Post by Rigil Kent on Feb 20, 2017 11:11:47 GMT -6
This is what I'm currently thinking for the PC (pending adjustment according to campaign specifics.)
Name: Luther Reuß von Erlichshausen (This will potentially change, depending upon the flavor of the world.)
Revised (and more fleshed out) history: Born the second son of a very prestigious noble family, Luther Reuß von Erlichshausen was intended for the Church at an early age but was never a studious boy. Instead, he was known as something of a terror, constantly getting into fights with other boys his age and older over matters that only children could consider important. As he grew, this tendency toward aggressive action became more of a liability, especially once he entered Church service. Even as a young acolyte dedicated to the cause of Light, he brawled (which led to many interesting services as acolytes were not supposed to sport bruised hands and black eyes.)
Because of this tendency to violence, the Church leaders quickly turned to the Order of the Phoenix (?), a religious military order under the righteous command of Ser Günther von König. Known far and wide for his own heroic deeds over the last score of years, Ser Günther took young Luther under his wing and made him his squire. Luther would quickly learn that his new master brooked no insolence and demanded absolute obedience, two things that the young squire struggled to learn. It was under the command of this holy knight that Luther eventually learned to become a true paladin, thus earning great prestige for House Erlichshausen who would later capitalize on his successes to elevates themselves amongst the [Great Houses? Landsraad? Assembly of Nobles?]
It was also under Ser Günther that Luther would be exposed to the Potentium Heresy that claimed there were no true gods save the Creator who dwelt in Light and his hated rival known only as the Dark One. The so-called gods, this heresy claimed, were simply beings who had once been mortal but had obtained great power and adopted a false mask of divinity to elevate themselves above normal men. It was from the Creator (or the Dark One) that 'divine' abilities were derived from, not the false gods who more and more led the world to ruin. In later years, as he grew in stature and authority, Luther would find himself leaning more and more toward this belief to the point that he would pay only lip service to his nation's patron deities. By the time of his "Great Betrayal," he had fully adopted the Potentium Heresy and openly praised the Creator in lieu of those he considered false.
Historical PC: Ser Luther advanced steadily within the ranks of the Order of the Phoenix with Ser Günther acting as both a patron and an adviser. As time passed, he slowly learned that the upper ranks of his Order was almost entirely composed of paladins who had adopted the Potentium Heresy and were striving to remake the Knights of the Phoenix in their image. By that point, he had adopted the Heresy as his own orthodoxy, and embraced the Order's goals as his own. By the time he reached his thirties, Ser Luther was considered to be the second-in-command of the Knights and was clearly Ser Günther's intended heir. At the same time, Luther was being manipulated by his own family to serve their own less than honorable goals, though at the time, he was still too inexperienced with political matters to realize this. Throughout this entire time, Luther also adventured extensively across the land along with the other PCs.
And then, everything blew up. Manipulated by members of Luther's family, the King had Ser Günther seized for heresy, tried and executed, all within a matter of hours, and then declared the entire Order to be heretical. This was an overreach that the King would soon regret as the Knights of the Phoenix were well-regarded by the smallfolk of the nation for just being really good guys (and gals) while the King was considered a fool and a tyrant. When the King's men came to arrest the Order at their chapterhouse, hundreds of peasants (likely instigated by members of Ser Luther's own House) rioted against them; unarmored and mostly weaponless, dozens of these smallfolk were butchered in the streets and seeing this, the Order rode forth, seeking justice and revenge. Ser Luther met the Crown Prince in single combat during this riot and slew him. This death would send shockwaves through the kingdom and the Order of the Phoenix fled from the city to regroup. Many of their knight would foreswear the Order after this and seek refuge with other militant orders, but a surprising number of those who wore the Phoenix stood firm with Ser Luther, now acclaimed to be their Grand Master. Assembling an army from barons already furious with the king, many of whom had dark reputations, the Order waged war against the crown and, in doing so, firmly established themselves as the opposition. The King, acting unwisely once more (perhaps due to the manipulations of House Erlichshausen), led his army against these rebels and in doing so, sealed his fate. As his son, he met Ser Luther in single combat on the field and those who witnessed it claimed it was not a duel but an execution; the battle-hardened Knight is said to have slain the overweight and foolish King with a single mighty blow of his warhammer, thus hurling the entire kingdom into crisis. Official history is sketchy about what happened after this grand battle apart from House Erlichshausen rallying the remaining Great Houses together in a grand alliance to crush the rebels, and of Ser Luther, now known as the Traitor-Knight, all that is written is that he would face his old comrades in battle one last time some years later. The Order of the Phoenix was disbanded, their chapterhouses looted, and their names stricken from the records, though rumor has it that most of the Order's many treasures were never found...
