Benna Iroha

Commandant Benna Iroha is a member of the Order of Jaredon. He is the head of the garrison of Harlsport, Jaredon's second city.

Background
Benna was one of three children of a knight, Sir Miguel Iroha and a scullery maid, Aysha Tenur. Following in his father's footsteps, he trained for many years before being named as his father's squire over his elder brother, Jerra, who was overly fond of drink. Benna was admitted to the Honour of Jaredon when his father foiled an assassination attempt on the life of the Queen Regent; she permitted Iroha the senior anything he so desired. His father, always proud of his son, requested that the squire be knighted and admitted to the Honour and the Order. Here, the Queen was hesitant; she readily allowed Benna to join the Honour, but warned that he would need to pass tests in swordplay and intellect to be part of the Order. However, a week's examination later, she was wholly satisfied that Benna would be fully capable.

Benna's rise to Commandant came through years of experience; while he was not necessarily a natural born master of the sword, he was a robust leader, and in his thirtieth year was promoted to the rank of Honour Commandant. Working closely with the two other Commandants of the Jaredon Order (one of the Magicians' Guild and one of the Machinists' Guild), he decided to take charge of the garrison at Harlsport, Jaredon's second city and primary trading post of the kingdom.

Description
Iroha is often seen on duty is the golden armour of the Commandant's post. With his personal weapon at his side, he gives off an aura of confidence backed by decades of experience. Unforgiving, but never unfair, the Commandant is well-respected by his men. Greyed hair and a worn face lightly veil the hard stare of a veteran in combat and command, and his barking voice rarely softens. Tending to go by the name of his brother to avoid his enemies' underhanded gestures, he is a canny governor and has a history of leading raids on criminal circles with frightening speed and ruthlessness.

Plot
Iroha welcomed Lyra Sayuri to Harlsport shortly before the Jaredon Tsunami. He had already arrested Velvoren but after discussion reluctantly allowed Lyra to escort Red from the castle to the Green Sparrow Inn. Moments before the disaster, Iroha issued evacuation warnings to the town by radio, and was witnessed heading a relief and rescue operation in the castle of Harlsport in its aftermath. He was revealed to be aware of Pyrus' operations within the city and sent both Pyrus and Lyra to the capital to meet with the Machinist he requested from the city to examine the data from the reports of the origins of the tsunami.