Erthenia

James Odd. Little Jimmy was a curious boy. Living in a poor peasant family, he spent little time at home and often wandered aimlessly, finding all sorts of silly things to do, like teasing an ox with a stick, jumping off the roof of the barn, spitting in the well, and so on. The teacher at the parish school considered the boy an idiot because he not only failed to grasp any material but couldn't even sit still at his desk. "Your path lies only in the military," he said. Over time, the boy grew up, and his father began involving him in various tasks. Jimmy helped as much as he could, but everything went wrong for him; at the first difficulties, he became angry and frustrated. At first, his father tried to reason with him, then simply shook his head – "You are not blessed, son." Everything changed the day his father was injured. A heavy millstone fell from its axis and crushed his pelvis; the local doctor applied some poultices and said that his life was in God's hands. After suffering throughout the night, James's father finally passed away. It was a lean year; the family lived on the brink of starvation, and his mother had been seriously ill for a long time, so she did not survive the following winter either. Having buried his second parent and left alone, Jimmy sold all their few possessions and the shack for some money and left this miserable patch of land. He spent several years in a large city, dealing with shady people and doing work for them. Sometimes he dreamed of a huge millstone pressing down like a vise and making it impossible to breathe. It had fallen off its axis because the axle cracked, and it cracked because Jimmy hit it with an axe to see if it was strong enough. The young man felt comfortable with the rhythm of the city and always believed he knew what he was doing, but over time, he found himself deeply in debt. Unable to find a way to repay the money, Jimmy decided to hide from creditors with the help of the Almighty. Crossing the threshold of the recruitment center of the Black Eclipse paladin order, whose posters were abundantly displayed on the streets of the city, a couple of minutes later, he signed the necessary document, shook the hand of the dazzlingly smiling recruiter, and gave a thumbs-up. The order's headquarters was located in a small mountain fortress at the intersection of roads, where the lives and training of its members took place. The boy would have gone wild from the constant drills and tedious prayers if not for combat training. He may not have been the best fighter in the order, but he always enjoyed fighting. And one day, theology lessons smoothly turned into a magical ritual. The specifics of the order involved studying ways to minimize the threat from accursed nonhumans, and this initially sounded like nonsense to Jimmy, but a clear demonstration of skills convinced him of the truth of the stated theses. These exercises went extremely poorly for the young man, but unexpectedly for himself, he did not give up and mastered this skill during his long period of study. After training, he spent his early years in the order; James – now a young man – participated in purges, raids, trials, and executions. Killing nonhumans was great at first, but over time it became boring because the order always won; however, that wasn't all – many heretics and other scoundrels were also cut down. At one point, it became clear that he would have to serve much longer than Jimmy had originally thought. The prospect of spending his life in barracks horrified him, but fortunately, it didn't come to pass. Due to serious disagreements with some of the senior officials, a career in the fortress no longer beckoned him, so he underwent a special ritual and received a certificate and the title of wandering knight. Armed with these things, the young paladin set out on the road to administer justice and take matters into his own hands. Equipment: blessed mace, short sword, medium armor, knife in boot, supplies. Origin: Kelevria. Characteristics: Strength – 16 Endurance – 16 Agility – 14 Perception – 7 Speed – 15 Willpower – 10 Wisdom – 12 Specialization and skills: Rank 1. Removes penalty when using one-handed weapons. +2% chance to inflict critical damage, accuracy +2. Rank 2. Chance to parry opponent's attack (accuracy against accuracy). +3% chance to inflict critical damage, accuracy +3. Rank 3. Additional attack. +5% chance to inflict critical damage, accuracy +4. Rank 4. Allows the use of one-handed weapon in each hand. The probability of successful parrying increases by 50%. Critical Hit. Automatically inflicts critical damage to the enemy. Bludgeoning or piercing weapon. 1 AP. Dispel. Nullifies the effect of a spell. Ward. The character makes himself or an ally invisible, allowing them to perform any non-aggressive actions without revealing themselves (opponents with high perception may potentially see through this spell). Negate. The caster has a chance to ignore incoming damage. 10 turns.