Player Characters

Balthazar was raised just outside of Slanawall in a small but fanatic cult of Dovan worshippers.  Seeking to harness the power of Dovan, the worshippers performed intense rituals and ceremonies intending to harness the energy of life itself.  They planned to use the god’s power over blossoms and the harvest to charge farmers exorbitant fees improving their crops and healing their farm animals.  No one in the cult though was ever born with an ounce of magical ability and none of their practices came to any fruition. 

Except Balthazar.  Seemingly blessed by Dovan himself, Balthazar who was born and raised into the cult learned from a young age that Dovan would answer his prayers with magic and use it to heal and so much more.  However, Balthazar hid this power from the cult and even his own parents, for he sensed that their desire for gold and riches did not align with the divine wishes of Dovan.  Fearing the cult might one day discover his powers and use it for greedy purpose, Balthazar fled the cult and sought refuge in Slanwall.  Seeing life outside the cult has given Balthazar a new perspective of what life is like for other people and shown Balthazar that there may be purpose yet to his magical power.

Garrick Balerion was born to a family of modest travelling traders, who traversed the roads of Aon Rud in search of the next lucrative deal.  Every night of his childhood, Garrick's father regaled him with tales of his grandfather, a prolific Paladin of Baiste, who brought swift justice and healing radiance wherever he trod.  On the hardest days on the road, his father would show him his grandfather's sword, the Ork Xyráfi, to raise his spirits.  Garrick wished he to one day be worthy enough to wield the blade, but as a trader's son, it was an unlikely prospect.

Shortly after reaching adulthood, Garrick became terribly ill.  The disease, unknown to any local healer, sapped Garrick of his strength.  Bedridden and helpless, Garrick simply waited for death.  While travelling on the road with his family, he had fallen into a coma as his family desperately attempted to keep him alive.  During his coma, Garrick heard muffled speech and occasionally felt the warm touch of his mother or sister as they cared for him.  However, above all else, he heard his father's desperate prayers to Baiste to save his son.  Each word clear as crystal through the haze of his coma.

One day, Garrick saw a vision of himself rising amidst a fire, holding aloft the famed Ork Xyráfi, imbued with the strength of ten men, and banishing evil from the land.  Then he smelled smoke.  He coughed, and snapped to consciousness.  The wagon he was in was ablaze, his father dead next to him, and the Ork Xyráfi clutched to his chest.  As he struggled to rise, Garrick discovered not only had his strength returned, but he felt stronger, faster, tougher.  He escaped the wagon, finding his mother and sister slain as well, with figures darting into the distance.  Assassins or bandits, Garrick never discovered who had killed his family, or what events had led to this gruesome outcome.  But his life as he knew it was over.  After burying his family, he fell to his knees, and in payment for answering his father's prayers, swore an oath to his grandfather's god, dedicating his life to Baiste.

He followed the road until he arrived in Dun, where he presented himself to the Knights Hospitaller.  They took him in and allowed him to squire for Sir Uhtred.  Despite being gruff, old, and cynical about the world, Uhtred fostered Garrick’s youthful idealism.  After a year and a day, Garrick was knighted into the order as paladin of Baiste.

While working at the hospital in Dun, Garrick heard from the town tax collector, Averill Bancroft, that an army of hobgoblins was descending on the city of Brindol to the south.  He sought and received permission from Sir Uhtred to begin his period of questing, to spread the peace and healing of Baiste to the world, starting with Brindol.

Jace is one of the very rare individuals possessed not only of magical talent, but of the training and skill to wield it.  Trained by the Cloister, he is a member of the Ārḍar, the Emperor's magical order.

Kagan was born to a human father and an orc mother, and they died early in his life.  He was left to live with his mute uncle on the edge of Slanawall.  Uncle taught Kagan how to survive in the woods, living out of his cottage earning a meager living trading furs, small amounts of crops, and other items hunted, grown, or foraged from the surrounding area.  Kagan learned to survive but not much else, which is good as he wasn't a very good student, and would get angry when the people who came to trade with uncle treated him like he was stupid because he couldn't talk.  As all things go, eventually uncle died a regular peasant's death and Kagan took over the household.  Realizing he didn't want to live a peasant's life and die a peasant's death.  So he learned to channel his anger where it needed to go, and set out for adventure . . .

Background unfinished

Svetlana is a wily rogue, who just met the boys and is unsure whether they are heroic or just crazy.

Thearch was born a dwarf in a human society.  Originally apprenticed to Carter, the blacksmith, he embraced artificing after intuitively repairing a broken magical item brought in by a merchant.

After the loss of all his material wealth and the death of his mother, Thearch made a pilgrimage to the dwarf stronghold of Hamarhnefa Vígi.  There he renounced magic and artificing and found solace in the light of Ghorhaedin, god of the dwarves.  With solace came strength, and Thearch trained to fight in Ghorhaedin's name.