Name: Edwin Blackwater

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Backstory: Edwin was a son of a lesser lord. His family had small piece of land in the south of Veronia, mostly known for its great vineyards. They were wealthy enough to have anything they ever needed, but they were still too poor and far from Royal city to really participate in Veronian politics.
Edwin was a second son and always the black sheep of the family, living in the shadow of his older sibling. Edwin was smarter than his brother, he was better with a sword and when their father fell ill, it was Edwin who was keeping their business together.
But it was still not enough. No matter what Edwin did, his brother was always the better one, at least in eyes of their father and everyone around.. Edwin, disgusted by this, decided to run from home and join military. Something his father took with great displeasure and even disinherit him.

Edwin hoped that in military, he will be finally valued because of his skills and capabilities, but his hopes proved to be wrong. There were two types of people in Veronian army: poor who wanted the steady wages and rich who wanted to enhance their fat pockets with bribes. 
 Edwin was surrounded by incompetence and corruption on every step. But he didn´t give up and tried to change the established order. He made his name in fights against raiding parties and foreign marauders and achieved a pretty high rank among his peers. He earned respect of his soldiers and remade them into actually capable fighting force, but when he wanted to make more general changes, or tried to weed out the incompetent among his seniors, he was immediately shot down and transferred into closest backwater.

In his exile, he was visited by a strange man carrying king´s signet. The man ordered Edwin to lead a raid into another country. His task was to find an imprisoned Veronian ambassador, free him and get him home in absolute secrecy. Edwin took this mission as a way to prove himself again and maybe regain his old position.
The mission was successful. He and five of trustworthy men crossed borders at night, infiltrated the city and made their way into prison. Well placed distraction with element of surprise on their side, gave them a perfect opportunity to get in there and before anyone noticed, ambassador was free and on his way back to Veronia.
After delivering the man, Edwin learned that the stranger, who ordered the mission, was Veronian spymaster, Hawk. He told him that mission was only a test of his skills and offered him a job among king´s players. Edwin accepted almost immediately.

Skills: 
ex-military officer used to lead from both, general´s tent and front 
skilled combatant both on horse (he used to ride with hussars) and on his own feet (trained by professional swordsman when he was young)
familiar with Veronian politics (knows who is from which noble family, what they have and what they want)

Miscellaneous: Edwin is pragmatism and opportunism incarnate, and he is willing to do literally anything to success in his mission. He also has deep connections in Veronian army with few veterans still loyal to him.