Made this character backstory for a casual story a couple of friends and I are doing. I'm pretty new to D&D myself, so this is my first proper opportunity at doing one of these. Spent a bit of time on this so thought I'd share it with the community, hopefully it makes sense! The story follows a Paladin called Marcurio who will become a Vengeance Paladin when he takes his oath. Enjoy :)
Marcurio was born to a noble family, of which they were all members of "The Order of the Night Mother", an isolationist order of Paladins devoted to the execution of The Hopeless Tear' will. Although their teachings consist of lessons such as "death is inevitable" and "protection of our ancestors from the demons of the night is paramount", those who know of the order mostly know them as those who crusade for the destruction of demonic presences.
Marcurio' mother was a priest, specialising in the exorcising of tormented souls, and his father was a Knight Lieutenant, a mostly administrative role within the Order, assigned with the processing and strict vetting of new recruits.
Becoming a Squire at the age of 7, Marcurio rarely ventured outside of the gates of The Monastery of the Hopeless Tear and instead spent his life being schooled in a closed community. His education is of that of a nobleman, with a high standard of teaching and education delivered by the Monastery' preachers, the preachers being title given to those chosen to educate the children of the members of the order. Although there was a high standard of teaching on subjects such as Language and History, there was an even greater focus on the teachings of The Hopeless Tear.
At the age of 11, during Marcurio' time as a squire, he was placed under the command of Knight Lieutenant Wiseblade, his father. He spent weeks, if not years of his life sorting through what seemed like endless piles of parchment, filing it, accounting for finances and donations at the bidding of his father. A mundane task to be sure, but one that needed to be done. As the years went by however and at the still young age of 13, Marcurio eventually felt as though he had earned the right to ask his father the question 'father, I have devoted my life to the order and my duty to it is unwavering, please, allow me to prove myself and my devotion to the Night Mother by accompanying the priests. If you allo-" "No!, Marcurio", his father snapped, "You are too young, your soul is still fragile and your body too weak. Not until you are older will I allow you to set upon a task such as this. You have heard the tales yourself of what demonic possession can do to a man, nevertheless a child." Marcurio, although saddened, obeyed his fathers orders and time went by as it had before, every day, he completed the same tasks, praying to the Night Mother, completing his blessings, doing his training.
As the months went by his training progressed, Marcurio continued with his routine, continuing to devote himself to the Hopeless Tear. One day, Marcurio, after coming back from one of his generic long days, lay in his chambers, exhausted and bruised from his training earlier on in the day. He was laying, pondering on when he was eventually going to be given the chance to prove himself and to progress to the next stage of his devout journey as a Soldier of the Night Mother. He enjoyed that thought, someone that can fight for a better world. As he was thinking however, he began to hear the faint sound of a cry coming from down the hall. He emerged from his bed and walked over to his door, as he opened the door, wondering what was going on, the cry stopped. He looked down the hall, at a row of half opened doors, many of which belonged to the other Squires in the order. "Weird", he thought. He turned around and began to walk back inside of his chambers, when he heard an ear piercing scream emanate from down the hall, the kind of scream that makes you want to gag, to throw up, the kind of scream that for whatever reason made you feel near paralysed with fear. The crying had returned, louder this time. He turned, slowly, shaking and began to walk down the hall. Suddenly, the Matron, a specific title given to those with a duty of care for the young squires, emerged from her dorm, beside where Marcurio was walking. She stormed down the hall, cross, towards the cries and threw the door open. Marcurio followed slowly behind. Not yet at the door, Marcurio could hear all of the commotion coming from inside, he could hear the Matron change quickly from furious to sympathetic and worried. Still shaking, he emerged round the corner to see a squire on the floor, spasming and convulsing. The expression on his face was one of fear and terror, tears streaming down his face as if he was fighting a hopeless battle. At this point, the other Squires had began emerging from their dorms. "Don't just stand there, one of you go get the Commander, get the Lieutenant, just get someone!". Marcurio, scared, ran to get the first person that came to his head, his mother. He arrived at his mothers and fathers chambers, terrified, he shook his mother and begged her to come help him. Worried, she got quickly out of the bed and grabbed her amulet, leaving Marcurios father laying, wondering what all of the commotion was. She arrived at the Squires dorms to find the convulsing child no longer in a spasmed state, but screaming, clawing at the walls and attempting to make demonic symbols with the blood pouring from his mangled fingers. She told everyone to stand back and began chanting prayers to the Night Mother. The child turned and began to vomit uncontrollably a pitch black in colour substance. The child, after vomiting began to