First Name: Lazarus "Raze"
Last Name: Khross
Appearance:
Race: Human
Age: 26
Height 6'0" (182.88cm)
Weight: 160 lbs. (72.57kg)
Eyes: Emerald
Hair: Black
Facial Hair Style: Clean shaven, light stubble during extended deployments
Personality Profile:
General Health: Good
Deity: Torm (The Triad)
Initial Alignment: Lawful Good
Profession: Knight, Paladin, Guard, Triadic Knight
Base Class & Proposed Development: Paladin, RP is focused around the development and life of a Triadic Knight
Habits/Hobbies: Enjoys reading, chess and theological discussions/debates. Has a tendency to be long-winded during conversation. Habitually adjusts the fit of whatever armor he is wearing when standing idly, tends to express his emotions more visibly than he wants to.
Languages: Common, Dwarven, Elven
Weapon of Choice: Longsword
Background: Lazarus Khross is the youngest son of an unimportant farming family just outside the walls of Cormyr. When he was six years of age, while out fetching water for the livestock, his family's estate was raided by Orcs, leaving his father, mother and older brother deceased. He was found several days later, curled under the blankets of his bed, by a band of Tyrran priests and paladins who had stopped to investigate the vacancy of the farm while on their way out of the city.
He was taken to the temple of Tyr in the city and adopted into the service of the temple as a squire. Having been raised in this manner, Lazarus has known mostly temple service and dedication to duty throughout his life, eventually swearing his life in service to Tyr as a Paladin.
During his service to Tyr, Lazarus was eager and aggressively pursued the administration of justice. The combination of his inexperience, his eagerness, his devotion and his youth led to him carving a particularly bloody path in his wake. While his service was always focused on the pursuit of justice and the punishment of the wicked, he did not practice mercy nor pursue diplomacy in many cases.
Despite the warnings of many of his more experienced companions, Lazarus considered himself to be doing the right thing and considered his companions to be entirely too tolerant and soft on evil. He believed himself to be exactly what the order needed and refused to change.
This went on for a period of about four years (starting when he was 16 until he was 20). Eventually, his methods began to wear on him and his conscience became burdened by doubt and guilt in how he had pursued justice over the last four years. He became crippled by these doubts and insecure in his decisions, eventually finding himself unable to perform his duty at all. At the climax of this doubt, his connection to Tyr was severed, not by the work of Tyr, but by his own hand. Overwhelmed with his own sins in the name of righteousness, Lazarus withdrew from his service as a Paladin and gradually grew away from his connection to Tyr until it was completely severed.
It was at this point in life when Lazarus began pursuing mundane employment. He eventually was hired on as an estate guard for a minor noble family in Cormyr, becoming the personal bodyguard of the family's daughter. He served well in this capacity and eventually began to mend the scar in his own soul through demonstrating mercy and charity to those around him.
After five years of service to the same family (at age 25), Lazarus had repaired his connection to Tyr and, though weakened by the time spent severed, returned to his calling as a Paladin. It was at this same time that the daughter of the noble family was preparing a trip to the Sword Coast to explore Candlekeep.
Lazarus, now no longer a part of the order, extended his duty as her guard to this trip and traveled with her to the Sword Coast. There, with his connection to Try restored and his service as a Paladin renewed, he intends to put into practice the ideals he learned to appreciate through both his failure and his redemption.
Goals: After some investigation, Lazarus is seeking membership in the Order of the Silver Rose and hopes to serve well within their ranks. He also works to promote the use of diplomacy over violence and the demonstration of mercy and wisdom in action. Beyond these, he is working to try and restore some measure of just law system to the lawless regions surrounding Baldur's Gate to discourage vigilantism and rule by might.
Possible Plot-Hook Ideas and Misc Facts:
Misc Facts:Lazarus focuses on the ascertainment of truth and is therefore calculated and careful in his actions and decisions. While "good" and "evil" are often argued to be relative and ambiguous, truth is absolute and unwavering. To this end, Lazarus often tries to see past the surface appearance of things and ferret out the truth behind them.
Lazarus wields a longsword entitled "Truthbringer" that is rumored to have one time dispelled enchantments and illusions affecting its wielder and exuded an aura of truth (similar to the Circle of Truth spell). It does not currently display either of these properties. He will not draw Truthbringer from its sheathe frivolously.
Lazarus holds a negative disposition toward deceit, though he understands its tactical value in very specific situations. As such, he attempts to avoid lying but will withhold information from individuals or offer only parts of the truth if he feels the situation calls for it. However, he responds negatively to outright lying and even disfavors things like magic tricks and illusions for their core of deception.
Plot Hooks:
- Lazarus quietly pursues a way to restore Truthbringer to its full power and seeks information regarding what may have caused it to lose its power to begin with.
- People and events from his past may occasionally haunt him (during his time of merciless pursuit of justice)
- Lazarus has done study into religions, cults, demons, devils, the abyssal planes, shadows, undead and necromancy throughout his time as a Paladin. Anything related to these is likely to spark his interest and prompt a natural response.
- His desire to see a legitimate and just law system restored to many areas of the Baldur's Gate region may see him making attempts to clear those areas of threats and dangers that otherwise keep the region too dangerous for regular patrol and authority