[Ghalerion] Robert Axgarde

Name: Robert Axgarde
Race: Human/Mortal
Age: 27
Height: 6’ 2�
Weight: 215
Hair: Long dark auburn
Eyes: Brown

Physical description:
Robert’s face, much more so than his body, betrays the stresses and burdens he’s dealt with during the 27-years of his life. His face appears much, much older, like a man in his mid-to-late thirties rather than his late twenties. His skin has been hardened and darkened by the elements he’s been forced to endure, spending most of his time surviving in the wilderness. A large, hideous scar streaks vertically down the left side of his face, even passing through his eye, though it appears unharmed. His dark auburn hair is long, almost always pulled back into a ponytail that reaches no further than the base of his neck.

His body on the other hand appears in great condition- mainly because the scars are not so visible beneath his pants and tunic. He stands a formidable 6’ 2� tall weighing in at a very muscular 215 pounds. Raw physical power can be almost be sensed emanating from his body when he moves.

Personality:
Robert’s a cynic, always betting on the worst and unwilling to trust almost anyone. Being a former knight, he has a strong sense of honor, but since his discovery of his lords’ betrayal, everything he knew has been tainted with a hint of distrust.

Weapons and Equipment:
Robert carries a backpack with him along with the leather saddle bags carried on his horse. In these packs he carries his full suit of plate armor, oil and rags suitable to care for it, several changes of clothes, and basic survival gear including a first aid kit, flint and tinder, a large skin for water, and 25 feet of rope.

At the top of the backpack a custom harness has been fashioned that allows his companion Gent to seat himself upon the top of it and ride upon Robert’s shoulders as he travels

For weapons Robert carries a deadly longsword- one he takes great pride in. It was obviously crafted by a master of weaponsmiths and carries a deadly combination of size, weight, and balance, as well as a meanly-honed edge. It’s normally carried in its sheathed perched at his waist on his left side.

Three dirks, suitable for parrying, thrusting, slashing, and even throwing are sheathed across his left thigh, made to be used offensively and defensively in his off-hand during combat.

Abilities:
Robert was raised and trained to be a knight. He’s very skilled in armed and unarmed combat as well as proficient with many various types of armor and shields. Along with his martial abilities, Robert had to be capable of caring for his equipment and so is actually a decent blacksmith. After deserting the lord he served he was forced to live off the land, and so honed the survival skills he’d been taught.

With his left eye replaced with a magical substitute, Robert’s left eye is granted abilities identical to a true sight spell.

History:
Robert was dropped off at the Sparsian academy at an early age, apparently abandoned by whoever was given the responsibility of raising him. He was raised and trained at the academy before being taken on as an apprentice at 13-years old. He traveled and adventured with the knight who had chosen him as his charge- working for him and learning from him the tools and skills of his trade until he was 18, at which time he swore allegiance to the lord his master served, Lord Haart.

Living a full and decorated life as a knight for Lord Haart, Robert grew into a great warrior and adventurer. However, after serving his lord for a good several years, he was sent to punish a town of farmers who had failed to pay their taxes and were rebelling against Haart, who for years had protected them. Burning their village to the ground and quashing the rebellion, Axgarde was about to ride home when the sobs of a grieving widow caught his ear.

Troubled by the words he’d heard, mixed with the rumors he had always ignored, Robert checked the treasury’s records, finding that these peasants had already paid their taxes. Checking the facts on the other townships on his lord’s land, Robert found that Haart had been charging fees on top of normal taxes, taking half of their harvest and demanding outrageous amounts of gold in tribute.

Furious at having been manipulated into killing innocent men by a corrupt ruler, Robert stormed into his Lord Haart’s chambers, demanding an explanation. Unfortunately it appeared he was the only man serving these corrupt orders unknowingly. Every knight in Haart’s service within the chamber suddenly drew his blade against the man they had killed alongside moments ago. Ultimately betrayed and frustrated into a seething rage, Robert charged for Lord Haart, determined to kill the man responsible, regardless of his own personal safety.

Lost in the bloodlust, Robert’s vision blurred until all he understood was flashing steel and the feel of ripping flesh and metal. His rage was quelled finally when a blow struck his face, stopping his onslaught and stealing his senses.

With a bloody gash in his face and multiple sword wounds throughout the rest of his body, the remaining knights hurled Robert off the battlements and left him to die in the ditch he’d fallen into.

Mercifully, a peasant happened to park his cart, full of hay, beneath the fallen knight’s body. Axgarde’s armored body crushed the wooden cart beneath the force of his fall, despite the cushion provided by the hay. With the fallen knight at his mercy, the farmer brought the bleeding body home to his wife. Hearing rumors about a corrupt knight assassinating their king in a bid for his power, it didn’t take long for the truth to leak out- a righteous soldier under the hand of Lord Haart, tricked into carrying out his wicked orders, had rebelled against his ruler and slain the evil lord, but not without losing his own life in the process. Assuming they had this righteous warrior against tyranny in their home, the farmer and his wife- who was skilled in the healing arts and a devoted worshipper of the gods- worked as hard as they could to bring Robert back from the brink of death.

Slowly his wounds healed and he began to recover. Within six months he was well enough to carry his own weight and began helping the farmer in the field. It wasn’t long however before news of his survival was carried to the king, who sent a group of knights to investigate. Watching their approach, Robert knew there were too many men and they were too well-armed to be simply collecting taxes. Drawing his sword from the place it had been hidden, Robert ambushed the party.

The fight was fierce, but rather than looking to kill Robert, they had been told to punish those who had saved him. Torches ignited their wooden hut and decimated their crops while their sword strokes slew the farmer and his wife. His fury once again ignited, Robert’s vision again turned red as his sword spilled the blood of his former compatriots. Using the farmer’s tools as makeshift weapons while he wielded his broadsword in the other hand, Axgarde arms acted like the teeth of hell, ripping and rendering flesh wherever they flashed, causing agony and death in their wake. When it was over, the farm was destroyed and its attackers were slain. Exhausted, but well aware that he had to run far, far away, Robert loaded all of his things onto his horse and fled the land, heading east for Ghale.

A few weeks into his journey, he was riding casually down the path when a weak, pained sound reached his ears. Glancing down to the side of the road, Robert saw a pitiful figure huddled in the ditch, bleeding and broken. He realized that he must have seemed a similar state a little over 6 months ago, lying bleeding through his armor in a pile of hay among the remnants of a farmer’s cart. Examining the body, he determined that it was a young man, brutally injured. As gently as he could, he placed the body upon his horse and rode to the nearest healer. Once there he paid the woman with what little gold he’d managed to gather and his services for as long as she desired. He stayed while she slowly healed the man and learned what he could from him as he slowly regained consciousness. He had been a mage named Gent from the same Sparsian academy Robert had attended as a young boy.

After he was sure the mage was as recovered as he could get- the healer revealed he would never be able to use his legs the same again- Robert began to leave. The mage held him back though, insisting that the former knight bring him along. When asked why he would do such a thing, Gent beckoned that Robert follow him back into the healer’s hut. Once within, he began a mysterious, long ceremony, one that Robert had never been familiar with.

After an hour or so, locked in the room, Gent suddenly revealed the purpose of the ceremony, it was a spell. Removing the patch over Axgarde’s left eye, he revealed that the man could see once more through both eyes. And not only that- since he had not healed the eye, merely magically replaced it, it was far more capable than it had been before. Convinced that this mage would be beneficial to him, Robert agreed to bring him along in his travels.

That was three years ago…