Current PC: As a 1st level character, Luther has likely just been elevated to full knighthood by Ser Günther. He will be a Paladin, but will be Lawful Neutral to reflect his very strict tutelage by the grim Ser Günther, but he is not without a sense of humor himself; it just takes a while for his natural personality to begin reasserting itself. As stated above, he only really pays lip service to the gods - if Forgotten Realms deities, then probably Helm, Torm or Tyr, depending on which is best - and is actually a follower of a religious heresy that might no longer be considered an issue in the "future."
So, it probably looks like this: LN Human Male Paladin (Noble Knight background) - this means he'll have the following skill proficiencies: Athletics, History, Insight and Persuasion (though I don't expect he'll necessarily be the face man.) With regard to his Background, I chose the following:
Name: Luther Reuß von Erlichshausen (This will potentially change, depending upon the flavor of the world.)
Revised (and more fleshed out) history: Born the second son of a very prestigious noble family, Luther Reuß von Erlichshausen was intended for the Church at an early age but was never a studious boy. Instead, he was known as something of a terror, constantly getting into fights with other boys his age and older over matters that only children could consider important. As he grew, this tendency toward aggressive action became more of a liability, especially once he entered Church service. Even as a young acolyte dedicated to the cause of Light, he brawled (which led to many interesting services as acolytes were not supposed to sport bruised hands and black eyes.)
Because of this tendency to violence, the Church leaders quickly turned to the Order of the Phoenix (?), a religious military order under the righteous command of Ser Günther von König. Known far and wide for his own heroic deeds over the last score of years, Ser Günther took young Luther under his wing and made him his squire. Luther would quickly learn that his new master brooked no insolence and demanded absolute obedience, two things that the young squire struggled to learn. It was under the command of this holy knight that Luther eventually learned to become a true paladin, thus earning great prestige for House Erlichshausen who would later capitalize on his successes to elevates themselves amongst the [Great Houses? Landsraad? Assembly of Nobles?]
It was also under Ser Günther that Luther would be exposed to the Potentium Heresy that claimed there were no true gods save the Creator who dwelt in Light and his hated rival known only as the Dark One. The so-called gods, this heresy claimed, were simply beings who had once been mortal but had obtained great power and adopted a false mask of divinity to elevate themselves above normal men. It was from the Creator (or the Dark One) that 'divine' abilities were derived from, not the false gods who more and more led the world to ruin. In later years, as he grew in stature and authority, Luther would find himself leaning more and more toward this belief to the point that he would pay only lip service to his nation's patron deities. By the time of his "Great Betrayal," he had fully adopted the Potentium Heresy and openly praised the Creator in lieu of those he considered false.
Historical PC: Ser Luther advanced steadily within the ranks of the Order of the Phoenix with Ser Günther acting as both a patron and an adviser. As time passed, he slowly learned that the upper ranks of his Order was almost entirely composed of paladins who had adopted the Potentium Heresy and were striving to remake the Knights of the Phoenix in their image. By that point, he had adopted the Heresy as his own orthodoxy, and embraced the Order's goals as his own. By the time he reached his thirties, Ser Luther was considered to be the second-in-command of the Knights and was clearly Ser Günther's intended heir. At the same time, Luther was being manipulated by his own family to serve their own less than honorable goals, though at the time, he was still too inexperienced with political matters to realize this. Throughout this entire time, Luther also adventured extensively across the land along with the other PCs.
