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(LBE) Zaelphion Devress

Posted: Fri Aug 02, 2019 5:28 pm
by Zaelphion
MUSIC THEME

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First Name: Zaelphion
Last Name: Devress

Race: Human
Age: 22
Height: 185cm
Weight: 78kg
Eyes: Green water
Hair: Blonde

Personality Profile: Zaelphion is a composed and disciplined young man. His vows and loyalty come before everything else, he finds security in trustworthy relationships, that makes him doubtful to those he doesn't know well enough.
Appearance: An athletic and somewhat good looking young man, blonde haired and deep green water eyes. His general look is ruined by his expression, cold, almost sad. Not many scars are showing on his body despite his training as a soldier.
Alignment: Lawful Neutral
Deity: Helm

Background: Zaelphion Devress, second son of Galran Devress a minor nobleman in Waterdeep known as The Librarian. Zaelphion was born and raised among nobility, he had a good early life, full of good memories. Both his parents were nice to him, even if he can't recall much of his mother since she died when he was two years old giving birth to his younger brother Kilran.

He had a strong bond with his elder sister Nora, even if she was 10 years older. Nora was nice to him, she was in constant conflict with her father because Galran was a minor nobleman and hoped for his family to become more influent, to do so he was trying his best to get her daughter married with an important aristocrat, but Nora could not be tamed. Nora wanted to be a warrior, she rebelled to her father, that is why Zaelphion liked her, because he was in a similar situation. Galran wanted Zaelphion to be a scholar, but the young boy never grew an interest in books and knowledge, he was similar to his older sister and admired her for her drive and strenght.

Galran was a collector of knowledge and books, he owned an impressive collection and was known to be an expert in many fields and disciplines so he wished for one of his sons to carry on with his legacy, he was a good man but he couldn't help but direct his sons to his wishes, so he tried his best with his youngest Kilran, to grow him into the man he wanted him to be.

At the age of 17 Nora left the household with a soldier named Holgard Amraphel, a former member of the Everwatch Knights. She joined him as a his squire despite the warnings of her father, he disinherited her because of that and they never spoke to each other again. Nora would still meet his younger brother Zaelphion every now and than to tell him about her battles and travels, telling him stories about heroism and chivalry, she was a squire to an Helmite after all.

Zaelphion started to practice swordmanship in secret, he felt out of place in court and every other young man of his age was better prepared and knowledgeable of court relationships or just knowledge in general. For many years his father and him argued and fought, Zaelphion was sad, he would have preferred for his father being proud of him, but he wanted something he could not give.

After three years, Holgard came back to the household with Nora's body, she died during a bandit assault. Galran didn't take part to the funeral "I told her..." he said, Zaelphion was the only Devress present, despite the sadness the young man could not feel entirely bad for his sister's fate, that was what she wanted and she had it. After a few days Holgard showed at the manor to say goodbye to Zaelphion, he did not expect the boy to be ready to join him in his travels, Zaelphion wanted to be his squire like his sister Nora. Holgard refused, he didn't want more blood on his hands, he still felt guilty about Nora's fate.

Zaelphion followed him anyway, his father was furious but for some reason he didn't disinherit him like he did with Nora. His younger brother Kilran was growing exactly like Galran wanted, Zaelphion was never really attached to him, probably because of jelousy, Kilran was good in everything he struggled with, he left House Devress knowing that his father had what he wished for at least.

Zaelphion travelled with Holgard for a full month, the knight still refused to train him or accept him, until the day he had to save his life from a group of bug bears. Zaelphion jumped in to defend some farmers, impulsive and fearless, that was the moment Holgard realized it was best to train the boy to save his life, he had to teach him what Nora did not learn, that fighting is not always the solution. Like Nora, Zaelphion jumped into fights careless, he was talented but that wasn't enough to keep him alive in every situation so Holgard focused his lessons about strategy and Helmite faith, to defend instead of attacking.

After 5 years, Zaelphion was grown into a proper knight, Holgard managed to learn from his mistakes and taught the young man how to approach the Helmite's life the right way. But Zaelphion received a letter from Waterdeep, his father was dying and wished for his son to come back to the manor. He did.

He could not make it in time, when he got back his father lied lifeless in his bed, he only managed to write a message for his son:

"To my eldest son Zaelphion, this is my last wish, something that I thought in this past years while you were far from me.
Two times I could not stop two souls from chasing their fate, two times I thought I failed, two times I was wrong.
I made a mistake with Nora, I made it with you, I should have encouraged your talents to grow instead of forcing you to the path I had chosen.
On this bed I shed tears, thinking about my mistakes, I only wished for you to understand the wonders of this world the way I did.
I thought about a solution that could make us both happy, you will not have to be a nobleman if you don't want to.
You chose to be a Helmite, you chose to protect and serve, than I know a place that could use your faith and talent.
Travel to Candlekeep, defend their knowledge, maybe this way you will be able to see how important it is for us mortal to treasure and cherish the discoveries of the past and maybe, one day, you will understand the lesson I tried to teach you.

May fate be kind to you, my son.
Galran Devress"


Zaelphion refused his heritage in favor of his younger brother, and travelled south, toward Candlekeep.

