Kothar
Lizardfolk paladin, single father, philosopher
Some are born to greatness. Some aspire to greatness. Some have greatness thrust upon them.
Kothar is none of those people. While few of those in his homeland would deny that he is a great hero whose actions had a massive impact beyond himself, greatness was never his goal.
Once, he was a hunter for a village in a swamp. He lived a happy enough life, married one of the other hunters, and hatched a child with her. Then disaster struck. The village was raided by trolls under the command of a monster named Gragrool, an ogre mage. His wife was killed in the fighting, his infant son barely out of eggshells was in danger, and he would do anything, anything, to protect what he had left. With spear in hand, he had his first brush with greatness that day. He was left for dead, Gragrool had fled with one eye blind. But the mother goddess of the lizardfolk, Tlacua, had heard the oath he swore in his heart to protect his family and the others in danger and accepted him as her champion. By her providence, he lived and grew strong again.
And seven years later, he had his second taste of greatness when he met two other nascent adventurers.
Arboreas was a wood elf from the woodland to the south, a sneaky sort who was adept in dealing death from the shadows.
Euclid was a half-elven sorcerer from the city of Desarke, two days to the west, with only mediocre powers but big ambitions, especially where gold was concerned.
The three of them met in the village of Elyorac, not far from Kothar's home, where the town needed someone to recover goods stolen by bandits lurking in the caves of a nearby mountain.
The mountain, it turns out, contained more than just some bandits and a cave, but an ancient fortress holding a terrible entity captive beneath it. Vox Vorago, the Voice of the Endless Abyss, an otherworldly tyrant of great power, was close to escaping the bonds that had held it for over 500 years.
In a year-long series of expeditions, the Three, as they would come to be called, descended to the depths of the fortress and slew the creature before it could emerge to begin its reign over the land anew. In the process, they became fabulously wealthy, in no small part because of Euclid's financial maneuvering.
Euclid and Arboreas left to found a grand theater, one of Euclid's many business ventures.
The fortress under Mount Vokthiss was turned over to the allies the Three had made during their quest: the upper sections to a silver dragon and his kobold attendants, and the lower caverns to a colony of myconids.
Kothar returned to his home and his son Achuak.
And after a few years, they both left on a hunt one day and never returned. An anticlimactic ending to a heroic tale.
Or that's how the story goes.
► Appearance
Kothar resembles a humanoid iguana, with dark green scales and an orange crest. He tends to wear simple handmade clothing of wool and leather. He carries an axe of black steel with golden inlay in the shape of flames, and a silver shield with a platinum crest of a lightning bolt. Around his neck he wears an amulet in the shape of a small wreath of braided feathers, this is the symbol of his goddess.
► Abilities
As the champion of Tlacua, Kothar wields divine mercy to heal and protect but also divine wrath to harm and control. His attacks glow with holy fire and he radiates an aura that protects his allies from mind-altering magic. He also is an adept hunter, skilled in stealth and tracking, and a trained warrior specializing in using his shield to protect himself and those around him. His broken speech in human tongues obscures the eloquence and inspiring leadership he wields in his own tongue, the tongue of dragons.
► Equipment
Kothar's axe, his weapon of choice, is imbued with the fires of a volcano, blazing with arcane flame on command in addition to the holy flame he wields with his own power. It is far, however, from the only magical piece of gear on his person. His shield carries a greater enchantment yet - within it is bound an eldritch entity which hungers for magic, a lesser servant of Vox Vorago whose powers drain magic from anything they touch, including spells aimed to destroy the shield's bearer. His belt too bears an enchantment enhancing his strength to rival that of one of the Frost Giants of the distant northern wastes, allowing him to throw boulders and enemy combatants with ease. Lastly, a pair of goggles with emerald lenses grant him the power to see in the dark, on the rare occasion he does not simply use his flaming axe as a torch.