And then, everything blew up. Manipulated by members of Luther's family, the King had Ser Günther seized for heresy, tried and executed, all within a matter of hours, and then declared the entire Order to be heretical. This was an overreach that the King would soon regret as the Knights of the Phoenix were well-regarded by the smallfolk of the nation for just being really good guys (and gals) while the King was considered a fool and a tyrant. When the King's men came to arrest the Order at their chapterhouse, hundreds of peasants (likely instigated by members of Ser Luther's own House) rioted against them; unarmored and mostly weaponless, dozens of these smallfolk were butchered in the streets and seeing this, the Order rode forth, seeking justice and revenge. Ser Luther met the Crown Prince in single combat during this riot and slew him. This death would send shockwaves through the kingdom and the Order of the Phoenix fled from the city to regroup. Many of their knight would foreswear the Order after this and seek refuge with other militant orders, but a surprising number of those who wore the Phoenix stood firm with Ser Luther, now acclaimed to be their Grand Master. Assembling an army from barons already furious with the king, many of whom had dark reputations, the Order waged war against the crown and, in doing so, firmly established themselves as the opposition. The King, acting unwisely once more (perhaps due to the manipulations of House Erlichshausen), led his army against these rebels and in doing so, sealed his fate. As his son, he met Ser Luther in single combat on the field and those who witnessed it claimed it was not a duel but an execution; the battle-hardened Knight is said to have slain the overweight and foolish King with a single mighty blow of his warhammer, thus hurling the entire kingdom into crisis. Official history is sketchy about what happened after this grand battle apart from House Erlichshausen rallying the remaining Great Houses together in a grand alliance to crush the rebels, and of Ser Luther, now known as the Traitor-Knight, all that is written is that he would face his old comrades in battle one last time some years later. The Order of the Phoenix was disbanded, their chapterhouses looted, and their names stricken from the records, though rumor has it that most of the Order's many treasures were never found...
Current PC: As a 1st level character, Luther has likely just been elevated to full knighthood by Ser Günther. He will be a Paladin, but will be Lawful Neutral to reflect his very strict tutelage by the grim Ser Günther, but he is not without a sense of humor himself; it just takes a while for his natural personality to begin reasserting itself. As stated above, he only really pays lip service to the gods - if Forgotten Realms deities, then probably Helm, Torm or Tyr, depending on which is best - and is actually a follower of a religious heresy that might no longer be considered an issue in the "future."
So, it probably looks like this: LN Human Male Paladin (Noble Knight background) - this means he'll have the following skill proficiencies: Athletics, History, Insight and Persuasion (though I don't expect he'll necessarily be the face man.) With regard to his Background, I chose the following:
- Personality Traits: Injury (crush those who do me harm, ruining their names and salting their fields ... so he clearly holds a grudge) and Regal (you only have to look at me to understand that I am a cut above the unwashed peasants - this is due to both his high birth and his mentor's insistence on always looking one's best as a paladin.)
- Ideal: Family (family relationships are always more important than friends - I sort of see this as him having been easily manipulated by his more politically-minded family because he grew up in a more black and white world than they did, so for the longest time, he could not say "No" to them. If we go with the notion that, in the "Future" his House has risen to the Crown, then this gets even worse for him because now he really can't say no.
- Bond: Loyalty (my loyalty to a supreme ruler is completely steady. Yeah. That's not going to bite him in the ass at all. Normally, this would likely be mostly toward the Grand Master of his Order instead of the Crown but as noted in the Historical PC bit, that screws him over pretty bad. That said, with no Order of the Phoenix still around...)
- Flaw: Shame (I constantly bring shame to my family with what I say and how I act. This is especially valid if we go with the notion that his House is now the rulers in the "Future." Simply by existing, he causes trouble because he is the Traitor...