Important Personalities in his life:

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Garlan Devress - Zaelphion's Father (Deceased)
The former head of House Devress and Zaelphion's father, Garlan was a merchant but most importantly a scholar. House Devress rose to power with coin and trade, mostly by ship, Garlan used part of his revenue to buy and collect books from all over the world. He was so passionate about this to make his daughter and sons follow the same way, even unwillingly. He was firmly against the choice of his daughter Nora and son Zaelphion to become knights, because they wouldnt have been able to administrate House Devress but most importantly they would have thrown their lives for nothing in his view. All things considered he was still a good man that cared for his family, in his own way.

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Nora Devress - Zaelphion's Sister (Deceased)
Former Heir of House Devress, Nora was never close to be a court woman, even when she was young. Her spirit was clearly attracted by freedom and adventure, she wasn't allowed to go out much so her mother gave her many adventure books to read from Galran's library, that increased her drive to become a knight and travel around the Sword Coast. Nora was a kind and gentle soul, the type of traveller you would like to meet on the road, but her drive was often uncontrollable and that was fatal.

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Kilran Devress - Zaelphion's Brother
The actual Heir of House Devress, Kilran is Galran's pupil. Intelligent, well mannered and disciplined, Kilran is the son that Galran's always wanted. Kilran often fought with Zaelphion, pushing into his sense of guilt, especially after Nora's death. The two never got along well, also because Zaelphion was jelous about how his father treated his younger brother, but they never really hated each other. Kilran's diligence is almost unnatural, Zaelphion often thought that the boy had some sort of darkness hidden into him, something that no one ever really uncovered.

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Holgard Amraphel - Zaelphion's Master (Deceased)
Everwatch Knight and Zaelphion's master, Holgard is a seasoned warrior and a fatherly figure for the young man. He couldn't ever really replace Galran but Holgard was definately like a second father for Zaelphion and Nora, his sense of guilt for what happened to the young woman made him change his way of training drastically. Zaelphion was grown in a more responsible and considerate way, counter balancing his careless attitude, similar to his sister. Holgard still roams around the Coast with his fellow knights, taking contracts on behalf of the Church of Helm, he didn't really approve Zaelphion's choice to go to Candlekeep but he respected it. Holgard died in 1355 during a battle against outlaws in the Sword Mountains.

Re: Zaelphion Devress

Posted: Sat Aug 10, 2019 4:40 am
by Zaelphion
MUSIC BACKGROUND

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The years as a Squire

Holgard was known to be patient and composed with his enemies, harsh and relentless with his squires.

Zaelphion admired that in him, you want to make your allies stronger by making things hard for them, they fought many times by their relationship was always based on respect. He didnt want to accept him at first, Nora was a natural talent as a knight, concerning her fighting abilities but needed to improve her way of living, she was too careless. He started to love Nora as a father would do, and she died under his watch, for this reason he was even more relentless with Zaelphion.

Zaelphion was similar to his sister, because of that his master changed approach completely, he would have not praise him for being a good fighter.

"Unsheating a sword means that you have lost another fight just before that, the battle of words."

Holgard taught him that his ultimate role as a knight was to defend the weak, those who cannot defend themselves, for this reason a fight should always be avoided if not necessary for that purpose. The young squire was taught not to ever feel joy for unsheating his sword, for putting a life to its end.

"You bear no right to make justice, your role is to bring those who are guilty to answer for their crimes, if that is impossible, only than you will attack them and if necessary, kill them. Only sorrow should come from ending one's life, anger and vengeance should be banished from your soul."

Controlling his emotions was the hardest part of all, a young man that grew up loving stories about heroes and dragons, with a strong spirit of adventure. Many times he failed his master because of his will to get involved into unnecessary trouble. That is something that he still finds hard to control, and fails to control.

"The life as a knight is a life of servitude, to the weak, to your vows, to any cause you will find worthy of your absolute loyalty. As a knight you will become the ultimate tool to your cause or to your lord. A shield to defend, a sword to attack, an impenetrable mind of steel, no one will bend you."

Zaelphion understood that the life of a knight was a selfless life, and he always was at peace with himself thinking about that. But could a man really become so perfect? The seed of doubt never left him, it was easy to follow Holgard and be loyal to him, but was going to happen in the future?

"A knight is the light that shines on the battlefield, inspiration for soldiers, fear for your enemies. Your allies will look at you stand, charge and fight, and their morale will be renewed. Your enemies will look at you stand, charge and fight, and they will run. Your training as swordfighter is only the outer shell, your mind is the one that will make you victorious."

And so Holgard trained him, every time the boy showed weakness it was the time to confront him. Zaelphion learned how to recognize his own uncertainty and keep it bay, to the best of his possibilities. He learned how to transform his fear into survival instinct and energy.

His master was proud of him, he was close to become a knight and end his apprenticeship when he was called back to Waterdeep, due to his father' sickness.

Holgard tried to convince him finish the training and become a knight, but Zaelphion was immovable, he had to travel south to Candlekeep.

Re: Zaelphion Devress

Posted: Thu Aug 22, 2019 2:44 pm
by Zaelphion
**Added a new section**