Character Profile

[darkestsun]

Liander “Shadowbane” Vidal
First Light of the Order of the Dawn

Background:

• When Liander was a boy, a lifetime ago, his family was part of a small village in the farmlands near one of the great walled cities that ended up being overrun and put to the sword by Baltar’s forces. The sole survivor of his family, he managed to hide under the bodies of his sisters, clutching the pendant of the Dawnfather that his father had given him for protection. After the massacre was well and truly over, he managed to escape during the middle of the day and made it to the walled city.
• A street urchin, Liander did what it took to survive. Petty thief and pickpocket, he grew up more rogue and thief than anything considered holy or honorable. While the Prefector and higher ups in the order like to hide this part of Liander’s past, Liander contributes some of the less than honorable tactics that he learned in their tutelage as a key to his survival. He learned that, sometimes, one must be willing to be more than the upright, honorable, lawfully stupid knights to keep your own neck alive and keep the rest of the world from falling into darkness.
• He was recruited into the Order of the Dawn after attempting to pickpocket the order’s previous First Light, a knight by the name of Zarel. Zarel became a mentor figure to him, trained him in the ways of the order, and he quickly rose through the ranks due to his unorthodox approaches and strategic implementations of hunting the worst of the monsters that lurk in the great city and the surrounding countryside.
• Over the years, the rage he once held against monsters has subsided due to his faith and contemplation. He knows that not every person affected with these curses needs to be put to the sword- that many are simply trying to live their lives without hurting anyone. He has actually gotten into arguments with the current Perfectress over this mentality, as he believes that the order should be dedicated to stamping out the worst of the darkness rather than chasing shadows.
• While he has never forgotten his personal mission of hunting Baltar down, he has never succeeded in finishing him off. Each time they cross swords, it always ends in a draw- with either Baltar retreating or Liander needing to disengage to focus his attention elsewhere.

Appearance:

• 5’11”, Mid 30s- exact age is unknown.
• Eyes: A piercing blue-green hazel that glow almost gold when under divine influence.His eyes are slightly sunken with a permanent exhaustion in them from how long he has been fighting against the darkness.
• Hair: Dark brown, usually left in a somewhat unkempt shag around his ears. He pairs it with a scruffy beard and mustache- not particularly impressive, and gives him more of a roguish quality than looking like a respectable paladin. 
• Body and face: Lean, but toned. He doesn’t seem like someone who could hit like a bear due to the fact he’s relatively lanky and lacking the bulk of some fighters. He often uses this to his advantage- dexterity is just as important as strength, after all. He has lighter skin with olive undertones and a large, Roman nose that has been broken more than once and is now slightly crooked. 
• Markings and scars: There is a medium sized mole on the right side of his jaw, and a tattoo of the holy symbol of his god- a circle of a dawning sun- is tattooed on his left pectoral, near his heart. His body is marked with his history as a hunter, from various scars of vampiric bites and scratches from werewolf claws, to a bit of pitch-dyed flesh from necrotic “burns” that have never fully healed. The majority of his scars are on his arms and legs, but one particularly nasty gash is across his chest from the sword of his arch rival.

Powers:

• Channel Divinity: Crown of the Sun

  • A crown of holy fire bright as false sunlight appears around Liander’s head, blinding any aberrations, fiends, and undead that can see him. The crown lasts for 10 minutes, but beings with strong constitutions and wills can still peer into the sunlight without being blinded.

• Channel Divinity: Holy Blade

  • A spell is woven over a weapon and infuses it with false sunlight, shedding bright light for 20 feet and dim sunlight for another 20 feet after that. The blade lasts for 15 minutes, until Liander is disarmed, or until Liander falls unconscious.

• Divine Sense:

  • With a prayer to the gods, all celestials, fiends, fey, and undead are revealed within 60 feet if they are not behind total cover.

• Healing Hands:

  • With a prayer to the gods and some of Liander’s own strength sapped out of him, he can murmur a word to heal someone else around him. This, unfortunately, does not work on himself.

• Divine Spellcasting:

  • With prayers to the Dawnfather, Liander can cast a variety of spells of a holy nature. These spells can be anything from converting water to holy water, healing people in an area around him, or calling upon the gods to smite them with radiant damage. 

Tenets of The Dawnfather:

• Kindle the Light. Through your acts of mercy, kindness, and forgiveness, kindle the light of hope in the world, beating back despair.
• Shelter the Light. Where there is good, beauty, love, and laughter in the world, stand against the wickedness that would swallow it. Where life flourishes, stand against the forces that would render it barren.
• Preserve Your Own Light. Delight in song and laughter, in beauty and art. If you allow the light to die in your own heart, you can't preserve it in the world.
• Be the Light. Be a glorious beacon for all who live in despair. Let the light of your joy and courage shine forth in all your deeds.

Tenets of the Order of the Dawn:

• Vow of Poverty: Live without seeking personal monetary reward, and renounce ownership to all individual property or profits, in order to benefit your community as a whole. Enter a life governed by moderation and balance based on what the order needs to live the life of service that the Dawnfather has called us to. Rely upon his blessings and the blessings of those benefactors devoted to him.
• Vow of Chastity: Live without seeking the gratification of the flesh, delighting not in exclusive or sexual relationships with other mortal beings. To live a chaste life is to dedicate your flesh solely to the order and to live without the distraction of the highest form of love that can only be given by serving The Dawnfather and one’s neighbors. 
• Vow of Obedience: Live in submission to the Dawnfather’s will, and to the will of the Order, removing personal vindictiveness and desires and giving your fate over to the Dawnfather’s will. Understand that there will be trials asked of you, and trust that the Dawnfather will guide your to your fate with a steady hand.