Name: Kent of Rivia. He is also known as the Little Knight.
Class: Defender
Someone whose goal is to protect their allies in combat. A defender would need either a heavy shield or unique protective spell to fulfill this end and can employ physical or magical attacks. They favor heavier, metal armors.
Equipment:
Kent's Armor: A well-forged suit of armor, built by Kent himself. The cuirass is marked with the emblem of Rivia -a pair of lions clutching a sword and a pen- upon the red cross of Avia, courtesy of the Lady Eleanor. This armor is well-crafted and rather protective.
- Rivian Commoner's Armet: An armet helmet with a red plume, marking the wearer out as a commoner. Nobles wear blue plumes to identify each other in battle.
Arming Sword: A one-handed blade with balanced weight, being as useful for quick thrusts as they are for heavy blows. A standard feature of the Rivian soldier's arsenal.
Rivian Crusader's Shield: A large tower shield, marked with the emblem of Rivia and the red cross of Avia. Capable of taking much damage and protecting the wielder and others from damage.
Devotee's Talisman: An ivory talisman crafted by the Church of Tordo for their Crusaders. The talisman's seeming fragility belies great strength.
Lady's Token: A locket containing the token of Lady Eleanor of Rivia. Kent keeps it close to his chest at all times, refusing to part with it.
Spells:
- Test of Devotion: A Rivian variation on the Healing Miracle. It rejuvenates the wounds of the caster and nearby allies.
- Test of Resilience: A Rivian variation on the Force Miracle. It creates a powerful shockwave that repels projectiles and enemies.
Description: Kent barely reaches average height, with his robust, but not overly-large build being masked by the large suit of armor and the massive shield he bears. His hair is platinum blonde and cut short, and his eyes are a deep blue, lending an air of innocence to his cleanshaven, soft face. His build, while not particularly muscular, is rather strong, born of years of training and battle, allowing him to bear the heavy armaments he carries. He also wears a locket at all times, which he keeps close to his chest and occasionally looks at; he will take pains to gain it back if he were to lose it. Of late, he has appeared slightly more gaunt; whether it is because of Hollowing or because of exhaustion is not entirely clear.
Personality: Kent is calm, collected and gentlemanly whether in or out of battle, though he has a somewhat awkward and naive side to him. He is polite to a fault and loyal to his allies, helpful and loyal to allies and even more so to those who reciprocate. He is also incredibly honest and honorable; when he makes promises, he will do his best to fulfil them. A great sadness bears down upon Kent, however; the weight of his travels and the failure of his initial aim bears upon him. However, his equally indomitable will and his desire to assist others carries him on, as he refuses to falter, either to the Curse of Undeath or to the various curses that follow him. Though misfortune may follow Kent, he refuses to allow misfortune to define him; he will carry on no matter the cost to himself, and protect his allies.
Backstory:
.....
The following is a letter that the Lady of Rivia had permitted me access to, in the time before her fateful departure. She and I were close during my time at the Rivian court; I was oft her advisor in these matters. This letter, I preserve here as a testament to the love her people had for her; I had, with her permission, copied it for posterity, for her young paramour was often endangered and these letters the only proof she would have of him.
I fear my endeavours hew too close to the personal realm, rather than the political, but my commitment to telling the facts and the story that led to the Rivian Rebellion compel me to reveal these letters, at least in the hope of explaining the role of Lady Eleanor in the fall of her father.
§
My dear Eleanor,
It is with great happiness that I write today. Today, I shall return home at last; the others and I have defeated the invaders from Verth, and our commander has signalled the end of hostilities. I hope that I have proven myself to your father; I still recall he was against our marriage, I being of common birth and you of such high stature, and this was not the first time he has parted us in search of some better suitor. Now that I have won renown in battle, I hope that we may at last be united in wedlock, my love, and that our long quest may be over. It might make endear you to know this, though; your nickname for me, the Little Knight, is what the soldiers call me. Your nickname for me has finally spread to the men since one of them caught a glimpse of your last letter. That might bring you some comfort; here, there is no difference between nobles and peasants. It has taken me long to earn their respect; I can only hope that your father will feel the same.
The long, lonely nights which I have spent away from you have been the worst thing I have had to endure. Every day I am parted from you, I wonder if your father has concocted some new scheme to part us once more. I cannot imagine one more night without hearing your voice or seeing your face again, and I hope we can get some time alone when I return, so I may tell you of the sights we saw and the tales we heard on our journey. Perhaps, we may even spend the night in each other's embrace as we have oft done; entirely chaste, of course. I would never dare intrude upon your purity, though you know that well already. I apologise for my meandering, my love; I already find it hard enough to speak with you in person, and you know I must try to say the right thing to you, even when you tell me it doesn't matter.
