Ser Laurence, Saint of the Second Breath

Ser Laurence the Northlander, Saint of the Second Breath was a knight under the service of King Wunibald the Wise from 765 A.E. to 754 A.E. He is known as both a martyr and a saint in the Justainian religion and is noteworthy for his controversial nature.
== Biography ==
Ser Laurence was born to a now lost Skjolian clan sometime between 790 and 789 A.E. according to varying records. He was raised by his parents and squired in the service of his uncle, Ser William Vulbrit until he was seventeen. Around this time he joined the royal guards at the palace at Kalda and swore an oath to protect the King at all costs. Soon, he was knighted with several other men following the Night of Seven Curses in 765 A.E. After, Laurence would become a popular guard within the royal palace, beloved especially by Princess Kaja Nibringr.
In 758 A.E. a tourney was held in Skjol, Fleur which Ser Laurence attended. During this tourney, while competing in the melee, Ser Laurence was unhorsed by Ser Kevin the Fox. As he fell, he was kicked hard in the back of the head by his horse, crumpling his helm and leaving him still in the sawdust. A priest from the lists was called down to attend to him and all manner of men versed in healing joined on the field to attempt to save the man. The priest removed Laurence's helmet to find his head caved in, a portion of his skull falling out when the helmet was removed. Laurence stopped breathing at this time.
Supposedly, eye-witnesses say that the priest began to pray over Laurence's corpse as he poured holy water into the wound. He then pierced both his hands with a splinter of the shattered lance that had killed him, rubbing the blood over the wound. Witnesses claimed that when he moved his hand away, the wound was filled with flesh again, new but gnarled where there had once been brain and blood. Then, Laurence took a ragged breath.
Ser Laurence returned to the palace at Kalda to recover and began to have horrible dreams of a place he called the "River". His description decried of a place without end he had walked forever and ever in the moments he had been dead. He claimed that the waters their were shallow and milky, but that whenever you stumbled they would swallow up to your thighs and make you slow. The people at the time did not understand what he was trying to say. Soon, Laurence would be unable to continue his services, as he had trouble moving at times and his incoherent ramblings became worse. He was kept in the palace at the request of Princess Kaja, the only one who still listened to him.
By 754 A.E. he had become a complete madman, ranting endlessly of the visions he saw. He was executed that same year, by order of the King, on account for his attempt to slaughter his daughter. This incident is largely debated.
Category:Saints
Category:Skjolian Characters