laugh a deep, insidious laugh, not with the voice of a child, but with the voice of an entity thousands of years old. The bones in his arms began to crack and splinter as his arms, hands and legs began rotating slowly clockwise. Popping noises were heard from his shoulders and his legs coming out of their sockets. The child' face was still stained with fear, crying, knowing that this was going to be the death of him, taken by a demon for a reason no one will ever know. Marcurio' mother stepped back, her face with awe. Marcurio had never seen his mother question reality like this before. His mother, attempting to gather her resolve, raised her amulet and began screaming prayers louder. Marcurio' father came into the room. "Stay faithful, the Grand Master and the other priests are on their way to assist". It was as if Marcurio' mother was so entranced in her chanting of her prayers, she never even heard him. She walked, slowly towards the child, attempting to back it into a corner. It was, however, to no avail. The child let out yet another sickening cry. A large stench began to surround the room and a freezing cold aura began to emanate through it. The child' jaw, cracking and dislocated while the demon began to make its way out of his mouth. The child split in two from the mouth downwards while the demon devoured every last shred of his innocent soul. His mother was in shock, she had never seen anything as powerful as this. She began to move backwards towards the door, still chanting, beginning to panic. Before she could make it there, the demon, wriggling around on all fours on the dismembered carcass of the now deceased child, clawed its way over to her and grabbed her leg. It dragged her towards it and began devouring her slowly. Marcurio' father ran towards the demon and kicked it as hard as he could. He was without a sword, without his shield, without everything but his faith. He dropped to his knees in front of the demon slowly devouring his wife and began to pray to the Night Mother, she was the only one that could help us. The screams of Marcurio' mother were echoing throughout this. Suddenly, the Grand Master, followed by 4 or 5 priests came into the room. Marcurio' father, in tears and on his knees kept praying to the Night Mother, hoping for her to take Marcurio' mother as a devout servant. The priests, gathered around the demon, still devouring his mother and they began to chant loudly. The Grand Master, with a necklace bearing the symbol of The Hopeless Tear in one hand and his holy sword in his other, began to hold his sword to the sky and chant loudly. Suddenly, radiant, nearly blinding light filled the room and the Grand Masters sword began shining, as if it were made of pure light. He grabbed the sword with both hands and threw the sword down on the demon, cutting off an arm and it immediately setting on fire. He pointed his sword downwards and proceeded to thrust it into the demon, creating a large, holy, portal of light on the floor in which the demon was banished through. The ordeal was however far from over. The corpse of the child lay dismembered and spread on the floor and Marcurio' mother lay bleeding out quickly on the floor.
The Grand Master, accompanied by his entourage of priests, gathered around Marcurio' mother and began praying, laying their hands on her wounds and letting the holy word of the Night Mother move through them. Her wounds began to heal, however, she was still in a serious state. They proceeded to take her to the reliquary of the Night Mother, a holy place known by the Order as a location most likely for miracles to happen. They placed her on a table and began to pray. Although dismembered and in a near vegetative state, Marcurio' mother still radiated an overwhelming aura of holiness, it was even more so in fact strangely, or perhaps by some strange twist of fate, since her ordeal just moments ago. It was as if she had been bestowed this power by the Night Mother herself. As the days went by, the priests kept praying, the blessings kept being performed and yet still. Marcurio' mother still remained the same. The priests, rather surprised she had neither worsened or improved, and with the aura she was emitting, began to whisper among themselves during the following days. The case of Marcurio' mother was rare, she was kept alive it seemed by her sheer faith in the Hopeless Tear.
Marcurio' father, after this ordeal, was never the same. He worked, cared for his wife and prayed. He thanked the Night Mother for keeping his wife alive, although sad that he would now have to wait for his eventual death before they could be properly together. He felt a rage in his heart and swore a new oath to the Hopeless Tear, an oath of vengeance. Vengeance to smite down all evil in the world. He became stricter on Marcurio, training him harder and trying to prepare him better for the world he would have to go into. To be the greatest messenger of the Night Mother that he can be and in and to smite down her foes with all of the wrath bestowed to him by her.
As Marcurio got older, he progressed to the rank of "Soldier of the Night Mother", stronger now, tougher, more faithful than ever and with a devotion to the Night Mother to rid this world of those vile and disgusting agents of the darkness. Marcurio is 5'5", 182lbs of muscle and has vowed death upon the Hopeless Tears enemies and those who stand in the way of our ancestors and our journey to the Night Mothers arms. Prior to making his oath and becoming a 'Paladin of the Night Mother', he must first complete his pilgrimage, in which he will find himself and his faith... here is where this pilgrimage begins.
