Race: Human
Archetype: Fighter
Gender: Male
Age: 35
Dark Shadow:
Possession
The Thrill

The minds of men are so easy to enter in times of great stress and pain. The Thrill saw such a great opportunity in Lennart when he was a young knight. The Thrill is the name this formless presence was given by Lennart himself and always seeks to reinforce that it is just a feeling and not a thing all its own. The Thrill is insidious, striking when Lennart needs it most and when he is most likely to reach out for it. It offers him power, focus, aggression. It whispers that all can be solved by the right application of steel. It rages in his mind when he fights, driving him to greater heights of violence and bloodlust, feasting on those the knight slays. It is the creeping desire for death, the reddening vision, narrowing focus, the call for advancement through blood. The Thrill is a part of Lennart as much as his father's teaching. It is happy to have him as a companion and bide its time. Soon enough the knight will let The Thrill all the way and then it will wash the world in crimson.

Appearance:



Lennart stand tall and regal in bearing. He is not actually overly tall but his broad square shoulders and upright posture seem to make him like a wall tower when brought up in the minds of those he meets. He wears a long arming jack that bears the insignia of House Derrot, a blue field of the sky set to a hunting hank wrought in green is the seal of House Derrot, and their colors. A long cloak topped with black bear fur speaks to his house's history as foresters and hunters. An arming sword with a swept crossguard hangs at his waist at all times aside form when he sleeps.

In his armor he is an imposing wall of steel draped with his bear cloak. The shining armor well maintained and wrought by the hands of a master armorer. Either astride his warhorse or on foot with estoc in hand he is a terrifying figure to the common soldier and trained professional as well. He seems to be a creature of battle itself when fully clad, eyes shadowed by the helm that bears the twin flaring wings of the hawk. Even his fair hair and eyes are hidden away behind that case of steel, seething and begging for blood, Lennart becomes someone else when in full armor. He surrenders enough of himself to The Thrill that he seems a new man. A worse man.

Personality:

Many in the world talk of nobility as something more than just a title, and, unfortunately, it is often just talk. Lennart never saw this to be the case though. He took to his lessons well and learned from his father to be a good man as much as he could while still being great. He is loyal, sometimes to a fault, and kind to all those who he can be. The pressures of being a leader sometimes force him to make hard calls that might end in the suffering of a few for the betterment of all. He does his best to make the decisions that have the greatest good but he feels the weight of such decisions greatly. Lennart does his best to extol the virtues of his rank and is generally thought of as a good man, if not somewhat harsh to those who have done wrong. He sees that all laws are executed properly and often has little room for interpretation, preferring a well written law to one that must have many exceptions because of its narrow scope. He also has an odd fascination with punishments, most of which are death or torture, carried out personally by him. He claims that it is to make the one who gave the sentence also the one to carry it out, but, the influence of The Thrill is strong even if he can not see it.

Nobility seems to be discarded when he takes to the field. Having participated in three wars since his adulthood, Lennart has always shown no mercy and often cruelty to those who stand against him. When the blade is draw and the banners called Lennart has always preferred to make the fight as unthinkable and brutal as possible. He sees that war is terrible and thus to make it so horrible the other side must relent has been his strategy in all conflicts. This has shown through even in his tournament performances, pairing great skill with arguably unnecessary aggression in order to quickly defeat his foes. Many neglect to invite Lennart to tournaments as he has a reputation for injuring his opponents.

Backstory:

Born as the first son of Graf Valter Derrot, Graf of the greater Decrut county. Lennart spent his early years in what might be expected of a noble child. He had many lessons, many servants, many teachers, chief among them, his father. Valter took great interest in his son growing up to be a man worthy of the titles he was given. Valter had been granted his lands for his service in the civil war that had raged in their kingdom and had proven himself a stalwart and impressive commander for the now king. The lands granted to him were vast and rich, being one of the northernmost trading ports in the kingdom. Lennart took this attention gratefully and loved his father immensely.

As he grew he began to train as a squire. He squired under the man who had taught him whole life and beamed with glory when he father took his training to the next level. Lennart learned all he could from his father about leadership, war, and nobility, excelling in all aspects. He squired for his father through a small rebellion led by a group of outlaws in the county, putting them to the sword with no mercy. It was a lesson. A lesson to all the people. The laws were made to be followed and to ignore them would bring down the wrath of their master. This lesson seemed to sink in well with the people, as the blood of the rebels soaked the ground crimson in the woodlands outside of Decrut City. Lennart learned it well as well, perhaps even hearing the first whispers of The Thrill even at such a young age.

Squire turned to knight and Lennart became a man. He was given the title of Vizegraf by his father and lands to oversee in the county. He did so with zeal. That lasted only a short time before he would be called alongside his father to the call of arms again. Their kingdom had been invaded by death worshiping madmen from the West, and, they answered their aggression with something worse. The armies of Decrut marched with the King's other bannermen and led the vanguard of many battles. The famed horsemanship and zeal of Decrut carried the armies to victory after victory against the insane masters and their slaves. They gave them their suicidal wish at the point of lance and estoc, sending them to their dead god with glee. The war did not end when the armies were repelled though. The King listened and Valter Derrot spoke reason. There would only be one way to stop these crazed cultists from striking again, they needed to be destroyed. Their war of defense turned to one of conquest and within two years the Kingdom had new lands, depopulated lands ripe for colonists.

