Haiden, Guilt-Stricken Berserker [Revised]

[Kyuss]

Name
First: Haiden
Last: (I'm picky with names, will post it when I think of a good one)

Appearance: He is of average attractiveness, perhaps handsome if it weren't for the numerous scars adourning his body, including his face and neck. He has a tribal type facial tattoo.
Race: Human
Height: 6'3
Weight: 230
Age: 27
Build: Muscular, cut, toned
Eyes: Dark w/Red halo
Hair: Black
Facial Hair: Shaved-stubble, never long

Personality Profile: See below, it will make more sense after you read
General Health: Extremely tough & hardy
Deity: Garagos
Initial Alignment: Chaotic Neutral
Profession: Mercenary
Base Class & Proposed Development: Barbarian/Berserker
Habits/Hobbies: Speaking to himself, saying "yeah" after almost every sentance, repeating things others say, drinking, boxing, combat in general, sharpening his scythe
Languages: Common
Weapon of Choice: War-Scythe

Background

Haiden hails from the frozen land of Icewind Dale. His mother was a simple barmaid with a shack on the outskirts of town. She was single, lonely, and desperate to find a man to help provide for her. So it was only natural that she kept her eyes open for potential prospects that walked into the bar. On one terribly cold eve, a stranger walked through the door near closing time. He was very handsome, and had the type of bad boy charm many women go for. He approached her, and through his smooth talking and arrogant charm, he was able to woo her. She was enthralled by him, this man seemed to be more than a man, possessing unearthly grace and charm. His eyes were red (the iris) which she had never seen in a human before, but this was among the last things on her mind. Eventually they returned to her shack and they made love, her replaying all of his spoken promises in her mind. Sleep...

The next morning the man was gone and she could not help but feel used. She sobbed for hours; he had broken her heart. Little did she know that he in fact gave her a gift. He had won this woman’s heart simply to spread his seed, and she would bare his son. Nine months later she gave birth to Haiden, who had the same red eyes as his mysterious father. All was well for some time, she loved and cared for Haiden, he had given her a new purpose in life. Years past and he grew older, working the docks to bring home extra gold for him and his mother. Haiden was also a part of the militia; his first years training with a sword and bow.
Haiden was maturing into a fine young man, but his mother could tell he was different from the rest. He never became ill, he seemed immune, on top of being an exceptional healer. He also seemed to be otherwordly strong and hardy. He possessed the same eerie traits as his father. She took notice that the red halo in his eyes would vary in size depending on his mood. But all in all life was good for the boy with red eyes and his mother, until one tragic day.

Heading home from militia training Haiden stopped at the tavern his mother worked to grab a drink. Almost immediatley after stepping through the door, he saw a drunken man strike his mother. Instantly his hand went to the hilt of his broadsword. They had been harassing her the whole night, and when she refused to serve them any more alcohol, one of the men became violent. He knocked her to the floor, striking her so hard she spit blood and a tooth from her mouth. The bouncer made his move and was walking by Haiden when he suddenly stopped in his tracks. He was studying the boys face and physical features, fear coursed through his veins. The bouncer was not the only one to sense this change, the bar seemed to go quiet, all attention focused on Haiden. An aura was about the young man, his lips were drawn back, he was baring his teeth, clenching them so tightly that it seemed as if they might shatter under the pressure. His eyes widened, the red halo spiraled outward from the pupil, the halo broke, bleeding deep red into the rest of his eyes until they were totally consumed by the color. The aura around him looked as a faint white smoke, and waves of heat as if you were staring off into the distance of the desert. The bar still silent, he started to emit a low growl, and it looked to the patrons as if his muscle mass was increasing. It was! This was no illusion. His muscle mass had almost doubled itself, so much so that it appeared as if his skin would burst. The sound of it was unsettling, like ripping layers off a head of lettuce. All the while his eyes focused on the man that struck his mother. People began to seek refuge underneath their tables and in the corners of the bar, as if waiting for something to explode. Something had snapped in Haiden, and his mother knew now this was his "heritage" from the unearthly man. The unholy union of a powerful spirit and a mortal woman. Someone dropped thier mug of ale, breaking the silence.

When he awoke he was in jail. He could not believe the ache and burning he felt throughout his whole body. The guards told him that he had been unconsious for three days. Not long after regaining conciousness a man drapped in robes and a wizard hat came to his cell and spoke to Haiden. The old man told Haiden that he was possessed by a powerful spirit, a spirit of rage and madness. He told him that his father assumes human form to pass on his seed and to create those like Haiden, for the purpose of spreading chaos and death. He learned for the first time that he was a berserker, and not in the traditional sense. The rage and madness that flows through him is supernatural, and it takes over during times of great pain, be it physical or emotional. Even if the body is damaged beyond repair, the spirit will use its vessel to fight until it is completly decimated. Haiden is not the first documented case, but they are extremely rare. And to find this out at such a cost...the wizard also informed him that he had killed his own mother in his rage, along with six tavern patrons, including two of his best friends. Haiden was devistated.

