Kestus Armiger

Description

Weapon Proficiencies: Blades (broad group); punching specialization; composite long bow.

Nonweapon Proficiencies: Animal training (griffon); etiquette; spellcraft; reading/writing (common); religion; riding, airborne (griffon).

Equipment: Standard adventuring gear; long sword; banded mail armor.

Combat/Tactics

Kestus will fight by the rules of fair and honorable combat if facing a foe who offers the same respect. Otherwise, he will do what he must, within the limits of his conscious and alignment, to win. In the case of evil wizards whom he is intending to bring down for their crimes, Kestus will use whatever strategy is available to him. Though he will never attack a foe from behind, he will use any protections and methods he has to avoid the wizard’s spells and bring him down. A common method of attack for Kestus is to fly down on the back of Shaka, his griffon, and battle a wizard from the air. Kestus is unafraid to assault a wizard’s tower in this manner. Also, while fighting grounded, Kestus’s griffon will defend him in battle.

Allies/Companions

Shaka, a trained griffon.

Special Abilities

Because of his inquisitor paladin kit, Kestus has the following special abilities:

• Detect evil intent at will up to 60 feet away.
• Detect evil magic at will, being able to perceive the intensity, up to 60 feet away.
• +2 to all saving throws.
• Immunity to disease.
• Aura of protection from evil, 10-foot radius.
• Dispel evil magic once per day, with a base 100% chance of success, operating just like the third level priest spell otherwise.
• 83% immunity to illusions (will increase by 1% per level to a maximum of 95%).
• 90% immunity to all possession and mental control spells, including charm, domination, hold person, hypnotism, magic jar, and suggestion.

Special Hindrances

Also because of his specific inquisitor kit, Kestus does not have the following standard paladin abilities:

• Can't restore hit points by laying on hands.
• Can never learn or cast priest spells.
• Can't turn undead.
• Can't cure diseases in others.

Appearance

Kestus has jet black hair, short enough to look distinguished, yet just long enough that it can fall into playful disarray where loose strands will tease the edges of his brow. His eyes appear as pools of black water when stared into. Many people who look into Kestus's eyes find themselves forced to look away, unable to bear the look of invincible purpose hidden within those pools of black. He is clean shaven, but his features are often seen as "dark," because of the penetrating stare with which he regards others and the fact he speaks very little and very directly when he speaks at all.

He is fairly well muscled, his physique chiseled by the hours he spends daily honing his skills and the rugged lifestyle he inflicts upon himself, but mostly his physique is hidden beneath the banded mail he wears. The breast and shoulder plates of his armor, as well as the flaps of metal which extend down to protect his groin and backside, are blue, and he keeps them polished to a smooth shine as much as possible. Also polished blue are his knee-high, metal-plated boots. The chain mail sections of his armor which cover his arms and legs are silver, and these he also keeps polished. He likes to be an imposing figure when he rides down out of the sky toward his enemies on the back of his griffon companion, Shaka.

Kestus wears a simple, yet well-polished long sword at his side in a polished, blue sheath with shining, silver fixtures on it. On his opposite side, he wears a sheathed dirk that is a perfect complement to his sword.

Kestus’s constant companion, Shaka, is a healthy looking, female griffon. She strides along with a regal air, her head held up proudly, and she becomes anxious when forced to leave Kestus’s side for any reason. The two seem to have an intangible link that bonds them together, and they are, for the most part, inseparable. Shaka's body is covered mostly in golden-hued fur. Her head and neck are covered with soft, white feathers, as are the undersides of her wings. A menacing, yellow beak is centered on her face between piercing, emerald green eyes.

Personality

Kestus is honorable and strictly disciplined. He will never attack a helpless foe, nor will he ignore those in need. His single-minded purpose of eradicating evil has added a bit of sardonicism to his personality, but he is still generally affable and kind. He remains in one area only as long as he is needed, or as long as he needs to, and is always mindful of his main goal, that of finding the black mage (see history).

