Borys

Borys the Bull

Baltazar - uncle (alleged)

Borys - father (deceased)

Estrild - mother (deceased)

Borys was a member of the Disciples of Dreth'dor. He was the primary melee fighter within the group, and was useful mainly for his ability to soak up and dish out damage reliably. Asides from feats of strength and endurance, Borys provided little of artistic or intellectual value, though he is an idealist, and easily manipulated.

## Physical Appearance

Borys is a massively built man with pale skin and long black hair. He has a short black goatee, and stands at about six feet tall. His eyes are a startling green, and his mouth reveals a golden front tooth when he speaks. Numerous light scars run across his forehead and any exposed skin, and his nose is crooked, as if it had been broken in the past. He is clad in what appears to be bloodstained scale armour, with hundreds of little marks etched into the larger plates. He wears white fur cloak, at his belt is a triple-headed flail, on his back a large shield, a longbow and a quiver of arrows. Held in the nook of his arm is an impressive horned helmet. His right arm appears, quite remarkably, to be made entirely of metal, though it seems to maintain all the flexibility and dexterity of a normal arm.

## Personality

Borys is a tough guy who worships Kord above all other deities and strongly believes in the bigger picture when it comes to helping people. He is impatient and impulsive. Loyal to his friends and good-hearted, Borys is also loud, gruff, and blunt with his words. He is vengeful and seeks justice.

## History

Borys was one of many Kainic orphans. With a strong military tradition in the province came a long history of children growing up without parents. The orphanage leaders were not terribly generous with what they knew, and so Borys had always grown up knowing his parents had died, but not how or why. He had been less than a year old at the time, and so couldn't even remember what they looked like.

Life in the orphanage was grim, with constant chores, frequent disciplining and nothing to look forward to. Borys however had the good fortune to become friends with a lively young half-elf boy called Zhiroslav, and a pretty little Kainic girl, Dedenia. Together they made their own fun, their own adventures, and were an inseparable trio of energetic mischief. Zhiroslav possessed a great charisma that drew others to him, to his way of thinking and he was capable of making friends out of the roughest bullies, which protected Borys and Dedenia from no small amount of trouble. Many of the orphanage workers also fell under his influence, excusing the group for their misbehaviours. For orphans, their life seemed almost perfect.

Almost.

There were two dark signs of trouble from the beginning. The first was that Borys always felt a certain degree of envy at Zhiroslav's ease with others, and status in the orphanage. Often Borys felt he was important not through his own virtue, but because of his affiliation as Zhiroslav's number one comrade. Dedenia was his only other friend, everyone else opted to avoid him unless the charming one was nearby.

The second was the vile creature known to them as the Matriarch, an evil old woman who ruled over the orphanage like a witch out of a fairy tale. How she had earned the job was unknown to all; she had held the position even before any of the other current workers had arrived. It was she who hired the more vicious overseerers, it was she who frequently elaborated on already inhuman rules to better cause misery amongst the children.

In childish frustration at his unpopularity and seemingly unimportant status, Borys entered into a pact with the devil. He became the matriarch's spy among the children, as well as her enforcer. It was he who brought the other, weaker orphans to her offices when they merited special punishment, and it was he who warned the crying victims not to speak a word, or face harsher consequences.

Shortly after Zhiroslav left to become a holy warrior, things became worse for everyone in the orphanage. When at last Dedania was endangered by the matriarch's evil, he fled with her, using his strength and her wits to survive the outside world.

After some time, his strength brought him into the army, and he quickly grew skilled with weapon and shield. His prowess attracted the attention of the Kainic Captains of Battle, who took him in to see if he had what was necessary to join their elite ranks.

He did not.

Despite failing the warlord training due to his lack of charm with large groups and poor choices in assigning roles, Borys' martial skill grew.

