Alfred MarKenin (? - 352 AC) was born the son of House MarKenin, on of Solamnia's great houses. The name of his wife was unknown, but it was known that they had one son named Douglas MarKenin.
Alfred had always disliked war for all the loss of life, was very dedicated to the Knighthood, and was insecure in his own abilities. He was known to have followed the Measure in all things, and he would use this if he was faced with a dilemma rather than making a conscious decision.
The Rebellion[]
When The Rebellion was taking place in Solamnia in 335 AC, he was holed up in Castle Brightblade with his friends Gunthar Uth Wistan and Angriff Brightblade. When Angriff turned himself over to the rebels, Alfred was able to leave the castle with the rest of the soldiers there before the rebels burned it to the ground.
High Justice[]
Sometime before the winter of 344 AC, Alfred was promoted by the Knighthood to the position of High Justice. Due to his dedicated to the Measure, he was an easy choice for this position. The reason a Sword Knight was promoted rather than a Rose Knight was that no Rose Knights were available at the time for promotion.
War of the Lance[]
During the War of the Lance, Alfred was a strong supporter of Derek Crownguard, even agreeing with Derek to not allow Sturm Brightblade to have his Knight's Answer. Lord Gunthar overturns this and allows Sturm to have his say and be promoted to a Crown Knight. Following the trial, Alfred was promoted to second-in-command of all Solamnic forces and was sent to the High Clerist's Tower to prepare for an eventual attack there.
While there, Alfred sees that Derek was really going insane and shouldn't have been fit for duty serving as a leader there. Instead of openly opposing Derek and having him step down from his duties, he goes by the Measure and says nothing allowing the Rose Knight to continue to contribute to the low morale at the Tower. When Derek ordered the attack on the Blue Dragonarmy outside of the walls, Alfred tried to convince him not to do this but was overruled. So, again, following the rules of the Measure, Alfred following Derek into the battle and his beheaded during the battle. His body was returned by Commander Bakaris and was entombed in the Chamber of Paladine beneath the Tower.
References[]
- The Annotated Dragonlance Chronicles (Novel), Winter Night, p. 758, 760, 871
- Dragons of the Highlord Skies (PB) p. 78
- The Oath and the Measure (Novel), p. 1-2, 35, 277
- War of the Lance (Sourcebook), p. 233-234