Sign Up Fallen Paladin [M-VSL]

[prowlingdarknes]

...Never had anyone fallen so far, so fast.

Vladimir Xuras, once the most celebrated paladin in the land of Feraen, had finally been defeated in his crusade against evil. He had grown up in a broken family, a bastard child of an alcoholic father and a mother who died in childbirth. He always stood out from the others in some malign, but nonspecific way, and there were rumors of daemonic blood in his veins. Still, he had fought all his bad influences and took up the life of a holy warrior, at which he excelled. He was fearless almost to the point of recklessness, but always came out on top. He had destroyed exactly 665 evils, and it was on his 666th quest that his luck ran out.

Slain by the vampire lord Dragthel with the foul creature's last ounce of strength, Vladimir was buried a hero, with thousands of mourners, each one somehow helped by his golden heart and tireless sword. But he wouldn't stay a hero, for he had been bitten by his killer, a minor wound that no one noticed, least of all Vladimir himself, but that it was there was enough. Three days later, he rose as a vampire, free-willed but irrevokably scarred, both physically and spiritually. He fell rapidly into sin, and took up the mantle of anti-paladin, twisting his experience with fighting evil and using it instead to create it. The most famous paladin in a century had become the most infamous anti-paladin practically overnight, as news of the fallen hero's depraved acts spread through the land like wildfire. He had taken a particular liking to the undead, and after wrenching a copy of the fabled Necronomicon from the cold, dead hands of a particularly powerful necromancer began to animate the dead for himself. He built a fortress upon the ruins of an abandoned keep, surrounded by a huge graveyard of the fallen warriors that had besieged it, and commanded a small army from beyond the grave.

This was all in just two weeks.

At three weeks, the steady growth of his force had drained the boneyard around his keep to nothingness, and he had already laid claim to a good part of the countryside, cleaving through the civilization of the living easily with the cursed sword and armor of his killer and mounted atop a skeletal horse. Practically overnight, Vladimir, Champion of Light became Vladimir, Commandant of Undeath (the title he had given himself), and he was now a world power. He sent lesser vampires to rule over the remaining living as lords, armed legions of skeletal warriors with weapons and armor created through the endless toil of his living citizenry, and if one fell from overwork he or she (Vladimir was not one to discriminate) were simply raised from the dead by one of his the necromancer taskmasters as a zombie, who continued to work in undeath.

Obviously, the other lords in Feraen were not about to let their lands be crushed by an army of undead, but their forces were utterly crushed by the Commandant's legions if they did not turn tail and flee from the start. It was after this that Vladimir promised that he would stop his invasions if the other lords of the land recognized his soverignty and allowed him to wed one of their daughters to secure this. Initially they accepted, each thinking that it would be one of the others who would be forced to marry off their daughter to the undead Commandant.

So when he finally chose, Lord Miligthan of Thorwood was in for a rude disillusionment. He cut off the deal, but by then it was too late for him. Vladimir had already arrived with three of his 13 legions (he always kept the number at 13, he simply increased the amount of soldiers in each one), ready to besiege the keep should anyone interfere (he hadn't recieved the letter Miligthan sent, as the runner carrying it unfortunately ran into a pack of hungry zombies. His body was never recovered, but the zombies confessed). When Miligthan gave the Commandant the news, he slew the fat lord on the spot, draining the corpse dry, and made off with the princess, as he insisted that the marriage take place in his own land of Icingvale (which was something of a misnomer, since it was actually quite warm there). The lord's corpse was found nailed to his throne two days later, as the doors had been similarly nailed shut as the Commandant left, although the head was missing. The head now resides on a pike in front of Icingvale Keep.

The marriage took place as planned, but although Vladimir kept true to his word (he still had enough honor left in him to not go back on a blood pact) the other lords did not. They sent marauders into Icingvale, even convincing the savage tribes of Ogres, Orcs, and Trolls to attack the undead forces. The Elves were stirred from their long isolation by an attack made by Vladimir (he said nothing about expanding his territory into elven lands), the Dwarves disturbed by one band of orcs who got 'misdirected' by a vampire posing as an innocent bystander, and suddenly it seemed like all Hell was breaking loose. Vladimir's 13 Black Legions held back the onslaught, his long-prepared defenses working as perfectly as he had planned. Eventually, they backed down and recognized Vladimir Xuras, Commandant of Undeath, as ruler of Icingvale, and called off their weary armies.

So a council of representatives from the lands of Men, Elves, and Dwarves was formed to discuss the best course of action, and decided that a small group would be best to take care of Vladimir by traveling into Icingvale, bypassing the 13 Black Legions, and killing the vampire in his own castle (ironically, this was the same strategy Vladimir had suggested before had a situation like this happen).

Posters were put up in every town square, and they read as follows:

[center][font=Arial][size=5][b]ATTENTION[/b][/size]

All able men and women of Feraen, your land needs you!

The Council of Feraen has called upon you to step forward and defend the good peoples of this land!

Generous pay to all who are accepted!

Now is your chance for fame and fortune!

APPLY TODAY![/font][/center]

What it doesn't mention is that they're completely expendable, without any support, and traveling to a land where the dead rule and discovery means certain death... or worse.
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Rules:

-PLEASE PM me before joining!
-NO Godmodding
-NO Controlling of other characters
-Humans, Elves, Dwarves,lycanthropes, and vampires only. No half-breeds, daemons, angels, or deities.
-Keep your power reasonable. No über-powerful characters or spells, etc.

Character sheets are optional. If you use one, it should look something like this:

Name:
Age:
Gender:
Race:
Physical Description: (both written descriptions and pictures are acceptable)
Bio:
Weapons/Armor: (not required)
Spells/Abilities: (PLEASE limit these! No instant death spells or anything of the sort)

After a few people post their intros, we will begin.