Name: Hale Loneshadow (his real surname is only known to a few close friends in Tamriel)
Gender: Male
Sexuality: Heterosexual
Race: Passes as a large Breton (see Character History for full story on my guy!)
Appearance:
Hale Loneshadow stands a full six feet tall, with a swarthy body and strong broad shoulders. He typically travels with his dark cowl pulled up and over his face, pipe in hand and a sly smile on his lips, inquisitive brown eyes calmly yet consistently scanning his surroundings. He is not lithe, but even though he has a somewhat bulky frame he has learned to move swiftly and smoothly. His dark burgendy cloak, forest green vest and rough-hewn brown boots allow him anonymity, and astride his loyal horse he looks the part of the lord he once was.
Personality/Traits/Quirks:
Sarcastic and sardonic humor; uses this as both a disarming way to charm friend and foe alike (think Jarlaxle if any of y'all are familiar, I saw some mention of ol' RA Sally!), as well as to lighten tense situations. Occasionally falls into bouts of pensiveness during lulls in action, where he finds a spot and smokes his nirnroot/pipeweed and contemplates his past actions. Can be good, can be bad, depends on the situation. While Hale's jadedness and by extent debaucery occasionally rears its head, in his heart, Hale is still the paladin-ranger he was raised as, and will go out of his way to help any in need. This comes into play as he usually scouts ahead of the group, willingly putting himself in danger to ensure the solidity of the group at whole. Unless, of course, he's drunk/hungover!
Fears: Leaning into his emotions about the fall of his homeland; failure; dying; battling wizards
Phobias: None, so far...
Likes: Redheaded women, pipeweed, good company and better friends, helping those in need
Dislikes: In his own words, "I fluffing hate wizards"
Armor:
Sturdy leather breastplate with a reinforced steel plate over the heart/left chest area; has a Skyforged steel pauldron on his left shoulder, a gift from the Companions. Leather boots with a "quickening" enchantment - doesn't give him superspeed by any means, but just enough extra speed once in awhile to give that slight edge to get around a foe's guard. He has his battlehelm from his days back in his homeland, but almost never wears it. He also wears orichalum-reinforced wrist/armguards.
Weaponry:
His revered bastard sword named Sindar, which has a frost enchantment within it. His greatbow, Toril, is his immediate secondary weapon, which needs no enchantment due to its already magnificent stopping power when coupled with his bodkin arrows. In addition, Hale has two wands (one of fireball, and one of a barrier - fireball takes a day or more to recharge after 3 uses, and the barrier has a very limited range and time).
Gear/other stuff he will carry for this quest:
His beloved horse and companion, Bregan, has always been with him through thick and thin. He will always hear his master's call. The saddlebags carry extra trail food for long term travel, medicinal herbs and potions, rope, a small tent, flint and steel, and of course, a decent supply of wine, pipeweed, and his father's pipe!
His magical belt given to him by his father; with a light flick of the belt buckle, Hale can read the minds of those within a short distance around him (about 20 feet in a circle). So, he's either "readjusting" or getting a leg up on you!
Character History (buckle up mates):
The story of Hale Loneshadow, known officially as Hale Thelion De'Telemater is neither long nor overtly joyful.
He was born in a far off land, perhaps not even of this dimension, known as Evondale. This was your Arthurian, fantasy-style kingdom (think Numenor + Camelot with a smattering of Rome) which, for thousands of years, held the tide of hellspawn from the Empire of Thylas at bay. Hale was born of an offshoot of the royal line of Telemater, of which his greatest friend, Pelham Telemater, was next in line for the throne. Hale's moniker of Loneshadow came from the commonfolk of the realm, whom Hale would consistently fight for both on the battlefield and in the courts. He walked as a welcomed shadow in the eve whenever a village came under danger from the enemy, never staying too long in one place, but always preferring the frontier villages and wilds rather than his tower loft in the City of Evon.
Throughout the first one hundred and fifty-odd years of his life, Hale grew and matured through many experiences, eventually taking his oath as a paladin after the Second Demon War, after his show of selfless valor at the Battle of Blood Peak, where he and a score of his ranger-brothers held the entrance to the mountain pass in order to allow ten thousand civilians to get to safety. After ensuring the safety of his people, Hale led his surviving men on a final assault against the overconfident Sorcerer-King of Thylas, Garum the Mad, striking down his Spellsword Guard and finally the Mad King himself. At the war's end, he had finally garnered the approval to marry his longtime love, Lady General Vera Immaculus, and set their wedding for the spring of the next year. The demons banished, and orks driven back into the deep mountains, it would seem that Evondale would finally know some peace.
But that peace would not last, for not six months after his apparent defeat, Garum was back once more...
It would seem that, in striking his body down, Hale had played right into the Mad Sorcerer's hands, for Garum had now gained the penultimate favor of his dark gods, and ascended into powers beyond reckoning! Demons by the millions poured forth into their realm, and the many legions of men, dwarfs and elves who made up the grand kingdom of Evondale could all but stymie their own demise. This third, and ultimately final Demon War lasted nigh upon a decade, each side gaining and loosing ground in both the material and astral planes, for it was a war of magick as much as flesh and blood. The War culminated in the epic, continuous, five-month-long Battle of Vradden Plains, where six million creatures of darkness clashed with one million men and dwarves, the elves having long given up the war and moved into parts unknown. Eventually, the forces of good were pushed until their backs were, quite literally, up against the Grand Wall of the Vradden, the massive set of wall and keeps which bordered the City of Evon itself!
In a last ditch effort to save their people, Hale, his father Avalain, his friend and the Prince Pelhamm, and none other the King Artorias Telemater led a secretive charge behind enemy lines against the head of the snake, just as Hale had done now years ago.
This ended in tragedy, and soon the hordes poured forth freely into the beautiful city, and finally broke into the High Keep itself, cutting down the Queen and the court before they could fully make their escape. A final stand was upon the companions.
Before he knew what had happened, his King and his father both lay dead before him, their men slaughtered, and his greatest friend wounded...but alive. Hale himself was locked in a duel with Garum, not even worried for his own survival, for what had he to live for?
"H-Hale.." gasped Pelhamm, clutching his deep leg wound, unable to stand, "just fall down.."
"Save your strength my friend! We must finish him!" The Loneshadow yelled back, blocking another blow from the cackling Sorcerer-King's staff-glaive.
"...No, my friend. We cannot win here...must find another way...just fall back...remember our days at Cerene, and fall down..." Pelhamm replied with strain, and the pull of a hidden lever on the throne, of which Hale and he were holding back the wizard.
Understanding, Hale closed his eyes, and with a final prayer to his God, whipped Sindar around and above his head, smoting Garum's staff and his arm with it, and as the evil sorcerer fell back with a howl and a bloody stump, the Ranger closed his eyes and fell back through the newly created interdimensional portal, to the gods know where. A final look at his oldest friend which implored a combination of pleading, hope, love, and sorrow, and Hale suddenly found himself on a ship sailing a warm sea towards a cold but wonderful land...
Now, a pair of decades later, Hale has become familiar with his new home, even making a small home for himself in the lands of Winterhold. He has gone on many adventures and met many new and interesting folk, though now he finds himself without his old friends, wondering where they have all gotten off too, and upon receiving notice of this supposedly righteous Lord desperate to reclaim his homeland, Hale felt a distinct twinge of empathy and regret, and memories long past flooded back to him. He feels that, perhaps, if he can help this man reclaim his lost home, perhaps Hale's own sins and failures could begin to be washed away...