Aguilon Batiste

*"Suffering keeps you humble."* *- Aguilon Batiste*

## History

Aguilon was born in Restov, a city filled with nobles and near constant honor duels. Though the main church of the city was dedicated to Erastil Aguilon did not find himself drawn to support the god in particular. Though he recognized Erastil's teachings as good for prosperity and important to remember, something about a city of nobles constantly bickering over honor having a church dedicated to that man rubbed him the wrong way. Instead, he turned to the church of Sarenrae, joining the clergy at a young age as a novice Adept.

Sarenrae, being a goddess of mercy and forgiveness, appealed to the man much more than Erastil did. The idea of anyone being able to redeem themselves spoke to some part of him. He enjoyed his time in the church, though if he was being honest a good portion of the more intellectual stuff flew right over his head. Eventually, he joined a delegation of clerics traveling into the Stolen Lands, hoping to establish a proper church to Sarenrae in the land in order to help travelers find shelter in the dangerous territory.

It was an expedition doomed to failure. A ways into their journey, hauling both missionaries and building material, the delegation was attacked by bandits eager to steal their supplies for themselves. The marauders were merciless, cutting down the clerics as some fled, some hoped for mercy, and others attempted to fight back. Though the clergy had been trained for fighting, this had been their first fight. Aguilon was among the fiercest in fighting back to defend his brethren, but even he could not stand against the onslaught.

He was stabbed, shot with arrows, impaled with spears, and sliced with knives. In the end, he was tossed into a ditch and left to rot, the bandits believing him dead. Through sheer stubborn will, Aguilon clung to life, however. In this precarious state between life and death he was entreated to a vision. The Dawnflower herself, or so he claims, appeared before him to tell him he must not give up, that he had greater purpose in this life. He had a body built for war, and with this he would cut a swathe through the forces of evil that could not be redeemed.

He woke in the dead of night, body feeling like it had been lit on fire. Slowly, agonizingly, he crawled out of the ditch he had been left in and rolled over into the road. He was delirious with disease, his vision hazy and his body wracked with crippling pain. He stumbled to the corpses of some bandits and gathered their armor and weapons. With these, he clad himself in steel, girding himself both in protection and purpose. He grabbed the largest weapon he could find and, guided by what he felt was divine purpose, began walking.

He came upon the camp of the bandits the next morning and was quickly spotted by the sentries. He made no effort to hide himself, and when some of the bandits recognized his scarred visage from yesterday's fight, many came forward to laugh at the maimed man they thought had died. Aguilon gave them a simple request: that they throw down their arms and turn now from the wretched path they had strode upon for so long.

Naturally, not a one listened to him. Instead, they fell upon him with malicious fervor. Yet, instead of fighting the feeble Adept from before, they were fighting something new. Divine power surged within the young man, and the bandits found themselves cursed with misfortune and woe as he began cutting them down one by one.

He left the bandit camp a few minutes later, with not a single marauder having been left alive. Sarenrae's justice had been dealt, and mercy had been offered. Those that would not see the light would be put to the sword for the betterment of all innocents. Aguilon knew his purpose now, and though his body had been deformed and twisted by the powers granted to him, he was grateful for the chance to serve a good cause.

For a while then, Aguilon adventured in the Stolen Lands. He worked with other bands of adventurers when he could, but he quickly learned he needed to hide his visage. Through a combination of the power within him and the bandit's attack, his face been horribly marred to the point that it greatly disturbed most to look upon him. Even with it covered, Aguilon still had a natural talent for unnerving others.

So he clad himself completely in steel, so that none would be disturbed or worried by his condition. Any diseases he might carry would be kept quarantined within his armor, and though they ravaged his body, he drew strength from the pain to fight harder than most trained warriors could match.

He eventually returned to Restov with a desire to tell his church what had happened to his party, and to ask what divine purpose he could serve the church. However, when he opened the door to the priest's office (which had an odd new insignia upon it), he found himself looking at an empty street. He stepped through, only to see that the door had turned into one belonging to a regular home.

Perhaps this, then, was his true destination. Perhaps Sarenrae herself had a plan for him, and that was why he found himself in this new city.

## Appearance

Aguilon is a towering man, standing over six feet in height. His body is composed of well toned muscle and battle scarred flesh. Where his body is not scarred from injury, it seems to be wasting away and sinking back into itself. It is for this reason he never goes unclothed. His face in particular is badly ravaged, with disease, injury, and various other afflictions having taken their toll on it.

## Personality

Aguilon is a devout priest of Sarenrae, fully believing in her message of hope and forgiveness. Though his method of fighting is brutally efficient, in hours of peace he is calm and quiet. He enjoys writing poetry in his free time as well as spending time talking to commoners. On the battlefield, he maintains an aura of serenity even in the midst of bloodshed, and this is reflected in the brutal reliability of his strikes. Though he makes few attacks, each one carries the weight of his conviction.

## Friends

Aguilon has made a few friendly acquaintances in Skyholm, but has not made any real friends just yet.

## Enemies

Aguilon's only enemies are those that are unabashedly evil. He bears no true ill will towards intelligent undead, believing their fate to be a sorry one indeed.

## Aspirations

Opening a new church to Sarenrae would go a ways towards fulfilling Aguilon's desires, but beyond that he feels he has no other current purpose than to preach the good word.