Edwin Montfort

Edwin Montfort is a male human Paladin of Vesper  and an NPC in the Emeron  campaign.

## Associations

### Relatives

Alvin (father - estranged), Laina (mother - estranged), Edella (daughter)

## Vital Statistics

### Eye Color

Brown

Edwin was born in a small fishing village in the estate of Bebox . His father, Alvin, was a fisherman and his mother, Laina, was a barmaid. Both of his parents were alcoholics and abusive, rarely making a secret of the fact that they viewed Edwin as a nuisance. When Edwin was 13 he fled home, traveling to Zoupland  in search of work.

In Zoupland Edwin tried to find work but was taken advantage of due to his young age and lack of power. One night he was attacked by street toughs for the few coppers he'd managed to save. He was saved by a man named Narus Combelle who was a member of the Order of the Dawn. After talking with Edwin and telling him about the order, the boy begged him to join. After some discussion Narus agreed and took him to Rupmon  to be trained.

Shortly after joining the Order of the Dawn Edwin met a new fellow student, a beautiful girl named Elizabeth . Along with their trainer, Sir Gibbon Keltey, the two were assigned a mission to defend a village in northwest Sellingsburg  from a band of marauding ogres. The band proved to be a large clan, rather than a small band and the fight was far more difficult than expected and Sir Gibbon was slain. Still, Elizabeth and Edwin were successful in rallying the fighting men of the village to successfully defeat the ogres.

The two were both inducted as full members of the order after this mission and they met and befriended a fellow member, Winston Templeton whom they shared several missions with. Edwin and Elizabeth continued to grow closer to one another, soon falling in love and marrying.

In 1139 The Montforts and Winston were following up on rumors of kidnappings along the border between the Thorgain Kingdom and the barony of Lurinlund . They ultimately learned that the source was a kidnapping ring operating out of Fulton  to sell drifters, beggars and the dregs of society to a tribe of ogres living in the foothills of the Dwarven Mountains as slaves. Worse, the ringleader was the brother of the marshal of Vynrib, who looked the other way to protect his sibling.

The trio broke up the slaver ring, killed several of the ogres and brought the marshal to justice. Several of the kidnapping victims came from the estate of Fulton as well, and Fulton's lord, Sir Lazrith , was immensely grateful and knighted the three paladins on the spot, offering them positions in his court. Winston accepted, being named as the Marshal of Fulton. Elizabeth and Edwin, however, declined a position on the court preferring to travel and continue to do good around the land.

By 1141 Elizabeth had become pregnant and the Montforts decided to return to the headquarters of the Order of the Dawn so that Elizabeth could give birth. On the 5th of Unicorn Elizabeth gave birth a daughter whom she Edella . The Montforts took a respite from active adventuring to raise their daughter.

## Return to Duty

In 1147 Edwin and Elizabeth received a letter from Sir Winston , stating that Sir Lazrith  was investigating the death of Baron Jonathan Ravenut and his son Geoffry's  ascension to the baronial throne. Winston stated that they needed someone trustworthy and capable to assist. The Montforts agreed to help, traveling to Fulton  with little Edella .

Winston agreed to watch Edella and keep her safe during the investigation and she remained with him in Fulton while the Montforts traveled to Lurinlund City to search for any information on Baron Jonathan's death. In 1148 they learned of a member of the Baronial Army who may have information indicating that Baron Geoffry was culpable in the death of this father. Unfortunately the man had been patrolling the Plains of Galmar and been captured by a barbarian raiding party. The Montforts decided that, regardless of the information he may have had, that a rescue was in order and traveled to the Plains to recover him.

The information the soldier was said to have turned out to be false, seemingly a ruse designed to lure the Montforts out of the country to be killed. When they went to the plains to search for the man they were ambushed by a large force of undead led by a Galmari barbarian called Mingolf the Soulcrusher . Elizabeth and Edwin fought fiercely however they were defeated. Edwin and Elizabeth were both slain, their soul being sucked into a powerful magical gem that Mingolf possessed.

## A Fate Worse Than Death

Edwin found himself trapped in the gem that granted Mingolf  a great many of his powers. His spirit was trapped, but he was able to see what happened outside of Mingolf when the barbarian allowed it. The Galmari removed Elizabeth's  soul from the gem and raised her as a death knight. Mingolf cruelly delighted in commanding Elizabeth to perform atrocity after atrocity, all the while threatening her with the utter obliteration of Edwin's soul if she did not obey. He fought with all his might within the gem but it was futile and he could do nothing. He felt as helpless has he had as a boy when his parents drunkenly abused him. Defeated, grieving for the creature his beloved had become and the daughter he would not see grow up, he prayed regularly to Vesper  that it was all for a purpose, and that he was not suffering for nothing.

## Fighting Back

At last, after years of being trapped and watching with horror as his love was slowly turned into a monster Edwin finally had a chance to do some good. Mingolf  had raised a large army of undead and Galmarians, and along with Elizabeth  led them to invade Emeron. He was forced to watch as Elizabeth confronted and slew Winston Templeton, who was commanding one of the armies that failed to stop Mingolf.

The time to fight back came, however, in the Battle of Hardale. Mingolf allowed Edwin to watch as he taunted his daughter, now grown and commanding the forces defending the town, with Winston's severed head and the fact of what Elizabeth had become. He fervently and angrily prayed (not for the first time) that he would be able to help deliver righteous justice to the cruel Galmari. He would not have to wait long before he could fight back.

As the battle raged Edella and her fellow Joined of Vesper were able to subdue Mingolf and the witch Zenga cast a fateful spell. With her magic her soul was able to leave her body and enter Mingolf's to allow her to control the Galmarian's body. However, instead Zenga went into the gem itself. Within the gem Mingolf immediately began to take an effort to trap Zenga there forever.

Edwin refused to allow another to share his fate and leaped into action, using all his will and faith to protect Zenga as long as possible. He bought Zenga enough time to force Mingolf's body stay still as Raskin Daggermaw slit the Galmarian's throat.

Under-powered and overwhelmed by Mingolf's might within the gem Edwin ordered Zenga to return to her own body, asking her to tell Edella that he loved her and that a tiny spark of Elizabeth and her love for her daughter was still within her. He managed to buy enough time for Zenga to return to her own body, thus sparing her from his own fate.

A short time later Edella destroyed Elizabeth's undead body, and Elizabeth's soul was returned to the gem, and Edwin struggled to comfort his beloved as she reconciled the damage done to her mind and soul.

## Personality and Abilities

Edwin was a serious and dedicated paladin. He was driven to use his power to help people, especially children and the disadvantaged. On some level he sought to prevent people from going through what he had suffered as a child. Though compassionate, some may have described Edwin as humorless, but the two people that always made him smile were his wife Elizabeth and his daughter Edella.

Edwin was a capable warrior and excellent horseman, and his devotion to Vesper  allowed him access to a small amount of divine magic. Though a competent warrior with nearly any weapon, Edwin specialized in fighting with a sword and shield and was a master with those weapons.