The wizard was able to convince the law to spare Haidens life and instead banish him from Icewind Dale. He suggested shipping him to Rashemen to teach the boy how to better control his rage and emotions. It was done, with his life spared, they threw him on a ship to make him someone elses problem. After spending some years in the land of Rashemen, he had learned to better control himself. He achieved entrance into the Ice Troll Berserker Lodge and was trained in combat by some of Rashemens top warriors. Eventually the time came for Haiden to leave, and to become his own man. He decided to travel to Luskan to to seek his fortune. Settling on becoming a sword for hire, he signed up with a local mercenary unit based out of Luskan. It was here that he met up with Keira, the only one in the unit that he made friends with. It was one of many units they would contract themselves to. Poor leadership, to many casualties, internal conflict, lack of funds, and fear of Haiden himself, had caused them to travel abroad and fight many battles with various mercenary factions. His final unit, more brigand and cutthroat than mercenary, had a small camp near Yarter. They met a particularly bloody end; in no small part due to Haiden. This particular group had no clue of Haidens sleeping power, and had made the mistake of turning on both him and Keira when the groups morality had come into question by the outspoken woman. Several of their conflicts had involved the murder of women and children, as well as some lewd acts. This caused the two to rethink their current situation. Keira had words with the captain and several of their men, which broke out into what was to be the murder of two "traitors." Keira was mortally wounded in the fray, in front of Haidens eyes. The rage swelled, the halo broke, and the spirit took control, exacting revenge on any who didn't flee in terror. He awoke on the outskirts of the High Forest with no memory of how he had come to be there. With Keira dead, and no plan, he traveled for what seemed like an eternity south until he came to The Way Inn. There, he booked passage with a caravan south, to the Sword Coast, eventually finding himself in Baldur's Gate. It is here he decided to take up the job of a sellsword, bodygaurd, and adventurer.

Personality: Well as you may have guessed Haiden deals with an incredible amount of guilt, every waking second of every day. Haiden doesn’t speak much at all, he usually leaves the talking to his comrads. His voice is mono-toned and distant. He has aquired a slight Rashemen accent from living with them. He does often speak to himself, often times shouting things that have no context to what's happening around him. For this reason, many people think he is insane. His eyes are typically unfocused, as if he tries not to let reality set in. He often appears to be battling with some unseen force (though we now know it is the spirt inside him), and is easily distracted. He seems to only half-listen or pay attention to things going on around him, unless in combat. When out of combat for to long, he has muscle tremors and horrible mood swings, as if he's having withdrawls. Combat is his drug, and he is a full blown addict. However, he has rare moments of clarity that reveal a calm and collected, intelligent man; with an almost encyclopedic knowledge of many things, namely battle tactics and humanoid anatomy. It is clear that his constant internal struggling, and massive guilt of the murder of his mother and friends at his own hands has shattered his psyche. He has tried to kill his emotions and not to become to attached to anyone, for fear that he may once again go berserk and harm innocents. However, when employed, good and evil matter little to Haiden, he follows orders. He was typically sent in on the front lines of battles with seemingly impossible odds. The people of his former mercenary units viewed him as a "weapon," and he himself has come to believe this is all he is. He is over all a nice man and will help those in need. He has lost any fear of death, in tradition of most of his type. Feeling death is the only way to atone for his sins, and free his tortured soul.

Goals: He seeks to gain complete control over himself, repair his shattered psyche, and have comrads and friends without fear of losing control and hurting those he loves. If those were to ever be achieved, he wishes to start his own berserker lodge and/or mercenary unit.

Possible Plot-Hook Ideas and Misc Facts: Not really sure what to write here, more to come.

[TheVoid]

Two points

1. If he is human, then he is human. We suggest that you play what is on your character sheet if all possible. I would say having a mysterious birth of supernatural origin is more likely the origin story of an outsider race like aasimar, Tiefling or in this case more than likely he would be considered some sort of hag-spawn.

2. if he killed twenty one people. I do not think he would be released by the authorities of ten towns. Mass homicide like that would be inexcusable and the punishment would be harsh.

[DMogorgon]

/////it seems to me this story works just fine if he escaped the authorities and fled the icewind dales rather than getting arrested (this averts the likely scenario that the barbarians woudl have just put the mad dog down, and further reinforces the 'guilt' aspect, as he continues on knowing that he evaded punishment for his crimes).

Otherwise, just play him as a human and the rest seems fine.