Caedric Vindae

Caedric's potrait currently hung in one of the halls of the Vindae Manor

> "These little people, Reed, these mud people, they are beneath us. We have divinity in our veins."
>
> Caedric Vindae

Caedric Vindae is a Ex-Paladin of Utreus, Current member of The Council Of Wintergrasp, the rightful heir to the Mayorship of Wintergrasp and recent recruit of the Venandi guild. He is credited in the downfall of Vampire Lord Count Strahd Von Zarovich and has wielded the Ethereal Blade 'Clarent', during which he was an Elder.

### Appearances

#### Introduction

Caedric was first found by The Lightbringers in the small town of Vallaki. He was found in the church avoiding the celebrations of the Morning Lord. He was cocky and optimistic, after being sent there on a contract from the demonic 'Guild Of Vengeance', to hunt and kill Count Strahd Von Zarovich. The Lightbringers soon accepted him and he joined the group on the path to the eventual defeat of the first Vampire.

#### Fiends

Caedric has had many run in with fiends of all types. After making a deal with a higher fiend as a young man, he was bound to a lesser one known as Jagor. In return, Jagor used his connection to the weave to allow Caedric access to the weave and his oath abilities. Caedric and Jagor were soul-bound for 15 years, before Jagor was forcibly removed from Caedrics body on his request in the Abbey Of St Markovia.

#### Dalgenen Escape

Once joining The Lightbringers in Vallaki, Caedrics determination, to not only kill Strahd, but escape the cursed land, was immense. As a paladin, his innate abilities were of great usefulness in the fight against the swarms of Undead that the Vampire Lord controlled. He often synergized well with his holy counterparts, Baldur 'Scrollstutter' Gerrick and Reed Tealeaf. During his time in Dalgenen, Caedric accrued his own magical items. Examples of this are; Vladimir Horngaard's greatsword, The Icon Of Ravenloft and Sergei Von Zarovich's holy armour. After going through many of Strahds allies, such as the Druids of Yester Hill and Baba Lysaga, the group eventually arrived to Ravenloft for the second time to confront Strahd Von Zarovich. It was in this confrontation that The Sun Sword, wielded by Devalur Sunmeadow, truly began to show its value, forcing Strahd to run from the group, as the hasted dwarf Gokher Wraitharm, pursued him. It wasnt until Strahd was forced to the roof that Caedric got to truly get into the fight, going toe-to-toe, alongside Gokher, against a polymorphed (T-rex) Strahd Von Zarovich. It was a grueling and long battle, one of which resulted in the death of Gokher Wraitharm and the brutal maiming of other members. Caedric left the battle relatively unharmed, only taking a minor scratch to the left cheek.

Once Strahd had burned up in the sunlight of the Sun Sword, the remaining members of The Lightbringers gathered their dead and unconscious allies while Caedric explored the castle. He looked for the parties main goal, The Ethereal Blade; Clarent. Once the still-breathing group members were all conscious, Caedric found Clarent placed upon the Altar of Ravenloft. Emotions were running high, and after attempting to hit Vulmar with the powerful sword, they decided to leave the chapel.

Upon leaving the chapel, they were confronted by Grakos, a member of the Elzahaar. It was in this fight that Caedric used Clarent for the first time, battling the glaive-wielding powerhouse with the Ethereal Blade. It was at this moment Orphior Thadali showed up, blasting Grakos away, attempting to shield Devalur from Grakos' Last Strike and teleport the group out of the castle. He only succeeded in 2 of those actions, as Devalur was struck down in the groups last moments in the castle, killing him instantly.

Once in the presence of King Hillingham, Caedric parted with the sword which had made him o-so-powerful, and the group split for 2 months.

