Zakrain — The Tugboat

Character Build Details

Class & Starting Level: Hexblade Warlock Level 1 (three levels then Paladin Level 1)

Race: Fallen Aasimar

Alignment: Chaotic Neutral

Background: Noble (Knight)

Initial Cantrips: Light Bearer

Initial Spells: Healing Hands

Initial Equipment: Magical battleaxe, shield, half plate, Explorer’s pack, Dragonchess set, a set of fine clothes, signet ring, scroll of pedigree

Initial Stat Block: STR 14, DEX 13, CON 10, INT 11, WIS 11, CHA 17

Features & Traits:

Celestial Resistance: Racial - Fallen Aasimar

Darkvision: Racial - Fallen Aasimar

Necrotic Shroud: Racial - Fallen Aasimar Level 3

Speed: 30

Character Appearance

Zakrain has a muscular build from years of working in the training yard, especially his shoulders from swinging heavy weapons. He stands just over six feet with magnificent silver hair. His complexion is somewhat pallid and can seem to grow more grey from time to time. His bright blue eyes can seem to ignite during such times. Some have said they’ve seen some feathers in his hair from time to time but it is unclear where they would come from. A powerful chest and abdomen lead down to powerful thighs and calves. Zakrain is unnaturally attractive and stands out in a crowd of humans because of this. He has a definite presence. He doesn’t wear any helmet, preffering his hair to hang free. He is clean shaven most of the time. He wears a polished half plate with gold accents and carries his old battleaxe and shield on his back. He typically wears his large black boots unless he is in his finery and sports lighter slippers.

Character Backstory

Born to parents who are enslaved by the leaders of the High Temple of Mystra on Mount Talath in Halruaa, Zakrain’s birth is considered a miracle of the gods. The leaders of the temple seize the miracle child and callously murder the parents before handing it over to a more prominent family in the church. This will bring more fame and notoriety to the temple and the church leaders. There is one older, pious cleric of the Church of Mystra, Vardan, who disagrees with this plan from the start and takes a special interest in the Aasimar child. The child is trained in the ways of the church and is interested in the power of the magic that the clerics have. The older cleric, Vardan shares many secrets with the youth including some magic spells that are forbidden by the church. This leads to further study by Zakrain and soon he will discover more dark spells and a path to learning more. Because of his miracle birth the elders grudingly allow him access to the tomes of the great library without paying the fees they demand of everyone else. This thirst for knowledge drives Zakrain to study long hours in the temple libraries when not engaged in the training his “parents” (actually the church leaders) are forcing upon the youth. While the temple itself is protected by magic, the elders want Zakrain to train at arms to join the guard at Talathgard at the base of the mountain, partly to get him out of their library, galled by his free access. In his studies he discovers that there are dark forces that can access more powerful magic than what the church elders are offering. Zakrain conducts research on these darker forces through his teens but merely from an academic standpoint by secretly sneaking into a restricted area of the library filled with forbidden tomes and texts.

Vardan the Cleric of Mystra (Link to original artist)

He has a busy childhood and adolescence with his training and his scholarly exploits. He has a good relationship with his “parents” especially his mother. She herself is a scholar and helps instruct him on how to research and learn. Her access to the materials in the library is very limited but she instills the basics of good scholarship. His father is a business man who is more interested in money and the fame and renown of their house than the specifics of Zakrain’s daily life. He provides and the boy is not left wanting for anything. As a noble and a knight, eventually he has three retainers, his messeger Marquez, his servant Vidal and his squire Danshee.

When Zakrain was nineteen years old and had had his spurs for two years already, his closest friend and squire, Danshee, is accused of committing a crime by the church elders. Danshee being fifteen is like a younger brother to Zakrain and they had been inseparable through their youth. It was only natural that when the time came Danshee would request to squire for Zakrain and more natural that he would accept. One infamous church elder accused Danshee of impregnating a common serving girl who had begun to show a burgeoning belly. Zakrain knows that Danshee could not be blamed for this as they were out of the temple for a month undertaking some errantry when the deed was likely to have been done. When this knowledge was shared they were told he was mistaken and that the boy had seeded the girl before he left. The church elders would not listen to reason and Zakrain couldn’t understand why. Vardan took the young man aside and explained that pursuing this argument would only turn badly and he should be wary of the other elders and their power. Zakrain refused to see Danshee punished for a crime he didn’t commit. The punishment was castration and that would drastically change the course of young Danshee’s life. He persisted in challenging the elders and he was beaten by their spells and put in the cells. Only Vardan came to see him to let him know Danshee had received the punishment but was alive and healing physically. When left alone again in the darkness of the cells Zakrain started to invoke some of the dark powers he’d studied.

