Irabeth Tirabade
Irabeth Tirabade grew up on a small farm a few days’ ride east from Kenabres, daughter of a retired crusading couple. Her parents were loving and protective but knew their child would face battles they could not fight for her. They explained to Irabeth that not everyone would understand her heritage and taught her how to firmly but kindly stand up for herself. Occasionally their farm was targeted by vandals and troublemakers looking to harass the family. Irabeth learned from her father—an orc possessed of a near-saintly level of calm and self-restraint—the value of an even temper and the responsibility that comes with physical power as he dealt with such incidents honorably and even-temperedly.
When Irabeth was of age, she told her parents that she had decided not to take over their farm but instead felt a calling to fight for all those who suffered injustices. Her parents, especially her father, were proud of her decision, but they worried for their daughter, as all good parents would.
Irabeth felt uneasy seeking her destiny in Kenabres, a city known for its intolerance of strangers. Instead, she journeyed west and south, traveling by river through Ustalav until she came to Lastwall. Irabeth had heard tales of the knights of Lastwall and thought she might find guidance and training there. However, she had not considered the implications of its people spending their lives on the border of Belkzen. The distrust and prejudice she faced in Vigil were greater than any she would have faced in Kenabres, and the first few months were almost enough to crush her spirit. Her strong moral upbringing and the lessons her parents had taught her sustained her, however, and soon Irabeth learned to deal with the insults and aggression she found in the city.
A year after she came to Vigil, Irabeth had still not secured admission to the Crusader War College. While she had become a paladin of Iomedae, final entry into the knighthood eluded her, and it was with a heavy heart that she realized her race was the cause. Rather than force the issue, she left Lastwall and traveled east, back through Ustalav, until she reached the River Kingdoms. For a time, she served there as a mercenary, enjoying that land’s open-mindedness and ample opportunities to bring Iomedae’s justice to bandits and scoundrels.
Irabeth made something of a name for herself as someone to whom you could go for justice in the western River Kingdoms, but life on the road had finally begun to wear her down. She decided on one more mission before returning home to her parents and accepted a bounty to hunt down and bring to justice a tiefling from Nisroch who had been causing problems near Tymon.
The half-orc paladin caught up with the tiefling at a ruined tower, where he and his companions had just captured a frightened young woman. Seeing that the tiefling had produced a bone saw with which to hobble his prisoner, Irabeth didn’t pause to issue an arrest—she bellowed and charged into battle, killing the entire band of Nisrochi mercenaries. Little did she know that the prisoner she’d rescued would become the love of her life.
The woman introduced herself as Anevia and pledged her life to Irabeth, who declined the offer. Instead, she told Anevia she was returning home to Kenabres, and invited her along if she was looking for companionship.
Over the course of their journey north, they fell in love. By the time Anevia chose to reveal her secret to Irabeth, the observant half-orc had already known for several days that she was a man—it made no difference to Irabeth, who knew better than to judge a person by appearance alone.
When the two reached Kenabres, they were deeply in love, and that love helped to sustain Irabeth when she learned of a tragedy. After she left home, her parents had reenlisted in the crusades only to end up being among those slaughtered by demons at the notorious Eagle Rock massacre. Only her father’s magic sword was recovered. Had Anevia not been there to support Irabeth, the paladin would have certainly stormed off into the Worldwound in a suicidal attempt to slay every demon within.
Instead, Irabeth worked her way through her grief, and she sold the family farm and relocated to a new home in the city itself with Anevia. The night Irabeth proposed to her lover, she presented her with a gift—a magical elixir that would transform Anevia physically to match the rest of her gender. She never told Anevia that she’d sold her father’s sword to pay for the elixir, for doing so brought Irabeth the final bit of closure she’d needed. Her father’s legacy allowed her to bring joy to the one she loved more than anything, and that was precisely what she needed to get on with her new life.
Irabeth’s discovery of the treachery of Staunton Vhane, at the time a respected mercenary leader, have brought her fame to an extent that she still isn’t comfortable with.
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