Kaius Shieldbearer Biography, Home is but a memory

[Thagrin]

First Name: Kaius
Last Name: Shieldbearer

Appearance:
Race: Aasimar
Age: 27
Height: 6 ft 4 in
Weight: 230 lbs
Eye: Pupiless and Silver grey
Hair: Silver, long and knotted in a tail
Facial Hair Style: Minor stubble

Personality Profile:
General Health: Muscular and athletic
Deity: Helm
Initial Alignment: Lawful Neutral
Profession: Charismatic Warrior and Healer, Squad leader if needed (party leader)
Base Class & Proposed Development: Favored Soul, Warpriest
Habits/Hobbies: Enjoys dangerous expeditions into new territories with friends. Not a heavy drinker but will find time to share an ale with good company at the end of a day. Will do his very best to never break an oath, and is a tireless ally to those that stand by him in turn.
Languages: Common and Celestrial
Weapon of Choice: Bastard Sword, His custom forged Bastard Sword, Iron Hand, is the embodiment of his faith; Tireless, hard, and true.
Goals: To be a worthy addition to the Helmites, to protect the lone wanderer, stand in defense of the weak, and offer healing to the wounded or dying, Kaius has since been well educated in the manner of the knight and healer.

Background story:

Spending much of his childhood defending the weaker children of the town of Soubar from the more aggressive children and even the odd adult scum, Kaius has lived his life in service to Helm before ever learning the name. Plagued by dreams as a child of a resounding chorus high up in the mountains surrounded by a foreign sunrise, he has always felt a stranger in the town he called home. Despite the aasimar heritage, he would come to think he was merely a human as he grew in the care of his foster parents. He grew taller and stronger than most other children in Soubar, a town that seemed to embody the very essence of the rogue's lifestyle, but he had a very different heart. He preferred truth and honesty, and dealing in plain sight with honor. While other children stole for fun or food, he would work tirelessly with some of the craftsmen or merchants to earn what coin he could to aid his family. It was while working for a merchant who travelled every season to Soubar that he met the armed guard that protected her. He shared his knowledge of the sword and shield with Kaius, and told him passing details of Helm, the god the strong disciplined man put his faith in. Kaius cherished those days spent working for the travelling merchant, for he learned a bit about himself in the process. He admired the guards sense of pride and martial discipline, the power with which he moved even while wearing such heavy armor. This lifestyle appealed to him, and he thought one day he would save up enough to afford his own set of armor and see the world, protecting others on the road with him. With that guard, at times he felt like he belonged, like he had finally made a true friend, not like the fickle moods of the children he had defended time and time again, only to be stolen from or lied to. He always felt a stranger in this place that he had spent near his whole life in, but never knew why until one fateful day.

An alarm went out across the town, a fire had broken out in one of the homes. Upon racing through town he discovered it was his foster parents' small hovel on the edge of town. The blaze was spreading quickly and screams could be heard from inside. Most of the town just stood dumbstruck and called it bad luck, Kaius however, charged headfirst into the blaze without regard to himself. In that blaze he learned that while most was turning to ash, the flames licked at his skin but he would not burn. Without questioning the anomaly he rushed further in to grab his foster father and carried him to safety. The silent villagers gathered around a man half alive and burned horribly. Not a single priest was there that day, and none uttered a prayer, too shocked for one to come to mind. Kaius with tears in his eyes, laid his hands upon his father to comfort him, as the man still smoldering gasped for air a cool blue and white light shone from Kaius' hands and wrapped the man's body in a calming aura. As the light dissipated, Kaius' father was revealed in near perfect health, the pock marked skin looking as normal as before, the charred fissures in his skin closed and healed completely. The villagers gathered around were shocked and dispersed quickly to spread the gossip. The kind old man who had raised Kaius from a child to a man near grown sat up slowly, disbelief in his eyes, but knowing that the time had come for Kaius to know more about himself. The time had come when the calling of Helm became too much to ignore, and so Kais' father told him of how two otherworldly beings left him in their care. He shared what little information he knew, and told him that perhaps somewhere out there in this realm, the answers he sought could be found.

Kaius made his preparations to begin his travels, even amidst the barbed whispers about him behind his back he stayed focus on his task. He worked for the local smith, eventually earning enough trust to be allowed to work his forge in hopes of earning through sweat his very own sword. He had trained with sticks with the guard, and so was familiar with the stances, the thrusts and parries, but this would be a true weapon, one that he would use to carve his way toward his own destiny. From the iron shavings he had collected, and from the few bars he could afford of his own, he forged his very first sword. Not knowing the ways of Helm, but feeling the name weighing heavily upon his heart, he carved into the hilt the symbol of the gauntlet, crudely done as he was no artist, but in it he placed all his faith and dedication. Iron hand had been born, a sword that he would strive to be like, strong and enduring, hard like iron, and dedicated to Helm.

With his blade in hand he gathered the remains of his gold and purchased for himself a polished breastplate and set his sights upon the road. The goodbyes to his foster parents were brief, none wanted it to be a true farewell, but all knew it best for Kaius to find his own way in this world, to get away from the rot of Soubar before it consumed even his pure spirit. The journey was a brief one, for Kaius knew before he set out into the world, he had much to learn in the ways of a soldier and in the ways of Helm. Once he made it to Baldur's Gate in 1343 by caravan, he sought out the temple of Helm, and by the teachings of the Helmites he has become a disciplined soldier, a healer, and leader of men. During his time in training he learned of a plague and undead ravaging his hometown of Soubar. With nothing left to call home in this realm he decided to end his post in Baldur's Gate and set out. It is the rest of the realm that awaits him now, and in the finding of good friends and worthy challengers, he will discover himself along the way. There are many out there that need the work of Helm, and he would not rest until he has visited upon every one of them, be it protection, healing, or the fury of Helm, he would see it done.

[DM Theophanies]

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