Below, find the ranks of the Order of the Night Mother:
Squire
Soldier of the Night Mother <<<< Marcurio
Paladin of the Night Mother
Inquisitor of the Night Mother
Knight Lieutenant
Knight Commander
Master of the Order
Grand Master of the order
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Made this character backstory for a casual story a couple of friends and I are doing. I'm pretty new to D&D myself, so this is my first proper opportunity at doing one of these. Spent a bit of time on this so thought I'd share it with the community, hopefully it makes sense! The story follows a Paladin called Marcurio who will become a Vengeance Paladin when he takes his oath. Enjoy :)
Marcurio was born to a noble family, of which they were all members of "The Order of the Night Mother", an isolationist order of Paladins devoted to the execution of The Hopeless Tear' will. Although their teachings consist of lessons such as "death is inevitable" and "protection of our ancestors from the demons of the night is paramount", those who know of the order mostly know them as those who crusade for the destruction of demonic presences.
Marcurio' mother was a priest, specialising in the exorcising of tormented souls, and his father was a Knight Lieutenant, a mostly administrative role within the Order, assigned with the processing and strict vetting of new recruits.
Becoming a Squire at the age of 7, Marcurio rarely ventured outside of the gates of The Monastery of the Hopeless Tear and instead spent his life being schooled in a closed community. His education is of that of a nobleman, with a high standard of teaching and education delivered by the Monastery' preachers, the preachers being title given to those chosen to educate the children of the members of the order. Although there was a high standard of teaching on subjects such as Language and History, there was an even greater focus on the teachings of The Hopeless Tear.
At the age of 11, during Marcurio' time as a squire, he was placed under the command of Knight Lieutenant Wiseblade, his father. He spent weeks, if not years of his life sorting through what seemed like endless piles of parchment, filing it, accounting for finances and donations at the bidding of his father. A mundane task to be sure, but one that needed to be done. As the years went by however and at the still young age of 13, Marcurio eventually felt as though he had earned the right to ask his father the question 'father, I have devoted my life to the order and my duty to it is unwavering, please, allow me to prove myself and my devotion to the Night Mother by accompanying the priests. If you allo-" "No!, Marcurio", his father snapped, "You are too young, your soul is still fragile and your body too weak. Not until you are older will I allow you to set upon a task such as this. You have heard the tales yourself of what demonic possession can do to a man, nevertheless a child." Marcurio, although saddened, obeyed his fathers orders and time went by as it had before, every day, he completed the same tasks, praying to the Night Mother, completing his blessings, doing his training.
As the months went by his training progressed, Marcurio continued with his routine, continuing to devote himself to the Hopeless Tear. One day, Marcurio, after coming back from one of his generic long days, lay in his chambers, exhausted and bruised from his training earlier on in the day. He was laying, pondering on when he was eventually going to be given the chance to prove himself and to progress to the next stage of his devout journey as a Soldier of the Night Mother. He enjoyed that thought, someone that can fight for a better world. As he was thinking however, he began to hear the faint sound of a cry coming from down the hall. He emerged from his bed and walked over to his door, as he opened the door, wondering what was going on, the cry stopped. He looked down the hall, at a row of half opened doors, many of which belonged to the other Squires in the order. "Weird", he thought. He turned around and began to walk back inside of his chambers, when he heard an ear piercing scream emanate from down the hall, the kind of scream that makes you want to gag, to throw up, the kind of scream that for whatever reason made you feel near paralysed with fear. The crying had returned, louder this time. He turned, slowly, shaking and began to walk down the hall. Suddenly, the Matron, a specific title given to those with a duty of care for the young squires, emerged from her dorm, beside where Marcurio was walking. She stormed down the hall, cross, towards the cries and threw the door open. Marcurio followed slowly behind. Not yet at the door, Marcurio could hear all of the commotion coming from inside, he could hear the Matron change quickly from furious to sympathetic and worried. Still shaking, he emerged round the corner to see a squire on the floor, spasming and convulsing. The expression on his face was one of fear and terror, tears streaming down his face as if he was fighting a hopeless battle. At this point, the other Squires had began emerging from their dorms. "Don't just stand there, one of you go get the Commander, get the Lieutenant, just get someone!". Marcurio, scared, ran to get the first person that came to his head, his mother. He arrived at his mothers and fathers chambers, terrified, he shook his mother and begged her to come help him. Worried, she got quickly out of the bed and grabbed her amulet, leaving Marcurios father laying, wondering what all of the commotion was. She arrived at the Squires dorms to find the convulsing child no longer in a spasmed state, but screaming, clawing at the walls and attempting to make demonic symbols with the blood pouring from his mangled fingers. She told everyone to stand back and began chanting prayers to the Night Mother. The child turned and began to vomit uncontrollably a pitch black in colour substance. The