In the course his own research on the Netherese, the ancestors of the Halruaans, and after searching out and stealing doucments from a member of the Cult of the Shattered Peak for a treatise he was preparing, Zakrain had learned that there once was a zelekhut inevitable who had doggedly pursued a group of Shadovar assassins to bring them to the justice they deserved. Rather than deliver the justice it sought to meter out, the Shadovar had used some dark magic to trap and hold the zelekhut in Shadowfell. Despite the Shadovar city of Thultanthar returning and later being destroyed, the zelekhut was still entrapped in Shadowfell, waiting to be freed. From the notes of the cult member and his research in some forbidden texts Zakrain had discovered how to contact the zelekhut. There was a cruel portal of communication the shades had developed to taunt and tease their trapped foe. In the months locked in the cells at Talathgard he prepared, with both Vardan, when he made his rare visits to the boy, and his messenger Marquez spiriting him key documents and texts . Finally he was able to open the portal and made contact with the zelekhut. They worked out a pact. Zakrain would work to free the zelekhut from captivity in exchange for the power to seek justice on the corrupt church leaders. The inevitable agreed to this offer and Zakrain was given direction on how to acquire a once powerful magical battleaxe that would help him achieve his quest. The zelekhut would continue to provide him guidance and instruction on delivering justice to the deserving as well as reveal more powerful secrets. As well, the hidden battleaxe required special enchantments to restore it to it’s former glory that the zelekhut would teach Zakrain as he worked to free him.

The trapped zelekhut inevitable. (Link to original artist)

Zakrain is eventually released from prison after several months to learn that the serving girl perished in child birth and the child was being raised by a family appointed by the elders. Danshee had only just recovered from his injuries and his punishment. He was not the same boy any longer. He was sullen, untrusting and melancholy. Dead was the bright eyed, joyful youth who was a fixture at Zakrain’s side for many years. Zakrain refused to give up on Danshee and took him on the quest to retrieve the axe. They were able to find the weapon in the ruins of Myth Drannor by following the instructions the zelekhunt had provided and some research of their own before departing.

Magic Battleaxe (Link to original artist)

Zakrain returned to Mount Talath and confronted the church elder who had made the accusation against Danshee. Using what the zelekhut had taught him, he was able to get the old man to confess to having done the deed himself and to having murdered the poor girl after she gave birth. Zakrain declared the old lech guilty and sought to slay him. They battled. The older man used some powerful magic and Zakrain sought to cleave him in half with the old battleaxe. Using the power of the weapon he was victorious. However, during the battle Danshee had entered the chamber, having followed Zakrain and listened to the whole encounter. He lay weeping in an alcove, badly burned and disfigured during the fighting. He could no longer follow Zakrain and left the temple forever that day. Zakrain later learned that Danshee had travelled North and west to the Sword Coast and moved from town to town drunk and begging for his next drink. He was a pitiful shell of a human who’d eventually been beaten to death one night.

Eventually the old cleric, Vardan, dies suspiciously when Zakrain is about three and twenty and away from the temple. Now out in the world adventuring, Zakrain learns about his true heritage from the dying cleric, likely via a letter sent in secret from his dying hand. This causes Zakrain to take an Oath of Vengeance and become a Paladin. He holds no enmity towards his adopted mother who has since passed away but is furious with his adopted father who is still alive in the temple.

Zakrain as a Paladin (Link to original artist)

Allies & Organizations

Zakrain is still in good standing with the Church of Mystra as well as the defensive force at Talathgard. He has entered a pact with with a zelekhut trapped in Shadowfell. He is the heir of his adopted father and will take over their house when he passes according to the legal decrees made by the church.

Additional Features and Traits

Zakrain is trained as a knight and a scholar having written several papers and treatises in his teen years. He has seen the ugly corruption of power and doesn’t want any. He seeks to avenge those hurt by the powerful and is willing to tear down corrupt leaders. He is especially disillusioned with religion and is skeptical of all of them. He has been deeply wounded by secrets kept from him and is very forthcoming with information.

Of his three retainers, he has a messenger, Marquez, who primiarily facilitates him getting information in and out of the Temple of Mystra. He has a servant, Vidal, who manages his rooms and estate as it is. And Danshee, his squire who has left his service.

Treasure

The most valuable item he has is the Magical Battleaxe. He has his inheritance from his adopted parents that includes a weekly stipend of 15 gold pieces. He also has his signet ring and his knightly banner.

Tool Proficiencies & Custom Skills

Dragonchess, History, Persuasion

Other Proficiencies & Languages

Languages: Common, Celestial, Elvish

Weapons: Martial Weapons

Armor: Medium Armour and Shields