Garrus, the Lion of Vaskalia
Sir (given post-mortem) Garrus Tormod (a.k.a. the Lion)
Garrus was born in Vaskalia in 3562 CE, the second child of Abigail and Damos Tormod. Vaskalia is a small hamlet in Valatsu focused on primarily on logging and farming. With no local militia and the constabulary miles away, they were unprepared when a bandit clan attacked the town, stealing whatever valuables and livestock they could get away with.
Garrus's father Damos had some experience as an Adventurer. Damos began to train once again in order to protect his farm, and for a while, he was able to keep the dangers at bay.
When Damos's children were born, he trained them as well, so that they cold someday replace him in his duties as Vaskalia's protector.
When Garrus was still a child, he was attacked by a vicious band of goblins while exploring in the woods one day. He was saved by a paladin of the Sun, who drove the goblins off. Though he never learned the paladin's name, the hero's actions would shape the rest of Garrus's life.
Damos created a trial to test each of his children on their 18th birthday to see if they would be ready. Upon successful completion of this trial, he bestowed upon each of them a moniker to match their personality: Bruma the Bear, Garrus the Lion, and Gwendolyn the Serpent.
It was a year after Garrus's sister Gwendolyn passed her trial that the bandits returned. This time the siblings took up arms with their father. Unfortunately, while the bandits were defeated for good in the final battle, Damos perished in the last attack. Bruma, the oldest, took over as official champion of Vaskalia.
Garrus, by far the most charming, confident, and outgoing of the three siblings, was the first to leave the village. He had heard stories of the heroic Gatekeepers from his Lady Kamilla Vorda, a distant relation who the children nonetheless referred to as "auntie." Travelling to the Gate, he was accepted as a trainee and learned the ways of the Sun in order to become a paladin like his childhood idol. After several years in service to the Gatekeepers, Garrus had fought many of the demons that seeped through ancient barrier, and though much of his youthful enthusiasm had been worn away as he grew hardened by the harsh reality of life guarding the Gate, he had lost none of his idealism or faith.
In 3589 CE, Garrus's squad was tasked with guarding Gray Vengeance, the Eon Eye's elite agents, as they made a dangerous trek into the territory surrounding the Gate in order to access the catacombs below the Temple of Underhill, and ancient site that predated the Empire. They were searching for the White Axiom, a magical formula left there by the sorcerer Lochmar, one of the founders of the Ancient Empire who had been corrupted by the Deep Dominion. Lochmar had set in place a diabolical ritual which would allow for an invasion of homeworld by alien forces, and Gray Vengeance hoped that accessing the power of the White Axiom would allow them to avert this world-shattering disaster. Thus it was that Garrus and his squad knew their mission to guard the Eon Eye's agents was of the utmost importance. As Gray Vengeance began a ritual to extract the power of the ancient formula, the energies released drew the attention of the demon hordes and other dark powers in the region. Garrus and his squad fought off wave after wave of fiends and undead. It was in the final wave of demonic assault that Garrus, having gravely wounded a corpulent nalfeshnee demon, was seized by the massive fiend, who crushed the paladin's body between his jaws. Garrus died on the stone floor of the Temple of Underhill, even as his remaining comrades, the elven cleric Gwenda Gwyndril and the dwarven fighter Vercingetorix, avenged him by vanquishing the demon. However, the two were forced to flee in face of an even more powerful demon, Tyrannus the Mutilator, and Garrus's body was left where it lay.
After the tale of his heroism was told back at the Gatekeeper's headquarters, and with no body to inter, a statue was erected on the grounds of the barracks to honor the sacrifice made by the Lion of Vaskalia, and he was made a knight of the church in memoriam by the Bishop of the Sun in Lokar.
Mental characteristics
Gender Identity
Male
Employment
The Gatekeepers
Accomplishments & Achievements
Defended Gray Vengeance from demons as they sought the White Axiom.
Personality Characteristics
Likes & Dislikes
He still has an unnatural fear of goblins due to a childhood trauma.
Social
Contacts & Relations
He had two siblings, Gwen and Bruma. His mother still lives in Vaskalia.
Family Ties
His family is distantly related to Lady Kamilla Vorda, who once was head of the Esoteric Order of the Eon Eye.
Religious Views
He followed the Path of the Sun.
Social Aptitude
Charming, confident, and outgoing.
adopted this persona from a paladin that rescued him from a particularly viscous band of goblins Garrus stumbled across while exploring, an event that had such an effect on him that goblins terrified him well into his adult life. He was saved by a paladin he never knew the name of, nor would he ever discover it. However, this nameless hero shaped Garrus more than anyone else, inspiring to become the smiling, confident paladin he is. He had a good relationship with father, and was even closer with his mother, much so. Unfortunately, Garrus and his younger sister rarely got along.
Alignment
Lawful Good
Species
Ethnicity
Honorary & Occupational Titles
Lion of Vaskalia
Life
3562 CE
3589 CE
27 years old
Circumstances of Death
Killed by a nalfeshnee demon while guarding Gray Vengeance's expedition to the Temple of Underhill
Birthplace
Vaskalia
Children
Current Residence
The Gate
Gender
Male
Eyes
Gray
Hair
Short and brown
Skin Tone/Pigmentation
Pale
Aligned Organization
Other Affiliations
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