Post by DM on Apr 26, 2014 9:26:32 GMT
Sir Uthlorad Garrodros Paladin of Torm, Warden of The Helmlands, Castellan of Castle Steelbridge (1336 - )
Gallant and brave, the rugged and well travelled paladin Uthlorad of house Garrodros is an unimposing figure marred by a lifetime of worry and woe.
He has many light scars across his sun burned skin and walks with a slight limp. Handsome but weathered, his black hair is thinning at the front and cut short at the back but has no grey.
It is very rare to catch him with a smile but his eyes flicker and he bristles with pride when good deeds are done by others in his company.
Uthlorad was born the son of a horse breeder in 1336 in the Helmlands in the Crownsilver lands of Cormyr. House Garrodros is named for the sturdy garron ponies that Uthlorad’s family is known throughout Cormyr for breeding and supplying to the Purple Knights and bannermen of Crownsilver.
By his 10th name day, Uthlorad had been recognised as a fine horseman and skilled with sword and shield so was squired to Lord Steelbridge of The Helmlands, a lesser bannerman to Kimba Crownsilver, where he served the Lord’s knights and Crown’s Purple Knights with unswerving loyalty.
As he reached his 15th year, he had been leaning towards the teachings of Torm that many of the Purple Knights and Lord Steelbridge followed feeling that duty and honor were paramount.
He went through a tumultuous period upon reaching manhood when his father vied and jostled to have him wed to Avander Crownsilver, a lesser cousin of Maniol of Suzail, and therefore raising the Garrodros’ in the process but it was not to be and Avander was married off to a member of the Dauntinghorn family in an ill advised attempt to heal certain wounds between the two houses.
By this point however, Uthlorad had already fell in love with Avander only to have her torn from him. In time, he appeared to heal and move on but inside his heart was still aching for his first love. His father arranged him to be wed to Vienine Whiteheart, a fair maiden of a lesser house, and in the summer of 1354, at aged 18, Uthlorad and Vienine were joined though they remained childless until 1363 (see below).
During this time, Uthlorad saw the lack of child as a sign that he was to serve Torm wholly and took the vow of paladinhood before Lord Steelbridge and Sir Mallacoi Grimshanks, the High Hand of Torm in Arabel. His father was furious and died an angry man in 1355, estranged from his son who would have no heirs to the Garrodros family.
Vienine was also upset by his decision knowing that his vows would mean a promise of chastity and that his heart would go to Torm before her.
As Uthlorad reached his 30th year, his deeds and accomplishments as a knight of House Crownsilver under Steelbridge’s banner has become known news amongst the Cormyrian nobility and common folk alike. He traced his mother’s roots back to Tethyrian ancestors who settled a castle in the Small Teeth known as Drake’s Peak. His mother had died during while birthing him so he could not ask her of this.
This house, known as House Ortoli, had fallen a hundred years before, but he was the last heir to its lands and banner – a gold dragon on a field of red. Seeking the counsel of his trusted tutor and Meister of Castle Steelbridge, Lewellyc, he was given permission to emblazon his shield and breastplate with the Ortoli crest. Lewellyc told Uthlorad that his ancestor was also a Paladin of Torm and member of the Golden Lions to boot. Never had Uthlorad felt more right in his decision to become a paladin than when he learned this.
But still, as his relationship with Vienine started to fray, she fell pregnant in 1363. As Uthlorad had took a vow of chastity and kept that vow, he knew she had been unfaithful.
He was faced with an awkward choice – if he told the truth, great shame would fall upon house Whiteheart, his master’s house, his church, his own family name and even the Crownsilvers. She refused to reveal who the father was and so would birth a bastard or she would even be made to drink Blackvine to end the pregnancy.
His other choice was just as bad – if he was to lie and say that the child was his, he would be cast out of the knights, his vow of honesty would be broken and he would fall.
Both choices would spell disaster for him and Vienine.
He made a decision that would haunt him to his grave – he lied and said that the child was his.
Surprisingly, (but much to do with the help and diplomatic reasoning of Lewellyc) the church and his lord were understanding and though angry at first, they would protect one of their most noble and loyal knights (as well as the house he served) and the royal courts were spilled some well woven half-truths and distorted claims that would say he had the blessing of the church to continue his line due to having no heirs. He did not even fall from Torm’s grace.
However, as the months slid past and Vienine grew heavy, Uthlorad was restless and found himself questioning the honor os his peers if they were so willing to lie, even if that lie protected him and his wife. He reasoned that they were lying not as an act of kindness or to help them, but to protect their own interests and if this was the case, why would Torm allow this to happen.
