Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Aeric" data-source="post: 1931352" data-attributes="member: 17012">Aeric BannierPaladin of Haelyn and Lord Protector of RoesoneA Birthright CharacterAeric was the younger son of a minor landholding noble in the Barony of Roesone.  Blessed with a potent Bloodline of Anduiras, the former god of war, Aeric was promised to the Temple of Haelyn at an early age, where he would grow up to become a paladin of Anduiras' successor.Aeric's mentor was an odd man, a paladin out of favor with the Temple for his acceping attitude towards elves and magic-users (both of which were considered evil by the Temple).  Aeric inherited all of his mentor's egalitarian views, so that by the time he was granted full paladin status, he chose not to join the ranks of the Temple army and instead struck off on his own to become a wandering knight-errant.  He was not well-liked by the elders of the Temple, and the feelings were mutual.As a youth, Aeric had met and befriended Maeghan, a girl a few years older than him, who was determined to become a mercenary.  The two met many years later, when Aeric defeated her in a tournament.  He only learned it was his friend after she came to him to give him her horse and armor as per the terms of the tournament.  Instead, Maeghan became his companion in arms, and eventally, his lover as well.Shortly before the aforementioned tournament, Aeric paid a visit to a noble household in his homeland.  While on a hunting trip in the local woods with a pair of noble brothers, Aeric became separated from his hosts and lost in the woods.  He was then attacked by a wild elf woman, whom he later helped fight off a monster.  Stricken by his uncharacteristic kindness, the elf, Rhiannon, decided to follow him on his adventures.  It was revealed much later that she was the granddaughter of Rhobhe Manslayer, the entity responsible for the anti-human terrorists known as the Ghaele Sidhe.  It was also revealed that she was in love with Aeric, and that he unknowingly returned those feelings.Aeric was not terribly good at being a paladin.  He was a staunch enemy of corruption and evil, but he was also hot-tempered (a side-effect of his Divine Wrath bloodline ability), and outspoken to the point of rudeness, and clashed constantly with the Temple of Haelyn.  Because of all of this, he lost his paladin status before too long.  Unfortunately, other things were happening at the time, and so his atonement would have to wait.The Gorgon, a creature of terrible darkness, was waging war on the nearby nation of Ghoere as the first step in a campaign of conquest.  When Aeric's older brother fell in battle against the Gorgon's troops, Aeric became the heir to his father's lands.  At the suggestion of his mentor, Aeric married the young and newly-crowned Baroness of Roesone, thus consolidating her rule with the promise of an heir.  It was purely a political union, but it still broke the heart of Maeghan, who remained in service to Aeric regardless.Aeric used his new position as Lord Protector of Roesone to create a multi-kingdom alliance, including the normally-reclusive elves to the north, to fight the Gorgon.  During a vital battle to retake the capital city of Ghoere, Maeghan was slain in combat.  Aeric was devastated, having always felt guilty for betraying her, even though he knew he was serving the greater good by doing so.  That night, with tears in his eyes, he prayed for forgiveness in the ruins of a Temple of Haelyn.  An elderly priest found him there, and the two had a brief conversation about what it meant to be a paladin and serve Haelyn.  In the end, the priest gave Aeric a sword and disappeared, for he was the ghost of the priest whose temple Aeric was praying in.  The sword he was given turned out to be the legendary lost Sword of Roele (a unique Holy Avenger).  Aeric's paladin status was restored to him.As Aeric lay in his tent, awaiting the climactic battle with the Gorgon's army the following day, Rhiannon came to him.  Without a word, the two of them consummated their long-denied love for one another that night.  She was gone in the morning, and Aeric never saw her again.The battle that day was an epic one.  Aeric, armed with the Sword of Roele, rode out in front of his army to challenge the Gorgon, who was mounted on a red dragon of colossal size.  The clouds parted and a single ray of light shone down upon Aeric.  Lowering his lance, Aeric spurred his steed into a charge, killing the dragon with a single hit.  Aeric did grievous damage to the Gorgon as well, but he was ultimately killed by it.  However, the army that Aeric had created drove the Gorgon and its horde back to their own hellish land.  The threat to the lands of men was ended, at least for the time being.The final scene of the campaign found Aeric in Haelyn's Hall in the afterlife.  He was given a seat with his father, brother, and paladin mentor (whom Aeric had to kill to spare him an agonizing death via the Spider's poison).  Sitting across from him was Maeghan, who had a look on her face that said, "all was forgiven."  At the head of the table was Haelyn himself.Killer Gaming Moment: Without a doubt, the final showdown with the Gorgon.  I don't remember it's actual stats, but I think it was something like a CR 20 creature.  This guy was the Sauron of the Birthright world.  It was riding a huge, ancient red dragon when the battle started.  I started the combat by charging the dragon on horseback with a lance.  I rolled a crit.  I did something like 53 points of damage and the dragon FAILED it's Fortitude save and dropped.  Aeric managed to get the Gorgon down to a quarter of its hit points before being killed.  The most killer part about all this was that Aeric was only SIXTH LEVEL at the time.  There was one other PC in this campaign (a half-elf sorcerer) who was busy leading his own troops and kicking much @$$ of his own.Physical Description [Edited to add more content]:Aeric was a strapping young man of eighteen summers.  Tousled, jet-black hair fell nearly to his collar, a single forelock continually straggling in front of his brow.  He kept his slightly-narrow chin clean-shaven at all times.  He was a handsome young man, being fit of body but not musclebound.  He was a fairly serious person, and his blue eyes held an intensity which could be intimidating, but he was friendly and open-hearted to those who deserved such fare.  To his enemies, however, he was a merciless and terrifying opponent.Aeric commonly wore a suit of masterwork full plate armor given to him by his teacher the day he became a paladin.  On his left arm hung a kite shield which, in the later days of his career, was emblazoned with a black stag's head on an orange field--the arms of the Barony of Roesone.  His weapon of choice was the bastard sword, and his greatest honor was to wield the Sword of Roele, a Holy Avenger bastard sword, in the final battle of his life.  Around his neck hung the holy symbol of Haelyn: a white sword, point up, against a yellow sun.Aeric's bonded mount was a coal-black warhorse named Brimstone, a name which suited both its color and its fiery temper.  He would allow no one to even touch him except for Aeric, and had even gone so far as to kill those who tried.  There is an obvious light of intelligence in Brimstone's eyes, but he has never seen fit to share his opinion with his master, even when the ability to presented itself (in the form of empathy or Speak With Animal spells).  Brimstone's fierce demeanor and unshakable bravery was a perfect match to his owner's.</blockquote>

Verification