I have said this many times, and I will say this again; know that I am of low birth and have little to offer you in way of dowry or of livelihood, but yet you chose me over any man who with the meanest of lendings could provide for you for the rest of your life. For that, my heart belongs to you, Eleanor, my moon and stars, and it has always belonged to you, ever since I first laid eyes upon you. For you, I would go to the ends of the earth; if the quest your father had sent me on proved anything, I meant it quite literally. I will swear this now and forever; I will love you until the end of time. I hope that you, as always, feel the same. Alas, I must lay my pen down here; we move at dawn, and I will not have another opportunity to write to you ere I return. I hope this letter will give you some comfort, knowing that I am well and alive, and will be with you shortly.
I remain forever yours,
Kent
-Pontiff Godfrey of the Church of Tordo, Annals of the Avian Court, Volume I: Rivia
Kent was born a peasant of common stock in the distant Western land of Avia. He was born to two servants of the human lord Roderick of Rivia, a moderately important area, whose daughter Eleanor was the pride of the land, renown for her beauty. Young Kent was smitten with her, despite his position as a mere stableboy for her, and so sought to one day earn her hand in marriage. He grew into a strong young man, who was known for his kindness, but many also knew of his love for the young Eleanor, and called him foolish for seeking what could not be sought. Yet after the hand of Eleanor Kent sought anyway; it was her that the young man wanted, and by the powers that be, it was her he would marry, no matter what trials he would be placed under. He proved himself many times over as the equal, if not superior, of many of those who wanted her hand in marriage; those who knew of this began to root for him, especially as Roderick's popularity began to waver among his people.
Unbeknownst to many, Eleanor reciprocated Kent's pure love, and the couple engaged in a courtship that lasted much of their youth and into adulthood. When Roderick found out, he was scornful of Kent; he would not simply let his daughter marry a mere peasant. In seeking to delay this, he sent Kent away on increasingly difficult tasks; firstly to seek rare treasures in a distant land for the dowry that he would offer Roderick for Eleanor, then on a crusade to slaughter the Hollows who had begun to plague the land of Rivia, and then once more upon a crusade to crush invaders from the barbarian land of Verth, each time hoping that his daughter would seek another or that Kent would fail to return or remain loyal, either outcome which would signal the end of what he felt to be a star-crossed love. Time after time, Kent returned, his goal fulfilled and with his love for Eleanor as strong as ever, and Eleanor would always seek after him, and each return saw Roderick grow ever more desperate, as the tale of the Little Knight- Eleanor's nickname for Kent, after his short stature and upstanding nature- became well-known in the ranks.
Roderick saw but one more chance for him to break up the young couple, when a chance for a crusade to a distant land arose. Seizing what he believed to be his last chance at halting their romance, he sent Eleanor away as an attache to a group of knights that he had sent, before Kent could return from fighting against Verth. When Kent return only to hear that his beloved Eleanor had been sent away, his will resolved, and he set off again to run after his beloved, chasing after her through darkness and fire, defeating countless odds and monsters, defending villages and hamlets against beasts, all to be with her again. The Little Knight's tale, once limited to Rivia, now spread through the land through the mouths of those indebted to Kent, and many began to tell tales of his search for his 'moon and stars'. At long last, when he reached the land that Eleanor had been sent to, he received word that the cadre of troops she had been with, along with the whole army they had been sent to reinforce, had been slaughtered in the wilds. Refusing to be disheartened, Kent set out into the wilds, hoping against hope that he would find Eleanor once more, to take her home and be united in marriage as they had always wanted.
His hope faltered him when he laid eyes upon her corpse, clutching the last letter he had sent her; the very letter that he had sent her from Verth. Whatever had slain her and the troops had slain her so quickly, they had scarcely time to react. At this, Kent fell into despair, wandering the wilds and doing the bare minimum to survive, desiring to do nothing but unite with her in death. When he was finally slain at the hands of Hollows, even this was robbed from him, as the Darksign appeared upon him and Kent resurrected soon after, allowing him to flee the Hollows. At first, he found it difficult to cope with what he saw as a curse; he was doomed to be Hollow, separated forever from the one he loved, and he was lost in a land far away from home. Yet one day, his hope returned to him, as he witnessed a group of Undead travellers like himself beset upon by plagued beasts, and Kent raised his shield once more to defend the weak, aiding the group in defeating these beasts and seeing them to safety.
And so Kent found his aim once more; to defend the weak, to never again lose hope. True, he would one day become Hollow, but until then, he would carry the burdens of others, never to falter again.