Lord Defender of Yarrianne
Ker Gentz was born in 1984 in a town called Lilton which takes up land on the Western side of the Valisian Woods. After being bought up on the legends that surround that woodland, of Fae and creatures of myth he grew into a bright and enthusiastic lad who would spend many of the afternoons of his youth in the deep forest, watching, taking notes and getting to know the beauty and serenity of life. By the year 2000 however he had been conscripted into the militia of Baron Alexander Shadowmane to serve as a runner and assist with the putting down of the assembly of several large bandit groups. He served well enough until his first combat where he learned two simple lessons. The first was that he had an innate talent with the surgeon’s knife and the second was that he could not take a life. At the end of the campaign, sometime in the Sunrise of 2001 he handed in his commission in the militia and joined the faith of Yarrianne in nearby Strabain where he was accepted and began an unremarkable career as a cleric.
His life in the Priesthood was unexciting but he served well and true to the faith, then after years of adequacy he was sent home, in 2006 to Lilton to serve, once more for the Baron Alexander Shadowmane. However all of this was to change rather swiftly and radically during the following four years as the cataclysm came and the forests around Lilton transformed with the emergence of the Unrelenting Kingdom. The histories of the Cataclysm are well documented but the role of Ker Gentz was not; his actions were a far cry from the heroics that many others undertook in defence of the realm, indeed the majority of his work took place in the Unrelenting Kingdom. From here he assisted the restoration of the Fae land to its place in Eidelos saving thousands of lives and eventually battling the followers of the infamous House of the Moon. Despite his Yarrianite training and the previous decisions that had led him to leave the militia the actions of the Fae Court known as Gloaming were so abhorrent to him that by the end of it several had died at his hands. These actions, despite the forgiveness of his superiors, led him to resign as a clergyman in the year 2011.
Gentz spent the years between early 2011 and late 2013 in a great turmoil over the taking of the lives of other living creatures. In all good faith the killing had been undertaken to save the lives of the innocent from the hands of cruel and wicked folk who would have seen them in torment. Ker could not see the truth of this in his heart, he could not see a justification to his actions and at his core he could not forgive himself for those deaths and nor could he allow his Lady to grant him grace. Exchanging his fine vestments with the robes of beggar he took up the bowl and walked into the wilderness of the Royal Basin to seek Redemption. For those intervening years he traipsed across the land, watching the horrors that war brings and the witnessing the coming of daemons and hoardings alike. He lay his hands to charitable tasks; healing the sick, laying the mortar for new homes, repairing damage to farms and hostels and hearing the confessions of the sorrowful but in no place and in no action did he find the absolution that he sought.
In the Frostfall of 2013 he found himself at the gates of Haven, he had not intended to travel there and wondered, as night fell, what had led him to the gates. As dusk gathered the last vestiges of light under its cloak he joined a queue of beggar men and scoundrels seeking protection from the night. Allowing others to take his place in the line that they may receive sustenance more swiftly he offered the prayers of light and life for them. When his supplication drew to an end a great blue flame lit up the sky above the College of Controlling power whilst the lights of that ancient edifice grew dim. From the gates of the city came a plague of lizards which, as they rolled forward, grew in size and form until they were great and powerful men that wore the skins of lacertids. A great battle took place that night on the streets of Haven as well as in the Skies above, it is known that the Guardians of Power took place in that battle against the power of the Blue Fire Prophets and that at its end the High King, Mazarek as he is known to the Azure Order, drew breath for the first time and brought the battle to an end.
During the fighting Gentz defended the poor folk and eventually the wounded militia and other fighters that were attempting to protect the city. The chaos of war raged around him; dirigibles exploding in the sky far above as washer women took to the street alongside Silver Saints to keep their city safe. Ker fell repeatedly under heavy wounds inflicted by his enemy but rose each time to continue defending the wounded townsfolk. As the moment of victory drew near so did the end of Gentz’s life, his belly opened, his life blood slipping away he sank to his knees and prepared for the afterlife but there was no answer to his call and in his final moments he knew that he would face damnation. Then the High King awoke and let out his breath and all folk of the Royal Basin spoke the word the he spoke – Enough. When that word spilled from his lips it was not, as it was for all others, alone; “Enough Ker Gentz, though my time with the Azure Order is over yours is just beginning; you may kill but you are not a killer, you may end life but you are not a murderer, you may follow but you are a leader. You are needed, your faith is needed, you protect the faith, you protect the clergy.” When he told this tale to the Lord Defenders it was known to be true, he took the seat of power and he has never looked back.
Holly Goodall
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