Kestus is a good listener, very sympathetic to others' woes and interests, but he seldom speaks of himself, choosing to keep his emotions tightly in check and rarely expressing his own opinions, except as necessary. Kestus has little respect for those who won't try to help themselves, and though he still treats them with respect, he has no sympathy for their complaints. As far as he is concerned, there is a difference between being helpless and refusing to help one's self. He has no patience for the latter.

If at all possible, Kestus will not abandon Shaka, even choosing to sleep in the stables with her. Since he was not raised to desire material gains, Kestus doesn't mind living meagerly. Besides, Shaka is his friend, and whatever accommodations are good enough for her are good enough for him. As far as material wealth applies, he only keeps for himself that which he needs, choosing not to burden himself or his mount with excess equipment.

History

Kestus was born the son of a very wealthy and prominent mage, Garenon Armiger. Kestus was an only child, but did not grow up to be spoiled. He had a close relationship with his father, who was a very honorable man. Garenon tried to teach his son the ways of magic, hoping Kestus would grow to become a wizard, but unfortunately, Kestus was inept in the handling of magic. However, Garenon did impress upon his son the importance of magic to the world and the great responsibility one undertook to use it properly and in ways which helped society.

Garenon discovered that his child was somehow strongly attuned to the vibrations of magic, mostly noticing magic he described as "bad," when Kestus one day pointed to a locked, rune-etched box in his father's workshop that contained a black rod which had been the property of an evil wizard who was deposed by Kestus's mother, Marda, in her adventuring days. Despite his ability, Kestus continually frustrated his father's attempts to teach him to wield magic.

As Kestus was growing up and he approached that age where boys wish to become men, he begged his father to let him learn the ways of the sword. His father, deciding by now his son would never be able to wield the magic which he himself loved so dearly, agreed, and Kestus's mother, who had been a great warrior who traveled the lands until she settled down with Garenon and became pregnant with Kestus, took charge of her son's training, teaching him how to fight with a myriad of blades and also showing him how to fight while wearing various types of armor and using a shield. She was impressed with her son's natural skill with weapons, and she drilled him daily while constantly impressing upon him the amount of responsibility carried with wielding weapons and how that responsibility required him to protect those who were unable to protect themselves.

While Kestus's father taught him to respect and revere magic and the righteous applications of that magic, his mother taught him a strict code of honor in combat and even other courtly ways, so that he would not only grow up to be disciplined in the ways of war, but also in the ways of diplomacy. Kestus proved to be an apt pupil, and he earned the utmost pride and respect from his parents, who loved him dearly and doted affections on him, though they did not spoil him with material belongings, providing him with only what he needed and perhaps only slightly more.

On the day Kestus became of age, he announced to his parents his desire to join the ranks of the local knighthood, and his parents could not have been more proud of his decision. They supported him fully, his influential father making the appropriate petition to the local nobility, and soon Kestus was entered into the ranks of the knight trainees where he worked fervently to earn the continued respect of his parents, as well as the respect of his peers and superiors.

The day finally came, after years of hard work, when Kestus would graduate to become a full-fledged knight. On that day, his parents were most proud of him. His mother, who had always looked the tough warrior in Kestus's eyes, even broke into tears, though even this display of emotional release only seemed to make Marda look stronger to her son. Then it was after the graduation ceremony that Kestus's father, Garenon, surprised him with a gift to show exactly how proud he and his wife were of their son, a truly amazing gift: a baby griffon.

Speechless, feeling his own tears beginning to well up in his eyes, Kestus stared at the beautiful baby griffon chirping peacefully on her bed of soft blue blankets in the family's stable. When he was finally controlled enough to speak, Kestus hugged both his parents, saying, "Thank you both. I could not have received a better gift. She shall be my best friend for life."

