Dain Tornbrook

General Information

• Name: Dain Blackmantle "Tornbrook"
• Race: Human
• Age: 25
• Height: 6'2"
• Weight: 200 lbs.
• Hair: Short, well-kept blond
• Eyes: Blue, varying in intensity based on mood, with golden flecks around the pupils
• Titles: Noble Judicator of the Triad, the Dragonslayer, the Demonslayer, the Warden of Wrath, Knight of the Merciful Sword

Appearance

Dain stands with firm posture and typically wears a calm half-smile on his always-clean-shaven face. He wears rather unique plate, its shining black and gleaming gold accents standing out against the common soldier's or mercenary's armor. He wears a long sword at either hip, the sword at his left hip conspicuously missing its pommel.

Personality

Dain is generally friendly but quiet, typically asking open-ended questions that spark conversation or draw revealing responses. His eyes, though, have a habit of betraying his true feelings on a subject, frequently glimmering, clouding, creasing, narrowing, hardening, etc. as the situation warrants. Dain is naturally flirtatious, and his general friendliness with the womenfolk earns him several propositions which he bashfully spurns.

The paladin loves music and will lose any sense of self-awareness if a particularly accomplished musician is performing, and he enjoys dance, though he avoids demonstrating his competency in either of these disciplines if he can.

Background

Origin

Born to the land-owning, noble Blackmantle family in the Cormyrian countryside, Dain had a childhood of privilege and study, his time devoted to various guided academic and athletic pursuits. His father was an aspiring statesman who spent days, weeks, and months at the capital city of Suzail. Dain's mother was the consummate matron, insistent on Dain's studies but generally hands-off in his upbringing.

Dain held little interest in the disciplines his parents prescribed to him. Still, he managed to gain some competency in swordsmanship, horseback riding, music, and dancing. His tendency to disappear from his family's manor and be found near the twisting stream a few miles into their property earned him the nickname "Tornbrook." He'd often retreat to the torn brook to escape his studies and ponder life beyond the far-reaching borders of his family's land.

As Cormyr descended into political chaos and violence, the patriarch of the Highmantle family decided to book his family passage to Neverwinter, via Waterdeep, where they could escape the brewing turmoil until the state righted itself. Dain's mother went first, to be followed by Dain and his father. At seventeen, Dain traveled to Suzail to take his carriage from Cormyr, but upon arrival at the designated location was attacked by three inept assailants. Dain escaped with his life, though he bears numerous scars on his back from the botched assassination. He continued on to Waterdeep, then Neverwinter, but found no sign of his mother. He took in with an eccentric frontiersman who lived beyond Neverwinter City: a man with an impressive, dramatic mustache and incredible skill with a blade.

Dain spent some years there but grew restless, and he decided to head to Sundren to embark on his new life, independent of the nobility and expectations his last name implied. He booked passage under the name Tornbrook, and Tornbrook he's been ever since.

Sundarian History

Dain's first close friend after arriving in Sundren was a Sunite named Priya Sera. While Dain was passing time in discussion with her at the Sunite temple in Aquor, two Talessans attacked the temple, setting fire to it and destroying most of its artwork, furniture, and shrines. As flames quickly spread and threatened to engulf all those inside, Dain braved the smoke and fire to pull victims to safety. After the temple was evacuated, Dain collapsed in a heap among the shrubs outside the temple, and in his bleary reverie, he received a vision from Tyr, the Even-Handed. Some days later, he took the paladin's oaths and began his training at the Temple of the Triumvirate.

Since taking his oaths, Dain has been active in the defense of Sundren and her peoples. His earliest battles against evil ended in failure; his dearest friend, Priya, was abducted by the powerful Banite vampire Clive Tarsus, and Dain was powerless to stop the vampire's designs, losing the fight without so much as pressing the Banite. Priya was later released after serving as a blood meal for the vampire.

However, time passed, and he grew in strength. He helped lay waste to a cult of corrupted Lathanderites that threatened to taint true, goodly faiths in Sundren. He and a handful of others crippled the Dark Advent's attempted resurgence, decimating their undead army. With companions Damia Winterhaven, Tigen Amastacia, and Bram Drismon, he embarked on a quest that stretched beyond Icewind Dale and ended in the destruction of a powerful Dracolich.