One day, Borys and the captains, as well as their charges, were performing war games in the wilds of Kain. During scheduled downtime, Borys was selected as a guard for the higher ranking Captain-trainers as they scouted the surrounding lands planning out the next exercises. Without warning a large creature ambushed the group while their guard was down. Borys rushed to defend his masters but was knocked aside, his efforts in vain, his trusty flail lost in the brush. Spear and axe, sword and bow, no attack seemed to slow the creature's rampage. Having knocked most of the combatants to the ground, the creature turned to feast upon the highest-ranking captain. Borys pulled himself to his feet despite the pain wracking his body, and, grabbing a spear as he ran, charged the creature. With a mighty roar he leapt between the monster and his captain, thrusting upwards as forcibly as possible. There was a sickening crunch as the spear entered the soft fleshy part of the lower jaw, and burst out through the other side, protruding grotesquely from what remained of a nose. It gurgled in pain and forced the jaws apart, blood gushing from the horrific injury. With a mighty tug, Borys wrenched the spear out, snapping it in two, one half through the two jaws, the other in his grasp. As the monster fumbled and fell to the ground, madly clawing at the weapon jutting from it's face, Borys plunged the jagged half of the spear into an eye with all his might. He struck with such force that the momentum carried his arms into the eye socket, until he was elbow deep inside it's skull. Without a doubt, whatever it was, it was dead.

Following that day, Borys gained honour and rank within Kain. He had frequently been called "The Bullheaded," during training because of his impulsive stubborn nature, but after the battle was named "The Bloody;" it was a high honour within Kainic society, though Borys had become somewhat more uncomfortable with such praise, and was certainly not fond of large social gatherings. Borys always tells people he is known as "the Bullheaded;" or "Borys the Bull;" but not "Borys the Bloody"; though that it how most of the rest of Kainic society knows him as.

He returned back to Lyndrich, his dark past behind him, and married Dedenia. Though still haunted at times by the orphanage, Borys vowed to protect the weak, innocent and helpless in an effort to redeem himself. Duty to Kain and Gavriel as a whole also played a strong role in his motivations.

Recently he lost a tooth during a sparring accident when he stumbled and a trainee hit him hard in the face with a practice sword. As he was frequently away, his wife suggested they melt the gold wedding ring he wore and make it into a tooth. Sensible people, they realized this was safer than carrying a gold ring on campaign and less likely to be lost or stolen.

Despite his lack of charisma, Borys makes an acceptable leader through his fierce determination and his experience, and men respect him for his deeds, if not his skill at organization.

He worships Kord, as does most of Kain, as well as Avandra, for her decree is to fight for freedom against injustice, as well as taking fate into your own hands. They are the two gods whose tenets most closely mirror his own philosophies.

Approximately a month before first encountering the disciples, Borys had a long discussion with his wife, Dedenia. Living with her sisters and working for their merchant enterprise, she was unsatisfied, as she would rather be helping the brave men of Kain rather than helping the family with its self-enrichment. To this end, and working along his plans to undermine the orphanage, Borys entrusted her with some of his savings. With this money she was to found a farmstead, provide room and board for any orphans that wished to work there and learn to farm (and thus escape the orphanage), as well as hiring expert farmers to teach new staff. Dedenia, being somewhat more wise than Borys, and hopefully not too stupid, as well as being more charismatic, would be well-suited to the management and overseeing of such an enterprise. Not only would it be an investment of Borys' money, but it would please his wife, help support the barony, and free orphans from the tyranny of the matriarch.

### Origin

Borys learned who his parents were from Baltazar. Bory's mother was a Galefridish woman named Estrild who moved to Kain and fell in love with a Kainic soldier named Borys. The two had a secret life together; the proud warrior, Borys, could never be seen as a man who fell in love with the enemy. Estrild became pregnant and died giving birth to Borys. Unable to raise the child without his secret shame being brought to light, Borys left the baby at a local orphanage. However, he still did have love for the child, and left instruction to the orphanage that the child's name was Borys.

## Notes

* Baltazar claims to be his uncle
* According to Baltazar, Borys' mother was called Estruld, and was a Galefridish woman.
* His father, Borys, was a foolish warrior who wasn't brave enough to raise a child of two kingdoms and who died in battle.