Irshan

Irshan is a Jaddian Maeskolos of the Fifth Circle and a swordmaster in the service of Prince Philip, who employs him as his personal champion and gladiator. He formerly served as the sulshawar protector of Prince Constans du Olante.

An eali al'aqran -- a Jaddian palatine whose genetic regulation has been relaxed beyond the Chantry's accepted norms -- Irshan possesses speed, strength, and resilience that exceed a standard palatine's. He is armed with a curving Jaddian scimitar and carries a concealed highmatter blade supplied to him by Lord Augustin Bourbon, who gives him the sword in the days before the fight with Hadrian with the intent that Irshan use it to kill him.

Philip sends Irshan to administer a public chastisement to Hadrian in the arena. Though Irshan fights with evident respect for his opponent and offers him a chance to yield, Hadrian kills him. Immediately after his death, dispholide poison suspended in nanocapsules in his blood is remotely triggered, dissolving his body entirely. Hadrian recovers the highmatter blade afterward.