Maddox Cross

     Maddox was the product of an one-night-stand, and his mother resents him for "taking away her beauty" when she got pregnant with him. His father wasn't around and he lived in Alveria's poorer neighborhoods with his mother, and younger half-sister Drinma. His mother and Drinma are full-blooded tieflings, while Maddox is half tiefling, half Avriel (a rare winged elf variant) so he looks strange comapred to other tieflings; his "horns" split and branched off into antlers, and his feathered wings are from his Avriel father, as wings are a rare tiefling trait but tend to be bat-like in appearence.
     One day when Maddox was eight, there was a knock at the door. Two of Strahd's henchman were here to collect the protection fee for the area. Unable to pay in cash, Maddox's mother shoved him and, his sister out the door as payment. Not sure what else to do, the henchman took the children, but dropped them off somewhere a few blocks away. After being turned away by their mother when they returned home, "not my problem anymore," she said, the children were on their own.
     Living in an abandoned building, Maddox got food and a little money by pickpocketing the massive crowds in the marketplace for a few years, until he turned thirteen. Then he was able to fight in the underground streetfighting rings for more money. He quickly rose in skill and was in the big-leagues shortly after he turned 16. In one of these matches, he beat the reigning champion so close to death he earned the nickname "King Killer".
     When Maddox finally turned 18, he was able to become a mercenary. Taking whatever jobs he could get his hands on, he slowly built up a reputation for himself. But when one job went sour and the group he was working with threw Maddox under the bus, the local police got involved. He was captured and was scheduled to be executed. On the day of his execution, a sizable croud had gathered, and in this crowd unbeknownst to anyone, was Barron Strahd. Maddox was led up to the gallowsbut before the rope could be placed arount his neck, a rage like he's never felt before washed over him. His fingernails and canine teeth sharpened and grew as did his body. Maddox was undergoing his first Beast Barbarian transformation. Tearing through the shackles that bound him, he killed 3 guards and injured many others as he fought to escape. As the crowd fled, only one person remained; Strahd. The Barron ordered what policemen and guards remained to stand down. Strahd said he was impressed with Maddox's pure strength and potential, and offered him a place under his employment. Seeming to be without any other choice, Maddox accepted and begun working for Strahd. Quickly rising in the ranks, before becoming one of the Wings of Strahd. Nalia was given lodging near Maddox in the Barron's estate, but fell ill with a mysterious sickness. His sister means everything to Maddox, and while he works for the Hunter's Lodge by Strahd's command, Maddox hopes to find a cure.