Otaron

Otaron Blueharte
Status	Active
Race	Human
Gender	Male
Guild	Paladin
Instance	Prime

Living in genteel style in that area of Zolouren, North of Crossing and South of Arthe Dale, Mr and Mrs Blueharte, he a scribe and she a haberdasher, had led a quiet existence, happy to let most of life's Realm shattering events pass them and their family by. The family had, in the opinion of the parents, been raised to be well mannered, have a sense of right and wrong, and benefiting from a decent education. As proof of this opinion they offered their eldest son (Raolsen) who, with his fathers help, had apprenticed to a book binder and was now a journeyman in his own right along with the middle child, a daughter(Valli), who had wed a local upholsterer, and was now coping with her own child whilst helping to run her husbands business. So when their youngest son Otaron had announced that "upon reaching the required age" he intended to apply as an Entrant to the Guild of Paladins, Mr and Mrs Blueharte had been somewhat taken aback. Fortunately, for Otaron anyway, the Bluehartes had always lived by the adage "as you decide, so shall you live" which had served them and their offspring not unkindly. The fact that no military ambitions, let alone dealings with the "Thirteen" had ever figured in the Blueharte family history mattered not a jot to them, their confidence in their youngest sons upbringing and the "rightness" of his avowed decision never wavered. And so, as in most tales, Otaron reached the age where he ceased to be a lad, became a young man and, true to his word, applied to become a Paladin (in training), what follows endeavours to be a brief history of his triumphs, disasters and happenstances.

Otaron's early life as a Paladin had hardly gotten underway when a chance meeting with a cleric returning from a Safari lead to him being gifted some fine plate armor and a decent broadsword. Convinced from that point on that fate had indeed smiled upon his choice of vocation, he swore never to waver in his faith to the Paladin ideal or his trust in Rutilor, his chosen Deity. It must be noted that in these early days Otaron had little idea that a Paladin trained all types of armor together with as many weapon styles as they found fit, an undertaking he was to eventually tackle with some gusto. He also found an interest in the prayers the Paladins used and the gifts they granted, his attitude to these gifts and their use was not unlike his attitude to weapons and fighting styles, "if it works use it, if it doesn't then try something else".

How much he enjoyed the early simple life of a Paladin is hard to judge, certainly the Guild expected more of their younglings than just being able to swing a sword or heft a shield. He traveled extensively to complete quests, visiting shrines for the betterment of his Pilgrim's Badge and he had discovered in passing that he could use part of his time changing raw materials into usable and useful items. If being a Paladin was his first love then the ability to craft was a close second.

It was also at this early stage of his life that he met and fell into the company of a youngish Olvi Empath who deemed that his training vis-a-vis hunting would be a lot easier if he had a Paladin to keep him company. Events were soon to prove this theory incorrect, despite which, the two settled into an easy friendship. Fortunately the Empath also had a need to craft, a need driven more by necessity than the joy of working with his hands from which Otaron seemed to derive so much satisfaction. It need be noted however, at the time of of this notation the Empath had far surpassed his Paladin friends crafting efforts

It was through this friend however that one of the greatest changes to Otaron's life was to occur. Bodie, for such was the friend named, was at that time a member of the well to do and influential House Silvermist and it was through a series of chance encounters that the leader of said House, the Lady Kintalia, was to become aware of Otaron.

At some point the Lady Kintalia, a guilded empath, had embarked upon a personal quest, the details of which are private and neither relevant nor need discussing here, but it was in connection with this quest that Otaron was able to lend some small assistance utilizing his Guilds magic. Towards the completion of the Lady's quest she bestowed upon Otaron a particular item, a weapon of both rarity and worth, and with it's gifting the extraction of a promise that its new owner would ensure its safekeeping and never be tempted to exchange it for coin. Whilst the "new owner" was delighted with the gift and sincere about giving his word, he was also impressed by the Lady's resolve and commitment to her own ideals, little realizing the full extent their aquaintance would have on his future.

And so life continued for Otaron, meeting folk like Elmerund, a serious and dedicated Paladin, Teloc, a Prydean Paladin full of conviction concerning his race and their part in the Realm. He was also to meet another Prydean, Gotinx husband to the Lady Kintalia, a wise but reserved warrior mage, and these but a few among a multitude of others. His fascination of the skills and abilities found in the differing Guilds, the excitement in discovering the highs and lows of assisting in the defence of the Realm's towns and cities, even the everyday conversation and thoughts of others were all grist to his mill. Barely a day passed when something new did not crop up, some obvious, others requiring study or even the questioning of those concerned as to the how and why, it has to be said that boredom was a stranger to the young Paladin's life.

At some point in Otaron's training , the need for improvements in his skills and the confidence to use those skills became paramount, and it seemed to him that he was doing, if not well, then not badly. The only problem that clouded his days was the feeling that his vision of the Realm was somewhat foreshortened. He'd made it through the dangers presented by the enraged Deity Drogor but had no real idea as to the whys and wherefores of how the situation had arisen or indeed how the Deity had been appeased, he'd also been made aware of the currents of interactions that existed between different strata of the society he found himself at large in, not always pleasant interactions either. It was to be around this time that he found himself approached by the Lady Kintalia, it appeared that her previous body guard (why a Lady and Empath should even need such a person was, to Otaron at that time, a mystery) had found himself unable to continue in the position and the Lady had deemed Otaron to be a suitable candidate to serve as a replacement. Otaron's reaction to this honour, for indeed he saw it as an honourable position for a Paladin, was mixed. His initial conviction was that with his lack of both experience and skills he could be of little use to the Lady and that the endeavour would only end in failure, this conviction was, of course, tempered by the pride in being so considered. It was at this juncture that the Lady was to start opening the eyes of the young Paladin, explaining the reasoning and needs behind her request and it was also at this juncture Otaron's life was to take a sharp detour from that which he had envisioned.