#### Venandi Recruitment

Caedric asked to be teleported to a place in which he could find the Venandi, a group of neutral monster hunters, who often were looked down upon by other groups and guilds in society. He found Merliscire Hold after his teleportation, where he was greeted by the Venandi Leader Nazir Palmys. Nazir agreed to allow Caedric a tryout spot, alongside a goblin known as Klark Reagnog. Kruamak, a very skilled half orc Venandi, took Caedric and Klark out the next day for the tryouts. Klark used his magic to talk to the nature in the area to locate an animal, which he promptly charmed and took down. Kruamak was impressed, then asked Caedric to hunt some beasts. Caedric quickly tracked down a pack of wolves, which he quickly eliminated with precision accuracy from his sword. Kruamak was very impressed with Caedric's display of skill, and the group began to trek back to the Hold. It was on this trek that Caedric showed his true potential as a Venandi. The group was attacked by a Corpse Flower, and Kruamak was close to being devoured, which Caedric with some very precise and powerful strikes, managed to save him from. Upon the death of the Corpse Flower, Kruamak noted that both Klark and Caedric were two members who had immense potential and they were both offered spots among the guild. Caedric spent the next two months training at the Hold, ready to get his hands on a contract.

#### Project Oversight

Once The Lightbringers had been brought together by a mysterious force known as "The Seer", they were sent north, where they promptly arrived at Caedrics hometown, Wintergrasp. It was here where they discovered a conspiracy which the towns mayor, Taegen Olowynn, was involved in. Taegen was Stefan Vindaes advisor before Stefan died, and was a close family friend of the Vindaes, and had been trusted to manage their fortune. However, Taegen used this money for the further development of his cult, The Cult Of Orcus. The Cult Of Orcus are a group of raging fanatics determined on bringing about the apocalypse through Demon lord Orcus. The Lightbringers found out about this conspiracy through the ghost of Stefan, who had an unquiet death after being poisoned by Taegen Olowyn.

Caedric publicly executed Taegen Olowyn alongside Devalur Sunmeadow in the River Of Wintergrasp, and it was at this time that The Lightbringers had been elected into the newly formed Council Of Wintergrasp. It was from this moment that the group interrogated more members of the cult, and began their quest to destroy the cult completely. It was at this point, that Orphior Thadali once again contacted the group, and brought them into the fold of Project Oversight.

The Lightbringers were given the mission of destroying a creature simply known as "The Beast" and he was believed to have run a gang within the City Of Anarchy known as "The Long Finger Brotherhood". They were offered 500 thousand gold pieces to perform said task. This was a personal vendetta for Caedric, as he believed the gang responsible for taking his families wealth and killing his Father. This ultimately led to his decisions being based on his anger, and the killing of multiple people who arguably should not of died. Caedrics final straw was killing a innocent Bard, which ultimately broke his confidence in himself and his oath. He became an Oathbreaker.

### Background

Not much is known about Caedrics background, as he doesn't enjoy talking about it much. He was rejected by his family due to his lack of magical abilities when he was younger, and that put him on the dark path of contacting external forces for power. It is due to this fact that Caedric has claimed he had a 'dodgy' relationship with Stefan Vindae, his father.

### Paladin Of Utreus

Caedrics position of Paladin within the religion of vengeance is one he does not take seriously. It is in recent times that he has rejected his responsibilities of taking vengeance on the sinful and is instead more invested in personal vendettas against his enemies, sometimes even turning from his oath.

### **Notable Items**

#### **Current Items**

* Vladimir Horngaard's Greatsword, taken from the undead body of Vladimir Horngaard.
* Driftglobe, taken from previous Paladin, Phillipe Nurug's vampire corpse.
* Sergei Von Zarovich's +1 Plate Armour, taken from the body of Sergei Von Zarovich.
* Icon Of Ravenloft, taken from the chapel of Castle Ravenloft.
* Alchemy Jug, given to Caedric from Orphior Thadali upon returning Clarent.
* Sending Stone, given to him by Reed Tealeaf, allowing him to communicate with his mother Cynthia.

#### **Former Items**

* Ethereal Blade 'Clarent', Taken from Count Strahd Von Zarovich, Given to King Hillingham.