child, after vomiting began to laugh a deep, insidious laugh, not with the voice of a child, but with the voice of an entity thousands of years old. The bones in his arms began to crack and splinter as his arms, hands and legs began rotating slowly clockwise. Popping noises were heard from his shoulders and his legs coming out of their sockets. The child' face was still stained with fear, crying, knowing that this was going to be the death of him, taken by a demon for a reason no one will ever know. Marcurio' mother stepped back, her face with awe. Marcurio had never seen his mother question reality like this before. His mother, attempting to gather her resolve, raised her amulet and began screaming prayers louder. Marcurio' father came into the room. "Stay faithful, the Grand Master and the other priests are on their way to assist". It was as if Marcurio' mother was so entranced in her chanting of her prayers, she never even heard him. She walked, slowly towards the child, attempting to back it into a corner. It was, however, to no avail. The child let out yet another sickening cry. A large stench began to surround the room and a freezing cold aura began to emanate through it. The child' jaw, cracking and dislocated while the demon began to make its way out of his mouth. The child split in two from the mouth downwards while the demon devoured every last shred of his innocent soul. His mother was in shock, she had never seen anything as powerful as this. She began to move backwards towards the door, still chanting, beginning to panic. Before she could make it there, the demon, wriggling around on all fours on the dismembered carcass of the now deceased child, clawed its way over to her and grabbed her leg. It dragged her towards it and began devouring her slowly. Marcurio' father ran towards the demon and kicked it as hard as he could. He was without a sword, without his shield, without everything but his faith. He dropped to his knees in front of the demon slowly devouring his wife and began to pray to the Night Mother, she was the only one that could help us. The screams of Marcurio' mother were echoing throughout this. Suddenly, the Grand Master, followed by 4 or 5 priests came into the room. Marcurio' father, in tears and on his knees kept praying to the Night Mother, hoping for her to take Marcurio' mother as a devout servant. The priests, gathered around the demon, still devouring his mother and they began to chant loudly. The Grand Master, with a necklace bearing the symbol of The Hopeless Tear in one hand and his holy sword in his other, began to hold his sword to the sky and chant loudly. Suddenly, radiant, nearly blinding light filled the room and the Grand Masters sword began shining, as if it were made of pure light. He grabbed the sword with both hands and threw the sword down on the demon, cutting off an arm and it immediately setting on fire. He pointed his sword downwards and proceeded to thrust it into the demon, creating a large, holy, portal of light on the floor in which the demon was banished through. The ordeal was however far from over. The corpse of the child lay dismembered and spread on the floor and Marcurio' mother lay bleeding out quickly on the floor.
The Grand Master, accompanied by his entourage of priests, gathered around Marcurio' mother and began praying, laying their hands on her wounds and letting the holy word of the Night Mother move through them. Her wounds began to heal, however, she was still in a serious state. They proceeded to take her to the reliquary of the Night Mother, a holy place known by the Order as a location most likely for miracles to happen. They placed her on a table and began to pray. Although dismembered and in a near vegetative state, Marcurio' mother still radiated an overwhelming aura of holiness, it was even more so in fact strangely, or perhaps by some strange twist of fate, since her ordeal just moments ago. It was as if she had been bestowed this power by the Night Mother herself. As the days went by, the priests kept praying, the blessings kept being performed and yet still. Marcurio' mother still remained the same. The priests, rather surprised she had neither worsened or improved, and with the aura she was emitting, began to whisper among themselves during the following days. The case of Marcurio' mother was rare, she was kept alive it seemed by her sheer faith in the Hopeless Tear.
Marcurio' father, after this ordeal, was never the same. He worked, cared for his wife and prayed. He thanked the Night Mother for keeping his wife alive, although sad that he would now have to wait for his eventual death before they could be properly together. He felt a rage in his heart and swore a new oath to the Hopeless Tear, an oath of vengeance. Vengeance to smite down all evil in the world. He became stricter on Marcurio, training him harder and trying to prepare him better for the world he would have to go into. To be the greatest messenger of the Night Mother that he can be and in and to smite down her foes with all of the wrath bestowed to him by her.
As Marcurio got older, he progressed to the rank of "Soldier of the Night Mother", stronger now, tougher, more faithful than ever and with a devotion to the Night Mother to rid this world of those vile and disgusting agents of the darkness. Marcurio is 5'5", 182lbs of muscle and has vowed death upon the Hopeless Tears enemies and those who stand in the way of our ancestors and our journey to the Night Mothers arms. Prior to making his oath and becoming a 'Paladin of the Night Mother', he must first complete his pilgrimage, in which he will find himself and his faith... here is where this pilgrimage begins.
Below, find the ranks of the Order of the Night Mother:
Squire
Soldier of the Night Mother <<<< Marcurio
Paladin of the Night Mother
Inquisitor of the Night Mother
Knight Lieutenant
Knight Commander
Master of the Order
Grand Master of the order