Cruendithas Pegason
From Valwiki
I...am a Guardian Spirit of Celdin! One who destroys
the enemies of the Royal Family!
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| Player: | Phantos. | |
| Title(s): | Caravan guard, slave, town guard and knight captain. | |
| Age: | Died at 35, 51 otherwise. Born in 5 PF. | |
| Race: | Human. | |
| Eye Color: | Blue. | |
| Hair: | Black. | |
| Skin Tone: | Tanned. | |
| Height: | 5'11". | |
| Weight: | 190 lbs. | |
| Alignment: | Lawful Good. | |
Contents |
Personality
Cruendithas takes a no-nonsense approach to life and as such is often seen as a spoil-sport or even unintelligent. He does not get many jokes, indeed his sense of humor somewhat impaired due to being a foreigner. Cruendithas is a rather shy and paranoid when it comes to the possibility of offending others in the lands of Valikorlia. As such, he tries to lose as much pride and ego as possible in order to not offend strangers and blend in with normal society. This, along with stalwart determination, has lent itself well to his success serving under others.
Background
Childhood
His mother dying during childbirth, Cruendithas was born in somewhat favorable conditions compared to many of those in the region of his birth in Meridiem (5 PF) Due to his father being a renowned caravan guard, the family was friends with many well-to-do merchants and as such Cruendithas grew up in fine company. While his father went on caravan journeys in the Bitter Heights to do trade with the small villages scattered about those dusty foothills, Cruendithas would stay in the port city of Hurlin awaiting his return. Young Cruendithas would enjoy a relatively peaceful childhood, playing alongside the rich and spoiled children of merchants in the upper-class part of the breezy yet dangerous city. By age ten, he was friends with nearly every wealthy member of the community, and he aspired to be just like his father some day (15 PF, age 10).
Youth
That day would come on his fourteenth birthday, when his Cruendithas' father offered him to go on a short trip to the peaks near the eastern deserts of Runesand (17 PF). They made sure to keep their distance, as the deserts were known to swallow up all who entered. Cruendithas enjoyed the trip so much that his father let him tag along on every one thereafter. During rest stops, he would pick up sword play from his father and learn valuable other lessons on surviving in harsh climates, including gathering food and wood in the often barren mountain terrain. His father would one day look upon his son with great pride, knowing he had taught him all he could. His father soon thereafter took another wife, and Cruendithas inherited the family title, entrusted to protect caravans from the dangers of eastern Meridiem well into his young adulthood (24 PF, age 19).
Adulthood
Trials and Tribulations
In his early-twenties, Cruendithas began to make contact with many visitors from a land far to the north, across the great seas. They spoke of a magical barrier being lifted from this land, which previously barred all travel, opening way for great trade and travel. Coinciding with their arrival, the bandits of the area stepped up their attacks as many of the goods now being traded were from the northern lands of Kharlia and held even greater value in the black market. A great skirmish erupted one day in the mountainous regions of the Bitter Heights, and Cruendithas' entire caravan was lost in catastrophe when an avalanche was triggered by the heightened battle. Surviving in caves and making his way to the north, Cruendithas found himself in the utmost peaks of the mountains, a fearful region of the world where the oldest of vile creatures were said to roam (28 PF, age 23).
For days he searched the peaks for food and shelter, barely living off what he had found. After a few weeks, he was all but ready for death when a raiding party of strange looking creatures found him and took the young man captive. Bound and blindfolded, Cruendithas was transported to a secret location in the northern mountains where he was to become a sacrifice for an evil cult of sorts. He does not know why, but they deemed him unworthy of such and was cut down moments before the ritual was to be taken place. From that point on he was bid to be their slave and representation to the outside world.
Cruendithas spent a few years serving his strange captors, eventually coming to despise them and their grotesque ways. Nevertheless, he helped many of their raiding parties scout and find Human settlements in the Bitter Heights before they were taken over and used as sacrifice. Cruendithas was often disguised as a merchant prince looking to establish trade and, when the people welcomed him into their settlement, the raiding party would take advantage of the situation and attack. This constant act of treachery despised Cruendithas to no end and instilled within him great shame, though he secretly promised himself that someday he would make things right.
