The Avenger

## Introduction

The Avenger was a knight of peace and justice before his king turned his back on virtue, betraying the Avenger and taking everything he ever loved all at once. He now uses his natural fighting ability, and the blessings of the Gods of Life, to push back the forces of evil and injustice. The Avenger harnesses this power in the form of holy damage, which he uses to supplement his formidable physical fighting skills. His abilities will aid you in your fight, with his holy power being essential against the darkest of enemies. Assist him on his quest to correct a grievous wrong and he may join you in your quest.

## Backstory

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There once lived a king who was just and benevolent. He ruled well, respected by all in his kingdom. The King had a small group of warriors that were loyal to him above all else, his inner circle of knights known as the Echelon. At the head of the Echelon was Rouland, the greatest warrior in the kingdom.

Rouland was the son of a minor noble who died when he was an infant, and his family eventually fell to the brink of poverty. When he was old enough, Rouland joined the court as a royal squire to gain experience and build connections. Though Rouland was from a poor and little-known family his eagerness and honesty made him popular in the castle. His humble roots made him deeply appreciate the opportunity to learn and to serve, endearing him to his elders and setting him apart from other, more spoiled noble children. The king took an early liking to him, and, yet to have any children of his own, often took him aside to teach him about loyalty, rulership, and swordplay. Soon he began to treat Rouland as the son he never had.

On his sixteenth birthday Rouland was knighted by the King himself. While the veteran knights taught Rouland the sword, the king helped him master governance, duty, and above all how to be just. As Rouland's skills grew he began riding with the other knights and proved his mettle protecting the kingdom's borders from enemy invaders and the common folk from the ever-present threat of monster encroachment.

Rouland's fair and just enforcement of the kingdom's law, proven bravery, and stalwart loyalty made him an obvious prospect to join the coveted Echelon. After several years serving as its newest member, their leader passed away and the High Seat of the Echelon became vacant. Despite the seniority of several other knights, the king's influence and Rouland's popularity with nobles and commoners alike made him the clear favorite. He was the youngest knight to ever take the High Seat but he led the Echelon with the skills and intellect he honed his whole life.

His new responsibilities and political influence, along with personal quarters in the king's castle, put him more frequently before the grand court. Under the king's watchful eye, Rouland became a deft navigator of the court's political tides and his once-obscure family soared to prominence. One noblewoman in particular, Anastasia, quickly caught Rouland's attention, and he became infatuated with her. The king quickly became aware of Rouland's affections and helped put them in the same room whenever possible. Unbeknownst to the king or Rouland, Anastasia noticed Rouland as soon as she arrived at court and long admired him for his physical prowess, mental acuity, and sense of justice. Before long the two recognized each others affections and entered a whirlwind courtship, quickly getting married as soon as a proper time had passed.

Once wed the king offered the two a full tower in the castle where they could live and raise a family. The young couple recognized the great honor and happily accepted. A few short months later Anastasia was with child. These were the happiest years of Rouland's life, and they passed quickly. The kingdom prospered with only minor disturbances that required Rouland's attention, and he spent his days in the castle with the king and his growing family.

Rouland had everything: status and privilege earned by his own merit; the family he always wanted; a father he never really had. He failed to notice occasional changes in the kings behavior - a comment here, an odd order there. Perhaps Rouland was more willing to make excuses for the aging king, or perhaps he chose not to see, but by the time he realized something was seriously wrong until it was much too late.

The king began treating his knights less like warriors for justice and more like enforcers to fulfill his whims. As months passed, a divide formed in the ranks of the knights that quickly spread to the Echelon itself. Rouland suddenly found himself playing the role of a diplomat, soothing the divisions with assurances that the king was a good and just ruler, that the orders must have some larger purpose. Despite his popularity, not everyone enjoyed seeing Rouland's rapid rise to fame, and jealous underlings enjoying their new powers actively undermined his efforts to create unity. He brought his concerns to the king in private, but the king angrily rebuffed him and used the next soonest excuse to publicly reprimand Rouland in court. Rouland blamed himself for the argument and redoubled his efforts to prove his loyalty and love for his king, but the more he tried the more distant and irritable the king became.

