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[Valdor Canz]

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Player ICQ# 8971102 (ICQ name will be Erik VonDarkmoor)
Character Name: Valdor Canz
Alignment: Chaotic Good
Guild: Knights of Sosaria (KOS)
Role/Title: Knight
History:

The Early Years

Valdor was raised in an orphanage in Vesper. He spent most of his time with his foster brother, Torg, who was like a twin to Valdor. The pair of them spent their early years learning how to survive on the streets of Vesper.

When Valdor was young, his father, Dreg, visited the orphanage. Dreg was an evil man, a mage who had dedicated his life to obtaining power and influence over those weaker than him. Dreg gave Valdor’s foster father an amulet to give to Valdor when he reached maturity.

Valdor’s foster father, a humble man named Brent, knew of Dreg’s evil ways and buried the amulet behind the orphanage, swearing that he would never give it to Valdor.

The years passed, Valdor and Torg grew older and stronger, and soon went off to train with the city Guard.

Darkness sets in

While in service with the guards of Vesper, Valdor began to have strange dreams. He would dream of killing innocent people, and of other vile crimes. This disturbed Valdor, so he often turned to Torg for consolation.

The dreams would not end though, so Valdor and Torg decided to pay a visit to their foster father, Brent to see if he could help.

Brent sensed that somehow this was connected to the amulet, so against his better judgement, he revealed the truth of Valdor’s father to him.

Disgusted by his heritage, Valdor dug up the amulet, fully intending to destroy the vile reminder of his father.

As he pulled the amulet out of the box though, Valdor sensed a change within himself. No longer did the amulet seem an evil thing, but instead it was his birthright. He wore the amulet on a chain around his neck, proudly displaying his heritage.

Torg, who had been pushing Valdor to accompany him to Trinsic to join the Paladins, could sense the evil within the amulet and pleaded with Valdor to remove and destroy it. The amulet was able to sense this and twisted Valdor’s mind to the point where he saw his brother as a threat. When Torg resorted to physical force to remove the amulet, Valdor slew him in combat.

A warrant was issued in Vesper for Valdor’s arrest as a murderer.

Time Passes

Valdor left Vesper in a daze. It was as if two souls now inhabited his body. One, the pure would-be Paladin, was disgusted by his actions. The other, the twisted descendant of Dreg, was thrilled and wanted nothing more than to shed more blood.

Valdor sought out a renowned Priest, Father Mular, who was able to put a shield on the evil of the amulet. He could not remove it, but he was able to bring Valdor’s good side to light and to put a damper on the darkness within his soul.

As time passed, Valdor soon remembered the death of his brother as a mere dream; in fact his early life seemed nothing more than that. He wasn’t even sure if any of it had really happened.

Deep within Valdor’s subconscious, he was prodded to head for Trinsic and seek out the Paladins, so Valdor made the journey overland to Trinsic, fighting all sorts of evil along the way.

In Trinsic, however, he was turned away from the Paladins, as he had no references or proof of his good deeds, and the Paladins sensed something dark about the young lad.

In dismay, Valdor wandered the countryside until he discovered a remote tavern by the name of the Wandering Wisp. Determined to drink away his problems, Valdor stormed into the Tavern and ordered a cider.

The path to Knighthood

At the Wisp, Valdor met Trekkon and Rhiannon, a pair of young lovers dedicated to serving good. Valdor helped them to do battle with Gaul, the pair’s archrival, and in doing so impressed Trekkon.

Trekkon informed Valdor that he was a Knight in the order of the Knights of Sosaria. Over a full meal and some cider, Trekkon and Rhiannon told Valdor of the history of the Knighthood, and eventually asked him to join.

Valdor met the rest of the Knighthood, Lords Wolf and Breti, Lady Nova, Gwen, Cubrethil, Grunwald, Zappa, and the others. He sensed right away that he had a kinship with this group and decided to give Knighthood a try.

As a recruit in the Knighthood, Valdor soon found a home. He fought hard in the battles to save Trinsic, and eventually earned the title of Knight.

It seemed as if he had finally escaped his dark past, and had put behind the legacy of his evil father.

It was also around this time that Valdor discovered that he had a cousin (from his mother’s side, it turned out that his mother had been a Priestess who had been deceived by his father) named Danilo. Valdor forged a close bond with Danilo, and even convinced him to move to Elysium.

Darkness Returns

It started slowly, dark thoughts or dreams, but then grew stronger. It became clear to Valdor that the darkness of the amulet was returning.

Valdor found himself having a lot of doubts and dark thoughts about his past, so he decided to return to Vesper to discover what he might.

Along the way, Valdor stopped to visit Father Mular. The good father informed Valdor that he had discovered some of the secrets of the Amulet. It seemed that Valdor’s father had harnessed some of the dark power of a Keeper of Souls and had trapped it within the Amulet.

