Edgidus Bastardus

Appearance
Edgidus Bastardus is a 28-year-old male fighter that is 6’ 4” tall and weighs 250 lbs. He’s built pretty big and has skin paler than marble. He is stockier than he is lean and has terrible posture when he's not busy with fighting or talking. He has long, black, straight hair that parts down the middle and ends in points above his pectorals. It hangs down like a curtain around his head, covering everything but his face, chin, and neck. Edgidus usually wears his full set of armor wherever he goes except when he's working out or sleeping. He wears heavy halfplate armor with large shoulderpads, as he enjoys large shoulderpads. He wears his special gauntlet "Dominic" on his right hand and any other gauntlet he finds on his left. Edgidus has a bag of holding underneath the cape he wears which contains a majority of his inventory. Underneath the bag, attached directly to his back, are two shortswords and his bow. On his right side, he keeps a dagger attached above his hip for emergencies. On his left side, he keeps his trusty vorpal longsword. He’s got a belt and bandoleer for pouches that carry many miscellaneous small items that would get lost in his bag of holding. Edgidus walks around with a “I don’t care” look most of the time. He also has what resembles sunglasses on his face.

Back Story
A long time ago, in another world, there was an island in the middle of a vast ocean. On that island lived the notorious slave-driver named Ronik Neverest. He bought and traded slaves with outer lands to dig his island's mines deeper and deeper. Silver, gold, platinum; only a few treasures he found daily in this cave system. He could afford anything at any time.

Years passed and so did many of his brothers and sisters. He soon realized he was the last Neverest in the line. His money could buy him a mansion, hundreds of slaves and servants, and anything he desired... but a blood-related child. Having nothing else better to do with his time, he invested in five wives, each from their own exotic country. He looked them up and down for seven days and finally decided on a single bride. Cloud was her name and she came from a distant continent rarely explored. She was very beautiful and her heart was as pure as ivory.

Ronik Neverest and Cloud were married not a day later. They celebrated their marriage with a feast and a night Ronik could never forget. A year had passed and Cloud had finally given birth to Ronik's first son. The rotten, old, bitter man had forgotten how to love until this boy was born. He named him Ray, and he was planned to be Ronik's prodigy. He trained him, day and night, and raised him as his own. Cloud raised him as best she could, but Ronik would grow angry when she did this and cast her out of his abode, raising commotion about "poisoning his heir." It went on like this until Ray turned eight.

Cloud began to sneak him out and let him visit the slaves she cared for secretly in the mines. She could not stress how murderous Ronik would become if he had figured out that they were both doing these deeds. He learned the idea of charity and suffering. The ideas of hard work and misery. He grew to love the slaves and pity them for their torture. Eventually, he began to help some of the workers dig new caves for exploration, which was quite the dirty task. Ray did not mind, though. He enjoyed the work. Any way he could help, he would. Then there was a night where Ray was out too long. Ronik grew thirsty and restless in his chambers. He got up and made a few circles around his island, sipping on some water. Ray, leaving the mine with Cloud, walked towards the ocean to wash the dirt off himself. Ronik, not believing his eyes, watched the whole act and grew very angry. Seething, he ran to his house and pretended to sleep. Cloud and Ray returned as well and fell asleep in Ray's bed. Both were in for a rude awakening.

The moist wind of the ocean made the burlap sacks over Ray and Cloud's head wet and uncomfortable. They were taken off by Ronik and it was revealed that they were on the mansion's rooftop. They had been caught, along with Ronik's other four bride choices. Guards were in all directions and Ronik rose his voice above the wind. "I see that you all are the same... slaves." With that, Ronik began to slash the throats of all the slaves. "Traitorous, devil, bitch." Cloud's life was taken before Ray's eyes. "And you, my boy. I am disappointed in you." He held the knife to his neck. "You shouldn't be allowed to live... but you shouldn't be allowed to die either." Ray, looked at him confused and angry. The knife was slowly lifted away from his chin. "Put him in the Pit." Ray's eyes had grown and his cries could be heard by the slaves in the deepest cavern.

Ray had spent twelve days in the whole, claiming the life of any vermin that fell in. Rats, birds, even a fish every now and then. He had become almost feral, living on raw scraps. Low light and unrelenting shadows made him pale as a specter and weak as dry bones. Another night had passed and death was slipping in. He felt a slither up his spine and on his back lie a long snake. Ray snapped at it and it snapped at he. Missing his bite, the snake stand impressed. It took the form of a slender, elderly man before Ray's red eyes. "My, my, my boy. Look... what he's done to you. Poor, poor, poor thing. Tsk tsk." Ray's ears hurt from the power of his voice. "Look, look, look now. Avoided my bite... one has not done in years. Yes yes." Ray shit himself. "Potential."

In another world, grass fields were plenty and peace came as good as it could. Villages couldn't be seen for acres. Neither could the largest of cities. It was here, Ray was brought. In a flash, the strange elderly man had blinked both of them to this place. Ray's eyes hurt from the sun, so much to where it was frying them like eggs. "Ouch, ouch, ouch friend! This... will help. Shhhh." A pair of glasses were materialized on Ray's face. "All joking aside, these will help. It's help, comes with a price, however. That price is hefty but acceptable, if you like not living like a feral animal." Ray understood and watched as the man lifted his scraggly, gloved hand. Ray shook, not knowing truly what he agreed to. "I am happy. Do not take those off for a good while, or break them." The old man said. "Otherwise, the fate that you faced in that cave will return to you, ten times worse and in hell." He said. Ray felt his limb's strength return to them; he lifted his arms as high as he could. "How...?" He questioned. "In due time, boy. In due time. I must depart. May we cross paths again in the future. If we do and you have realized... well, just make sure you finish the job. Don't grow weak with that terrible thing I call mercy." The old man said as he walked away, turning into a thin mist.