Lennart played a great role, earning the respect of many men he fought beside on the vanguard. He gained great prestige in this conflict, having been the subject of a bard's song even that said he killed a hundred mad cultists alone, standing on the piling corpses of the enemy as they fell on his blade. In truth, Lennart does not remember that. In fact, he barely remembers the battle at all for The Thrill had seized him. No one speaks of the men he slew, not to him. They do not want to let him know a good third of the men who he had slain were his own.

Two more wars came and went. A rebellion of one of the Princes, a succession crisis when the king died unexpectedly from illness. Lennart had gained a reputation and he was given leadership roles in bth conflicts, seeing them through to the end and victory. In both cases he gained more stories, more songs. These were not all songs of glory for those escaped the town of Grest were few and now that ground his nothing but charred buildings and haunted ground. It had been blessed with the blood of innocents and no one sane would dare return. Glory, fame, and fear were Lennart's. He took them in hand and grew his own reputation and power as his father retreated from the public eye.

Little is known about why Valter disappeared. He had spent two years locked away in his keep, barely even speaking to his wife. Some say he screamed in the night, tormented by what he had done so long ago, some say he feared Lennart. The truth is unknown to anyone but Valter himself. What is known is that the Graf abandoned his county and left no instruction for those he left behind. Most of the responsibilies fell to Lennart as one might expect and he did not shrink from this new duty. He administered the lands for a year, grooming his son to lead as best he could as well. His family had grown well and took root in that bloodsoaked land, yet, Lennart was unsettled. His father had gone. His role model, his champion, dare he say, his god, had left them. He could not shake the feeling something was wrong, he needed answers. Lennart placed capable people in charge of his estates, most of the work being in the hands of his wife Katrin. He knew she had the heart of a good woman and a great leader, she would do well in his absence. He hoped he would not leave his lands long on this personal quest to find his father. Lennart has always been foolhardy.

Trackers, tavern keepers, and farseers were consulted as the knight rode on, searching for his lost father. His search brought him here, to this barren and foul land. His company was the thrum of The Thrill, always happy to keep his mind focused, always happy to remind him of how his father abandoned him and must pay. The Thrill had yet to taste of betrayal and patricide.

Strengths/Weaknesses:

Strengths:

Resolve: Lennart does not succumb to fear or adversity easily. His mind is like the steel he wields and he was taught his whole life that the foundation of a great man starts with the mind. He faces challenges willingly and never falters when he or his allies are in need. He will push himself to the limit and beyond his abilities if his mind is set, and, good long convincing him otherwise.

Knightly Training: There are warriors and soldiers, then, there are knights. Clad from head to foot in a work of art that makes a man nearly invincible to conventional arms and paired with decades of training and experience, Lennart is a force made manifest. Few aside form the knightly aristocracy can boast to have as much training or as expert instruction as Lennart. Tutored by master armsmen and experienced on the battlefield, few can match him a contest of arms who have not been similarly trained and groomed.

Nobility: An often overlooked advantage for many adventurers. The truth is, Lennart is nobility. He is afforded greater respect and privileges than the average traveler. Even if that is not the case because where he travels may not recognize his class, he still has access to vast amounts of money and credit that can be used for many things. While Lennart may not be an exceptionally high ranking noble he is still afforded many rights that would seem a dream to the common folk. This also makes him good around the aristocracy of many places, being well versed in 'grace' as well as procedure.

Weaknesses:

Overconfidence: All that training, grooming, money, and experience makes a man think himself close to the gods. Oh how foolish men can be.

Nobility: It is difficult to hide who you are when you wear the heraldry of your house proudly and act as though you are someone of import, even if you actually are. This can easily make someone a target and can often be disconcerting to those who have never interacted with someone of the noble class. This is made worse by the general disposition of those below your station being seen as tools or servants. One would think Lennart would have learned that titles mean nothing in the heat of battle.

Overt: Lennart has always spent his life in fair contests of arms, wits, and words. He is not well versed in proper skulduggery. He has no ability to sneak about, he is a poor liar, and often seeks a direct solution to problems that could be easily solved with a little more finesse.

Aspirational Powers/Abilities:

-Master at Arms: Lennart has trained with numerous weapons in many ways with teachers from all over the world. He puts this information and experience to work by quickly assessing the form and techniques of his opponents finding their mistakes and exploiting them.

-Death Before Defeat: The mind can weather strikes the body can not. Lennart fights on when his body screams for him to stop, supported by his mind and will rather than his body entirely. He fights when he should be struck down, until his will fails him or he is slain outright.

-The Hard Lesson: Letting The Thrill have its desire and giving in to the desire to make a foe into a lesson. Lennart slays a foe in such a gruesome display it gives pause even to creatures that perhaps might not normally feel fear, The Thrill leaking out into the world around him and touching the minds of his foes and allies alike, sowing terror.

-Vizegraf of Annihilation: The Thrill empowers Lennart's weapons to greater effect. The blades seem to tear at the flesh they strike, his fists crush bones, his lance tears down even those protected. A blow from Lennart empowered by The Trill is tore more than they should be, wounds bleed excessively, and armor seems to bend before even the sword blade.

-Seeing Red: The heart of battle, The Thrill given freedom. This is a hyper focused and yet indiscriminate battle trance that emphasizes the brutality and efficiency of each kill or wound. Best that allies keep their distance.

-Succor From Destruction: The Thrill grows powerful and dangerous when fed, pushing the power forward into the body of its host. With each kill The Thrill impart some of that power to Lennart making him faster, stronger, healing wounds.