Erik Pearson

Erik Pearson is a dwarven monk and a Vindicated warrior. After the passing of his parents in his teen years, Erik lived off of the streets until he met a martial artist named Jun Lao. He learned his ways and lived under his roof for five years, until tragedy met the dwarf and he saw his adoptive father die in a brutal beating. Even after killing the perpetuators, Erik lost the only person who really understood him.
Erik joined the local military, fighting in various wars and becoming a figure that strikes fear into the hearts of his enemies. He became a prisoner of war and fought in gladiator pits, finding his passion for combat, before escaping and living in a city for a decade as a homeless wanderer. After a street fight, he was thrown in jail and served a 30 year sentence, but here he met a viking named Bjorn. The two became close friends, with Bjorn teaching Erik about his Nordic beliefs and eventually asking him to join his berserker clan once they got released. Erik served as a berserker for multiple years, before Bjorn was killed in battle during a raid.
For the next century, Erik lived as a hermit in a cabin in the woods. During his time he encountered a hurt wolf and nursed it back to health, naming it Axel and keeping him as his pet. One day, Axel was kidnapped by hunters and Erik searched far and wide for his companion. After days of searching, he found the hunters with his wolf skinned and poached. Erik killed them in a blind rage, leading to his imprisonment for the next 60 years.
After his sentence, he became a bounty hunter and met the love of his life, a dark elf named Vanya. The two would fall for one another, and eventually retire from their violent path. But this time of bliss was doomed, for ghosts from his bounty hunting days killed Vanya and kidnapped Erik, torturing him for days on end. The dwarven monk eventually broke free and killed everyone in the building, before burying his deceased wife outside their home. He became a drunk, hopeless and distraught about his life until a bar fight made him rekindle his true passion; fighting.
Erik eventually stowed away on a ship to the High World, for the hope of something new and the chance to have one last adventure before his time.
== History (Before the High World) ==
=== The Pearson Family ===
Not much is known about the Pearsons. They are said to be a family associated with the most prestiged and renowned of dwarven scholars, but that was centuries ago in dwarven history. Now, the name lacks any resonance to modern folk. In the city of Iren, Erik was born to a loving set of parents in a very diverse and thriving city. Though estranged from their broader family, the Pearsons found warmth and love in each other. Erik's parents would tell him stories of dwarven history, and the massive dwarven empires and kingdoms that once stood tall.
But over the years, Erik would notice his parents slowly become more ill and jaded. As it turned out, they were suffering from an unknown illness, one where they could not afford the means to potentially cure. When Erik was fifteen, his father died in his sleep from the sickness. And a few days later, his mother followed suit. Erik was by her side in these final moments, holding her hand as she passed. 
Erik was left to fend to himself, for he could not acquire the necessary funds to continue living in his home. Erik began to see the city of Iren in a new light once he was forced onto the streets, beginning to see that it was never the loving, warm city he grew up knowing. Without the safety net of a home and wealth, Iren was dreadfully unfavorable to anyone else. Erik had to come to terms with this new reality, as he was forced to beg on the streets for food and change. He was a victim of hate and vitriol from others, for they viewed him as a dirty bum and a product of his own making. He was also the target of beatings from a street gang, led by an orc known as Rall. They would take whatever he had on him, beating Erik down to rock bottom every time his financial situation would hold the tiniest shred of hope. The years of beating and poverty took a toll on Erik, creating a burning fire within the young dwarf. One that wanted to get back at the people who suppressed him.
=== Pupil of Jun Lao ===
One night the young dwarf tracked down Rall at a nearby market, and collected a large wad of sewer water. He hurled it at Rall, but it quickly backfired and only seemed to agitate him more than anything. Rall chased down the dwarf to an abandoned alley with little effort, pinning Erik to the ground and beating him ruthlessly. It seemed to Erik that death was imminent, but an elderly human man arrived and beat down Rall with minimal effort. Erik could see a man beating the orc down with martial arts, astounding the young dwarf with his combat prowess and grace. Rall escaped, bloody and battered. The man made sure Erik was okay, giving him herbs and introducing himself as Jun Lao. 
Erik yearned to study under Lao's guidance, asking for his mentorship. The elderly master refused the dwarf immediately, but after enough pressure and learning about Erik's past through their conversation, he hesitantly agreed. Jun let Erik take lodging in his residence, a beautiful building with a full dojo and an outside shop that Lao worked at. Lao taught Erik of where he came from, from Eastern lands now ravaged by the cruelty of the modern world. He shared his culture and history with Erik, and Erik gave Lao something else in return; someone to care for after years of solitude as a shopkeeper. Soon, it became less about housing Erik as a pupil of his craft, but about accepting Erik as his adoptive son. 
