Character Bio: Lexius, Priest of the Order
Lexius stood silently, staring the soldiers down as they turned the monastery inside out. Relics overturned, incense on the floor, cloth torn and tossed about...the entire scene shook the priest. How could they do this?
This was the house of God.
This lovely, radiant temple dedicated to the Lord was nearly being desecrated. It looked as though a raiding party had swept through the place! Every room, every floor...all was in tatters.
And all because of their paranoia! Their disbelief that only humans resided in this monastery. They just HAD to search every nook and cranny in the hopes of finding a non-human stowaway.
...well, to be fair, they WERE correct. The servant was well concealed, however. Lexius could only watch in silence and hope they didn’t find the-
The priest felt his heart sink as a soldier pulled a rug away, revealing a trapdoor. The man smirked at the priest.
Lexius quickly recovered, maintaining his emotionless mask of a face as he replied. “Just a storage room. Hasn’t been used in years.”
“Hah, we’ll see about that.”
While outwardly he was the essence of stoicism, inside the priest was in a panic. They were going to find him! Oh Lord, the little thing would give himself away, squealing in terror when he heard the soldiers...
Lexius slowly followed the soldier, climbing down the ladder even has he heard the other priests shouting at the rest of the soldiers. They were most enraged at the treatment the levies were giving this place. Of course Lexius was as well, but he had to maintain his calm facade...for HIS sake.
Lexius stood by the ladder, arms folded in front of him as he coolly eyed the soldier. The basement was small, musty, dark, and full of dust. It was quite true that no one ever used this room; the attic was far more appealing with its many candles, stairwell and larger size. This room was filled with old shelves, sacks and crates no one ever found any need to come and use.
The soldier quickly began opening boxes and knocking bags over, scouring the room for hiding spots. He went through the area feverishly, quickly going from one place to the next.
Lexius could feel his heart pounding in his chest. If he found the stowaway, no doubt the priests would be in just as much trouble as the servant.
Lexius gritted his teeth. It felt like hours had passed! How much longer would he be at it?!
The priest’s eyes widened as the soldier found a barrel in the corner of the room, having tossed all the junk in front of it aside.
“End of the line...” Lexius thought to himself.
The man opened the barrel, looking inside of the container...and then tossed the lid aside and turned around, eyes gazing back and forth.
“Satisfied?” Lexius asked, hands on his hips. The soldier walked up to the priest and leaned in close, staring into the priest’s eyes, face scrunched up in thought.
This strange standoff was driving Lexius mad with worry, but still he held his deadpan gaze.
“...hmph.” The soldier turned and climbed back up the ladder.
Lexius broke his cover for the first time since the soldiers had arrived, widening his eyes and wiping his forehead. How terribly close that was!
He followed the man back up to the main floor, putting his “mask” back on as he climbed out of the basement.
“All clear here, lads!” The soldier shouted, “We done?”
“Yeah, move out!” Another soldier replied, “We’ve still got more places to hit!”
Lexius crossed his arms as the men marched out of the monastery, other priests walking up to the door to watch.
As the soldiers got back on their horses and raced away, the priests approached Lexius.
“Lexius!” A woman cried, “Is he...?”
The priest smiled for the first time today. “Still tucked away safely.”
“Oh, thank the Lord.” One of the men muttered.
The group descended back into the basement. Lexius quickly grabbed the barrel the soldier had searched and pulled it away from the wall.
The priest was met with a terrified meep from the crevice under the wall.
“Whoops, probably should have made myself known...” Lexius thought, grimacing.
“Hey, it’s all right, Rascal. It’s me.” The priest smiled and crouched down, looking into the crevice.
A terrified looking kobold gazed back up at Lexius, eyes lighting up as he recognized the man. The little creature quickly scuttled out of his hiding spot, latching onto the priest’s robes.
“Haha, it’s alright, Rascal. They’re gone. They don’t know about you.”
“Can’t believe they got that close, though...” One of the priests chimed in.
The kobold made a distressed trilling noise, pulling the priest’s robes tighter.
“Hey, hey, don’t worry,” Lexius cooed, “Everything is okay! You’re safe now.” He patted the small servant on the back, eliciting a smile from the creature.
“Now than!” The priest said, standing up, “We’ve got some work to do. I know you usually just tidy up, but those men left this place a pigsty. You’re going to be busy today, as we all are!”
The kobold nodded and started walking, continuing to clutch onto Lexius’ robes as he and the other priests began walking away, ready to repair the devastated monastery.
Lexius’ life started off quite differently than how he lives today. The man was originally the son of a wealthy merchant, his father used his great wealth to marry into a poor noble house, effectively raising him from a lowborn commoner into low nobility. Lexius was raised with all the comforts a well-off son of a noble could expect. He was well educated, well trained, and lived rather comfortably.
