Rolen Hawklight - Character Background and Additional Info
Mar 20, 2017 21:49:15 GMT -6
Random, Jade, and 6 more like this
Post by skitch on Mar 20, 2017 21:49:15 GMT -6
Hey there folks! As a follow up to Alias's thread that I made for last season, here's a thread that goes over a bit of detail about Rolen's character, and allows for some discussion about him specifically. First off: His character background!
Rolen Hawklight was not born with that name. For that matter, he was born with no name. No, this wasn’t due to some sort of devil’s curse or deal with a fiend, but simply a result of Rolen being left at the door of a nearby church almost immediately after being born. The workers who gathered him would be the first to give him a home, as well as the newborn Half-Elf’s name.
The Nynson Chapel
The church itself was one of many under the faith of Torm, and thus had no qualms with accepting the child and raising him within the orphanage they had. In particular, the two headmasters (Humans by the name of Esard Bradun [f] and Tane Hamor [m]) ensured that he’d be raised just as well as the other children in their church.
This church, The Nynson Chapel, was the most prominent religious building within the city of Maleah, located within the small Kingdom of Egiorthon. Egiorthon was position between other nations, leading to a variety of races passing through it in their journeys. It was far from uncommon for children like Rolen to show up at different churches, ensuring they would have new youths to incorporate within their faiths.
Rolen took well to the teachings that were taught by the monks and priests, and shined as a studious youth within the chapel. His interactions with his peers was amicable, but he never developed deep friendships with others, always finding his interests drawn towards deeper understanding of his faith.
The Triad
Rolen’s efforts to understand his faith lead to him not only drawing closer to Torm, but also to his partners, Tyr and Ilmater; incidentally, this trio of deities were known as The Triad. The members of this group of deities included:
The Merciful Sword
By the time Rolen reached adulthood, his studious behavior lead him to understand strategies that were employed by followers of the Triad in past wars. This, along with his physical aptitude, lead to him being recommended into one of the various Knightly Orders within the varied Kingdoms. Of them, Rolen found himself enlisted within one of Tyr’s Orders, the Knightly Order of the Merciful Sword.
The initiation process was not swift, given the order’s small numbers (only about 60-70 active Paladins), and the only resistance some had towards Rolen’s induction stemmed from his unconventional interpretation of the ways of Tyr. However, his strongly held knowledge of the ways of divinity, law, and justice, plus personal recommendations from the headmasters of his Chapel, eventually lead to his induction into the order at the age of 24.
He wasn’t given the title of Paladin, but that of a Justiciar, to reflect his particular strengths in strategy and justice.
Rolen quickly gained respect among his peers, the mental acuity he possessed acting as a strong counter to the typical raw devotion most members of the order carried. Even with this acceptance, he didn’t make many close friends. Over the years, those who felt his strategic methods lead to the most success became the first to follow him on more dangerous missions and jobs. These comrades were likely the closest friends he ever knew.
The names of those friends were:
Warder Tewold: Male Human
Mara Sleydon: Female Human
Khari Nargabar: Male Dwarf
Tarime Esseas: Female Elf
Rase Heyford: Male Halfling
Collectively, they called themselves the Scales of Justice, seeking for a balanced application of the ways of Tyr.
Whenever a task required the most careful attention to detail or strategy, these five were the first Rolen would trust on, and vice versa, to get the job done. During downtime, the group would engage in Rolen’s favorite pastime: Dragonchess. Unfortunately for them, Rolen’s skills in strategy extended well beyond the battlefield.
At the age of 39, Rolen was traveling by himself through various towns and cities in the main kingdoms in order to understand the lay of the land, and the state of the people. Given his status, he was able to garner housing quite easily among most of the citizens he came by, with one particular night coming in the form of staying with a family of half-elves.
For him, it was a bit strange to see such a family dynamic, given his own upbringing, but he was happy to share stories about his journeys. He was presented with the family’s insistence to take their eldest daughter, Stellah, along to join the order, but he was quick to inform the family that such an endeavor would likely take years before she’d be inducted, as it was for him.
The only other person of note was a peculiar young half-elf girl, who looked no older than 8, and carried a strong resentment towards her family. When the parents parted ways to be with their eldest daughter, Rolen decided to talk with the young girl, named Zoey. When she decided to be evasive with her answers, the Justiciar employed a Zone of Truth to learn she was, in fact, in her late teens, and her appearance was the side-effect of Wild Magic! Still, he decided to stay the night with the family, including teaching Zoey how to play Dragonchess (even if she did lose quite easily), before parting ways the next day to continue this travels.
