Oath against Undeath Paladin Backstory

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Kaliwen (Unless another name is thought of) is an Aasimar. Born in the City-state of Vigil she grew fond of her controlled surroundings. While neither her father nor mother served in any Guard, Kaliwen could not help but be fascinated by their gallant armor, their mirrored shields, their glassed swords, and their mighty steeds. Many afternoons Kaliwen found herself admiring the strong, brave, and noble men and women. While other young children would play games like hide and seek, tag, and catch Kaliwen would spend them wielding branches the size of herself as her mighty two-handed swords. She’d use brooms as polearms and great axes. She would wield cauldron lids as shields, or wear her father’s leather work gloves and pants as armor. Her mother was concerned about this behavior because such a child shouldn’t act in such mature and violent ways. To this her father would merely respond with a silent smile and a mutter of; “You can’t stop the headstrong.”

Kaliwen grew into a matured teenager, but one with the edge of a razor. If she felt she was in the right nothing would stop or sway her mind. Cross her and she will let you know just how deep her words could cut. This mind was not appreciated by either of her parents, as neither of them raised her in this way. They speculated this was “soldier talk”, as they called it; Something she had learned by working the stables or messhalls for extra coin after school.

Eventually Kaliwen grew to be of age. In her late teens she finished her basic studies and knew exactly where she wanted to further her academic career in. The Crusader’s War College. While her mother was against this idea, her father saw this as a long time coming. With a few honeyed words, her mother caved to this idea so long as Kaliwen promised to stay the path of good. For Kaliwen, this was an easy promise. She outright despised acts of evil. She sought to be a defender, but mort so a protector. She lusted for the heat of battle; not because she enjoyed violence or slaughter, but because she felt a responsible duty to protect and uphold the citizens of her home. She must now protect the elders and the young, just as they had protected her.

The War College took nearly eight years of her life away. She studied in martial arts, weapon training, armor training, shield training, siege training, scouting, history, and magic. Her greatest triumph was in religion, while her weakest was in diplomacy. Though not religious in a traditional sense, Kaliwen felt this uneasy, unnatural draw toward the idea over the aspect. That is to say, the philosophy of religion called to her far more than the actual texts or prayers.

Now in her mid-twenties, Kaliwen returned to her family. By this time her mother had grown frail and her father weak. Unbeknownst to them, her father had cancer and soon passed. Shortly after, he mother lost the will to continue. These were hard months for Kaliwen and she hated herself for wasting her past eight years in studies rather than by her parent’s side. But she respected the bond they had with the greater universe. They had moved on to a better place, and their cycle in this life had completed. The passing of her parents sung in her mind like a tolling bell and woke an inner drive. She felt a greater sense of the balance of life and death. She noticed the truth and beauty in it all. She took her feelings and her training and applied to undergo station at Lastwell; A dark and foreboding place guarding one of the most dangerous sites on the planet. It was here where she joined the Order of the Dawnflower.

Under the order of Paladins, Kaliwen trained and studied even more for almost four years. Eventually her contract ended and when she went to renew it, she was told that she needed to venture out of Vigil. A city called Osirion requested the aid of any and all Paladins due to an unusual activity happening in their ancient pyramids. Kaliwen gathered her gear, said her last goodbyes to Vigil, and left. Once in Osirion she immediately found herself in the midst of a great war. Not among men or beasts, but the undead. Mummies had accidentally been risen and were inflicting plagues across Osirion. With her team, she helped dispatch these vile creations back to their gates of hell to which they belonged. Through her traveling in Osirion she eventually began to find an interest in the Deities of Ancient Osirion. She was fascinated at how different these beings were compared to the ones she had studied back in Vigil. One in particular caught her eye: Anubis.

Anubis was depicted as an ebony giant with the head of a jackal, wielding domain over death, disease, plagues, and famine. She couldn’t help but feel drawn to him. Perhaps it was the mysterious void painted in his skin or the demonic vibe of a man with a jackal’s head, but she felt embraced by this being. Late one night when the rest of her Order celebrated their victories, Kaliwen slipped away to a burial site with Anubis portrayed. She sat before a carving nearly thirty two feet tall and meditated. What she saw was beyond an epiphany: It was an outright prophecy.

Her mind snapped to a city set ablaze with dead roaming the lands under a darkened sky. Pillars of smoldering ash loomed over buildings. The streets ran with rivers of blood and flesh as the dead walked the city, hunting and gnawing on any survivors. Crippling horrors plagued the scape as causalities calculated into the tens of thousands by the night. Above a collapsed citadel floated a man; A destroyer. She immediately recognized him, not by his looks, but by his name; Tar-Baphon: The Whispering Tyrant.

She woke out of her vision in a cold sweat, paranoid and afraid for the first time in years. But she was not alone. Deep in the catacombs lingered a life that was not previously there.

Anubis.

Without exchanging words, she grasped a deep understanding of this being. He brings death to the land, yes, but only so that he might shepherd the dead to their rightful resting place. It is not his mission to slay the innocent or wreak havoc across nations, rather to ensure safe transport from one plane of existence into the next.

Kaliwen respected this, and understood it, though she did not agree with it. Being the ferryman between lives does not grant the right to slay thousands. She felt a deep desire to vanquish this immortal being for his cruel and unjust appetite of slaughter, but understood his place as a Deity and her’s as a servant. Instead, they struck a deal. This was made possible because Anubis explained to her that his time had come and gone. He is a memory; A mirage of the sand. His place is no more, but his duty still remains. There is an evil looming over the world that seeks to consume the living, and one being would burn the world and rip the bodies and souls out of Hell for his own bidding. This is a direct assault against Anubis and his job, but he is powerless to interfere with mortal affairs anymore. He needs a sword which to cut through the realities, and Kaliwen appears to be an acceptable solution.

Anubis needed a strong, bold, driven mortal to rid the world of the coming age of death. Those who are resurrected are stolen property of Anubis, as it is his job to ensure their safety in transportation. As such, he will become the defender, the shield, and Kaliwen will become the aggressor, the sword. Together they shall rid the world of these abominations called Undead, and Kaliwen will fulfill her purpose as the Protector of Life.

(Not part of the story, but as added flavor to her character Kaliwen has “Spiritus Vitae” tattooed on her forearm which is Latin for “Breath of Life”)