### **Powers and Abilities**

#### **Powers**

* Emotional Projection - Caedric is able to channel hateful emotions like rage and fear and project them at will. He can use this to amplify his weapon strikes and strikes of other creatures that feed on hate and fear, like fiends and undead. He can also channel the dark emotions and project them into a burst of magic, causing creatures to fear him.
* Necromantic Control - Caedric can channel the dark powers within him to gain control over an undead equal to, or less than his power.
* Regenerative Capabilities - Caedric can heal minor and major injuries within seconds using his innate divine abilities. There is a limit to this however, as he has to rest if he wishes to repair multiple major wounds.
* Divine Senses - As a Paladin, Caedric can sense good, evil and fey spirits, as well as being able to point out their location if they are nearby.
* Supernatural Strength - Caedric is much stronger than the average human due to his adventuring and Paladin enhancements. He once grappled a Large Demon sent by the Blood God Khorn, stopping the demon from moving. He also successfully wrestled a Werebear (Vulmar Ventris) into a cage.
* Divine Energy Manipulation - Caedric can weaponize the divine energy within him to channel it through any weapon he's holding.
	+ **Shapeshifting**: Werebears are able to turn into bears or hybrids of bears and men when the full moon is high in the sky.
		- **Enhanced Strength:** A transformed werebear is strong enough to effortlessly rip through flesh, throw grown men through the air and break through wooden walls. Strong steel chains can restrain them, but common handcuffs are proven too fragile to hold for long.
		- **Enhanced Agility:** A werebear is able to kill and maim a large number of creatures in rapid succession, as well as being far quicker than the average human.
		- **Enhanced Resistance:**Werebears are resistant to most physical damage however are weak to both magical and silver weapons
		- **Bear Physiology:** In their transformed state werebears posses sharp claws capable of rending human flesh and a set of pronounced canine fangs, casually able to crush bones.
	+ **Lycanthropy:** Werebears are able to turn humans into another werebear via a bite.

#### **Former Powers**

* Immortality - As long as he remained within his oath, Caedric was functionally immortal. He was immune to age and disease. He was granted a youthful appearance after the success of the siege of Vallaki and The Fall of Jagor. However he can be killed from regular weapons and peopled but is much harder to kill than the average commoner.
* Celestial Physiology - Caedric did not need to sleep, and did not feel tired after intense work. He seemed to be on the gradual path of becoming a full celestial. He was also resistant against necromancy magic, and releases an innate divine aura which grants his allies the same resistance. This was shown in the fight against Grakos and Count Strahd Von Zarovich, where their dark magics had a hard time penetrating this aura.

#### **Abilities**

* Superior Combatant - Caedric has had intense training across his adventures and multiple guild associations. He could defeat a normal commoner with ease. He is of notable talent.
* Superior Charisma - Caedric is notably charismatic when it comes to social situations. When with the Lightbringers, he often does the talking due to his persuasive, and often deceptive, nature.
* Honed Senses - Due to his training as a Venandi, he has animal-like senses which keeps him constantly alert and quick to draw his weapon.

#### **Feats**

* Menacing
* Venandi Senses (Homebrew by Dallas)

#### **Combat Proficiencies**

* Heavy Armour
* Medium Armour
* Light Armour
* Shields
* Martial Weapons
* Simple Weapons

#### **Paladin Powers**

* Divine Health
* Divine Sense
* Divine Smite
* Fighting Style (Defense)
* Lay on Hands (45 points)
* Oath of the Celestial (Homebrew by Dallas)(Previous)
* Oathbreaker (Current)
	+ Channel Divinity
		- Control Undead
		- Dreadful Aspect
* Spellcasting (Charisma-based ability)

#### **Oath Spells**

Caedric has access to the following spells, which do not count against the number of spells he can prepare.

##### **1st-level**

* Hellish Rebuke
* Inflict Wounds

##### **2nd-level**

* Crown Of Madness
* Darkness

##### **3rd-level**

* Animate Dead
* Bestow

#### **Paladin Spells**

Caedric has access to 1st, 2nd and 3rd level Paladin spell slots, and as a 9th level Paladin, he can cast 9 spells a day.

##### **1st-level**

* Shield Of Faith
* Protection From Good And Evil
* Detect Magic
* Command
* Thunderous Smite

##### **2nd-level**

* Find Steed
* Branding Smite
* Lesser Restoration

##### **3rd-level**

* Blinding Smite
* Magic Circle

### Major Achievements

Caedric is one of the few known wielders of the Ethereal blade known as 'Clarent', this weapon enhanced his strength and offered him messages of justice and war when he possessed the weapon. The wielding of Clarent officially made him an Elder for as long as he wielded the weapon.