Edhedeyan Bescham the Crusader, First of the Father

Role

Chapter 7

Edhedeyan was captured by kuo-toa when following his brother on an
ill-fated raid.

Sold into slavery with the Duergar.
A voice that emenated from a fire told him to flee, and he did. The fire
caused havoc in the Duergar city, and covered his escape.

He was led to Galadon, and almost joined the Warrior guild before an
epiphany. Then he found the Paladin guild, and joined.

Specifics of his past lead him to have both a desire to redeem his family
name, and an over-developed sense of an over-riding Justice of the Light
that must be carried out.

Role

Chapter 6

Edhedeyan (ed-tha-DAY-yen) Bescham had the misfortune of being 20 years
younger than his brother.

Ilihyan, his brother, was a born leader. Even as a young squire to his chosen
profession, all of the children flocked to him...and no small number of
adults as well.

He was a large, fit, brave, and charismatic leader. And he was stupid. Dumb
as a stump. A fact which could start riots in their village and would be bad
for your health, should you bring it up in the hearing of those who worshiped
him. Including his younger brother Ed.

Something went wrong with Ilihyan's training. His master hurt his pride by
publicly denouncing him as a dunce...in no uncertain words.

Well. Ilihyan could not take this. So, he set out to prove himself. He
gathered up twenty of his closest lackies, including Ed, and went off to war
and glory.

They would assault the lands of the Kuo-toa, and bring back tales of Glory
and righteousness.

*****
It didn't quite turn out that way. It might have been better if Ilihyan had
died in the early skirmishes, for his friends would have been able to
retreat, but through brute strength he drove his way into Kuo-toa territory
bringing with him all of his friends until all of them were beyond saving.

Five of them survived and were captured as slaves. Ed was one of them.

They were sold all over Thera. The strongest of them was sold to the Fire
giants of the Volcano, for the sport of their warriors.Others sold to the
Drow. Ed was sold to the Duergar, and lived long enough in the bondage of
the Underdark, that he had forgotten what the Light was. And the Duergar
were cruel. They had learned long ago that slaves taken from surface races
never fully learned how far voices carried in the Underdark, so they took to
giving every new slave a tracheotomy, allowing them to speak with much
effort, but only in quiet, painful croaks.

*****
Then one work cycle, when he was at work keeping some braziers warm for his
slumbering masters, the fire lept up in the brazier he was working on...and
wonder of wonders, it spoke to him.

"I have heard your Silent prayer, the prayer so deep you do not even know it
yet. And I will grant you your wish, for a price. You will know that price,
when the time comes. Go now, leave this place."

Ed didn't even pause to think, and still he was a bit slow. The fire of the
brazier lept up and he ran through it and out of the house becoming scarred
forever. Behind him, the house of his masters erupted into a burning flame
that quickly spread, and in the chaos Ed escaped.

He found his way out of the Underdark, because when he turned in the right
direction, a tiny flame would appear in his sight. The flame gave no light,
but it marked the right direction, and Ed followed.

*****
Once free, he was filled to bursting with a desire to find a weapon and
return, to slay his captors as they deserved...but this drive was checked in
him for some reason, as he looked about, he saw that when he looked to his
south, he saw the same flame infront of his eyes...leading him.

It lead him to Galadon, and once he was there, he was struck nearly dumb by
the sheer mass of creatures walking about , working their own business of
their own free will.

Then he saw the warriors walking about. Their strength

Role

Chapter 5

Ed has had trouble with the Third part of the Paladin Code since he began
training. He works on it, becuase he has come to understand that to defeat
the enemy in a way that falls from the Code is to become the Enemy in the
process, but that part about patience and thinking and controlling, when
faced with those who NEED Judgement, is and may well always be a trial for
him.

He has had a hard time talking since the hole was punched in his throat, and
this has led him to become more and more introverted. When given a choice,
he will almost always choose to move out on his own. Not from any belief in
the Honor of Parity, but because he is rather uncomfortable around joviality
and may never be fully comfortable in the presence of many others.

Because of the pain he feels whenever he speaks, he has become quite quiet,
rarely speaking or communicating, prefering instead to let his actions
speak for him.

By the time the Guildmaster thought he had learned enough to go out into the
world without besmirching the name of the Guild, Ed had long wondered who
or what was the Voice in the Flame. He had long since understood just why
he was spared, but he had not seen the Flame since he began training in the
Guild. So the first tasks that he set for himself were to learn enough about
the face of Thera to become effective against the Darkness, and to find a
place where he might once again see, and hopefully speak to, the Voice in
the Flame.

Role

Chapter 4

Four times now, those not of the light have asked him to join them in their
less than holy works. Gnomes, a druid, and even a Duergar have asked this
of him. And it has left him confused. Has the Code of the Paladin been
hidden from knowledge that so few would understand that he could not remain
within his guild or in the Service of his Savior if he joined them?

Do other Paladins travel with Gnomes and Druids? The very thought sickens
him and he suppresses it before he follows that line of thought too far. Do
not they know that Paladins are forbidden from associating with Evil in any
way? Sure, Gnomes and Druids and those of the middle path are not so Evil
that their deeds cry to the Heavens for righteous Justice...yet....but there
is evil in their hearts to some extent...or they would be of the Light.

