First Name: Edazarode
Appearance: Tall, and obviously strong. He has long and natural body hair present on his chest and his arms, almost like a bear. He has a chiseled facial structure that accentuates his bright blue eyes. His face is seemingly always content and eyes bright, as if he was living the moment every waking second.
Race: Human (Northerner from Icewind Dale.)
Age: 23
Height: 6'11'' This man towers at almost 7 feet tall. While tall compared to humans from the South, he is about average for a man of the Tundra.
Weight: 385 lb
Eyes: Wide blue eyes, full of content.
Hair: Very light brown, like a timber wolf. His long hair hangs down past his shoulder blades.
Facial Hair Style:Allowed to grow in a natural fashion, his hair grown in some places, but he does keep it slightly trimmed as to not reach past his neck.
Astrology:
Born 28 Nightal, 1331 DR.
Year of Leaping Dolphin
Born under the Sign of the Stone
and with Gibbous Selûne under the sign of the Serpent
Those born under the sign of the Stone are complex, tenacious and fearless. Proud and independent, they have great strength of character and rarely compromise. They thrive on challenge and have an innate belief in their own destiny.
Those born with Selûne under the sign of the Serpent have good memories and are articulate, strong-willed and resourceful, emotional and enigmatic. They have quick responses and are prone to sudden mood changes.
Personality Profile: Edazarode is about as arrogant as they come. He believes that he is nigh-unbeatable in battle until the time comes when he loses. He is always willing to put up a fight. Upon defeat, he will spend all of his time training and coming up with strategies to defeat whoever put him down. This makes Edazarode extremely competitive, but he doesn't take defeats personally. Failure is a part of battle, and that is taught to him by his faith in Tempos.
General Health: He will be the pinnacle of physical health. His mental health however, is another story. He receives frequent headaches on a day-to-day basis, the only cure for which is battle. While smart, he prefers to take action rather than plan accordingly. This makes him adaptable to sudden, unexpected combats.
Deities of Choice: Tempus (Primary), Lathander, Gond, Auril
Initial Alignment: Chaotic Neutral
Profession: He has some skill in building make-shift weapons and armor, so he sometimes assisted blacksmiths with weapons. Coming from the North, he also has experience in hunter-gathering. Dazarode's primary profession, however, is fighting for gold.
Base Class & Proposed Development: Barbarian/Divine Champion.
Habits/Hobbies:
Prayer - Before each battle, Edazarode will make a prayer to his god Tempos.
Rage - Dazarode takes his time after rage to relax. He will kneel down and offer a prayer to Tempos, and try to completely rid his head of all thought. He does not really know why he does this, but in reality, it is to help the stress that comes from losing oneself within rage.
Weapon of Choice: Greataxe, but he will choose whatever weapon he gets.
Background: Edazarode was born on 28 Nightal, 1331 DR in the Tribe of the Wolf.
Like most of his tribesmen, Edazarode always lived by one ideal. It is the strength of your arm, and nothing else, that allows you to survive in this harsh world. As an impressionable youth, Edazarode enamored the shaman of his tribe. The shaman preached the teachings of Tempos. All is fair in war. It is the mighty that will succeed. Do not fear, for death is a natural part of battle - and death at the end of the sword is glorious. Battle will bring forth those meant to lead. And the rest – shall die.
Edazarode took these lessons to heart, and he yearned for battle. The idea of battle became the most important thing to him, and there was only one other thing that came close - for it was at an early youth, during the Rites of Passage for his tribe, that he would find his most trusted companions. He and his companions hunted down the beasts of the Savage Frontier. They had one goal and one goal only - prove that they were the mightiest in their tribe. When they came of age, they were sent on a skirmish against one of the fishing villages. The villagers put up little resistance. The battle was short, there is no challenge or honor in killing defenseless townsfolk who could barely hold a spear.
The chieftain of the Tribe of the Wolf gathered all the Reghedmen Tribes to take complete control over the Ten Towns, a confederation of fishing villages in Icewind Dale. All the tribes were called forth to join his army, and their goal - to force the denizens of Ten Towns into slavery. A faction started among the Tempos-worshipping members of the Tribe of the Wolf. The shaman was the leading member of this faction, and took Edazarode under his wing, convincing him to take sides. The faction found it disgraceful and dishonorable to attack when it wasn't necessary. Edazarode took his companions into the faction. It was an uphill battle to convince them to turn against their fellow tribesmen, only because they forged a bond greater than blood did they agree to join.
The faction and its warriors came to the Ten Towns a mere three hours before the battle offering assistance. The council was suspicious of their offered help. To prove their loyalty, they agreed to fend off the first wave of barbarians. Even if the faction was to betray the Ten Towns, it would not advantage the barbarians turning against them if in clear sight. The council understood all help was needed in the upcoming conflict, and reluctantly agreed to the terms. Edazarode was among the frontline warriors that fended off the attack. The first wave was the harshest, many of his companions felled. Only Tymora's luck or Tempus' blessing could explain how he escaped the attack with his life. His wooden greataxe had broken apart during the battle. He rushed to the smiths to acquire a new weapon before the next wave. There he met a dwarf named Theodar Battleforge, who helped the smiths craft him a new axe.
Theodar decided to accompany Edazarode, the two fought rest of the battle together and developed a close bond in the battle. While it was a strenuous battle, the Ten Towns were ready for the barbarians due to leaked information. The townsfolk set up strategies and traps that made the battle a massacre for the barbarian army. Although his side had won, Edazarode felt regret that the battle was one-sided. Now considered a traitor amongst his people, he departed Icewind Dale, eagerly awaiting his next battle.
Goals: Edazarode wishes to start a mercenary group that is neutral in politics, but willing to lend their aid to any army that requires additional resources. The group will be elite and tight-knit, as well as close friends.
The group will have an ideology heavily based on Tempus' Dogma.
"Tempus does not win battles—Tempus helps the deserving warrior
win battles. War is fair in that it oppresses all sides equally and that in
any given battle, a mortal may be slain or become a great leader among his
or her companions. War should not be feared, but seen as a natural force, a
human force, the storm that civilization brings by its very existence."
They will fight for the sake of fighting itself, but never lend themselves to starting a conflict. Most of their fighting will be practice-oriented and based on hunting monsters until conflict is to arise. If it ever becomes unclear on which they side they should assist, they will have a priest of Tempus pray for guidance.
While he intends for his group to remain neutral, he will claim that if any of his men kill him, they can take command and can do with the group what they will.
"Soon, everyone will know our name!"
Edazarode wishes to gain the favor of Tempus, but he does not claim he can do it on his own. The main thing he wishes for, are life-long companions that will share in his glory.
Possible Plot-Hook Ideas and Misc Facts:
The idea of subjecting yourself to rage may be supernatural, but there is no claim that it is not emotionally or mentally challenging. If Edazarode continues on the path that he is on, he may find it difficult to focus on keeping his faith and battles sacred. Every battle can scar you, and that eventually leads not into the domain of Tempus, but of Garagos. This is something that Dazarode thinks little of, but it is a threat none-the-less. There is a thin line between fighting due to nature and fighting purely for pleasure.
Sources:
The North: Guide to the Savage Frontier (1996)
Faiths & Avatars (1996)
The Crystal Shard (1998)