Five years passed, and Erik had become skilled in martial arts like he always wanted to be. But beyond that, he finally had a home and family again, helping Lao with his potion shop and embracing him as his adoptive father. But one day, Rall found Erik working at Lao's shop, after spending the last few years in jail. With a group of six other thugs, they attacked Erik and beat him down as revenge for Rall's beating years prior. Lao did his best to fend off the thugs, but they fought dirty and easily overwhelmed the old man. They forced Erik to watch as they beat Lao to death, leaving Erik's new family in a bloody puddle. The gang left, believing to have gotten even with Erik. 
After burying Lao, Erik sought vengeance. He stalked every person that was there that night, memorizing their schedules and where they lived. He would pay out of pocket to hire shady mercenaries to take care of them, each thug being assassinated one by one over the following days. Rall grew increasingly paranoid, scared that he would be the next one to fall. And one night, Erik ambushed Rall in an alley and engaged in his first real fight. Rall fought well, but Lao's teachings proved to be superior. The orc begged for mercy, promising he would flee Iren and never return. But Erik did not come for atonement, only retribution. He beat Rall to death the same way they beat his master to death, leaving the orc's face unrecognizable. He avenged his master, but what was gained? All he had in his heart was hate and immense sadness.
=== The Spoils of War ===
Erik would spend his young adult years tending to Lao's shop the best he could, but every passing day would blur together into a sea of mundanity. After all that he lost, there was nothing left in his life to fight for. The city he once called home felt foreign, violent, and was now a symbol of all that he had lost in his life. Iren was a prison for the dwarf's soul. 
He would later meet a recruiter advertising the local military forces, and decided it would be the best way to get all of his grief and sorrow off his mind. He joined the military and entered as a standard soldier, seeing the utter chaos of the outside world for the first time in his life. All that existed outside of few provinces and cities was mayhem, different factions and groups vying for power with seemingly no rationale. While overwhelming, it was the perfect environment to distract from his own personal grief. He fought in countless battles in countless lands against countless races, nothing mattering except killing the opposition. There Pearson refined his craft, and was such a menace on the battlefield other armies would tell stories of a dwarven monk with fists of iron. 
Erik was apart of a party of soldiers, all of which proved to be great allies and kind friends. But when Pearson was about to consider opening up to others again, his party was massacred in a battle against a barbaric desert empire. Erik was kept as a prisoner of war, and thrown into the gladiatorial pits after his captors witnessed the dwarf's fervor. Erik began his gladiatorial career fighting simple fodder in small, undersold arenas, but eventually grew to participating in larger events against even tougher foes. In the arena, the dwarven monk was hailed by the locals as the Dwarf of Stone, for his strength and sturdiness in the arena. During his time, Erik began to appreciate combat more as something to enjoy and have fun with. This effected his skill immensely, for the dwarven monk fought less for survival and more for sport. 
But his time in the spotlight and the thrill of combat never distracted Erik from the fact that he was a prisoner of war. After five years of endless bloodshed, the dwarven monk escaped from captivity and spent the next few weeks trying to find a way back home. Erik would travel boat to boat across many different lands and regions to make it back to Iren. And after a while, he finally returned to his home city in the same condition he was in when he first lived on his own.
=== Bjorn and the Berserkers ===
The next ten years of Erik's life were very much like his late teen years. Though he did manage to find a side hustle as a street fighter, participating in underground, illegal brawls that he would be paid for. He decided to bring his gladiator name to the streets of Iren, and soon the Dwarf of Stone would be feared once more. His time in the spotlight ended once he accidentally killed a man during one of his street fights, resulting in the court giving him a 30 year sentence. 
While in prison, he met a goliath viking named Björn. In a prison full of aggressive and confrontational prisoners, Björn had some civility in his bones. The two became close friends over their stay, bonding over their love of combat and the experiences they've had on the battlefield. Björn would tell Erik stories of his homeland, and his time as a berserker in the Nordic lands. He introduced Erik to his religion, recounting tales of Nordic figures that his people looked up and worshipped. Erik was engrossed in the tales of mythological figures that struck down serpents with hammers and housed infinite knowledge in their minds. It reminded Erik of the stories he was recounted regarding dwarven history and mythology, but he decided to fully adopt Björn's beliefs due to the respect and worship of combat the Nordic way prided itself on compared to dwarven beliefs. 
The two were both released at the same time, and Björn recruited his new dwarven friend into his berserker clan, known as the Heilagir Stríðsmenn. Erik happily obliged and became a berserker for the next 20 years. He raided villages and slaughtered rival clans, slaying Nordic beasts and participating in Nordic customs and rituals. He refused to use axes like his fellow berserkers however, preferring to use his fists like his old master taught him to. Each major battle and victory for the dwarven monk would be regarded with Nordic tattoos, eventually covering his entire body with tattoos that represented his accomplishments as a fighter and a rite of passage as a northman. He and Björn fought side by side for those two decades as masters of their craft, but it wasn't just Björn's skill and beliefs that made Erik grow close to him. It was his kindness and wisdom, utilizing violence not for power and bloodlust but as a beautiful art that showcased the honor and person within. He was as introspective as he was brutal, and the odd marriage of the two opposing traits made him who he was. 
