- Skarnu is a Valmerian soldier. He starts off as a young Valmieran Marquis who took up the call to arms. With no other qualification for being an officer than his aristocratic title, he is willing to listen to his experienced commoner sergeant and gradually becomes a fairly capable officer - unlike other aristocratic officers whose arrogance and incompetence lead to military disaster and the occupation of Valmiera. Determined to fight on, he and his sergeant hide with a peasant family, and start being involved in the emerging irregular underground movement. When his host is killed by the Algarvian occupation he forms a strong liaison with his host's widow - a fierce peasant woman full of hatred of the Algarvians and their collaborationist Valmieran nobility. Together, they take part in daring raids, killing collaborators and rescuing Kaunian prisoners en route to being killed for the Algarvian murder magic, as well as producing and distributing leaflets revealing the Algarvian atrocities - she being slowed down only by the birth of their child. Skarnu, under his nom de guerre Pavilosta, becomes a leading member of the resistance - which earns him a high place on the Algarvian "most wanted" list. He furtively moves from one town to another and has several narrow escapes, with the hunt on him coordinated by the Algarvian lover of his collaborationist sister Krasta. After the liberation of Valmiera, his by now official wife takes revenge on Krasta by cutting her hair (as was actually done in 1944 France to women who had liaisons with Germans). Finally, he is rewarded with getting the estate of an oppressive collaborationist nobleman which he killed, and tries his best for the peasants. To some degree, he stands for the aristocrats who joined the French Resistance. But since the Valmieran society described is more like that of pre-1789 French society than of the 1940s, the character might also be inspired by aristocrats who sided with the French Revolution against other aristocrats.
Read more about this topic: List Of Darkness Viewpoint Characters