A former adventurer turned military leader, Commander Truestrike is the head of
Lothal's Wyvern Knights. Before enlisting in the military, Truestike was a Platinum-ranked adventurer and one of the Guild's best. As an
aasimar, Truestrike spent much of her life knowing that the gods had a purpose for her. She found that purpose when she prevented a terrible evil from claiming the
Eye of Vecna, locking the cursed artifact away and keeping it out of the wrong hands. Her destiny fulfilled at a mere 30 years old, she decided to retire from the Guild and move to
Lothal's military to train new generations for whatever threats came next.
Table of Contents
History
Early Life
Truestrike was one of the first people born in Lothal after the country was formally founded. Though she appeared human like her parents, it became apparent she was more than human when the infant Truestrike had no trouble navigating their home in in the pitch blackness of night to raid the cookie jar. Despite one of her playmates telling her that seeing in the dark was perfectly normal (the boy was a dwarf), her parents knew better. A brief medical (& magical) examination confirmed she was in fact an aasimar and the Church of Pelor offered to take her under their wing.
She spent many years in training, learning to fight as a paladin wielding the both power of Pelor's light and her own aasimar powers. After learning all that standard training could teach her, Truestrike decided to gain some real-world experience by joining the Adventurer's Guild. Her training (and a few letters of recommendation) allowed her to bypass the normal grace period for new recruits and start directly as a Bronze-ranked adventurer.
Time in the Guild
Truestrike climbed the guild's ranks quickly, proving to be a natural leader and mighty warrior. Unlike most adventurers who use adventuring as a moneymaker to fund other goals, Truestrike believed in doing good for the sake of it. She kept only enough of her payment to take care of her basic needs and keep her equipment in good shape, donating the rest to people who really needed it. She became well known as a philanthropist on top of being one of Lothal's greatest warriors.
One day, Truestrike and her fellow adventurers encountered a strange monster under the command of an insane, cloaked man. Finding a blood-stained journal among his belongings after the battle, they learned he was part of a group seeking the Eye of Vecna. Their aim was to use its power to find the place where the barrier between the Material Plane is weakest and form a breach that would bring the elder evil Ragnorra into the world.
Truestrike and her companions ultimately stopped the cultists from retrieving the Eye of Vecna, but only she survived the ordeal. She sealed the Eye of Vecna in a box with every mundane and magical protection she could think of. She kept the box on-hand at all times, not willing to let it out of her sight after everything it took to secure it. But this trial left a sour taste for adventuring in her mouth and she realized that one woman alone could only do so much. She resolved to retire from the Guild and joined the military, seeking to train as many people as possible into an elite fighting force.
From Adventurer to Commander
There isn't a recommendation more glowing than "former Platinum-ranked adventurer" in Lothal. Truestrike's prowess as a warrior and leader was well-known; she was given an audience with King Paul Shapechanger immediately. The King asked her about her intentions and she told him truthfully: to build a force that could go places the army and budding navy could not. Her natural gift of flight had saved her on many occasions and her knowledge of monsters from her adventuring days had given her an idea to extend this advantage to the common soldier.
King Shapechanger gave her the starting funds she requested and allowed her to take any from the army who wished to volunteer for her new force. Truestrike's fame and popularity resulted in so many volunteers she could only accept 1/3 of them initially. Her critics believed her plan to train wyverns was foolhardy; while it took time for the plan to bear fruit (and for the baby wyverns to grow), no one could disavow its effectiveness once the first generation of Wyvern Knights began to serve the nation.
Under Truestrike's leadership, the Wyvern Knights worked with the rest of the military to all but eliminate piracy and smuggling within Lothal. The borders were more secure, messages were delivered faster, and delivering emergency supplies and troops was limited by only how much a wyvern could carry. Truestrike's good demeanor and popular public opinion quickly made her the most favored of the three Commanders (although Commander Riversong's sour personality and Commander Tai Feng's gruff one also played a big role here). Truestrike's life developed a sense of normalcy...until the Headhunters arrived.
Truestrike's first meeting with the Headhunters was brief, seeing them briefly at Fort Vertina when the party turned in a few wyvern eggs for a bounty. She briefly "sparred" with Kiri after he took an attempt to flirt with her too far, leaving him much more black and blue leaving the fortress than he was entering it. She also took notice of Hugh Morris, seeing at a mere glance that he too was an aasimar, and began making discreet inquiries about him. Chigiri also noticed that Truestrike's weapon was one of the 7 Swords he was after, but didn't get a chance to speak to her about it due to Kiri's shenanigans.
She was next seen during the Ant Uprising where her Wyvern Knights kept the flying ants contained during the battle. True introductions did not come until the Dragon Turtle Migration when the Headhunters sought out Truestrike for information on the 7 Swords and advice on how to deal with Sweetmeat. She pointed the adventurers towards a portal to Mount Celestia, recommending imprisoning Sweetmeat there, and offering her Sun Blade if they would deliver the Eye of Vecna there for her.
Truestrike didn't tell them what was in the box, but recent events in Lothal made her decide it would be safer in the Seven Heavens than with her. Her thought process was that giving it to lower-ranked adventurers like the Headhunters would allow it to be delivered discreetly. When the party returned to report their mission accomplished, Chigiri also petitioned Truestrike and Commander Riversong to help rescue his people from the Dragon Turtles and Levira's attack. Riversong was against this idea, but Truestrike agreed and strong-armed her fellow Commander into helping.
Rallying Against the Morlocks
Truestrike led a major counteroffensive during the Battle of Inkhear, using her Wyvern Knights to airdrop military troops (including the Kirigakure) into the city. Her troops proved effective against the Morlocks lesser coordinated minions, but fought pitched urban battles against their duergar allies. Truestrike herself accompanied Dume and Cordelia in their efforts to stop Mesogog's escape, but arrived just in time to see the villains teleport away.
Shortly thereafter, she represented the Lothal military in an impromptu meeting between the military, the Guild (represented by Dume), and the Kirigakure (represented by the Mizukage). The three agreed that the Morlocks had effectively declared war on them all, with Truestrike and Dume resolving to convince King Shapechanger Shapechanger and Nergalee (respectively) to take greater action. Truestrike gave Chigiri her Sun Blade and wished them luck when Dume let the Headhunters continue on their quest before their party became tied up in debriefings and politics.
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