This week we had a fiend-thralled lizardfolk who
came through The Worldwound with a dedication to what is true and righteous in
the world. Strong, quick, durable, and charismatic, but with a low wisdom—which
could mean oh-so-many fun things. There are a lot of other things to work with:
a large family, an influential associate, an inability to truly connect in
romantic relationships. So where to start?
First thing I want to do, of course, is pick a class. To
me, the elevation from fiend thrall who ran with a bad crowd, to someone who
represents order and decency screams Paladin. If it hasn’t been clear through
the history of this blog, I’m a paladin fan. I’ve spoken about why paladins
don’t need to follow gods in Shining Light. Three of my other random
characters have become paladins; Marluk Denbrauth, Billup Wheatwhistler, and Standing-Stone.
Yitheris
Shadowtongue
The battle for Golarion may not start in The Worldwound
but it very often ends up there. With each passing day the demons push the
borders of their corruption further and further. The shrinking lands which the
crusader state Mendev protects, the only thing stopping the beasts from getting
out into the wider world.
Because the demon force remains, for the most part,
contained within the borders of the Worldwound, they need mortal agents who can
travel into the wider world. The Demon Lord Shax already has a few such
agents, a tribe of possessed Kellids he uses to bring in more chattel to kill,
torture, and corrupt. These Kellids raid into Numeria, Mendev, Ustalav, and
even The River Kingdoms.
Yitheris was born in Echo Woods, a forest many think has
a sentience of its very own. With Azlanti ruins, giant spiders, raiding
Kellids, and mischievous fey, the wood can be a very dangerous place. The west
edge of the forest which borders the Western Sellen River is home to that
Snapjaw tribe of lizardfolk. With his mother, father, and two older sisters, Yitheris
called this place home.
When the Kellid raiders came it wasn’t unexpected. When
the shadows came, that is when the fear set in. A good half of the tribe was
taken that day, Yitheris and both his parents among them. Luckily his older
sisters lost their pursuers in the wood.
Those who were captured were dragged back up the West
Sellen to The Worldwound. Their trek took them straight through the heart of
the chaos and corruption and into the frozen region called Frostmire. The
Sabertooth Vale was were their journey ended.
Nearly a quarter were slaughtered on the first day in
some bizarre ritual. The rest were pushed into caves and ushered into the
darkness. It was here that the lizardfolk learned who their true captors were.
In the shadows the form of the Kellids flickered, showing the malevolent demons
that ensconced themselves in barbaric flesh like a warm coat. These shadow
demons, servants of Shax, were the lizardfolk’s new masters,
Yitheris was singled out among his tribe; he wasn’t sure
why but he didn’t suffer the same predations as the others. At first he didn’t
mind because it meant the shadow demons and their Kellid puppets let him be. As
time went on, the young reptilian began to enjoy the powers that the shadow
showed him, learning to love the darkness and the fear it caused.
In his teen years he began to run with the Kellids. He
raided with them, howled with them, and slaughtered with them. He became
disconnected from even his own family as his lust for darkness grew. To prove
himself he would pull pranks on his younger siblings who were born in
captivity. For Yitheris it was all about the power that the shadows promised.
Life has many twists and turns in it and even the shadow
demons do not control the chords of fate. During a raid into Mendev itself,
Yitheris fell. The Lizardfolk was left for dead by the Kellids who fled in the
face of defeat by a large contingent of paladins. Only Yitheris was left.
Expectation of his own death however was not to come.
The knights were a mixed group of holy warriors from many
faiths, but their leader was a devout worshiper of Zohls. He looked into the
boy’s eyes, maybe even into his soul, and saw the truth. The knight, Iris Sant,
took the young man back with them, not as a prisoner but as a lost soul.
The nights were long as Sant sat with Yitheris and the
two spoke. The paladin never made the lizardman feel lorded over, always asking
questions, digging for the truth with determination. Yitheris spoke of his
family, his sisters back in the Echo Wood, and his parents and younger siblings
trapped in Sabertooth Vale. He was sullen when he spoke about them, he felt bad
for the way he treated them.
It was weeks before Yitheris was able to walk again, but
he insisted that he must save his family. Iris told him that though Zohls
appreciates determination, he was in no condition to go. Sabertooth Vale is
deep in Worldwound and he’d never make it on his own. The paladin did promise
he would lead a small group himself and see what they could do. All he asked
was that Yitheris pray while he was gone. Pray to see if Zohls saw the truth of
his path.
Iris Sant and his knights were gone two fortnights. In
all that time Yiterhis did nothing but pray and contemplate his path. He ate
little and slept less, and was left undisturbed. The riders returned, their
horses’ hooves beating fast. They were followed by things that should not be.
Other paladins rode out to meet them and eventually beat back the tide,
escorting the riders home.
Yitheris ran out to see what Iris and his troops had
found. They returned with two of his younger siblings, a brother and a sister.
They were gravely injured, but being chased across The Worldwound gave the
riders no time for succor. When Yitheris went to touch his sister his hands
began to glow and many of her most grievous wounds were healed. Iris looked to
the boy and said that Zohls musts have seen the truth of his path.
Yitheris was saddened to hear that his mother died in the
rescue and that his father and brother were still trapped among the possessed
Kellids. The Lizardman wanted nothing more than to save his family and work
toward the truth of Zohls. Some of the other knights who were returning home
took his siblings to find his sisters in the Echo Wood. But Yitheris stayed to
train as a paladin even though he doubted he could ever make up for all of the
things he did.
Some mechanical notes with this character: I wanted to go
the Temple Champion/Oath Against Fiends paladin archetypes The domain he will
choose when he gets to 4th level is good. The character is going to be about
redemption. But I also want to play up the self-doubt aspects and I think this
would come out as taint from the demons he was with. At 3rd level I would
probably pick up Eldritch Heritage Shadow Bloodline to represent the influence
of his former patrons the shadow demon. And I would probably continue picking
up that line of feats to show he can never get away from what he was, but can
he use that to make himself what he should be.
All of that information has congealed into the tale of
Yitheris Shadowtongue. You’ve seen what I did, but what would you have built?
Who is your Lizardfolk follower of Zohls? How did you make your decisions when
fashioning a background like this?
Becoming more than we once were is a tale as old as time.
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