Mathieu is a Paladin of Setifor, rank Vigilant, and has been since he was a young child in Nostermund. Being a part of a paladin order dedicated to justice, he generally has very strong views of right and wrong, although being raised amongst Nostrian nobility has made the definition of those words... sort of loose. He cares most about his family and his boyfriend, Hector de Tristaine.

After his family manor was attacked and he was 'killed,' he woke up and realized he was no longer human. Somehow, he had turned into a Nessian (think Tieflings) and dumped in the city of Nessus. He went to the local Church of Setifor and chose to make up a new identity for himself, as he did not want to alert whichever organization attacked his family. He briefly worked as a scribe in the Grand Academy's library before an investigation on odd disappearances in the city resulted in him being recruited to the Inquisition, one of three military arms wielded by the Nessian empire.

He eventually fell prey to the machinations of teammates within the Inquisition, forcing him to have to flee the city in disgrace and head to Ear'Mir, the nearby enlightened city of the elves that welcomed people of all races. There, he collected additional information on cultist elements in the continent, made contact with other paladin orders to prepare them for impending disaster, and had an adventure with the Fey. When he managed to return to the mortal plane, he made his way to Nilfing where he ran into an old Inquisition colleague. He found his sister, who he had thought possibly dead, and partnered with aforementioned colleague to save Nilfing from Nessian traitors who were attempting to take over the village and kidnap magically gifted children.

This won him the right to return to Nessus without being persecuted for prior crimes, and there he ran into the Kingmaker party, which just so happened to include his old lover, Hector. Hector, who had thought he was dead... (TBC)

Mathieu Bonheur, third child and second oldest son of the Bonheur family, was a lovely child that everyone adored. Even the staff hovered over him and tried to keep him away from trouble the first time the Paladins of Setifor appeared to rule on a criminal dispute that had occurred next door. It was dreadful business that had everyone crowding around the hedges, trying to get a glimpse of what was happening. Mathieu, being significantly shorter and also quite a bit smarter, decided to duck under the hedges instead.

He saw the Lawbinder reading from his text as his assistants stood smartly, holding up banners with the emblem of Setifor on them. He watched as the next door neighbor's face went from panicked to angry to bloodthirsty. As the entourage of Setifor split to avoid the sudden crash of the man's halberd, Mathieu decided it was poor form on his part to just observe the attempted murder. Despite being all of 5 years old, Mathieu marched courageously up to the man flailing wildly around, standing just outside his radius. When the neighbor's eyes finally lit upon him, timed perfectly with the dramatic yell of "No!" from the visiting paladin, Mathieu reached forward.

"Bad!" he shouted, pointing his finger accusingly at the man. "Stop!"

It would certainly have been a bad end for him, had divine lightning not appeared from somewhere and wrapped itself around the man's ankle, pulling him to the ground in front of Mathieu's feet and shocking him a few times for good measure. The halberd fell into the grass, next to the paladin's shocked face.

It was this event that resulted in Mathieu's recruitment into the Order of the Lawbinders, where he was trained as a Paladin of Setifor. He was a very fast learner, picking up his divine combat skills quicker than any previous recruit. More importantly, he was zealous in his learning. By the time he returned to visit his family for the first time since his induction into the order, at the age of 10 years old, Mathieu had shed all of his lovable traits for a brutal honesty and a world view that was 100% black and white--until it didn't suit him. Then he could argue his way out of anything, if not with his silver tongue and naturally charming smile, then certainly with simple bullheadedness. This was how he grew up to be one of the most productive and feared judges of Setifor.

The day the Bonheur family mansion was attacked, Mathieu put down hordes upon hordes of men until those men tired of falling to him and called in a magic user. "You think you're divine," the magician whispered, shooting him a flirtatious smile framed by the jewelry she wore. "But you're not even human."

Mathieu looked down to see his skin turn ashen grey and his hands furl into ugly claws. The shock was enough to make him drop his sword and shield.

"They didn't suit you anyway," the Nessian insisted before she waved her hands and everything froze.

When he woke up eventually, full of anger and reproach for his own failings, he was alone in a dungeon. His body was sore and his mind felt empty. As he looked around the room, filled with a laughable amount of torture implements, his thoughts turned to his family and the copious blood splatters across the walls. He looked down and had to look again, because his skin was still grey, his hands were still claw-like, and the effects had actually extended down to his feet and even to the point where he had a tail. Mathieu scrambled to look at his reflection in a particularly shiny saw blade, and he flinched as he realized he was no longer the charming human he once was. He was a Nessian. Cursed.

Reaching for the amulet of Setifor around his neck, the only thing that had been left on his body except for some ragged pants, Mathieu prayed. He listened for his god's voice, and when that was not forthcoming, supplemented the emptiness with his own. Why was he a Nessian? Surely, there was some point to this guise. He wandered out of the dungeon in a daze, pinching at his skin and horns that seemed all too real. By the time he reached the daylight, strangely unmolested, he came to several conclusions.

First, he was in Nessus, wrapped in the skin of a Nessian. Second, his family was likely dead, most probably to fuel his thirst for his mission. Which, third, was a quest put upon him by Setifor to rid Nessus of its moral decay and sin. The Paladins had never been able to reach into the Empire before, but now he could, looking like this. Surely, this was all the work of his god.

This he believed because, fourth, his divine powers were not what they were. He picked up some bloodied clubs from the ground outside of the deserted dungeon and drew a magical shield around himself. His first order of business was to orient himself to the city and to find a job. As a master of the law, he was sure to find agreeable work for a good wage so that he could settle comfortably into the city. If not, Mathieu was certain he could find another way to get some money...