Sebastian Winthrow

**Sebastian Winthrow** was kidnapped by a cult and separated from his parents when he was only a young boy before growing up disillusioned with the world and becoming a member of the cult himself. Sebastian was trained to commune with the cult's deity and perform rituals in service of him. Sebastian believed that this was all life had to offer, that this great evil was the only god out there. He was lost. Or at least he was, until one day a young girl named Alyssa was captured by the cult and was able to escape with the help of the god of good that she worshiped. Sebastian was amazed by this, that there were actually good gods out there, gods that weren't surrounded by all this horror and death. So one day Sebastian escaped and fled to a nearby town before finding a temple of the same god of good that Alyssa had worshiped, a god called Arvoreen.

Sebastian became a cleric of Arvoreen and ended up marrying Alyssa before being called to the island of Tohapuru. Once arriving, Sebastian joined up with a tiefling mercenary called Daemeon and a elven druid called Velene, and with each other's help the three of them managed to stop the maniacal plans of a cult that was hoping to take over the island for themselves. Sebastian stayed around on the island for a while before then deciding to travel back to Stillcrest and be with his family.

## Physical Description

Standing around 5’10, Sebastian has an average build, and is actually somewhat skinny for his age. He has mid/short-length black hair, and tries to keep himself relatively clean-shaven. He also has blue eyes, and is pale white skin.

Sebastian’s left hand has been brutally lacerated and scarred from rituals requiring blood to commune with his former god, Torog. Because of this, he instinctively hides his left hand and his slightly lesser scarred left arm. Sebastian wears armor covered by his lavender cleric garb, with Arvoreen’s holy symbol hanging from his neck (the holy symbol is a golden sun containing a citrine gem in the center). On his right hand, Sebastian wears a simple cord bracelet with three white beads, representing his family back home.

## Backstory

### Abducted by The Calvary

At a young age Sebastian and his parents were abducted by a cult known as The Calvary, and straight away he was separated from the two of them also when they were taken to be used in ritual sacrifice. Sebastian was kept in captivity for a while, constantly calling out to the gods of his family but never hearing anything in return. He lost his faith in the deities. He lost his faith in what's good in the world. He lost all hope. Disillusioned and dismayed, The Calvary used his state of mind to their advantage, and started to train Sebastian up as a cleric of their own deity. Sebastian realised that he was able to actually witness the power of this god, Torog, and was actually able to speak with him, things that he never was never able to see or do with any other so called deity out there.

Sebastian role in the cult became one of communicating with Torog whenever The Calvary needed to commune with him. All of these communications required a blood sacrifice and so Sebastian's own hand and arm became severely lacerated and scarred from all this contact. He didn't always like what he did for the cult, but believed that Torog was the only real god out there, and that this work for him was of importance. Torog himself often spoke to Sebastian about how important Sebastian was to the cult, and Torog also fed him various lies about the world. Sebastian was convinced that he was serving the only higher power in the ways that only he could, this also lead to him believing that his parents being taken was just a chance occurrence, meant to appease the wishes of the evil deity.

### The Rebirth of Bastion

Staying distant from the outside world, Sebastian never had the chance to realize just how prominent the actual other gods out there were. For all of his teenage years, Sebastian came to hate the work he did, and tried each day talking to the other gods he had heard about to see if they were real. With no response, he continued to do the despicable work he did, now doing it only to serve a higher purpose.

One day, when Sebastian was around the age of 17, one of the captives brought in a young girl named Alyssa Valeheart to be sacrificed in a ritual. Somehow though, the females prisoner’s good deity, Arvoreen, helped her to escape from the ritual. When she was first caught, Sebastian talked to her while she was bound and heard her talking about Arvoreen and what they were like, how they were good. So when he saw the divine power that helped her escape coming from a good deity, he wanted to learn more.

After a short time he was able to escape and find a temple for Arvoreen. He just ran. Escaping to the neighboring city of Stillcrest, the temple of Arvoreen was the first real place he came to, and Seamus, the head cleric there, gladly let him rest there for the night. From there, Bastion wanted to learn more about this deity. Sebastian befriended Seamus, and eventually pledged to leave his old life behind and start serving this good deity. Sebastian also decided to start going by a different name, Bastion. To him, Sebastian is a raw name, one that reminds him of his ignorance. After a while, Bastion found that Alyssa actually occasionally went to the temple herself, and he found her worshiping there one day. Gradually becoming close friends with her and being able to share his past with her, she understood that he did what he did for misguided reasons, and was able to forgive him. While working under tutelage of the priest at the temple to become a cleric for Arvoreen, Bastion and Alyssa eventually got married, and had two children, Ezra & Jeremiah.

### Leaving for Tohapuru

After starting a family in Stillcrest, Bastion began to feel called by Arvoreen to the island of Tohapuru. And upon arriving there he ended up joining forces with a tiefling mecenary and elven druid to bring down a group of tyrannical outlaws and save the island's colonies. Bastion stayed there for a while before then deciding to head back to Stillcrest and reunite with his family.

## Individuals of Importance

* **Seamus Barrett:** The elderly Seamus was the head of the temple where Sebastian began training to be a cleric for Arvoreen. Though they have only known each other for several years, Seamus and Sebastian became close friends, with Seamus becoming almost a father to Sebastian.
* **Alyssa Winthrow:** Alyssa is Sebastian’s wife. Living back home in the city of Stillcrest with their two children, Alyssa was the one to originally introduce Sebastian to Arvoreen, working alongside him as a priest at one of the deity’s temples.
* **Creed:** Creed was the leader of the cult and was the one who had the idea to bring young Sebastian up in The Calvary. Creed is a half-elf with deep red eyes, and was the one most committed to teaching Sebastian the ways of Torog. Looking back, Creed wasn’t the… kindest person. Sebastian hopes never to see his face ever again.
* **Ezra Winthrow:** Ezra is Sebastian’s oldest son, at 3 years old.
* **Jeremiah Winthrow:** Jeremiah is the youngest out of Sebastian’s children, being just 1 year old. Jeremiah was one of the main reasons Alyssa and the children decided to remain in Stillcrest.
* **Arvoreen****:** Bastion's patron deity.
* **Nikolai Graves:** Sebastian became good friends and worked closely with him to bring down the Cabal.
* **Velene Evenwind****:** Sebastian became good friends and worked closely with her to bring down the Cabal.

## Current Goals

* After learning about Arvoreen, Sebastian made a vow; That though he would pledge his life to Arvoreen and to do the works that she asked of him, he would decide things by his own final judgement. After spending his days following Torog, he has realised that the only thing that man can really trust is himself. He wants to do good and make up for his past, and he will not be blindly led astray by any deity. Not again.
* Remembering how much it hurt for him to be left without his parents those first few years, Sebastian tries to help those he sees are alone to feel less so.
* Sebastian will look out for his family & friends no matter what.

## Character Information

### **Notable Items**

Alms Box, Bag of Holding, Block of Incense, Cake Batter, Censer, Holy Symbol of Arvoreen, Mace of Guiding, Meguil's Kraken Painting, Scale Mail, Shield, Tohapuru Passport.

### **Abilities**

Cleric Abilities: Channel Divinity, Turn Undead

* Life Domain Abilities: Disciple of Life, Preserve Life

### **Spells**

Cantrips: Light, Sacred Flame, Spare the Dying

1st Level: Bless, Command, Cure Wounds, Detect Magic, Healing Word, Inflict Wounds, Shield of Faith