His parents were happy about their son's reaction to the gift, but despite that, they instructed him on the importance of his relationship with the griffon. They told Kestus he would have to tend to the griffon's needs each day, feeding her and lavishing attention on her, and when the griffon came of age, Kestus would be responsible for teaching her to fly. They also warned him not to keep too tight a rein on the griffon, whom Kestus named Shaka, but to instead treat her as a loved companion, which Kestus did, and Shaka grew over the next four years to be a loyal friend.

Shortly after Shaka reached adulthood and was trained to fly by Kestus with the assistance of a local animal trainer, tragedy struck Kestus's home. He had been out with Shaka on a training mission with his knight brigade, learning to use his aerial ability to play advance scout for the group and also how to combat effectively while mounted, and was returning home, walking his tired griffon through the streets of town, when he saw fire in the distance.

Leaping upon Shaka's back and hurrying home, Kestus soon discovered his house was in flames, most of it blasted to the ground by some powerful force. Lying out on the yard was his mother, charred and bleeding, and even from a distance, Kestus could tell she was dead. Standing futilely protective over Marda's corpse was Kestus's father, also charred and bloody, attempting to defend himself against another wizard, dressed in black, his head and bare hands somehow colored completely black and featureless. He hovered above the ground, hurling spells back at Garenon.

Kestus screamed a cry of "Nooo!" and urged Shaka down to impose himself between his father and the black mage, but he was too late. The black mage's hand rose up a final time, and a charge of blue energy shot out, tendrils of white electricity dancing around it, and struck his father fully, creating a huge explosion of energy which knocked Shaka to the ground and caused Kestus to go flying from the saddle.

When the smoke settled a moment later, Kestus looked about. No trace of either his mother's or his father’s body remained, only a large patch on the ground, oddly burned white, where the black mage's spell struck. Then Kestus's eyes, suddenly filled with venom and hatred, turned to where the black mage still stood. There came a mocking nod of that black, featureless face, then the mage disappeared in a flash of smoke which remained for a moment as a curling, gray tendril that rose up and dissipated.

Before the black mage departed, Kestus glimpsed what was held in his left hand: a rune-etched, silver box, the same one Kestus had pointed to as a boy and called "bad." The wizard had returned for his property. Kestus suddenly regret never asking his father to whom the item locked therein had belonged, but that thought was washed away as a sudden wave of grief flowed over Kestus's heart. He looked again at that eerie, white patch of ground where his father had made his last stand and knew his parents were gone.

Then he wept, but only for a moment, for then he steeled himself and stood up, moving to tend Shaka, making sure she was okay. The griffon was bruised, but she would heal, whereas Kestus felt his own heart never would. He had seen firsthand what his father had always warned him about, the danger of magic when wielded by the hands of evil. From that moment on, he vowed to devote his life to eradicating this evil from the world, so that none would ever again abuse such power. One day, he hoped, he would find the black mage responsible for his parents’ deaths, and when he did, there would be a reckoning.

After that, Kestus did not remain in his home town for very long. His parents were dead, his house destroyed, and nothing was left there for him. Besides, he made a vow to himself which he would keep, and that vow was better fulfilled out in the world, not by trying to rebuild the shattered remnants of his life here. So Kestus politely withdrew from the ranks of the knighthood, explaining to his peers and superiors his decision to do so, all of whom said they understood and wished Kestus the best of luck. With somber farewells, Kestus mounted Shaka's back and took to the air without even one backward glance.

Roleplaying Notes

Kestus’s paladinic power comes from his devotion to his mission, the strength of his own code of ethics, and the purity and goodness of his spirit--his own, personal philosophy, if you will--rather than from worshipping a god or other greater power. If questioned about gods, Kestus will usually respond with some bitterness, explaining that the gods never saved his parents from the evil that destroyed them, so it’s better for a person to rely only on himself, rather than on capricious gods.

Shaka has the statistics of a normal, adult griffon. However, if Kestus is used as a PC, it is recommended the DM allow Shaka’s hit dice to rise by 1 for every 2 levels Kestus earns or the griffon will soon be unable to survive along Kestus’s high-level adventures.

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SVEN LINDHOLM, “ORC