It seemed like Rolen was finally in a place where he was content, felt like he belonged, and could embody the ideals of the Triad in his own way.
Then came the Invasion of Lurtzog.
The Invasion of Lurtzog
In the somewhat distant land of Orthrog, it was deemed that the Orcs were a direct threat to nearby human settlements. This lead to a call for all forces that could help neutralize the threat. Among armed forces enlisted for the job, Rolen’s division within the Order of the Merciful Sword were called upon to take the lead, and ensure that the mission was successful. A higher officer of a related paladin order, a human by the name of Gylan Cadun, was joined in to lead other members of the orders in.
Rolen’s understanding of the situation was that peaceful measures were meant to be taken first, as while the Orcs posed a threat, none of them actually were proven to attack the settlements.
On the way, however, a report came that the settlement of Treford, right near the Orc town of Lurtzog, had an attack on its food supply the prior evening.
Rolen felt that this required further investigation, but Gylan insisted that this was a clear attack by the Orcs, and that orders were to attack and destroy the town of Lurtzog, and all of its inhabitants, to show that the Paladins were not willing to be intimidated by such cowardly acts. Despite Rolen’s protests, he was unable to sway the minds of the majority of the troops, and the assault was going to proceed as planned.
Rolen asked his group to proceed in advance with him, to try and at least find confirmation of any crime within Lurtzog before the attack was launched. Even though the six of them advanced ahead, by the time they were even able to investigate, a dark realization struck them all.
Gylan’s faction of troops were storming in, launching an attack to wipe out the entire town. In addition, most of the Orcs within Lurtzog at the time were non-warriors, and ill equipped to even defend themselves!
Despite the fact that Orcs were evil as a race, Rolen and the other members of the Scales of Justice were shocked at the abrupt action taken, with Gylan and the twenty-strong force of Paladins slaying any that they came across in the town. Gylan himself, on his horse, spotted Rolen and his group, before issuing an order.
Rolen, naturally, found this order difficult to process. Of course, following his orders and demonstrating obedience was the correct thing to do under the tenants of Torm...but at the same time, there was no sense of justice in what was being done, and Ilmater would hardly stand for such a cruel approach!
“Don’t follow that man’s order.” Rolen stated to his group, before stepping forward towards the mounted officer before him. Pointing with a raised hand, the Half-Elf declared,
A rush of flames billowed from one nearby house, and screams could be heard from within. Rolen couldn’t stand idly by, and ran straight into the flames to try and rescue who he could.
The Justiciar was able to make it out the front door, holding two orc children in his arms, before the smoke and heat finally worked their way through his system, and caused him to fall unconscious.
The Dismissal
Rolen woke up several days later, finding himself back in Maleah, and shortly was brought before a tribunal to determine what to do with him. During the course of the trial, a list of violations were issued, many which seemed to be invented by Gylan as a way to further smear Rolen and his group. Finally, the head judge issued a statement to Rolen,
Rolen was faced with the realization that his closest allies were going to be tortured and removed from the Order of the Merciful Sword for reasons beyond their control, and without any way to properly defend themselves. With practically no hesitation, Rolen responded,
Rolen has not been allowed to meet with any member of his group since his dismissal, having been branded a traitor of the order.
The Search for Redemption
Rolen returned to his home Chapel of Nynson, where the now scarred, worn man was forced to reconcile with finding a purpose in life. His study deepend for a few months, before an elderly (but still spry) Esard approached him, and presented him with a gift from the Chapel for the years of work Rolen did to help the local community.
It was a new set of arms and armor.
While (seemingly) not inherently magical, the Longsword, Shield, and Plate Armor were carefully crafted for Rolen, each piece carrying signifiers of all three Deities that Rolen aimed to follow: Tyr, Ilmater, and Torm.
“You have spent far too long carrying out the ideals of the Triad to stop now.” Esard noted. She continued, “If the Order of the Merciful Sword will not have you, then you should still continue your work. Who knows? Perhaps you can still influence a positive change in the world still.”
By the next dawn, Rolen was wearing his arms and armor, and before a small, but still adoring, group of parishioners, priests, children, and the headmasters themselves, cheering him on as he set out on his called steed, Trinity.