A New Life
Halfway into his twenty-sixth year, Cruendithas managed to escape the undead settlement and make his way west, using a path he had discovered while scouting for the raiding parties (31 PF, age 26). Doing well on his own in the mountains near the mystic valley of Droth Danor, Cruendithas was eventually found by the patrolling Dwarves of the kingdom. Welcoming him in, as no human in centuries was able to stumble upon the valley, the Dwarves listened as Cruendithas related his tale. He swore before them that he would seek vengeance for all of the innocents killed by the undead hordes that enveloped many parts of Meridiem. The Dwarves were impressed with his spirit and shared with him their ideals of honor. And, while they knew not but the very basics on defeating undead, they had heard strange tales from the north; in the lands of Kharlia, there were great organizations dedicated to rooting out such creatures, and techniques taught to wipe them out with great ease! Cruendithas thanked the Dwarves for all they had done, and they wished him well on his journeys. As a parting gift and token of their friendship, the Dwarves crafted him a suit of armor and a helmet written with runes signifying his honor-bound duty to protect the innocent. Cruendithas sought out a way from Droth Dranor and eventually made his way to Hurlin, where he returned to his father and told him of his tribulations. Now gray with age, Cruendithas' father initially protested at his son leaving so soon, but knew it was something he must do. Bestowed by his father the sword that he used in his own travels, Cruendithas set sail for the land of Kharlia. (32 PF, age 27)
Cruendithas arrived in Port Wolfe and set to searching for a solution to the horrors of undeath. He visited many locations and made a few friends, even getting the opportunity to taste new and unusual foods. He attended several various churches and their storied sermons, where undeath was often condemned. The Dwarves had been correct: Cruendithas was among a people hardened against the scourge of undeath. Other tales shared by the priests of the temples involved ancient heroes, knights and paladins, who protected the kings and queens from the evils of the land; these tales embodied everything Cruendithas desired to be, and he dedicated himself to becoming one himself. After spending some time as a hired guard for the forest town of Ganelon, Cruendithas was recognized as a valiant member of the community, later trained in the newly-established ranks of post-Stagorn Celdin, shortly before becoming Knight Captain of the Guard. He accepted these tasks with much fervor, as he it was a good opportunity to learn more of the local people and their customs. (33 PF, age 28).
Despite unease between political sides in Celdin mounting, Cruendithas strove to take a neutral approach in his duties for the kingdom. No matter what the political view, his job was to follow orders and ensure the borders were kept safe. He spent many days patrolling and dealing with the nuances of Greendale's city life. Before long, Celdin was united under the banner of Eian Smarth, and the old political in-fighting between East and West Celdin subsided. Content with the stability in the region, Cruendithas came to a difficult conclusion: If he was to properly give his life to this land, his old one must first be laid to rest. With this in mind, Cruendithas set off on a boat to the south, to Meridiem and the lands of his birth (35 PF, age 30).
Two Returns
The travel was long, and his trek through the varied jungles and deserts of his home continent were harsh, but Cruendithas made his way home in Hurlin to find life rather unchanged. He enjoyed a peaceful reunion with his family, and sold off his remaining stake in the family business to his sisters; the gold went towards chartering an expedition to the Dwarven halls of Droth Dranor, they too like a family to the man. Finding life here less peaceful than his home town, Cruendithas was met with grim cheer, for the Dwarves had come under attack in recent times and were faring poorly. Considering it a duty to those that saved his life, Cruendithas swore to aid the Dwarves until the threat subsided.
Having spent time in Kharlia, exposed to the undead of the land and the many that were dedicated to their destruction, Cruendithas shared what knowledge he knew of slaying the fiends. The Dwarves, in turn, initiated the swordsman in the path of the Stone Dragon, a fighting technique that the stout folk had mastered over many great years. After months of brutal defensive skirmish, the threat of Bugbears, Orc, and Ogres was finally extinguished and Cruendithas bid his stocky brethren farewell. He would travel southeast out of the enchanted valley and towards the Runesands. It did not take long before he found a roaming merchant caravan, and tagged long for a short time in hopes of uncovering raiders. It took only a week before they were set upon by the undead marauders, and Cruendithas slew all of them save one, which fled for its home-camp of nearly a hundred raiders. The swordsman kept a close chase, tracking its every move through the twilight wasteland, and came upon the outpost in a great and terrible fury. He slew all that he could, others fleeing to even farther and deeper encampments. Covered in wounds and bleeding profusely, Cruendithas shouted his grievances to the desert night's sky and fell to the ground in exhaustion. His sins had been absolved at last (37 PF, age 32).
Cruendithas had been gone from his new home for only three years, yet as he returned home he found much had changed. The kingdom of Celdin had fallen and risen several times. Gone were the ranks in which he belonged, and those he once led in defense of the land. As much as it pained him, Cruendithas could not dedicate himself to the unstable governments that washed across the lands in the years to come, though he did act as a singular mercenary for merchant caravans, protecting them during the dangerous civil wars (36 PF, age 33). As he traveled, the once-knight discovered a great deal of the old guard were stationed as mercenaries in New Lucca, a port whose christening Cruendithas had overseen. While distraught to have lost sight of his previous dream of becoming a royal knight, Cruendithas was delighted to have made contact with some of his old peers. He continued mercenary work until the founding of the Third Valikorlian Empire, which caused the urge of serving to become unbearable; Cruendithas enlisted as a guard for the city of Greendale once more (39 PF, age 34).
Death
When Dalmar and the Valikorlian Empire went to war with one another, Cruendithas steeled himself against the urge to fight against the Dalmarites; his concern was with the simple folk of Greendale and the surrounding territories, and he was loathe to shed the blood of Kharlian. To him, all were brethren in this land foreign to him and not once in all of his years traveling across Kharlia was he forced to kill a man of these lands. He stood watch atop the gates of the city, spending long nights peering into the distant south. When the forests of the elves burned, he knew the Dalmarites would soon be upon the city. When their armies marched and set siege, Cruendithas did what he could to evacuate the citizens as the fires of war sought to engulf his cherished home.
When the grand airship of Imperial Dalmar, the Nightfall, crash-landed upon the city in a fiery explosion, Cruendithas was caught in the blast and perished. His spirit rests well, having saved several men and women from a similar fate during the evacuation.
He died in 40 PF at the age of 35.