The Amulet was tied to Valdor’s soul, and gave his father limited control over his thoughts, the only way to end the curse of the amulet was to slay the Keeper of Souls whose power his father was tapping.

Valdor went to his fellow Knights and told them of the curse. They agreed to accompany him on his quest.

Bravely they went forth and sought out the Keeper of Souls. After a difficult battle, the Keeper was slain, and Valdor felt relief from the curse, as the amulet was destroyed by the death of the Keeper.

False Freedom

With the ending of the curse, Valdor felt true happiness for the first time in his life. Father Mular accompanied him to Vesper where Valdor was cleared of the charge of murder.

He returned to the orphanage where he had spent his youth and helped the young man who had taken over for his foster father (who had recently passed away) to fix up the place, donating all of the gold he had earned in his adventures to the good man.

In time, Valdor returned to the Knights, promising to return to visit and help out whenever he had time.

Months passed, and Valdor frequently visited Vesper, making friends with one young orphan in particular, Ronnie.

One day after one of his visits, Valdor awoke in the forest, near Vesper, covered in blood.

He had vivid memories of dark deeds. He had slain the orphans, and the good man taking care of them. He also recalled slaying a pair of guardsmen as he made his escape.

Disgusted, Valdor sought out his cousin Danilo, who had became a powerful mage, for help.

Danilo brought Valdor to Father Mular for help. The aged Priest attempted to find out what had happened by seeking out the souls of Valdor’s victims.

In a trance, Father Mular started to sweat and tremble. Valdor and Danilo did all that they could to shake the old man from the trance to no avail. Father Mular gave a last shake and fell to the ground, dead.

Valdor was devastated. Danilo agreed to seek out some answers, while Valdor went off to a remote area to distance himself from other people, to avoid further problems.

Danilo eventually found Valdor and told him off a medium, Hertelas, whom was a hermit living near Cove. Hertelas could seek out Father Mular’s soul and perhaps get some answers.

Valdor found the medium, who looked deep into Valdor’s soul. Hertelas told Valdor that he saw a darkness battling light within him. The darkness would soon over-rule the light, taking control of his soul.

Hertelas told Valdor that he was unable to contact Mular, and that there was nothing he could do.

Something in Valdor snapped then, and he seemed to separate from his body. He watched himself in horror as he swung his war hammer down upon the poor hermit, leaving him a crushed, bloody mess.

The Book of Destiny

Valdor went back into hiding, determined to avoid all contact with people.

Eventually, Danilo once again found him, and told him that he had an idea. The Knights of Sosaria had become guardians of a mighty artifact, the Book of Destiny. This book was much more than a book; it was actually some sort of intelligent presence that could at times help the reader.

Danilo pleaded with Valdor to return to Elysium, throw himself at Lord Wolf’s mercy and let the book help to determine his fate.

Valdor did so, surrendering his weapons to his Lord. Lord Wolf and the rest of the Knights kept Valdor under guard while Wilavid consulted the Book of Destiny.

Wilavid brought Valdor to the book, and with Lord Wolf discovered the truth of the curse.

Valdor’s father had somehow found a way to still control Valdor’s soul. Dreg had moved into the evil practice of necromancy and had changed. He was now an Ancient Lich, living in the Dungeon of Khaldun. To free Valdor of the curse, his father had to be destroyed.

Wolf agreed to ask the rest of the Knights to help Valdor in this endeavor, to which they agreed.

The group set out for Khaldun the following week, determined to reclaim the soul of their fallen Knight.

After a lot of searching, the group found Dreg. Dreg screamed in outrage at seeing his son and the Knights. Summoning his minions, the Lich attacked.

It was a great battle, many of the Knights fell to evil (to be resurrected later of course), but eventually the Lich was killed.

A strange blue light suddenly surrounded Valdor. He fell to his knees in obvious pain. Those around him were alarmed to see a shadowy form, which also looked like Valdor, separate itself from his body and fade away into mist.

Valdor fell to the ground, unconscious.

The brave Knights gathered their fallen comrade and quickly left Khaldun.

In time, Valdor woke up, freed at last from the curse.

A Joyous Return

Valdor, still groggy, insisted that he be held accountable for the crimes committed while under the curse. He asked that the Knights escort him to Vesper so that he may turn himself in for the slaying of the orphans and such.

The Knights had heard nothing of this vile act, so they were a bit confused. The group magically traveled to Vesper, and found the orphanage not only intact, but all of the orphans, and their foster father, alive and well.

The children, Ronnie especially, greeted Valdor and the Knights, demanding to hear stories of their valor.

Valdor stayed with the children for quite some time, further cleansing his soul.

By this time, the Knights included a fair amount of Paladins. Valdor spoke with some of these, and it was determined that finally, he could follow his true calling and become a Paladin.