But Björn would meet his end at the hands of their rival clan, the Frændi Surts. Björn fought the king of the clan with great fervor and brutality, eventually slaying his mortal foe in bloody combat. But the battle cost him his life, dying like a true warrior. In a fit of rage, Erik and the rest of the clan slayed the remaining Frændi Surts, finishing what Björn started and avenging him. The morning after they gave him a proper viking funeral, but Erik didn't have any drive to continue fighting alongside his berserker brethren. He left the clan, wishing his berserker brothers the best as they parted ways.
=== The Dwarf and the Wolf ===
Erik spent the next 100 years alone in the snowy forests of the Nordic lands, building a cabin for him to live in. He lived off of the forest, hunting and gathering estranged from the rest of society. The century he spent in isolation gave him enough time to partake in hobbies, such as learning how to use Jun Lao's shortsword, as well as a dagger he attained from Björn and darts he crafted during his isolation. He used this time to also learn about Lao's achievements, which he kept in a journal prior to his death. There, Erik gained a perspective of what the East was like, and the adventures Lao went on that paralleled his own. One of which recounted finding peace spiritually by mastering his ki and accepting the love of others around him, and another about he and a party of misfits breaking out of prison and fighting a tyrannical giant warden. These tales and feats resonated with Erik, and as such his perspective of who his master was and what he fought for changed as well. 
Erik would occassionally get gifts from the people who lived in the city nearby, such as food or clothes. He never met these people, but they felt sympathy for the lonely dwarf and wanted to provide whenever the could. The kindness made Erik question if there were still good people in this horrible, depraved world.
One day, Erik found a wounded wolf bleeding from a crossbow bolt to his hind leg. He took the wolf in and healed it, nursing it back to health over the course of a week. But the wolf did not leave Erik, he stayed with the dwarf and he had no choice but to accept the wolf as his pet. The wolf was named Axel, and joined the dwarf during his hunting trips as a helpful asset. More than that, Axel began to slowly warm up the old dwarf, showing him there was still hope for a meaningful connection with someone. 
After six years of living together, Erik let Axel out of the cabin after the wolf begged to be let out. Axel was captured by a group of hunters, and after an hour of Axel being gone the dwarf began searching. Two days later, he arrived at the nearby village and asked the locals around if they saw a wolf, which led to him being directed towards a local inn where a group of hunters and a wolf were said to be staying in. Erik went to the inn and found the hunters, who had already skinned Axel and wrapped the carcass up for future use. A few of the hunters had scratches on them from the wolf, and their leader was heavily wounded and missing a few fingers. In a fit of rage, Erik killed the hunters with Lao's shortsword and was later arrested by the village authority. 
Erik was sentenced to 60 years in prison, and for the first time Pearson decided to stay calm and not indulge in violence. He was scared of indulging in that violence once more, for in his life it has only led to problems and more sorrow. For the next 60 years he stayed silent, tending to himself and getting lost in his thoughts. However, he would get gifts every once in a while from some of the townspeople, who felt for him and viewed him more as a victim than a criminal. It would be simple things like food or poems, but one of the gifts was a lute. He decided to spend the next 60 years learning to play the lute, being known in the prison for his craft. He would eventually get to the point where he played the lute during lunch, and the inmates would applaud his performances. It managed to soften the pain of Axel's death, but the days still blurred together and the 60 years passed by as if it were a vague memory. When his sentence was over, he got Lao's shortsword back, still partially stained with the blood of the hunters. He would make it a point to not unsheath and use the blade, for he believed he was unworthy to do so after using it in a fit of uncontrollable, violent rage.
=== Solace in Vanya ===
Erik attempted to be a street performer after learning to play the lute, but he felt unsatisfied with his more normal, standard life. He spent the next six years as a bounty hunter, going from city to city doing various tasks and jobs for his clients. He got paid enough to make it a living, and during this time he was a much more refined and efficient fighter than he was in his past. He wasn't as visceral and brutal as his years as a gladiator or berserker, now he was a far more controlled and efficient fighter that got the job done. Erik had grown far beyond his younger self, the 60 years of solitude and peace leading to a more patient combatant. One of his jobs required turning in a corrupt politician named Harcourt, who vowed revenge on the dwarven bounty hunter. Erik shrugged off the veiled threat.
