Talan

Information

Player: freelight

Character Full Name: Talan Sorn

Character In-Game Name: Talan

Nickname(s): None

Association(s): Stormwind

Race: Human

Class: Paladin

Age: 22

Sex: Male

Hair: Black

Eyes: Brown

Weight: 150lb

Height: 5'11"

Appearance

Usual Garments/Armor: Usually wears mail or plate armor. When not in battle gear, which is rare, he wears plain, unremarkable clothing. He has no interest in gaudy clothes or jewelry and would rather not attract attention based on his appearance.

Other: He wears his dead sister's ring on a thin silver chain around his neck. It is usually underneath his clothing, as he wears it for personal reasons and does not like to attract attention to it.

Personality

Alignment: Lawful Good

On the outside, Talan is friendly and compassionate. He never hesitates to help a stranger and will often simply stop to chat if he is not tasked with some pressing matter. He is quick with a light-hearted joke and a smile in nearly any situation. He also tends to put his foot in his mouth from time to time.

Beneath this facade, Talan carries a heavy heart. He battles with a past he is ashamed of. This stems from the death of his sister, which he believes he was responsible for, and the darkness in his life that followed until he was taken in as a squire by an aging paladin. He compensates for it by channeling the energy of the Light and using it to help others by any available means. He does not seek pity and does not wish to share his burden with others, so he keeps it hidden beneath a friendly and care-free exterior.

History

Talan's childhood was spent in a small village not far from the city of Stormwind. His father was a warrior who fought in the Second War and died when Talan was a small boy, leaving him with his mother and older sister. His mother was a seamstress and his sister was learning the craft, while Talan was being raised on stories of his father's valor and epic battles. Despite their hardships, they had a decent enough life.

As time wore on, Talan's mother frequently became ill and his sister Leah had to assume more and more responsibility as she grew older. She often cared for Talan, whether by cooking, stitching up his clothing or bandaging his wounds when he got hurt. The two talked for hours on end and grew incredibly close.

Things took a turn for the worse when Defias thieves increased their activity in the surrounding area. They were kept at bay by the guard patrols, but life was becoming more dangerous. Talan was learning swordplay, but was too young to be of any real threat in a fight, so it fell on Leah to defend their home. She bought a dagger and began practicing with it. She and Talan often sparred, which often ended with Leah having to bandage Talan's fresh cuts and bruises.

When Talan was thirteen and Leah was sixteen, tragedy struck. An emboldened Defias thief broke into their house at night. He made his way to the mother's bedroom and woke the woman up. After a brief struggle, he had tied her up and proceeded to look for valuables. The commotion woke Talan up, who witnessed this and went to wake his sister. Together, the two found the thief in the family room as he was about to take a bracelet that belonged to their father. Leah, who remembered their father better since she was older and had missed him dearly, was filled with rage and attacked the thief. She wounded him with her dagger, but was overpowered and thrown on the floor. Talan saw the thief grab Leah's dagger and panicked. He turned to run and he hid in the cellar until the fear subsided. He returned to find his sister's corpse. As he collapsed onto her lifeless body, he was filled with a guilt that haunts him to this day.

After having already lost her husband, Talan's mother took the death of her daughter especially hard. Despite telling Talan that it was not his fault, she could not hide a trace of resentment for the boy. This only compounded Talan's feeling of guilt and shame, and this fueled an aggression he could not control. He frequently got into fights with the other boys, he had little patience for the local girls, and his perpetual gloomy mood and bad temper left him without any real friends. He attempted to help his mother with day-to-day chores, but it was one of the neighbors who saved her. A widower who had recently lost his wife to disease took pity on the woman and was able to provide for her.

On a particularly dark night, Talan contemplated suicide. He walked into his sister's old room, which had been kept nearly undisturbed since the night she died, and picked up her dagger. As he held it to his wrist, he thought he heard Leah's voice. He dropped the dagger and wept. He thought of how she would look at him then, and what she would say. He knew he had to atone, and that he could no longer stay at home. He opened her jewelry box and picked up a small golden ring she used to wear a lot. He kissed the ring, put it in his pocket, and went into his own room to gather his things. By morning, he was gone, leaving a note behind for his mother saying simply that he loved her.

He traveled aimlessly for two days. He was cold, tired and hungry. On the third day, he met a middle-aged man in plate armor, who claimed to be a paladin. The older man took pity on the boy, sharing some of his food with him, and they spoke at length. Upon hearing Talan's story, the paladin agreed to accept him as his squire, warning him that the path of Light is often a harsh one and that he would face constant tests of faith, will and conscience. Seeing no other alternative, Talan readily agreed and soon began his training.

Talan spent much of his time training in Stormwind, always at the service of his knight. The older man was indeed a harsh taskmaster and, had he been less determined, Talan would have run a dozen times. At his darkest hours, Talan would take out his sister's ring, which he now wore on a silver chain around his neck at all times, and focus on it to regain his will. He visited her grave regularly whenever he could, and still does. After seven years of training, Talan had earned the title of Paladin. The knight who trained him, now in an advanced age, left Stormwind and Talan had not heard from him since.

Although he is now older, wiser and trained to control his impulses, Talan still carries some part of the darkness inside of him. He seeks retribution against the unjust and fights the Defias thugs with a particular zeal. He is fully devoted to the Light and to the memory of his dead sister, which are almost one and the same in his mind.