Mordred Diadalos

Mordred “Dred” Diadalos is the semi-disgraced son of the infamous corrupt politician Lear Diadalos of Baldur’s Gate. Hailing from the Upper City, Dred grew up in the lap of luxury— educated and trained by the best his father could blackmail and pay for in hopes of producing an heir that could carry on the Diadalos name. The dear prodigal son had shown great promise, his father’s pride and joy— that is, until their teenage years came and went. Dred found that his voice didn’t seem to develop with the rest of him, much to his father’s chagrin. To a man who valued appearances and power over everything else, Lear decided that there was simply no use in raising an heir that inspired no fear or intimidation the way any public speaker worth their salt could.

When Dred realized that he had no further use to his father, they began to act out. Stealing money, causing fights, doing what he could to disrupt his father’s career. He was ignored at every turn. As a young man raised with his only purpose to be what his father wanted him to be, Dred quickly began to spiral in his aimlessness. As a final desperate move, Mordred approached his father, begging him for an answer on what it would take for him to accept them back. Lear’s answer was a simple one: go on a pilgrimage to the Nine Hells, and come back a worthy son.

Wandering the city of Baldur’s Gate with a new purpose, Dred awaits an opportunity to make his way to the unpromised land to prove his father either right or wrong, whatever it takes.

Sent off on his homecoming task from his father, Mordred went from the streets to latching himself onto a group of individuals about as odd as he was— not limited to an older sometimes-unintentionally-unsettling blind Dragonborn woman named Altaj, a quirked up vampire with no swag named Cassian, and a surprisingly normal father named Marello... and his three-year-old monkey-baby-thing he took with him. Once in hell, the party— while neither efficient nor particularly clever— maintained an admirable tenacity in their quest to fix the various issues of the Hells and saving the city of Elturel. Finally experiencing a new form of independence in being free from the expectations of his father, Mordred developed a number of new passions— like stealing from the rich with Marello as a father-son bonding experience, riding and maintaining his motorcycle Goner, and saving and subsequently falling horns-over-heels for hot blond vampires crucified to iron trees for eternity.

These newly developed passions put into perspective what life could be like when Mordred wasn't living it to please his father, and ultimately provided him the steadfast courage to take the Sword of Zariel and allow himself to be changed by it, to become a creature shaped only by his own volition, a son of Fiendish descent now stained Celestial— wings and eyes included. Didn't make his voice drop any lower, though.

By the time Mordred returned from his descent into Avernus, there was hardly anything left of the boy who would have done anything to please his father. In fact, Lear casting out his own son and allowing him the space to develop his own autonomy was the worst decision he could have made, because when the door to his office opened and then stepped through the winged warrior and savior of Hell with a spiked bat in his hand and a disconnected look in the hundreds of eyes that covered Mordred's body, Lear Diadalos experienced a number of fleeting feelings. Anger, confusion, fear, a hint of pride, but most of all— dread.

"he thinks about the way his muscles hurt after all the fighting, the sections of flesh that have split between blades only to heal back shut a day later, the various bruises that cover his body from bludgeoning wounds. he thinks about the adrenaline rushes the danger brings, how he’s able to ride high on the bursts of anger and energy that burn him bright like an oil fire until all the crashing and crunching is done and his bat is soaked and he feels a little bit more in control than he did before."