Charles Haalm

Sir **Charles Haalm** was a member of House Hlaam during the reign of King Emeric I Cumberland of Wayrest, as well as a knight of the Order of the Albatross. At some point in his life he took on the personal duty of recovering the remains of fallen knights from Death's Valour Keep, a ruined garrison that became corrupted and haunted by the time of Charles' lifetime. He regularly made quasi-pilgrimages to the haunted keep to recover more bones and give them proper burials, until he was too old to carry on with his duty, instead hiring sellswords to do it in his stead.

Charles lived a long life as a knight and seemed to have accrued a great amount of wealth, enough to live comfortably while still regularly paying sellswords to recover bones from Death's Valour Keep.

## Appearance and Character

Charles had fair skin and blue eyes. By the time he was an old man in 2E 582 his hair had turned pale white, and his skin had grown full of wrinkles, yet he kept some of the strength he had in his youth. Even as an old man he continued to wear leather tunics, prepared at any time to fasten plate armour to it if battle called.

He was a fair, chivalrous, and selfless man who regularly put the needs of others above his own, even if they were long-dead. This was best displayed by his determination to rescue the remains of fallen knights from Death's Valour Keep, steadfast in his belief that knights deserved proper burials. This even extended to paying sellswords to act on his behalf when he grew old.

## History

Charles was born on the Systres Archipelago to House Haalm, a noble family of High Isle. At some point in his youth he decided to join the Order of the Albatross, a knightly order originally founded to give those children of nobility who could not look forward to their parent's inheritance a means of securing their own legacies. Through this it might be inferred that Charles was a lesser son of his House, and not in the line of inheritance. Additionally, it might suggest that even as a lesser son he was not altogether welcome at his House's seat.

As a knight of the Albatross Charles led a life of adventure, discovery, and daring feats. Given the amount of gold he possessed as an old man, it can be assumed that he either earned much through his deeds as a knight, or he did come into some inheritance after all. At some point Charles discovered that Death's Valour Keep, an abandoned garrison that become haunted by undead, was filled with the remains of many fallen knights. Duty-bound to give them a proper burial, he spent much of the rest of his life going alone to the haunted keep and collecting as many knights' skulls as he could find, returning them to a graveyard and burying them.

In Charles' old age he became unable to carry on his self-imposed duty, at which point he began using his accrued gold to pay sellswords to perform the task on his behalf.

## Quotes by Charles

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> So many knights have fallen in battle over the years. I can't count the number of compatriots I've lost in my time in the Order of the Albatross. That's why I come to the temple. To remember them and honour their deeds.
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> —Charles about why he visits the temple so often
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> Every knight deserves a proper burial. When I learned that their remains were still trapped inside that old keep, I decided to do what I could. I'm too old to deal with whatever horrors stalk those ruins, but I have gold. That counts for something.
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> —Charles about his old duty to recover the remains of dead knights from Death's Valour Keep
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