Uthlorad came to the conclusion that Torm had not acted true and that Uthlorad should have been punished for such a deceit.
Vienine died giving birth in the winter of 1363 to a healthy baby boy but Uthlorad’s despair took the better of him and he called out to Torm, renouncing his god for the death of his wife and the birth of the bastard.
But Uthlorad still did not fall.
He refused to leave the chapel of Torm and showed no interest in the baby. A month passed, Uthlorad even ignored his lord’s and the Meister’s commands to return to duty. Eventually Luwellyc took the baby to him and Uthlorad gazed upon the child. He realised that he was all that the boy had. This was his duty.
Luwellyc had taken to naming the baby Wodahs and so this name was taken.
Uthlorad returned to duty and with the help of Luwellyc and the staff of Castle Steelbridge, he raised Wodahs as his own.
Still mourning Vienine, he refused to use any of his paladin gifts until such time he felt he had earned Torm’s forgiveness or turned away from the path of the paladin.
As Wodahs grew, he became a strong young boy and was taken by his father as his squire. Wodahs was never told the story of his birth, Uthlorad was advised that it would be best if the boy was raised to believe he was an orphan and this would also allow Uthlorad to complete his duty to his lord. Uthlorad would act as Wodahs’ adoptive father but kept the truth of his birth a secret.
It was when Wodahs reached his 12th year that he started asking questions. Uthlorad had been named Warden of The Helmlands and also Castellan of Castle Steelbridge but his mind would often wander south to his ancestral lands near Tethyr.
Wodahs asked about Drake’s Peak, a castle he had seen in his dreams. Wodahs wanted to go there and would not shut up about the place feeling pulled towards it.
Was this a sign? Uthlorad certainly felt so. But why would this boy, who has no blood relation to Uthlorad or the Ortoli lands know about Drake’s Peak? And why was he dreaming of this place?
Luwellyc showed Wodahs a picture of Drake’s Peak and asked him if this was the castle he had been dreaming of? Wodahs said that it was.
One night, Wodahs set out on his own and run away from the castle to try and find Drake’s Peak on his own. Uthlorad found him and rescued him from a pack of wolves but it was when he looked into his adoptive son’s eyes and saw the determination there, that he would also need to find Drake’s Peak and perhaps answers to his own heritage.
In the spring of 1375, they set out from Cormyr on a quest to Tethyr to find Drake’s Peak.
Gallant and brave, the rugged and well travelled paladin Uthlorad of house Garrodros is an unimposing figure marred by a lifetime of worry and woe.
He has many light scars across his sun burned skin and walks with a slight limp. Handsome but weathered, his black hair is thinning at the front and cut short at the back but has no grey.
It is very rare to catch him with a smile but his eyes flicker and he bristles with pride when good deeds are done by others in his company.
Uthlorad was born the son of a horse breeder in 1336 in the Helmlands in the Crownsilver lands of Cormyr. House Garrodros is named for the sturdy garron ponies that Uthlorad’s family is known throughout Cormyr for breeding and supplying to the Purple Knights and bannermen of Crownsilver.
By his 10th name day, Uthlorad had been recognised as a fine horseman and skilled with sword and shield so was squired to Lord Steelbridge of The Helmlands, a lesser bannerman to Kimba Crownsilver, where he served the Lord’s knights and Crown’s Purple Knights with unswerving loyalty.
As he reached his 15th year, he had been leaning towards the teachings of Torm that many of the Purple Knights and Lord Steelbridge followed feeling that duty and honor were paramount.
He went through a tumultuous period upon reaching manhood when his father vied and jostled to have him wed to Avander Crownsilver, a lesser cousin of Maniol of Suzail, and therefore raising the Garrodros’ in the process but it was not to be and Avander was married off to a member of the Dauntinghorn family in an ill advised attempt to heal certain wounds between the two houses.
By this point however, Uthlorad had already fell in love with Avander only to have her torn from him. In time, he appeared to heal and move on but inside his heart was still aching for his first love. His father arranged him to be wed to Vienine Whiteheart, a fair maiden of a lesser house, and in the summer of 1354, at aged 18, Uthlorad and Vienine were joined though they remained childless until 1363 (see below).
During this time, Uthlorad saw the lack of child as a sign that he was to serve Torm wholly and took the vow of paladinhood before Lord Steelbridge and Sir Mallacoi Grimshanks, the High Hand of Torm in Arabel. His father was furious and died an angry man in 1355, estranged from his son who would have no heirs to the Garrodros family.
Vienine was also upset by his decision knowing that his vows would mean a promise of chastity and that his heart would go to Torm before her.
