Ardent 412

'The water is wide, I cannot get over
Neither have I wings to fly
Give me a boat that can carry two
And both shall row, my love and I'

The boy's earliest memories involved the songs of a woman whose caresses were cold and distant. She was beautiful, but the lines about her mouth were hard and grim. There wasn't a day he didn't hear her cry. The boy made the mistake of calling her 'mother' once. His punishment? He was told to wait at the town square until she returned.

The woman never came back.

A certain individual going by the moniker "Orphanseeker" eventually came to take in the abandoned boy. His goal was not to provide a happy home, but to make soldiers out of children, radicalizing them so they would be the perfect weapons against the undead. In hindsight, it was easy for the boy to accept this drastic change in his life. He never had much in life, and the woman's decision to discard him like some soiled piece of cloth convinced him that he should be grateful someone would even want him.

The boy learned how to fight, but at a slower pace than the rest of his peers. Everyone seemed to be stronger, smarter, and faster. Still, he persevered in his training. If he won't be sent out to fulfill the vow of vengeance he was made to swear, then what was his purpose? What was he good for? Nothing else, nothing else. There was no other choice but to keep going.

Barovia soon beckoned and call. Together with the rest of the Order of the Ardents, the boy donned his crimson armor and stepped into the mists.

My second character for Curse of Strahd. Unlike the rest of the party, Ardent is an active force who seeks to eliminate the powerful vampire lord Strahd. In the beginning, he had a lot of pent-up rage, likely stemming from the fact that he was the unlikely survivor of a massacre which happened prior to the current timeline of the campaign. In normal situations, he tends to keep to himself. His candor may be refreshing to some, but for most he is frustrating to deal with because he does not hold back and has no use for any pretensions. The rest of the party frequently clashed with him in their earlier days, with Ardent not getting why they have no sense of urgency. In response, they pointed out that he is bullish and prone to rushing headfirst into situations that will get him killed. For someone who has never considered his life precious, it was startling to realize that there would be people who would care about his well-being. Properly chastised over and over again, he began to be more self-aware, eventually making decisions befitting of a leader. As the player, I'm quite happy to have seen such organic character growth. He was a difficult character who made even the other players anxious with his decisions. Even I wanted to give up on him! But he adapted, learned, and eventually overcame. The Sunsword is a powerful weapon which automatically went to him because he's the paladin, but I think the current him has earned the right to wield this holy weapon. If he survives by the end of the campaign, I do want him to find a new goal for himself. Look, that high CHA would be such a waste if he does not at least try to shed off some of that awkwardness!