Robert Strenger

## Backstory

"Rob. Just Rob. I've got a glowing hand reserved for anyone who tries to give me any other names."

### Aliases

Rob, Robert Solistar, lots of dumb glowy-hand related titles

### Affiliation

Cheliax (Potential Enemy of the State), House Silvios (Currently Housed By), Iomedae (Chosen Paladin)

## Physical description

### Humble Origins

The Strenger family were a line of farmers who lived near Cheliax. They were humble, quiet, and generally did not make much trouble. While aware and nervous of the looming empire outside their doorstep, they generally paid it little mind. After all, they were good people with a fertile farm to their name, and while not rich by any stretch of the imagination, their farm would let them live rather comfortably for peasants. When their youngest child Robert first demonstrated mastery of light, he was simply told to keep it quiet, just in case the Chelaxians disapproved.

Robert's family only came to truly accept his gift when he was 13. A stray wolf attacked his father, and Robert drove it away with a beam of pure light from his hand. From here, Robert became something of a curiosity within the family. His abilities were concerning, certainly, but also far too useful to simply be denied. Robert therefore found himself with a bit of leeway in his early teenage years, too useful to simply work the fields but too dangerous to be thrown out in the open. He would spend much of this time reading on the matters of the laws of his neighboring state, of which there were many. Justice and law was always a concern to young Robert, as well as politics and the affairs of nobility. The greatest mistake of his life would come when he purchased a Chelaxian history book without knowing that it was a few years out of date, having somehow slipped destruction by the regime. Robert would be just 15 at this time, and would bear witness to a Hell Knight with a detachment of soldiers aiming to burn away his home and everything he held dear. And as divine providence likes to do, it would be at this point that his divine emissary appeared to him.

### The Man With The Golden Hand

As the soldiers marched towards his house, a thrush appeared to him, claiming to be a servant of Iomedae and that he was destined for great things. The thrush promised divine power beyond his own ability to control light, the power to strike down evil wherever it stands. Robert was hesitant at first, but then men carrying torches began approaching his house and he knew what he had to do. He took up arms as he once did against the wolf, rallying townsfolk to fend off the Chelaxian soldiers. And it worked too, his great blasts of light putting down many soldiers, but only to a certain point. Eventually the Hell Knight came, and even a freshly initiated Hell Knight is more than a 15 year old junior adventurer can handle. Robert's blow struck true, putting a hole in the Hell Knight's armor, but it was not enough. The Hell Knight struck back, and Robert lost his arm in a single blow, an arm that would refuse to grow back despite the efforts of many a cleric. His story would end here, if House Silvios' agents had not turned up at an opportune time. The agent pulled Robert out of the fire, and from there he began a new life among the nobility in Absalom.

Robert had been chosen because he possessed a birthmark similar to the one common in the now defunct House Asgavan of Cheliax. People with an opposition to House Thrune had singled him out, and agents were placed in his hometown to rescue him and his family if things ever went south. Unable to return anywhere near Cheliax ever again on account of attacking several soldiers and a Hell Knight, Robert would be stuck living in Absalom. At the very least, House Silvios cared for him well, providing for his every need and want, paying for tutors and martial arts instructors, and generally making sure he was given the best teenage years possible.

Robert still came to see his time in Absalom as a gilded cage, although he appreciated his time with the local church of Iomedae. His familiar would commonly encourage him to visit and to help others, and only during these moments would Robert ever feel at home. He also took well to training in his abilities, pushing himself to reach new heights. Robert's powers would grow in response to his missing arm, and he found himself able to fashion a prosthetic for himself out of pure golden light. Interested parties took this as a sign that Robert was truly chosen for divinity, and a lot of fancy titles started to get passed around. Robert himself vehemently denies most of these titles, and especially denies that he could possibly be the lost heir of Sheraya Solistar.

Of particular note is that Robert lost his right arm in the encounter with the Hell Knight, and the supposed birthmark that would identify him as an Asgavan would appear on the right hand, just below the thumb. As his photokinetic arm does not accurately recreate details such as fingerprints and, yes, birthmarks, it is now wholly impossible to confirm or deny if Robert even possesses the birthmark that led to this whole mess, let alone if he is actually the lost heir everyone seeks. House Silvios seems to not care, though, and they continue to support Robert at a much more extravagant lifestyle than he is used to.

### A Pawn in Dire Straits

Currently three parties are interested in Robert to varying degrees. Followers of Iomedae wish to present him to the world as a champion, House Silvios along with a small amount of Chelaxian exiles and revolutionaries in Absalom want to present him as a legitimate heir to House Asgavan, and House Thrune sees him as a loose end to be eliminated. Robert himself wishes to stay with the church of Iomedae, but the other two forces interested him are too powerful to be ignored. He dislikes Cheliax for what was done to his hometown, and fears that House Silvios will arrange for a 'tragic accident' to befall his parents in order to give him a clear line of succession when they try to claim him as a lost heir. Beset by enemies both within and without his home, Robert Strenger can do nothing but train to face them, and can often be seen facing captive devils in the Irorium, praying that when the time comes he will be ready to fight whatever evils come after him.

Robert also remembers the lessons of his past. He knows that power drives the world, and that people will raze entire villages over an important-sounding name. He remembers the deference given to the man who took his arm, not because of who he was but because of what he wore. Robert's greatest desire is to some day claim some of that power on his own terms, to turn the name Strenger, not Silvios or Solistar, into a name that people will be willing to fight under for what is right. He is not one for the subtle motions of courts or the quiet politics and backstabbing of nobles. Indeed he is a lion in a nest of spiders, but if he can avoid getting bitten he hopes to crush a great deal of corruption underneath his boot.

With the recent disappearance of Iomedae there is a new reason for him to train, and a new potential path to follow. While not nearly as strong as the recent ascendants of the Starstone, and perhaps not powerful enough to meddle in the affairs of gods quite yet, he does feel a certain sense of obligation to seek out the missing goddess. He hangs around the temple, offering condolences to the faithful, attempting to answer prayers in Iomedae’s place where he can, and trying to piece together where she may have gone in his spare time.

## Personality

Above all else, Robert is a common man. His lack of manners or courtly sensibilities are often off-putting to the nobles he has to deal with, but those aren't the people he's interested in. Robert is at home in the fields or on the streets, hunched over listening to or attempting to solve someone else's problems. He's blunt, forwards, exceedingly honest, and also a bit of a show off. People need someone to look up to in their darkest hours, and Robert puts himself out there as much as he can in the hopes of becoming that person in the eyes of the public.

## House Silvios

House Silvios are officially shipbuilders, based out of Absalom's docks. Their true business, however, lies in attempts to manipulate world politics and trade information. Just about every Silvios boat has a Silvios agent on it, who is officially there to perform maintenance. The agents keep an ear to the ground, pass information back, and the information is either sold at a premium in Absalom or used to further the House's agenda. House Silvios also happens to hold a particular grudge against House Thrune of Cheliax, ever since one of their good friends was executed by the state. Because of that grudge, House Silvios maintains close ties to the community of Chelaxian exiles and would-be revolutionaries in Absalom. While on the surface they care greatly for Robert, in truth adopting him was just another attempt at stirring the pot and potentially unseating their rivals in Cheliax.