Ray began to travel in a direction, hoping to gain knowledge of what happened. In a series of nights, he realized what he had done and what was done to him. On his sixteenth birthday, he changed his last name to Bastardus and his first to Edgidus. This would remind him of what he must do when he faced his father and the man that cursed him with the glasses of fate.

Future of Fire
Edgidus began to travel in search for ways back to his home world. At some point, he found himself brawling in many taverns across Dremida. He finally gave up searching and hit rock bottom in a seedy, distant, back-country tavern. Soon, he was in the middle of yet another bar-fight. In the end, he acquired a strange gauntlet that made interesting conversation with Edgidus.

At some point, he ended up in Grotto. This is when he met the rest of his party and began to travel with them. He has gone through much and all the events noted here have changed him. For better or worse, is debatable. He is now trying to acquire the orbs of dragonkind with/from his group of companions.

Personality
Edgidus is mostly a boring, dull individual. He is often dense and, at times, unintelligent. Edgidus can prove to be clever sometimes, however. Secretly, underneath all the edge, he has room to love only one individual, who is now lost to him.

Beliefs
Edgidus has some personal codes his semi-strictly follows: Edgidus believes in so gods. He sees anyone who claims to be a god as a mortal being who found the power to be called a god. More or less, he is against most gods. How edgy is that, folks?
 * Protect the people you travel with (unless they decide to betray/harm any other party members or yourself).
 * Have multiple goals with one, big end goal; do whatever it takes to reach these goals.
 * Proper burial for former party members is mandatory.
 * Try not to defy gods in any way.
 * At the end of the day, you only have yourself, so keep to yourself.

At the moment, he can't let anything happen to the world, as he would like to find the way back to his.

Fighting Style
Edgidus fights to kill, most days. Depending on the situation, he will either charge in and try to dispatch all enemies hastily, or he will attempt to use stealth to his advantage and avoid his opponents altogether. When he is fighting with any sort of companion, he will study the enemy and figure out the best way to take them on. He often takes a look at his options such as weapons, environment dangers, magical abilities, etc. Basically the same strats as any fighter out there.

Relationships With Other Characters
Yenmorn Strongsteel - Edgidus knows what Yenmorn hides behind his blade, but keeps quiet about it in order to keep things peaceful around him. He sees that Yenmorn is not a quitter and that he does what he does in order to survive, as it is "survival of the fittest" in his mind. Edgidus respects him, all things considered, but Yenmorn's lack of emotion keeps Edgidus suspicious. Yenmorn has been cursed to have a magical hatred towards Edgidus. Neither know anything about it.

Nuranna Haeds - Edgidus had very mixed feelings about Nuranna while she was alive and still after "death." Nuranna is known to have strange relations with death and corpses. Despite this, Edgidus attempted to make her tough in dire situations. Of course, he had no luck in that area, as she betrayed the party in the end. The final shred of respect Edgidus had for her (standing up for her beliefs) was thrown into the grave he buried for her. He is curious about her fate since the resurrection, but he mostly considers her dead twice over.

Anavel Maltae - You can't trust this elf. Edgidus found that she kept important information from the party, eliminating any trust that had formed beforehand. They made an uneasy alliance to stop Daeren in case he used the orbs to end the world. After she died, small loss was felt. She wore interesting scars, but Edgidus could care less. Following his code, he buried her beside Nuranna and stuck a dagger in Vel's grave to symbolize her life as a whole. Edgidus does not know that Vel gave the Banite nation a majority of their power.

Daeren Ilgaran - They both pretty much dislike each other. One wants to keep the world intact and the other wants to turn it into a fiery hell-hole. Edgidus wonders about the true strength of his cult, but then again, he knows it's nothing extraordinary due to Daeren's current assets and situation. At the end of the day, Edgidus knows he needs Daeren for his power. They both have made yet another uneasy alliance. This time, against Torum Crowley.

Diana Cross - Edgidus enjoys Diana's company because she is always in a pretty good mood and willing to help out, but he does not trust her completely. Ever since the avatar of Bane made Edgidus kneel before him, Bastardus loathes the Banite nation. That being said, Edgidus keeps an eye on Cross. He knows she has ties with the church and has some sort of agenda. This has gone pretty much looked over in recent days however, due to other dire matters.

Billius Haeds - Billius doesn't have much going for him, at the moment. Edgidus likes him enough to help him out and whatnot, but Nuranna's brother has yet to prove himself in battle. Edgidus does not care that he resurrected his once-late sister.

Trivia

 * The idea of this character was created initially by Jared, as a joke.
 * Edgidus, in the early sessions of Future of Fire, seemed to be outgoing and enigmatic. He used a higher pitched voice, much like Daeren's. This was changed after Tate realized he was not playing his character as the character himself.
 * Edgidus is slightly racist against gnomes and elves.
 * He is terrible at any arts and crafts.
 * Edgidus is in love.
 * He is the only character in the group that is not evil-aligned. His backstory and previous design forced him to be true neutral.
 * Edgidus will probably never be used in any other game.

Appears In

 * Future of Fire (D&Dvil Campaign)