During his time as a bounty hunter, he met a dark elf bounty hunter named Vanya. They would meet as adversaries during one of Erik's missions, providing Erik with a decent challenge after years of easy fights. They would meet again multiple times depending on the job, sometimes as allies and other times as opponents. But through their interactions they developed genuine feelings for each other and would spend their time outside of jobs together, eating at local taverns and learning about one another. Vanya eventually decided to hang up her blades and retire, asking Erik to retire with her. He agreed without a second thought, and the two lived in a humble home in a nice, calm city. 
The newly wed couple had a new life, Erik working as a lumberjack and woodcutter, while Vanya was a seamstress that also sold special charms on the side. Through their time together, Vanya would teach Erik about the plight of her people and the isolation her kin faced from the High Elves of the world. She would learn of Erik's horrid past, and connect to him through their shared loneliness. Vanya taught Erik that he could love again, and embrace his emotions as a reason to keep going. She would tell Erik that despite all he's been through, his compassion and love was not a curse. Through her, Erik found inner peace. 
Ten years pass, and a stranger arrives at their front door. Vanya opened the door, and was immediately riddled with crossbow bolts to her chest. Erik tried his best to take down the aggressors, but the leader of the group seemed to have the same skills Erik did. Vanya tried her best to stand and face off against the group despite her wounds, but it was not enough. As Erik was beaten down and taken away, she urged him to never forget her love for him, before a final crossbow bolt was shot directly into her head. 
Erik was tortured by the group for days, learning that they were led by a newly released Harcourt who wanted revenge. His personal enforcer, a martial artist named Drav, oversaw the torture alongside Harcourt and would go in once a day to have his turn at beating down the chained dwarf. Erik put up little fight, utterly distraught by the loss of his wife. But after some time, he realized this was not the way he wanted to die. He thought about his viking days, the fire of the berserker he once was brewing within him. He would not die a prisoner, he would die as a warrior, to go to Valhalla. He broke free from his chains thanks to achieving the power of Ki, finding inner peace knowing that he was a warrior and being willing to die in battle. He went on a rampage, slaughtering Harcourt's men as he worked his way through the compound. He fought his way to Harcourt's office, but Drav intervened and shot the dwarf in the shoulder with his crossbow. But Erik was fueled by bloodlust and brutality, throwing himself at Drav with no care for his safety. The two thrashed throughout the halls, Drav being an equal match to the berserker dwarf. Their battle was long and tough, but ended with Erik biting out Drav's throat and kicking him out the nearest window. The blood covered dwarf found Harcourt, and with little remorse plunged his fist through the sleezy politician's stomach. His wife was avenged. 
But after the slaughter, Erik was shaken by the dormant berserker that awakened within him. After over 75 years of being a controlled, powerful fighter, he had indulged in his violent and barbaric urges once more. He buried Vanya outside of their home, and wandered the streets once more.
=== Grieving and Reformation ===
Erik was a broken, disheveled drunk who lost all purpose and drive he may have once had. He could no longer find his ki, for he no longer had inner peace and contentment like he did in that moment of rage against Harcourt. He only planned to drink himself to death, but being a dwarf means his alcohol intake was far more than a standard human's. But one day at a tavern, he got into a fight with a confrontational man and beat him. The people around him cheered in their drunken stupor, and Erik felt a renewed sense of pride and purpose. He went on a spree of fighting everyone in the bar, utterly elated about his new sense of purpose; to fight. For all Erik knew, fighting was the only thing that brought him any sense of enjoyment. 
Erik was arrested for the altercation with a measly one year sentence, but he did not stop fighting. He would fight anyone who antagonized him or wished to battle him, becoming a rather unstoppable force in the prison. He would be transfered from prison to prison, with the hope that he would stop being so violent. But it never worked, and as the years of his extended prison sentence passed, they could no longer house someone as violent and boisterous as the renewed, driven Erik. 
As such, Erik was sent to participate in war yet again, but not as a normal soldier; he was deemed a Vindicated, a term meant to mock and denote soldiers who were aimless, purposeless, or pathetic, and their purpose was to be expendable and die quickly in battle. But Erik would prove that his purpose was battle, and he used the Vindicated burden as an excuse to perfect his craft.
== History in the High World ==
=== Formation of the High World Guardians ===
26 years passed, and Erik had just turned 300. In his old age he wanted something new in life, and learned of a caravan of ships heading towards the High World. He had known of the High World through stories and legend, and knew the ships would be making a yearly trip to drop off Vindicated warriors at the shores of the fabled land. Though almost everyone in the voyage would be fated to die over sea or on the shore, Erik saw this as a new opportunity for himself to face new challenges and find his calling. His parents would tell him that a mighty dwarven kingdom known as Bravnir resided in the mountains of the High World, and this was a chance to possibly meet a kingdom of his kind. The High World was only nothing but opportunity for the monk, and he even thought it could be his last grand adventure.
=== The Beast Within ===
=== The Fiend ===
=== The Rivelle Regime ===