The Warden of Wrath

Sundren is protected by its Harbingers, secretive individuals of tremendous skill and purpose who seek out Sundren's enemies and dispatch them. One Harbinger, Wrath, made his identity public, and in order to continue to execute his purpose, the Harbinger of Wrath chose to take on a Warden that would act as an extension of his will. Dain Tornbrook was the first such Warden.

As the Warden, Dain did endless battle against the Myrkulite necromancer, Vraer. With companions Centurio Peridan Twilight, Mara Brinsbane, Tigen Amastacia, and his sworn swordguards Ursus Ahrahl and Tigen, Dain reclaimed Mirakus Post from the Black Hand and used his holy sword, the Embodiment of Wrath, to purify the grounds surrounding the site.

Following the capture of Vraer, Dain moved to stab the necromancer as he began to cast a spell within the Temple of the Triumvirate. The sword shattered and turned to ash the moment it touched Vraer's flesh, and so the Embodiment of Wrath was no more. Vraer was taken to prison, where he starved himself to death, but there are whisperings of the the necromancer's resurrection.

The Judicator of Wrath

Shortly after the destruction of the famed sword, the Harbinger of Wrath summoned Dain. Explaining that the broken sword was only crafted from the pommel of the true Wrath blade, the Harbinger gifted the paladin with a new holy sword, the Wrath Eternal, and Dain now wields that blade which conspicuously lacks a pommel. In addition to his new sword, he has a new title: the Judicator of Wrath, a position of greater judgment as to the execution of Wrath's will. With his new sword and responsibility, he still tirelessly strives against the undead and the Black Hand, having discovered and eradicated a nest of vampires' coffins. He has also chosen a new Warden of Wrath, whose worthiness has yet to be determined.

Relationships

Priya Sera: Dain's estranged friend and lover, Priya Sera is a well-respected lecturer at the Sundren University. She is extraordinarily beautiful, gifted, and knowledgeable on several subjects. She is his truest companion, giving him balance and perspective when he has difficulty finding it elsewhere. Of late, their relationship has been strained, and Dain has abandoned their romance in pursuit of his duties to his temple and to the state.

Her pacifist philosophy often conflicts with Dain's need to punish the wicked.

Centurio Peridan Twilight: The gruff, one-eyed elf of the Sundarian Legion, Peridan shares Dain's rare conviction in the fight against evil. Dain counts Peridan as his closest ally in the field, and he feels no need to project the air and authority of a paladin when around the Centurio. Dain enjoys the Centurio's company, perhaps because the dour elf's company is a reflection of a man destined to do good but who has seen too much evil.

Ursus Ahrahl: Thayan Knight, sworn swordguard to the Warden of Wrath. Ursus follows Hoar, god of vengeance and whose allegiance Tyr competes for against Bane. As such, Dain has taken an interest in the Mulhorandi Knight of Thay, and he admires the man's sense of honor and duty.

Jonathon Ironson: One of Dain's earliest friends in the valley, Jonathon tries to be the rock that breaks the wave of bloody conflict between his Vale and the Exigo Syndicate. Dain admires the man's idealism.

Tigen Amastacia: Dain's alliance with Tigen came about unexpectedly as Tigen swore himself to the Warden's protection when Dain gained the mantle. Since then, they've battled several fell foes, with Tigen's unique set of skills often weighing the scales heavily on the side of Wrath. Though Tigen's brashness and willingness to toe the line between right and wrong sometimes put him at odds with Dain, the two usually resolve their differences, and they complement each other well in the field.

Bram Drismon: Responsible for Dain's "Dragonslayer" moniker, given because the Legion wizard usually found the paladin in the company of some attractive woman at most times. Bram assisted Dain in destroying the dracolich, and he's traveled with him on several other lesser assignments.

Clive Tarsus: The Dread Vampire, the foremost of the Black Hand's clergy. Clive is Dain's foremost opponent and the champion of strife. When the two clash, the outcome is ever in doubt. Where Clive commands a greater raw power, Dain exceeds him in resolve and resourcefulness, and their battles are nothing short of epic, if only a bard could survive such an encounter to recount it.