Character Profiles: Ke'Lan of Tempus


(Transcribed and Grammaticized by Monk Florey)

 No Orc is my friend, Humans fear me; I am a Half-Orc.

I am no stranger to battle, having been brought up in a barren wasteland tribe settled scant distances from human habitation.  For all my childhood the full-blooded Orcs shunned me.  They treated me as a slave almost, only stopping when my father finally put his foot down.  He would not let them overuse me, for I needed to be fit enough to become the great warrior he wanted me to be.  To achieve this end he sent me to practice daily.  Not a single night went by where I was not covered in fresh bruises and nasty welts.  The only place that offered any kind of reprieve was with the other half-breeds in camp.

The others could not exactly be called friends, but we were all somewhat outcasts and looked down upon by the orcs, so we never bullied each other.  With them was the only time I was not being overworked or physically abused in combat practice.  This could not exactly be called contentment so I left.

From the orcish tribe I traveled to a nearby human settlement. There, too, I was looked at oddly and treated differently, but unlike the orc tribe I was not treated like a slave.  The humans feared me a bit, but I was willingly allowed into the local garrison.  There I continued my training as a warrior, away from the oppression of the orcs, but still without friends.  Some humans were nice enough to not treat me as a monster and some actually spoke to me once in a while but I still didn’t seem to fit in.

It was at the human habitation that I learned about Tempus, the deity of War and Battle.  This deity called to me immediately.  Like it or not, I was all about battle; it was the only thing I knew.  I was getting pretty good at fighting by then and felt that Tempus was calling to me specifically.  He wanted to be the friend that I never had.  I became a warrior with a vengeance.  I dedicated myself to not only learning how to fight, but the proper, honorable rules of battle as well.  This was my new obsession.

After one battle in which we helped the nearest town drive off Goblins, I found an actual temple to Tempus.  This town was bigger than mine and sported a medium sized stone building dedicated to the lord of battle.  I was immediately enthralled and went inside to look around.  I saw a life-sized representation of Tempus and immediately had new goals in life.  I needed armor, I needed more strength, and I needed to spread the word of this great man to everyone who would listen. 

A cleric in the building heard me vow my serviced to Tempus for the rest of my life and walked up behind me asking if I had given any thought to how I would accomplish this vow.  Naturally I had not; thinking is not my strong suit.  He persuaded me to become an initiate in the temple.  My whole life was officially dedicated to the lord of war.

I have been given some tutelage and have achieved the first level of rank (initiate does not count as a level) in the church and now they have sent me out to prove myself in the world.  That is how I arrived here.  After adventuring a little I get to return so they may judge me and see if I’m worthy to proceed higher in the sight of Tempus. 

I will not be found unworthy; I will not fail Tempus.

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