Born (Tristan the Bold)
I do not have a quarrel with you, mortal. My blade is aimed at Avernus, and the harpy that rules it.Tristan the Bold was a Paladin of Tempus and member of the "Chosen of Foehammer". Upon his death and perceived betrayal, he rose again as a Death Knight.
Physical Appearance
In life, Tristan the Bold was handsome man with a powerful build. In death, his skeletal form was fully encased on a suit of black plate and mail, the joints glowing red with an infernal light.
Equipment
Born possessed the Helm of Lost Hope, Shard of Power.
Personality
Tristan the Bold was a relentless seeker of battle. No foe was strong enough to intimidate him and he lived to test his mettle against the strongest the foe had to offer. In death, Born retained this fearless nature and turned it to fight the woman who betrayed him.
Goals & Motivations
Born existed for one purpose, and one purpose only: To destroy his former love, Zariel. He took over Dragonspear Castle to build his forces in preparation of an invasion of Avernus.
History
Zariel was once an angel, impetuous and fearless in battle. She was charged with observing the battleground of Avernus, monitoring the Blood War. As she carried out her duties, however, she became increasingly frustrated with the inaction of her fellow celestials. Why did the hosts of Mount Celestia sit idle when one mighty stroke could destroy their foes once and for all!? Yet her repeated requests to join the fray were rebuked.
In her frustration she took to questing on the Material Plane when she was not scouting, fighting demonic incursions wherever she could, vanquishing them with her mighty sword Retribution, a silvery longsword with a crossguard of spread angel's wings. It was there she met Tristan the Bold, a Paladin of Tempus and member of the "Chosen of Foehammer", who shared her zeal for battle. Together they traveled across Faerun, and as their bond grew, so did the angel's love for this mortal man in whom she had found a kindred spirit. After several years the impetuous angel threw caution to the wind and took Tristan to husband. In due time, the two had conceived a child.
It was not long after this when Zariel confessed her frustration with Celestia's refusal to march. In response, Tristan vowed to take up the fight that Zariel could not. Marshalling those of his order that would follow Tristan conducted covert covert raids on Avernus. Zariel fed him intelligence on fiendish movements and rallied support for her husband's cause among the mortals.
It was during one of these raids, while Zariel was away, that tragedy struck. The angel returned to find her husband's warriors encircled by a horde of demons led by a mighty Balor, having been caught by a demonic advance following a successful raid. Zariel watched, held back by her orders, as one after another of Tristan's companions fell. If she did not act she knew her lover would soon perish.
It was in that moment she made her decision. She drew Retribution, opened a portal to the Material plane, and called every warrior she had yet enlisted to the fight. Roaring with fury and heedless of the danger to herself or the child she carried, she fell upon the fiends, carving a bloody swath through them towards her beloved. As her rage burned hotter, her desperation grew, and her shining blade dimmed. When she snatched a hapless ally and threw him at a knot of demons in order to reach her lover more quickly, it grew darker still. Before long, the blade was as black as her anger.
Yet, for all that, she was too late. The Balor had already bested her husband, though it swiftly paid for it with its life. Alone, Zariel stood over Tristan's bleeding and battered body, laying about her with jet black blade. Dozens, then hundreds of fiends fell to her hand. It was not until a legion of devils arrived and swept over her and demon both that she was overcome. The devils took her and her husband into custody, but it was to Tristan, barely holding on to life, that they spoke.
The man looked at the form of his angelic spouse, and, kneeling a pool of his own blood, did what one does when a devil holds what they desire: He made a deal. He gave them the secrets of his order, the passcodes and phrases that would allow the devils to enter their fortress, all they would need to bring fire and sword to the Chosen of Foehammer. In exchange, he demanded three things: Zariel would be spared and allowed to continue her fight. His son would be returned to the Material Plane and raised in a safe home. And the devils would give Zariel no knowledge of Tristan's betrayal. He died, signing the contract with the last of his life's blood.
Zariel was taken to Asmodeus, who naturally honored the contract to the letter. Zariel was installed as Lord of the First to continue her war. She fought with newfound fury, to avenge the lover and child she had lost to the demons (or so she believed). In time, she came to see the devils as being far nobler, toiling endlessly to save an ungrateful cosmos from the Abyssal horde while the angels of Celestia do nothing. The babe was delivered safely to a pair of nobles who had made a deal for a child they could not conceive on their own. That child, born of an angel and saved by his father's betrayal, would father children of his own. Generations later, a descendant by the name of Aurum Bearinglight would manifest as an Aasimar and take up vows. History has forgotten Tristan, his vow, and the details of Zariel's fall from grace.
Dragonspear Castle was the base of the Chosen of Foehammer who were ever a thorn in the devil's side. Through Tristan's treachery, the castle was overrun and the Chosen put to the sword. Tristan's tormented soul manifested once again as a Death Knight, who now guards Dragonspear Castle as he failed to do in life. Taking the name of Born, the undead creature is overflowing with hatred; hatred for the demons who killed him, for the devils who twisted his wishes, for Zariel for become that which they fought against...and most of all, for himself.
Born's quest for vengeance was thwarted by the Battleborn, including his descendant Aurum Bearinglight, in the lead up to the Severing, on 6/22/1497.
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