In the background, a smiling ghostly image of Torg looked on, happy to see his brother finally discover his destiny.

Time passes once again

A sudden gust of wind brought Valdor to his feet. He sensed that something was wrong, that his brothers and sisters in the Knighthood needed him. As he quickly packed up his modest belongings, the bald Knight reflected on the past year.

After finally defeating his father’s curse, Valdor had set out on a quest to redeem his soul. Deep down, he realized that the evil that he had been responsible for had been a result of the curse, but he had been unable to simply move on with his life. Vowing to return one day, he had set out from Elysium to seek out paths in which he might further the cause of good throughout the realms.

His travels had taken him far. He had spent a good amount of time in Malas, learning what it meant to truly be a Paladin, then had explored the newly discovered lands, fighting evil wherever he could find it. After time, this grew old for the Knight, so he decided to seek out other challenges.

Valdor decided to return to Khaldun to see if any of his father’s evil remained. For months, he had explored the dark halls of the twisted dungeon, fighting many dark and evil beasts. Comfortable with the abilities that he had gained as a Paladin, Valdor carved out a home in the dark halls, a place from which he could fight evil on a daily basis. This sustained him for quite some time, but eventually, he realized that he was simply surviving, and not really making a difference in the grand scheme of things.

Valdor set out once again, seeking some new challenge, a new evil to battle. He wasn’t ready yet to return to the Knighthood, his sense of duty compelled him to further redeem himself, to atone for the many dark deeds committed by him while under the curse. He made his way back to Vesper, and visited the orphans. He was dismayed to learn that Ronnie had left the orphanage and seemed to be walking a path of darkness. He promised himself that he would one day find the young man and guide him back onto the path of enlightenment.

For a month, Valdor had remained in Vesper, seeking some rumor to follow, some path that would allow him to further fight evil. Eventually, he learned of a plot being hatched by a pair of dark mages, living somewhere near Cove. Without hesitation, Valdor set out, hoping to find the mages and stop their wretched plot.

For weeks, Valdor had followed their trail, finally catching up to them near Yew. The pair had taken up in a small hunting lodge not far from the Crypts. For a few days, Valdor watched their actions, finally swooping down upon them one cold morning.

One mighty swing of Valdor’s powerful war hammer tore the feeble door apart, leaving the path open for Valdor to enter the lodge. The mages had been caught unaware and Valdor destroyed one of them before they could move. The other had managed to blast Valdor with an energy bolt though, leaving him temporarily stunned. As the remaining mage began chanting arcane words again, Valdor shook off the effects of the first spell and leaped towards him. His war hammer discarded, Valdor caught the mage by the throat and choked the life out of him.

Looking around at the lodge for the first time, Valdor was quite disturbed by some of the things that he found. The notes that he found indicated that these mages were part of a larger group, with dire plans for Sosaria. Pulling out a small summoning stone that his cousin Danilo had given him, Valdor spoke the words that would call the powerful mage to him. A few moments later, Danilo materialized outside of the lodge and greeted Valdor.

Valdor explained what he had found and took Danilo into the lodge, allowing the mage to examine the evidence for himself. Danilo gathered up all that he could find and promised Valdor that he would do everything possible to learn of this threat. The pair of them returned to Danilo’s home where the mage went about his research.

Danilo was unable to learn much more than the fact that this un-named group existed, and that they plotted against the good folk of the lands. Promising to return if Danilo found any useful information, Valdor set out once more to hunt evil throughout the lands.

The next few months had passed quickly. Valdor had fought many dark beasts, but had heard nothing from his cousin. Now, the strange feel of this wind told him that the time had come for him to return home. He sensed that this feeling was somehow connected to the plotting of the two mages and their fellows, but did not know how.

It would be a long journey home, but Valdor welcomed it. He missed his fellow Knights and was ready to once again don the colors and take up the good fight in their name. Calling forth his ethereal mount, named Mular after the good father who had helped him so many times in the past, Valdor set out, determined to re-join his brethren.
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Lord - Knights of Sosaria

[Valdor Canz]

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This part was originally posted in the Crossroads Tavern...added here to update my history...

With a heavy heart, Valdor looked down upon the Book of Destiny. He knew that the Book would not speak to him at this time, but still he took comfort in it’s presence. Today was a day that Valdor would not forget, today was the day that he would humbly ascend into the position of Lord of the Knights of Sosaria.

Looking around the room, the Knight thought back to the man who would forever be the true Lord of the Knights, Lord Wolf. He thought of those who rode with his Lord in the glorious days of the past, he thought of the honor that was bestowed upon him. Placing his hand, and through it his heart, upon the Book, Valdor swore to hold himself to the standards of those before him.

