| Alain Giroux |
Aasimar Cleric, 8th level
Lawful Neutral, 28 years
STR 14
CON 15
DEX 17
INT 16
WIS 20
CHA 19
History: Alain was born on a continent where the two dragon gods, Tiamat and Bahamut, rule the two major Powers in the heavens, with other deities filling niches on each side. Despite being an aasimar, however, he was born in a town under the rule and worship of Tiamat, Dragon Queen of Darkness. His parents, a human father and half-celestial mother, owned an inn in the small-ish town of Vallée-des-Plaines.
His upbringing was nothing particularly unusual, save his blond hair being kept secret through dyes. For the vast majority of people in the village and nearby areas, fair hair was almost unheard of, and like so many villages it had mythology surrounding what was uncommon.
During the time he grew up, Alain studied academics from a local hedge mage, and like his family he left weekly offerings for Tiamat at the local shrine. Things did not change much for the young aasimar until his tenth year, when a wild bull left one of his friends grievously injured. Alain went to his side and prayed to Tiamat for her help, and much to his surprise, she lent it. In this instant he cast his first spell through the power of faith, channeling the Dragon Queen's divine energy and taking the first step toward becoming a true cleric.
On the day of his eleventh year, Alain left for the port city of Saint-Cyrille. There sat Tiamat's great temple, and his future. Accepted as an acolyte, he began his studies anew, performing menial maintenance of the temple halls whenever he wasn't at worship or classes. He learned of magic and war, alchemy, enchanting and armorsmithing ... and he learned of Tiamat, and dragons.
Twelve years of this Alain endured, getting better and growing stronger as a priest. When he finally graduated to the point that he could learn no more in simple classes, Alain held the third-lowest rank within the church. It was an impressive feat for someone with no field experience, but only by going into the world could he grow in his faith and abilities.
Still, the young man wouldn't leave alone. Accompanying him was his friend Élie, the very friend he'd saved years ago. Élie had taken the second chance at life to serve as a warrior in Tiamat's holy army, and his own skill had grown quickly in the years he had served. Bolstered by his friend, Alain set off into the untamed parts of the continent, hoping to thus come to understand his Queen more, and his purpose as her priest.
In the first year of their travels, Alain and Élie both were nearly slain when they traveled upon a pack of ghasts in an old and forgotten graveyard. It was only by luck (or providence) that aid came in the form of the mage Lisette and the thief "Argent". With the addition of Lisette's destructive magics and Argent's knowledge of locks and traps, the four were successfully able to clear the graveyard of all its undead occupants, and even loot a small fortune of wealth in doing so.
After that, they saw no reason not to travel together. Though other members would come and go, these four together remained together for the next several years. Challenges were met and overcome, the companions growing steadily stronger. Several times he and his friends even traveled the great Outer Planes, making a small but comfortable apartment in Sigil their base of operations when they found themselves in that part of the multiverse.
Over the course of years, Alain developed a most intense hatred of all things undead. Though he knew Tiamat sometimes would use liches and other intelligent undead, he still saw the creatures as nothing less than utter perversions of magic and nature. Thus much of his independent studies in enchanting were dedicated to creating devices to destroy such beings: Disrupting and Blessed weapons to rob the undead of the energy they needed to exist.
Through it all, however, Alain never forgot his original question: what was his purpose as Tiamat's priest? He never forgot his faith to her, maintaining his prayers and fighting in her name. Even so, in the back of his mind was the tiniest of doubts: He had, after all, demonstrated a level of friendship and compassion unknown to many of the Dark Queen's priests, and it led him to question at times whether his path was the right one.
Those thoughts haunted him over time and grew increasingly difficult to cast aside. He began to question things in his travels: traditions, rites, even the perspectives and philosophies that Tiamat's hierarchy held important. Eventually he drifted from the Goddess, losing his powers as a priest until being brought into the fold of Fâor, a goddess representing loyalty earned and knowledge gained.
Personality: Alain is a man who focuses primarily on duty and loyalty, though that hardly means they are his exclusive concerns. Even so, duty and routine are important parts of his life. When not adventuring or enjoying his own personal time, his day is strictly regimented, with set times for everything from prayers and meals to even times for what chores, when to wash, and other menial tasks.
Despite this regimented work-life (or, perhaps because of it) Alain enjoys letting down his hair all the more when traveling or free of temple life. He has a general disdain for drunkenness, but not alcohol itself (far too many of his most ridiculous misadventures he could remember were a direct result of everyone on the team getting drunk off their collective asses), but greatly enjoys most board games for their focus on strategy and thought.
A virgin, Alain is fairly awkward about romantic and sexual relationships, albeit at least polite to someone voicing an interest in him. A part of him finds the thought of sex repugnant if only for the way it seems to be the driving force of many peoples of many races he's met through the years. As a cleric, he holds himself higher than such base desires (in his own mind, anyway).
As a result, he can seem somewhat (okay, very) elitist. In his eyes, he has good cause, but that doesn't keep him from seeming a nuisance at best or a self-righteous twat at worst. He is quick to condemn and judge at times, and always has a lecture handy when witnessing someone cave to temptation.
Around friends, he tries (moderately successfully, no less) to watch this behavior, which would be fine in theory if his normal behavior didn't make him so difficult to approach a lot of the time. Most of his friends have known him since before he was a priest, or know him from years of forced interaction. Most tend not to have this advantage.
Still, above all of this Alain has learned to be diplomatic. When need be (something he's still learning), he can withhold the lectures, stave off his condemnations, and cordon off feelings of superiority. Sadly, he's still learning that the appropriate time for such diplomacy is near all the time, and thus has pretty much relegated such controlled responses to loyalty and the nobility (people with the power to order his execution).
Abilities: Alain is a Cleric of the goddess Fâor, the Lady of Friendship, Camaraderie and Fellowship. Her domains are Good, Friendship, Loyalty, Protection, and Travel. The divine energy She gives is positive in nature, meant for healing and the destruction of undead. His spells aren't too terribly powerful, but he's young for a cleric, and getting better as he gains experience in channeling divine power.
He is skilled in a few weapons, like the sling, mace and other simple bludgeoning instruments, but his true weapon talents are in the side sword and a strange dwarven weapon called a rifle.
Appearance: Alain is six feet tall even, and weighs one hundred and eighty-six pounds. He has blond hair and blue eyes like many Aasimar, though he dyes his hair black much of the time. Unlike many adventurers, his body is free of the vast majority of scars because of his healing magic.
His skin is white most of the time, though he does tan very slightly when spending time outdoors. | | |
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