Unattached to any particular order, it was difficult for Rolen to find work, aside from small tasks here and there. Then he heard rumors of a town called Ilium. Ilium was like most other towns except for the fact that it suffered from an unusual curse: Any who entered couldn’t leave.
Something about this Ilium called out to Rolen, and shortly before his 42th birthday, he headed on into the cursed town to see what he could do about the curse. Shortly after arriving, he realized the town featured little in the form of traditional law being imposed, and took it upon himself to try and act as a bastion of law, justice, and empathy towards the denizens of this strange town.
Time went by fairly quick, and during his time he was able to meet others who were willing to help him take care of the more nefarious of troublemakers...but not without compensation. Having met these unlikely allies, Rolen was compelled enough to establish a base of operations within Ilium. To secure such a location, he was forced to pawn his gifted set of arms and armor. Now established as The Avant Guards, he continues his work alongside the Nixie Theodora, and the unusual Vampiric Noble Bumbershoot von Victrola.
Rolen Hawklight
Half-Elf Justiciar
Age: 43 yrs. --- Height: 6’4” --- Weight: 190 lbs. --- Deity: The Triad (Tyr, Torm, Ilmater)
Rolen Hawklight was not born with that name. For that matter, he was born with no name. No, this wasn’t due to some sort of devil’s curse or deal with a fiend, but simply a result of Rolen being left at the door of a nearby church almost immediately after being born. The workers who gathered him would be the first to give him a home, as well as the newborn Half-Elf’s name.
The Nynson Chapel
The church itself was one of many under the faith of Torm, and thus had no qualms with accepting the child and raising him within the orphanage they had. In particular, the two headmasters (Humans by the name of Esard Bradun [f] and Tane Hamor [m]) ensured that he’d be raised just as well as the other children in their church.
This church, The Nynson Chapel, was the most prominent religious building within the city of Maleah, located within the small Kingdom of Egiorthon. Egiorthon was position between other nations, leading to a variety of races passing through it in their journeys. It was far from uncommon for children like Rolen to show up at different churches, ensuring they would have new youths to incorporate within their faiths.
Rolen took well to the teachings that were taught by the monks and priests, and shined as a studious youth within the chapel. His interactions with his peers was amicable, but he never developed deep friendships with others, always finding his interests drawn towards deeper understanding of his faith.
The Triad
Rolen’s efforts to understand his faith lead to him not only drawing closer to Torm, but also to his partners, Tyr and Ilmater; incidentally, this trio of deities were known as The Triad. The members of this group of deities included:
Tyr, the Maimed God, embodied Justice, and primarily cared about wrongdoers being punished.
Tyr’s sense of justice resonated with the young Half-Elf, who understood how evil deeds must be rectified.
This might have only been because he felt the victim of his own circumstance as an orphan, but regardless, the ideal of justice being served against wrong-doers appealed well to zealous ideals.
Of course, justice on its own isn’t quite sufficient, which is where Ilmater, the Broken God, came in.
Embodying Suffering, he concerned himself with offering relief and support to those who were suffering or oppressed. This belief extends to the point that followers of Ilmater are willing to be the bearers of suffering themselves, if only to alleviate the pains of those they are trying to aid.
This sense of compassion was also compatible to Rolen, as he knew that others had it worse than him, and he should aid and support them however he could.
Last, but not least, was Torm, The True. He embodied duty, loyalty, and righteousness.
Although he was generally viewed as the weakest of the deities within the Triad, he acted as an agent that supported both Ilmater and Tyr.
Given that the Chapel that Rolen was raised in belonged to Torm’s ideas, it was easy for him to adopt the importance of the law, loyalty, and obedience.
The Merciful Sword
By the time Rolen reached adulthood, his studious behavior lead him to understand strategies that were employed by followers of the Triad in past wars. This, along with his physical aptitude, lead to him being recommended into one of the various Knightly Orders within the varied Kingdoms. Of them, Rolen found himself enlisted within one of Tyr’s Orders, the Knightly Order of the Merciful Sword.
The initiation process was not swift, given the order’s small numbers (only about 60-70 active Paladins), and the only resistance some had towards Rolen’s induction stemmed from his unconventional interpretation of the ways of Tyr. However, his strongly held knowledge of the ways of divinity, law, and justice, plus personal recommendations from the headmasters of his Chapel, eventually lead to his induction into the order at the age of 24.
