visits the imprisoned Apollonius daily, listening to the imagined violin music.
- He guides Darrow’s rescue party through Deepgrave and saves Darrow during the escape.
- Sevro advocates for Tongueless’s induction into the Howlers, though Darrow remains wary.
BOOK 5Dark Age
- Tongueless reappears as an Obsidian ally in Ajax’s forces, armed with a ripWing cannon on a makeshift exoskeleton.
- He is swiftly executed by Ajax, who dismembers him into four pieces to assert dominance.