The king did have a greater purpose for his new orders: finding those knights with a propensity for darkness and violence and pulling them closer to him. The knights that hesitated with his increasingly harsh orders were quietly noted and sidelined from their duties and daily politics. Over a period of months the king continued grooming his new core of favored knights with orders of escalating malice and cruelty.

One day all this came to a head. The king awoke in a particularly foul mood and a mad glint in his eye. The psychic poison that had been reaching its fingers deeper into his mind finally wrenched as hard as it could and snapped away the last vestiges of his sanity. The king summoned his new secret Echelon, the Dark Knights, to enact his most terrible order.

At midday the king summoned all of his knights into his great hall to address them together. He used the division to his advantage and arranged them such his Dark Knights surrounded the others, including Rouland, under the pretext of an award ceremony. The king instead began a rambling and largely incoherent address and the good knights grew concerned. Before they could put the pieces together the king's speech suddenly came to a climax. They were accused of treason and attempted rebellion under Rouland's leadership and were sentenced to death for their transgressions.

The Dark Knights did not hesitate. Relishing the opportunity to harm those that looked down on them, they fell upon their peers and began a vicious slaughter. In a matter of moments Rouland and all the good knights were slain before they could even draw their swords - or so the Dark Knights thought. Rouland grew suspicious of the king's intentions as soon as he entered the hall and was acutely aware how he and the others were arranged. He diverted the blow aimed for him, and though it landed deep in his chest it narrowly missed his vital organs. Overwhelmed by the press of enemies and his injury, he fell still and feigned death to wait for a chance to strike back.

The chance never came. After the slaughter the bodies were carted out of the hall and left to rot in a pile near the moat of the castle. The king used the opportunity to address the public, telling them of the treason these knights had planned and destroying their reputations. Before the bodies cooled the king sent his men to the homes of every knight that had been killed with orders to barricade the buildings and burn them down with everyone trapped inside.

Rouland's family fared no different. The dark knights locked the entrance to their tower and set fire to the supporting frame. Every member of Rouland's family burned to ash and the tower to crumbled under the force of the inferno.

Rouland stayed perfectly still as he was carted out of the Great Hall, surrounded by his fallen friends, some he had known since he was a boy. He waited in the stinking pile of bodies, listened to the king lie about what happened and how the families of the purported betrayers were going to pay for what these knights had done.

After nightfall Rouland slowly worked his way to the edge of the pile. He bound his wound and made for the tower only to stare helplessly at the remains of his former home. After a few long minutes of silence and quiet tears, he decided he would avenge all those that were wronged, and would spend his life correcting all wrongs, wherever they may be. He would find the reason for the king's betrayal and, depending the answer he received, deliver justice. Turning from the ruins of his tower, he evaded the patrol routes he knew so well and slipped away from the city and into the wilderness.

Rouland found work as a woodsman and leaned how to live off the land but his restless heart didn't allow him to stay for long. He spent his days training and his nights prowling the woods, attacking the growing bands of bandits and ambushing caravans of the Mad King. He used the goods stored in the caravans for himself, but anything he could not use he left to the poorest villagers. Whispers of his deeds spread, a dark hero that sought his own form of justice in the night: "The Avenger."

One night, Rouland was sleeping in a hidden hideaway in the woods when he was awoken by a booming voice. A burning figure appeared before him, a being of light, fire, and fury. The being spoke to him, told him that they had come to aid him in his quest for justice. The figure raised her arm. A burning fire shot from her hand, landed on Rouland, and consumed his skin. The holy fire entered his eyes, mouth, and nose, burning his insides but leaving behind something pure and powerful.

Rouland awoke on the ground feeling sore, but energized. A guantleted hand was thrust next to him. "Rise, Avenger."

He took it, and the Valkyrie helped him stand. She studied him a moment, nodded, and spoke again. "It is time you learned who cursed your king to madness. Her name...is Xyria."

The next more something new awoke, it was not Rouland for he had been burned out by the fury of holy fire, it was something stronger, it was the Avenger. The figure told him that he was to make his way to a small kingdom on an island, and there he would find warriors that would help him in his quest to right the wrongs of Eternity, and avenge those that had suffered.