He wasn’t given the title of Paladin, but that of a Justiciar, to reflect his particular strengths in strategy and justice.
Rolen quickly gained respect among his peers, the mental acuity he possessed acting as a strong counter to the typical raw devotion most members of the order carried. Even with this acceptance, he didn’t make many close friends. Over the years, those who felt his strategic methods lead to the most success became the first to follow him on more dangerous missions and jobs. These comrades were likely the closest friends he ever knew.
The names of those friends were:
Warder Tewold: Male Human
Mara Sleydon: Female Human
Khari Nargabar: Male Dwarf
Tarime Esseas: Female Elf
Rase Heyford: Male Halfling
Collectively, they called themselves the Scales of Justice, seeking for a balanced application of the ways of Tyr.
Whenever a task required the most careful attention to detail or strategy, these five were the first Rolen would trust on, and vice versa, to get the job done. During downtime, the group would engage in Rolen’s favorite pastime: Dragonchess. Unfortunately for them, Rolen’s skills in strategy extended well beyond the battlefield.
At the age of 39, Rolen was traveling by himself through various towns and cities in the main kingdoms in order to understand the lay of the land, and the state of the people. Given his status, he was able to garner housing quite easily among most of the citizens he came by, with one particular night coming in the form of staying with a family of half-elves.
For him, it was a bit strange to see such a family dynamic, given his own upbringing, but he was happy to share stories about his journeys. He was presented with the family’s insistence to take their eldest daughter, Stellah, along to join the order, but he was quick to inform the family that such an endeavor would likely take years before she’d be inducted, as it was for him.
The only other person of note was a peculiar young half-elf girl, who looked no older than 8, and carried a strong resentment towards her family. When the parents parted ways to be with their eldest daughter, Rolen decided to talk with the young girl, named Zoey. When she decided to be evasive with her answers, the Justiciar employed a Zone of Truth to learn she was, in fact, in her late teens, and her appearance was the side-effect of Wild Magic! Still, he decided to stay the night with the family, including teaching Zoey how to play Dragonchess (even if she did lose quite easily), before parting ways the next day to continue this travels.
It seemed like Rolen was finally in a place where he was content, felt like he belonged, and could embody the ideals of the Triad in his own way.
Then came the Invasion of Lurtzog.
The Invasion of Lurtzog
In the somewhat distant land of Orthrog, it was deemed that the Orcs were a direct threat to nearby human settlements. This lead to a call for all forces that could help neutralize the threat. Among armed forces enlisted for the job, Rolen’s division within the Order of the Merciful Sword were called upon to take the lead, and ensure that the mission was successful. A higher officer of a related paladin order, a human by the name of Gylan Cadun, was joined in to lead other members of the orders in.
Rolen’s understanding of the situation was that peaceful measures were meant to be taken first, as while the Orcs posed a threat, none of them actually were proven to attack the settlements.
On the way, however, a report came that the settlement of Treford, right near the Orc town of Lurtzog, had an attack on its food supply the prior evening.
Rolen felt that this required further investigation, but Gylan insisted that this was a clear attack by the Orcs, and that orders were to attack and destroy the town of Lurtzog, and all of its inhabitants, to show that the Paladins were not willing to be intimidated by such cowardly acts. Despite Rolen’s protests, he was unable to sway the minds of the majority of the troops, and the assault was going to proceed as planned.
Rolen asked his group to proceed in advance with him, to try and at least find confirmation of any crime within Lurtzog before the attack was launched. Even though the six of them advanced ahead, by the time they were even able to investigate, a dark realization struck them all.
Gylan’s faction of troops were storming in, launching an attack to wipe out the entire town. In addition, most of the Orcs within Lurtzog at the time were non-warriors, and ill equipped to even defend themselves!
Despite the fact that Orcs were evil as a race, Rolen and the other members of the Scales of Justice were shocked at the abrupt action taken, with Gylan and the twenty-strong force of Paladins slaying any that they came across in the town. Gylan himself, on his horse, spotted Rolen and his group, before issuing an order.
“You! Justiciar! This is no time to be idle! You are compelled by Duty to slay every living Orc in this town!”