His confusion led him to the conclusion that he must live the Code as well
as he can, and as publicly as he can, to serve his Savior as a beacon for
those gnomes and druids and such who still may be redeamed.

Role

Chapter 3

Ed has been having trouble with Mortal law, and has had quite a few long
discussions with Elisdin and Soriah about the difference between the tribunal
idea of Law, and what True Justice is.

All of the Tribunals so far, have been shown to believe that Justice, just
like their law, has limits to where it is in effect. Ed has gone through
pains to try to explain to them their Error. Justice is not equivalent to
their attempt at a mortal law. Justice is Universal, and without Justice,
their Law is only a weak imatation of the true Law of the Light.

Their Law stops at the gates of their Cities. Justice does not.Justice does
not turn on and off if you are a foot inside the gates, or a foot outside.

The Tribunal care about strikes in their cities, and do all they can to work
towards their flimsy law, but should a thousand innocent children be tortured
and slain outside their gates, many of them would do nothing. And those who
would attempt to do something, would protect that wicked, damned soul, should
he step one step into town.

That isn't Justice. Justice is not "blind" as one Tribunal attempted to
convince him. Justice must see into the very souls of every being, or it
could not weigh what is the Just reward....or punishment...for them.

Role

Chapter 2

Ed's Lord Savior, the voice in the Flame, has spoken to Ed a handful of times
since he was given the Blessing to bring the Light's Justice into Thera.
Each time they spoke, the Voice in the flame revealed to him more of the
nature of Justice and Fire, further refining Ed's understanding of both.

Ed now understands that Justice and fire have many things in Common. They
both burn and consume. If you do not watch over and guard a Flame, it can
transform quickly from a life-giving warmth, to an all-consuming destroyer.
As is the same with Justice. Those who seek to promote Justice must be
guarded and watched...lest they become like those upon whom they seek to
bring low for their crimes against the Light.

And then in one fell swoop, Ed's understanding and view of the worlds was
overturned. The Flame called him, and spoke that it was time for Ed to know
his true savior. It turned out that the Flame was just a servant of his true
Lord and savior. Ed's inward longing and cries for Justice had attracted the
attention of a young Godling, who's control over the powers of Justice gave
his servant, the Flame, the power to release me from Bondage. And his Lord
was revealed as the Adjudicator, Grurk.

This rocked Ed to the foundations of his faith. He believed in the Code of
his guild, as Justice depends greatly on the Fiber of those who seek to
enforce it. And according to the eleventh precept, he had refused to
associate with those not totally of the Light...

But here, the Lord that was his Savior and to whom he owed allegiance...and
he was not a Lord of the Light.

Ed was confused, to say the least.

Role

Chapter 1

During this time of inner turmoil, words uttered by the Flame before they
revealed his Lord Grurk kept leaping into his mind. The Flame had told him
there was some truth in Ed's assertion that Justice is founded in the Light.

Then the Flame said...'The Justice that flows through your viens, and heart,
would not be the same as that of the Dark Knight, but both are Justice, just
the same.' ... and also ... 'Justice will depend greatly in it's practice,
but there are indeed many forms of Justice.'.

These statements confused him greatly. How could a dark Knight serve Justice?
He began to think upon just what he believed about Justice, and he found
that he could not, indeed, put into words, exactly and succinctly what
Justice was. So he thought upon that.

After long, slow deliberation with himself, he came upon a simple, distilled
idea that he thought defined what Justice was. It is, basically, "everyone
gets what they deserve".

The moment he first uttered these words out loud, as if to test them out, he
felt as if he was struck by lightning, for another depth of understanding
struck him.

If his definition of Justice was true...then who decides what everyone
deserves?

It was at that revelation that he understood what his Lord was trying to
teach him. While Ed knew that the Light judged all creatures, thus bringing
about the Light's Justice towards which Ed has struggled and will continue to
struggle, he now understood how a Dark Knight could have Justice pumping in
his veins...it would be a different Justice...a Justice where Darkness
weighed the deeds of all creatures.

He now understands that there can be both Paladins and the Wicked who follow
the path of True Justice, because the idea of a True Justice is not
inherently connected with Morality, in and of itself. And he now understands
why a Lord who is not of the Light would have saved him for the Purpose of
serving the Light's Justice. Because the Light's Justice is a true Justice.

Although Ed's understanding is much deeper than before, this has done nothing
but strengthen his faith and his resolve to continue as he was...to seek to
bring the Light's Justice to all.

But, now that his true Lord Savior is revealed, he nolonger finds it
appropriate to seek his lord where Flames are the hottest, for through his
Lord's teaching he was gone deeper in his understanding of Justice than it's
similarity with the Flame. He believes that it was the Flame and not Grurk
that first revealed itself to him, because he was not yet ready to understand
Justice in full, but now his understanding is deep enough....

He has heard of a place north of Galadon, a place of slaves and masters,
where a Justice founded upon darkness, and a Justice founded upon the Light,
struggle one against the other.He will seek out this place, as he believes
it more closely linked to his Lord than the place of Fire from which he has
sought the Flame in the past.

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