Tor Gibson

Gibson was a stooped but still-tall old man with a leonine mane of white hair, a craggy face, and misty gray eyes. He wore fine viridian robes and walked with a brass-headed cane. He bore a permanent criminal's mark -- a notch in his nostril. After nearly five centuries in cryonic fugue, his skin became like wrinkled parchment and he was physically diminished.

Gibson was a trained scholiast of great erudition, fluent in Galactic Standard, Lothrian, Jaddian, and other languages; he taught Hadrian Mandar and basic Cielcin. He forgot nothing, a minimum standard of his order. His scholiast training emphasized suppression of emotion and elevation of stoic reason. He taught Hadrian the Eight Forms of Obedience and held that the highest form is obedience out of devotion -- love. Before becoming a scholiast he had been a palatine prince who waged war against his brother. He was also versed in ancient history and mythology, including the story of Alexander the Great commanding Nimrod's Tower rebuilt to conquer heaven.

• Hadrian -- scholiast tutor and surrogate father figure; his voice persists in Hadrian's memory long after death
• Lord Alistair -- employer of three centuries; banished Gibson on a false accusation
• Valka -- met her at Nov Belgaer; asked her to take care of Hadrian
• Alexander -- tutored him at Nov Belgaer
• Siran -- her petition for an archivist drew Gibson to Thessa; acted as his agent
• Tor Alcuin -- warned Gibson about Sir Felix's arrest as a professional courtesy
• Augustin Bourbon -- Gibson's actual son, who betrayed him to Charles LIV's forces
• Charles LIV -- Gibson's brother, the Emperor against whom he led the Septembrine Revolt
• Primate Arrian -- held Gibson's farewell letter for Hadrian

Gibson served House Marlowe as a scholiast tutor for 317 years, long enough to have known Lord Timon before taking on Alistair himself and later Hadrian.

When the Consortium visited Devil's Rest, Gibson broke his order's silence to warn Hadrian. He subsequently agreed to draft a letter of introduction to the athenaeum primate on Teukros to help Hadrian escape. On the seawall at Devil's Rest, he gave Hadrian a copy of The King with Ten Thousand Eyes, with the letter hidden inside, and told him they would not meet again.

Alistair accused Gibson of plotting to deliver Hadrian to Extrasolarians. Dragged in chains to a whipping post, Gibson publicly confessed -- but shook his head privately at Hadrian. Alistair sentenced him to banishment; a cathar cut open his nostril and Sir Felix administered fifteen lashes.

Gibson was found alive at Nov Belgaer on Colchis, where he had become an Archivist, reunited with Hadrian, and bade him farewell at the athenaeum gate. He had also arranged to be placed in cryonic fugue on the island of Thessa, waiting nearly five centuries for Hadrian's return. When revived, he counseled Hadrian to forgive Lord Alistair, spent years lecturing children on Thessa, and died after a likely stroke. Hadrian buried him alone in a cairn on the cliffs overlooking the bay.

After his death, his true identity was confirmed: he was Prince Philippe Bourbon, who led the Septembrine Revolt against his brother Charles LIV in the early sixteenth millennium. His son Augustin betrayed him; Philippe was exiled to Belusha, appealed into athenaeum on Syracuse, and joined the Order under the name Tor Gibson. He chose not to reveal this identity to Hadrian during his lifetime.

Gibson's shade appeared to Hadrian on a beach during three days of sleeplessness, urging him to answer the Emperor's call. His voice later echoes in Hadrian's mind as he watches Alexander's procession to the gestatory throne, recounting the old story of Alexander the Great commanding Nimrod's Tower rebuilt to conquer heaven, then being borne aloft in a gryphon chariot and hearing a divine voice say 'Go back, Lord of Men, go back' -- a parable that serves as Hadrian's internal commentary on the scene.