As Uthlorad reached his 30th year, his deeds and accomplishments as a knight of House Crownsilver under Steelbridge’s banner has become known news amongst the Cormyrian nobility and common folk alike. He traced his mother’s roots back to Tethyrian ancestors who settled a castle in the Small Teeth known as Drake’s Peak. His mother had died during while birthing him so he could not ask her of this.
This house, known as House Ortoli, had fallen a hundred years before, but he was the last heir to its lands and banner – a gold dragon on a field of red. Seeking the counsel of his trusted tutor and Meister of Castle Steelbridge, Lewellyc, he was given permission to emblazon his shield and breastplate with the Ortoli crest. Lewellyc told Uthlorad that his ancestor was also a Paladin of Torm and member of the Golden Lions to boot. Never had Uthlorad felt more right in his decision to become a paladin than when he learned this.
But still, as his relationship with Vienine started to fray, she fell pregnant in 1363. As Uthlorad had took a vow of chastity and kept that vow, he knew she had been unfaithful.
He was faced with an awkward choice – if he told the truth, great shame would fall upon house Whiteheart, his master’s house, his church, his own family name and even the Crownsilvers. She refused to reveal who the father was and so would birth a bastard or she would even be made to drink Blackvine to end the pregnancy.
His other choice was just as bad – if he was to lie and say that the child was his, he would be cast out of the knights, his vow of honesty would be broken and he would fall.
Both choices would spell disaster for him and Vienine.
He made a decision that would haunt him to his grave – he lied and said that the child was his.
Surprisingly, (but much to do with the help and diplomatic reasoning of Lewellyc) the church and his lord were understanding and though angry at first, they would protect one of their most noble and loyal knights (as well as the house he served) and the royal courts were spilled some well woven half-truths and distorted claims that would say he had the blessing of the church to continue his line due to having no heirs. He did not even fall from Torm’s grace.
However, as the months slid past and Vienine grew heavy, Uthlorad was restless and found himself questioning the honor os his peers if they were so willing to lie, even if that lie protected him and his wife. He reasoned that they were lying not as an act of kindness or to help them, but to protect their own interests and if this was the case, why would Torm allow this to happen.
Uthlorad came to the conclusion that Torm had not acted true and that Uthlorad should have been punished for such a deceit.
Vienine died giving birth in the winter of 1363 to a healthy baby boy but Uthlorad’s despair took the better of him and he called out to Torm, renouncing his god for the death of his wife and the birth of the bastard.
But Uthlorad still did not fall.
He refused to leave the chapel of Torm and showed no interest in the baby. A month passed, Uthlorad even ignored his lord’s and the Meister’s commands to return to duty. Eventually Luwellyc took the baby to him and Uthlorad gazed upon the child. He realised that he was all that the boy had. This was his duty.
Luwellyc had taken to naming the baby Wodahs and so this name was taken.
Uthlorad returned to duty and with the help of Luwellyc and the staff of Castle Steelbridge, he raised Wodahs as his own.
Still mourning Vienine, he refused to use any of his paladin gifts until such time he felt he had earned Torm’s forgiveness or turned away from the path of the paladin.
As Wodahs grew, he became a strong young boy and was taken by his father as his squire. Wodahs was never told the story of his birth, Uthlorad was advised that it would be best if the boy was raised to believe he was an orphan and this would also allow Uthlorad to complete his duty to his lord. Uthlorad would act as Wodahs’ adoptive father but kept the truth of his birth a secret.
It was when Wodahs reached his 12th year that he started asking questions. Uthlorad had been named Warden of The Helmlands and also Castellan of Castle Steelbridge but his mind would often wander south to his ancestral lands near Tethyr.
Wodahs asked about Drake’s Peak, a castle he had seen in his dreams. Wodahs wanted to go there and would not shut up about the place feeling pulled towards it.
Was this a sign? Uthlorad certainly felt so. But why would this boy, who has no blood relation to Uthlorad or the Ortoli lands know about Drake’s Peak? And why was he dreaming of this place?
Luwellyc showed Wodahs a picture of Drake’s Peak and asked him if this was the castle he had been dreaming of? Wodahs said that it was.
One night, Wodahs set out on his own and run away from the castle to try and find Drake’s Peak on his own. Uthlorad found him and rescued him from a pack of wolves but it was when he looked into his adoptive son’s eyes and saw the determination there, that he would also need to find Drake’s Peak and perhaps answers to his own heritage.
In the spring of 1375, they set out from Cormyr on a quest to Tethyr to find Drake’s Peak.