All this changed once Lexius began reading the Holy Texts. He quickly became fascinated with God and the tales of the holy men of old at a young age. He read every last page of the Texts from front to back. Proverbs, the story of creation, the first faithful on Earth, the commandments and tales of heaven...it was all so terribly fascinating.
After convincing his father, Lexius shifted his studies towards theology, becoming more and more familiar with the scriptures and their meanings. He attended church regularly, and enrolled in many discussion groups and volunteer missions.
When he became an adult, Lexius decided he wanted to officially join the Order as an ordained priest. After a few classes and tests, the Order welcomed him as Brother Lexius. He was assigned to work at the Godwin Monastery, deep in the wild forests of Southern Geralthin.
Lexius excelled in holy arts. Blessing, healing, sanctifying and calling forth God’s power...he was quite skilled, though he rarely found use for these abilities in the monastery. It was very quiet and peaceful, with not much to occupy his time with.
While staying in the monastery and getting accustomed to life as a priest, some rustling in the attic woke some of the priests up one night. Fearing the worst, the group discussed what should be done. Lexius volunteered to go up into the attic, armed with nothing but a candlestick.
Shaking in fear, the priest quietly stalked the attic, flashes of lightning illuminating the pitch black room.
It was during one of these flashes of lightning that he was met with the face of a kobold, rifling through one of the sacks of supplies they kept in the attic.
It gazed up at him, its fear mirroring the priest’s own. For a moment, time seemed to freeze at they stared at each other.
Both of them screamed in terror, the kobold tripping and falling over while Lexius stumbled backwards and clutched onto the candlestick with all his might.
After regaining his senses, Lexius moved forward, ready to attack the monster that was desecrating the Lord’s house.
The beast, however, simply cowered in fear, holding his hands over his head and whimpering.
While he could very well have fought the creature, Lexius didn’t exactly feel comfortable with beating a helpless, cowering person to death with a candlestick.
After some time talking with the rest of the priests while the creature hid in one of the sacks, Lexius attempted to talk with the kobold. It didn’t appear to be able to speak, although it DID seem to be able to understand them. Strange, it knew the tongue of man, yet couldn’t speak it...
After some time hanging around the monastery, the kobold started visiting it frequently, hiding out in the attic during rain and approaching Lexius while he went about his duties. The little thing seemed to have formed some attachment to the priest.
Eventually, he stopped leaving altogether, slowly becoming more and more comfortable around the priests, as they stopped becoming alarmed when he made himself known around them. He began to watch the priests tend to the monastery, mimicking them. He started sweeping the floors, dusting the artifacts, and moving supplies to and from where they needed to go.
The priests dubbed the kobold “Rascal”, and let him do whatever chores he decided on doing each day. It was less work for them, at least.
Through all of this, he never spoke, even in his native tongue. Lexius had the creeping suspicion that he was mute, either physically or through choice.
Carrying along like this, Lexius became quite close with the tiny, easily frightened beast. He sat down with Rascal during supper, read the Holy Scriptures to him, and simply vented from time to time, the kobold always answering with a silent stare and a nod.
When the Exile happened, the monastery was lucky enough to be warned ahead of time. They hid Rascal away when the soldiers came, luckily managing to keep him concealed while the soldiers turned the place inside out. This close call was celebrated, and all were quite happy.
A couple of years later, the news of Palethorn came. Fog blanketed the city in darkness, rumors of demons roaming the city floated around. Whispers of the end times were heard...
Lexius made a choice. He couldn’t let this happen. By God’s will, the demonic darkness must be destroyed. Even though he had never fought a battle in his life, he couldn’t just sit around and hope the demonic fog went away. It wasn’t the right thing to do.
In the dead of night, Lexius slipped away from the monastery. Even the kobold was asleep, snoring loudly under Lexius’ bed. He left a note on his bedside, apologizing for leaving his brothers and sisters like this, but noting that this had to be done.
He took the small savings from his father with him, ordering a shortsword, wooden shield, and a suit of chainmail from a smithy in town.
Quivering with fear, Lexius took a deep breath and stepped into the darkness.
After reaching Palethorn, the devastation and emptiness of the city fueled his resolve. His cause was most righteous! After some time wandering, he came across some survivors who ushered him to the Citadel, the last bastion of life in the city.
With a small group of determined adventurers at his side, and zeal in his heart, Lexius seeks to destroy God’s most vile enemies once and for all.
Although, he isn’t thrilled about it. He has no experience in battle, and is clearly outmatched. And although he isn’t afraid to die, he DOES want to make it through this in one piece...
...after all, what would Rascal do without him?
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