Rolen, naturally, found this order difficult to process. Of course, following his orders and demonstrating obedience was the correct thing to do under the tenants of Torm...but at the same time, there was no sense of justice in what was being done, and Ilmater would hardly stand for such a cruel approach!
“Don’t follow that man’s order.” Rolen stated to his group, before stepping forward towards the mounted officer before him. Pointing with a raised hand, the Half-Elf declared,
“We will not follow your command, officer! It is an affront to the values of the Triad!”
Gylan didn’t respond with words, but merely took the response as a violation of Rolen’s compelled duty to obey orders. As he turned, the officer warned Rolen, “You will answer to your superiors after we’re done here…”A rush of flames billowed from one nearby house, and screams could be heard from within. Rolen couldn’t stand idly by, and ran straight into the flames to try and rescue who he could.
The Justiciar was able to make it out the front door, holding two orc children in his arms, before the smoke and heat finally worked their way through his system, and caused him to fall unconscious.
The Dismissal
Rolen woke up several days later, finding himself back in Maleah, and shortly was brought before a tribunal to determine what to do with him. During the course of the trial, a list of violations were issued, many which seemed to be invented by Gylan as a way to further smear Rolen and his group. Finally, the head judge issued a statement to Rolen,
“We cannot find any evidence that the claims made by Officer Gylan are not in accordance to the tenants of his order. We also have no evidence that supports your group of upholding the tenets of your order properly. We have no choice but to issue the flogging and dismissal of your subordinates, Justiciar Rolen, in order to see that the requests of the other Paladin Orders are satisfied.”
Rolen was faced with the realization that his closest allies were going to be tortured and removed from the Order of the Merciful Sword for reasons beyond their control, and without any way to properly defend themselves. With practically no hesitation, Rolen responded,
“I refuse this as a suitable course of action, your Honor. I submit that I, and I alone, be issued the full punishment that would be administered to my subordinates. They committed no wrongdoings. I was the only one who refused to follow Officer Gylan’s orders, and merely ordered my own group to stand down.”
This offer was discussed among the judges, who then agreed to it as a suitable substitute to Gylan’s orders. As a result, Rolen was flogged for 5 days, before he was stripped of his arms and armor, and formally removed from the Order of the Merciful Sword, and sent back to his home Chapel in dishonor. He was 41 by the time the dismissal finished.Rolen has not been allowed to meet with any member of his group since his dismissal, having been branded a traitor of the order.
The Search for Redemption
Rolen returned to his home Chapel of Nynson, where the now scarred, worn man was forced to reconcile with finding a purpose in life. His study deepend for a few months, before an elderly (but still spry) Esard approached him, and presented him with a gift from the Chapel for the years of work Rolen did to help the local community.
It was a new set of arms and armor.
While (seemingly) not inherently magical, the Longsword, Shield, and Plate Armor were carefully crafted for Rolen, each piece carrying signifiers of all three Deities that Rolen aimed to follow: Tyr, Ilmater, and Torm.
“You have spent far too long carrying out the ideals of the Triad to stop now.” Esard noted. She continued, “If the Order of the Merciful Sword will not have you, then you should still continue your work. Who knows? Perhaps you can still influence a positive change in the world still.”
By the next dawn, Rolen was wearing his arms and armor, and before a small, but still adoring, group of parishioners, priests, children, and the headmasters themselves, cheering him on as he set out on his called steed, Trinity.
Unattached to any particular order, it was difficult for Rolen to find work, aside from small tasks here and there. Then he heard rumors of a town called Ilium. Ilium was like most other towns except for the fact that it suffered from an unusual curse: Any who entered couldn’t leave.
Something about this Ilium called out to Rolen, and shortly before his 42th birthday, he headed on into the cursed town to see what he could do about the curse. Shortly after arriving, he realized the town featured little in the form of traditional law being imposed, and took it upon himself to try and act as a bastion of law, justice, and empathy towards the denizens of this strange town.
Time went by fairly quick, and during his time he was able to meet others who were willing to help him take care of the more nefarious of troublemakers...but not without compensation. Having met these unlikely allies, Rolen was compelled enough to establish a base of operations within Ilium. To secure such a location, he was forced to pawn his gifted set of arms and armor. Now established as The Avant Guards, he continues his work alongside the Nixie Theodora, and the unusual Vampiric Noble Bumbershoot von Victrola.
Now’s the time to figure out how to fix things in this strange little town.