Though others would claim that the Dawnblade family was descended from the heavens, no one seriously thought that the oldest son of Kristoff Dawnblade would be an Aasimar. Oliver Dawnblade came from a long line of paladins that fought for the faith of Heironeous, god of valor, chivalry, justice, honor, war, and daring. Being both an Aasimar and the oldest son of a paladin, Oliver was expected to follow in the family business. Luckily, ever since he was a boy, Oliver wanted to become a paladin just like his father.
As a boy, Oliver was popular among his male classmates. His classmates seemed drawn to him in a way that even his spirit, friendliness, and playfulness couldn’t completely account for. He also was strong, and beat many of his peers in games of strength, such as wrestling and foot racing. Despite this, he still remained scrawny, which caused many of the older children to bully him, usually in groups and when Oliver least expected it. This made him especially sensitive to this supposed weakness. Additionally, even today, he is slow to pick up on new concepts. He would often need more complicated topics explained to him slowly and simply. One of his closest friends was an older child named Perrin. The two were in constant friendly competition, and they both shared the same dream of becoming a paladin. Though Perrin was lowborn, his strength was second only to Oliver, and Perrin was slightly more intelligent than his friend.
As Oliver got older, so did his father. As Kristoff lay on his deathbed, one of the few paladins who died a peaceful death, he gave Oliver permission to train with his Manfred, a man who was practically a brother to Kristoff and an uncle to Oliver, and was still a paladin despite getting up there in years. Kristoff also put in a good word for Perrin, recognizing his strength and mind. Though Manfred was a good teacher, he was also a harsh one who made training as harrowing as he could in order to weed out the weak, the dumb, the lazy, and the otherwise incapable. Though Oliver was not the brightest of his peers, his strength, his determination, and his faith in Heironeous, instilled in him at a young age, kept him going throughout the years. Eventually, Oliver became a full blown squire under Kristoff.
One of Heironeous’s greatest enemies was Hextor, his villainous six-armed brother and the god of tyranny, war, discord, massacres, conflict, and fitness. As such, paladins of Heironeous were expected to root out his wicked faith through any means necessary within the guidelines of their strict code of honor. Indeed, many battles drew to a halt, soldiers on both sides gawking when the strongest knights, paladins, and clerics of the two gods dueled to the death in single combat.
One day, Oliver and Perrin, the former still a squire and the latter only recently a paladin, were sparring in the woods when they came across a lone half-ogre, a large, dim-looking man clad in spiked, ebony armor, with Hextor’s holy symbol branded onto his left cheek. He didn’t even have a flail, the signature weapon of Hextor worshippers. Instead, his weapons were his gauntleted fists. Perrin confidently challenged the half-ogre to a duel. The half-ogre gave him a look. Then, to Oliver’s shock and terror, he lifted Perrin by the hair up to eye level before casually plucking his arms off, as if he were pulling a flower from the soil. Perrin’s screams of agony and fear only stopped when the boy was thrown onto the ground.
Grief-stricken and enraged by his friend’s sudden death, Oliver challenged the ogre to a duel, throwing his sword down onto the floor to make the duel honorable. The half-ogre accepted. He did not expect his foe to beat him so brutally, nor did he expect him to toy with Oliver like a cat with a mouse. Eventually, Oliver was so badly beaten that he could not even walk anymore. The half-ogre then proceeded to tear off the Aasimar’s armor, leaving him naked in front of the ogre. Then, he brutalized him some more, taunting him about his friend, his scrawniness, his foolishness in challenging him, and his constant cries of fear, humiliation, and agony. Finally, just as Oliver felt his life fading away, the half-ogre brought him back from the brink, keeping him only barely alive and with his legs still broken. As the half-ogre walked away, taking Oliver’s clothes with him, he turned to him and said, “Give Manfred my regards.” Oliver was left to crawl, crying and bleeding all the while, until he made it to the temple. Though his physical wounds were healed by the temple’s clerics, he had mentally shut down for days afterwards, simply staring off into space and trembling as the image replayed in his mind. This attack was one of the only times his faith in Heironeous had ever faltered.
When he finally snapped out of his nervous exhaustion, Manfred announced that he would avenge the two youths. Oliver went with him, wishing to back his mentor and father figure up in case foul play was at hand. The two came across the half-ogre about to attack the local lord’s children. Enraged by this display, Manfred challenged the half-ogre to a duel, both to allow the kids to escape and to allow Perrin’s soul to be put to rest. Though he battled valiantly, in the end, he was no match for the cruelty and strength of The Titan of Hextor. Seeing his mentor’s body lay broken on the floor and seeing the half-ogre’s vicious grin, Oliver could do nothing but run from The Titan of Hextor. A few days later, their temple had a closed casket funeral for the two paladins.
His faith in Heironeous nearly broken and his confidence completely shattered, Oliver left the temple and ventured out on his own, doing small mercenary jobs for money. While he was fighting some goblins one time, he noticed his old holy symbol, which he kept for sentimental reasons, glowing. With an instinctive wave of his hand, he was able to heal his allies, to protect his allies, and to strengthen his allies. Though he still wept in his sleep sometimes from the memory of The Titan of Hextor, and he still cringed when he heard rumors about the powerful half-ogre, it seemed Heironeous was not yet ready to give up on him. This was enough to not only give him hope for the future, but to restore his lost optimism.
