Screedius Tollinix

"Oh my beautiful looty-booty, here I come"

- Screedius Tollinix

Screedius Tollinix is a main antagonist in book five of The Edge Chronicles by Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell. He was once a noble honourable Knight Academic but when he was sent to catch stormphrax from the Great Storm he crashed onto the Mire and was forced to spend his life there where he took up the gruesome art of butchery.

Origins
Screedius was from the city of Sanctaphrax and he trained to fly the sky ships. He was eventually sent off on a hard quest to get the stormphrax from a Great Storm. Quintinius Verginix saw him leave and noted how noble he looked. Screedius' mission ended in disaster when he crashed into the Mire, and he was forced to make a home for himself there, because he couldn't return empty-handed to Sanctaphrax. He decided to continue his mission.

Fall from grace
Screedius was more fortunate than other knights because he only landed in the Mire, not the Twilight Woods, and he kept his sanity and essence about him. He would wait outside the Twilight Woods for a band of travellers, have them pay him to take them to "safety" across the Mire's shifting mud, and then when they were asleep or immobile he would butcher them all with his knife and cut off their toes, a gruesome task, then he would take the toes back to his wrecked ship, scrape off all the stormphrax dust which had collected under their toes, and then nail the toes as ugly displays on his wall. He repeated this mission for nigh on fifty years.

The gnokgoblins
Screedius, now naming himself "Screed" met a family of gnokgoblins who were heading for Undertown, and ordered them to pay him all their wages, not caring about their money in Undertown. Screedius pretended that he would get the goblins there, and argued with their leader, Mim, about the supposed dangers of the Mire. Eventually he got the gnokgoblins somewhere safe, and after yelling at them to be quiet, he watched them settle down for the night. Smirking, he got out his knife and sharpened it. Then he slit all their throats in the night, cut off their toes and took them back to his ship. He scraped off the stormphrax, filled more of his treasure chest with it, then waited for more travellers.

Battle with Twig
It wasn't long before a new group came, led by Twig. Accompanying him were the professor of Light, the banderbear Hubble, the oakelf Spiker and the Stone Pilot. Screedius introduced himself and persuaded them to be his clients. He took them across the Mire, and said that they weren't to worry if they couldn't see him, the Mire was treacherous, and so to keep heading to his ship, where they would meet. Twig doubted Screedius' words and distrusted him more when he saw him murdering Spiker. Screedius laughed and said he had really done the oakelf a favour because he was internally wounded. Next was Hubble who was so close to death he was  unconscious. Then Screedius set out for Twig, but he was met in a battle and they fought long and hard. Finally, when Screedius was going to win due to his natural villainly and inner strength, whereas Twig hadn't eaten or rested, the professor of Light called out "Screedius Tollinix? What has that creature done to you!?" The professor thought that their guide had killed Screedius, but Twig realized that the guide was Screedius Tollinix. As Screedius Tollinix was about to kill Twig, Twig shoved his sword into Screedius' heart, and an oddly satisfied, calm look crossed Screedius' face. At the moment of Screedius' death, Twig saw the once noble man he had been. Screedius' last word was "Sanctaphrax."