| “ | No one likes to shake hands with the man who empties the latrine pits either, but pits have to be emptied all the same. Otherwise the world fills up with shit. You can have your dozen smiths, but don’t try to take the high ground with me. There is no high ground here. | ” |
— Inquisitor Lorsen to Collem West
| ||
Inquisitor Lorsen is a member of the King's Inquisition in Angland and later Starikland.
Appearance and Personality
Lorsen is a tall and gaunt man, with eyes bright with zeal, who wears the traditional black of the Inquisition. He is a practical man, who sees the work of the Inquisition as a necessary evil, and takes his disappointments and crushed them down along with his doubts.
History
Before They Are Hanged
Inquisitor Lorsen is the commandant of a prison / penal labour camp run by the Inquisition in Angland.
Colonel West is with Crown Prince Ladisla division of the Union Army near the river Cumnur, but they have a dire lack of blacksmiths in the camp. West resolves to fix the problem by conscripting criminals from the nearby Inquisition prison camp.
At the prison, West demands that any prisoners with blacksmith skills be put into his care for the benefit of the army. Inquisitor Lorsen resists at first, but soon caves to the Colonel’s demands. However, he does not indulge West in his condemnation of his camp. Prisons serve a purpose, no matter how cruel imprisonment may be, and it is the Inquisition who care for the prisoners, not West and his lofty ideals.
In the foundry, the first to volunteer is Pike, a half burned gristle of a man who identifies other capable smiths. He also asks that his daughter Cathil be taken as well. The Colonel tries to resist but the girl reminds him of his sister Ardee and the guilt he carries with him. Unhappy with the girl’s selection, the Inquisitor threatens to report West to the Arch Lector.
Red Country
In the thirteen or so years between the books, Inquisitor Lorsen has become an investigator under Superior Pike in Starikland ... the irony that Pike had once been Lorsen's prisoner is never mentioned. The Superior employs Nicomo Cosca to track down the rebel leader known as Conthus. Conthus recently led the rebellion in Starikland, and has fled to the Near Country. Pike insists on no entanglements with the Old Empire; the Union not wanting any more wars at the moment. Inquisitor Lorsen will accompany Cosca on the journey.
Lorsen oversees Cosca and his mercenaries wreak havoc on the towns of the Near Country. In Averstock, Cosca learns that a man named Grega Cantliss has some ancient gold, and convinces the Inquisitor that the money is used to fund rebellion.
Lorsen and Cosca tracks Cantliss to Crease, and arrives just as Shy and Lamb prepare to go into the mountains after the children with Cantliss. Cosca convinces Cantliss to tell the Inquisitor that Conthus is with the Dragon People. Eventually, the mercenaries sack Ashranc, the city carved into the mountainside and home to the Dragon People. Lorsen is furious at the lack of rebels, convinces that this was Cosca’s ruse to steal the gold.
In order to placate the Inquisitor, Cosca claims the man Savian is Conthus. When Savian is stripped to the waist, his whole body from his pale neck to his pale hands is blue with rebel tattoos. As Inquisitor Lorsen’s Practicals prepare to torture Savian, Lamb comes back to rescue him. Lamb kills the Practicals but they manage to cry for help. The mercenaries surround the hut, with the Inquisitor insisting he wants Conthus alive. Savian and Lamb fight off the mercenaries, until Cosca uses his “gift” from Superior Pike, cannons to destroy the hut and kill Savian, much to Lorsen’s frustration.
Cosca tracks Shy and Temple to Crease, looking for the gold they stole from him. However, The Mayor signs a treaty with the Old Empire. Inquisitor Lorsen, not wanting to start a war between the Union and the Old Empire, has Cosca is arrested. In spite of his best efforts the entire expedition had devolved into a farce, and he had no doubt upon which undeserving head would be heaped the blame. The treaty is later revealed to be a sham, and Imperial Legate Sarmis was really none other than the actor Iosiv Lestek.