He thought back on the events since his return from his self-imposed exile. The Knights were scattered, questing elsewhere, most in other realms. The demands of those realms had called to Valdor before, so he understood their departures. A portion remained though, waiting to carve out a piece of Sosaria’s history of their own, as their fellow Knights had done before them. In this remaining group, Valdor saw great potential. They needed someone to lead them, someone to bring them together as one. They needed someone to help uphold the honor of those who had come before.

Those who had preceded him as Lord, or as Lady, of the Knighthood were an impressive lot. Lord Wolf, who was the wise leader that any man or woman would follow to the grave and beyond. Lord Wolf’s daughter, the fair Lady Nova, who had helped cement the Knights’ relationship with Trinsic so long ago. Lord Breti, who knew more about the realms than any three sages combined. Lord Robert and Lady Arcana, who had held the Knights together while all of the elder Knights had left for other realms, and who had each improved the Knights in so many ways, and who had both worked so hard to bring the Knights to the forefront of the community of Sosaria as a whole. So many others had shared the responsibilities of Leadership through the years as well, fitting examples of Lord or Lady in Valdor’s eyes. With his hand still upon the Book and with great humility, Valdor swore to live up to all of their examples.

His thoughts drifting, Valdor thought of his own past, both with the Knights and without. These thoughts naturally turned to the awful curse that Valdor’s father had placed upon him, through the wretched amulet. He thought of the wretched acts that he had committed while under the influence of the curse, and thought of the personal punishments that he had placed upon himself to atone for them. He knew in his heart that he had not been in control of himself during that time, but had still satisfied his sense of justice through his acts of atonement.

Valdor thought of the orphanage where he had spent his youth. He thought of young Ronnie, who he had still been unable to find. His first stop, after returning from his exile, had been at the orphanage. Leaving himself with only a small portion of the gold he had earned during his time away, Valdor gave his fortune to the orphanage, asking that a trust fund be set up so that each of these children might learn a craft someday. His sacrifice was small in his heart though, he swore that he would return with more when he could.

Remembering his many adventures, Valdor smiled. Many glorious battles had been fought by the Knighthood, and he had stood in line with his fellows through a good many of these. Thinking back to some of the most memorable, Valdor thought of a couple that stood out. The Knighthood’s battle to free him of his curse, against the Keeper of Souls recruited by his own father was the first. The Knights had fought bravely that fateful day, making Valdor proud to be among them. He thought of a darker day, when an executioner in the Dungeon Wrong, with his mage allies, had decimated the ranks of the Knights. The Knights had stood bravely though, refusing to yield, refusing to give up. Through both of these, and so many other battles, the Knights’ valor had been unmatched.

Thinking of the days of the Trinsic Invasion, Valdor’s pride in the Knighthood grew stronger. The Knights had stood at the front of those who attempted to stop the dark forces pouring into the city. Knowing that their own fate in the battle was sealed, the Knights had desperately tried to delay the enemy’s inevitable victory to buy time for the citizens of Trinsic, and of Elysium, to depart by sea. The days that followed were even worse. Throughout the lands, poverty and hunger set in, as those who did trade with Trinsic saw great financial losses. Here again, the Knighthood had stood strong. Journeying through the lands, they had brought food and clothing to those who had survived the invasion. Their compassion in such times of need were a beacon of light to those living through those times of darkness.

Valdor thought back on his time in the Knighthood and chuckled for a moment. There was one glaring absence on what might otherwise be a glorious record for a member of the Knights of Sosaria. Through all of his time in the Knighthood, from his early days as a Squire, through his time as Guardsman and Defender and through his quest as a Knight-Errant, to his time as a Knight, Valdor had never once served bar in any of the Knighthood’s establishments. While this had been a requirement for all, somehow, his name had never been called. Deciding to follow the path of honesty, Valdor swore to confess the truth of this oversight.

Looking down upon the Book once more, Valdor felt a sense of awe in the step that he was taking. As Lord of the Knighthood, he would hold the responsibility of protecting the Book, and the responsibility of ensuring that the warnings of the Book were not ignored. Valdor knew that the Book awaited another, but he swore not to ignore it during the wait. Regretfully, he thought of the attempts of Ironrose and Willavid to establish a sect of Priest within the Knighthood, devoted to serving the Book. Those efforts had not taken hold though, the dark days of Sosaria had not created many with the spirituality that servitude of the Book demanded.

His burden seemed lifted somehow as he lifted his hand from the Book. Looking around at the home of his former Lord, Valdor knew that he was doing the right thing. He knew that the Knighthood had life still within it and knew that he was ready for the challenge ahead. Stepping out into what had been Elysium, the Knight called for his ethereal steed, Mular. Looking forward to the days ahead, Valdor smiled, comfortable in the knowledge that those who followed behind would have their legacy upheld, and that the Knights would once again flourish.
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Lord - Knights of Sosaria