(Praxis) Haldren Thul - Back story
From Black Country Role Playing Society
Haldren Thul - Backstory
The door to the grand chamber opened and Haldren was beckoned in by a black painted warforged.
“Mr Thul, welcome. Please have a seat.” The man who had spoken gestured to the lone seat in front of a large desk. “I am Professor Talos, and my colleagues here are Doctor Shiel and Mr Ir’Olias.”
“That will be all butler. You may leave” the man named Mr Ir’Olias said as he waved out the warforged.
The warforged left and the doors shut behind him. Haldren strode into the centre of the chamber and sat down in the seat provided.
“Well Mr Thul. We have read through the résumé you sent and are quite impressed. We just need to go over a few things before we can offer you the placement you seek.” Mr Talas said, tapping his fingers together as he spoke.
“That would explain the Zone of Truth that has been cast here?” Haldren waved his hand gesturing to the arcane circle inlaid in the floor.
“Erm, very observant yes. We do have to protect our interests you understand. It isn’t a problem is it?” Talos looked a bit unnerved that his spell had been spotted
“No problem. I understand you need to go over my résumé and ensure that it is accurate and that I’m not hiding anything” Said Haldren, confident in the knowledge that he could bypass the spell if he wanted to.
“Good, let’s begin.” All three interviewers shuffled the papers in front of them. “Haldren Thul, born a war orphan in the city of Atur, Karrnath. Raised by city orphanages until the age of six where upon you were apprenticed to the Ministry if the Dead. Correct?” The man on the left, Shiel, almost spat out that last part. Must be a Thrane, thought Haldren.
“There were a lot of war orphans back then, the state ensured that we were looked after so that we could be apprenticed into areas that could help the war effort.” Haldren kept a calm tone of voice and a small smile while fixing Shiel in a stare.
“While apprenticed you assisted in the construction of Karrnathi’s undead armies and studied esoteric magic’s under Master Kilroy Jovan?” Shiels distaste was obvious now.
“I mainly swept the floors and prepped the bodies for re-animation.” Shiel was hoping for something more and Haldren felt smug that he had denied the Thrane this. “Master Jovan was but a records keeper, he taught me a lot and was like a father to me”
“Moving on.” Said Ir’Olias, trying to steer the interview on. “At the age of sixteen you joined the Karrnathi army as a Private in the Bloodwand regiment. There you provided support during the Thrane campaign of 990?”
“Yes. I was mainly there to heal the wounded but also to provide blessings.” This really going get on Shiels nerves now thought Haldren as he spoke.
“You are a follower of the Blood of Vol then?” Shiel shot accusingly
“I thought people were allowed to worship what they wanted?” Haldren mocked at Shiel. “But no. I do not worship at the alter of that hijacked faith.”
“Your religion is of no matter to us.” Talos said giving Shiel a hard stare. “Moving on. At the age of twenty-one you had reached the rank of Corporal within the regiment. You were stationed on the banks of Scions Sound during the Day of Mourning. Did you actually see the mists rise?”
“The mists rose slowly after the event to form the border we now know. The actual cataclysm was quite eerie; it felt as if Eberron itself was going to snap.” Haldren snapped out of his flashback to that day. “But I hear the experience was different in different places.”
“Lets not dwell on that.” This was from Ir’Olias. Looks like a nerve had been touched thought Haldren, most definitely Cyran. “You were then promoted to Sergeant and spent the next three years in charge of a border patrol unit called the Mist Runners.”
“Yes, I found myself well suited to dealing with the creatures that came out of the Mournland.” Haldren had learnt a lot in those years and had refined his talents well.
“You then retired from the army to come here. What prompted that?”
And now to the crux of the matter, what do I get out of it, thought Haldren. “Seeing the men under your command kill each other in a living confusion spell doesn’t help. Myself, and what was left of my unit was disbanded and given other duties. I had completed my term of service and decided that the best way to deal with the menace of creatures like what I faced coming out of the Mournland is more study. I can get that here.”
“Fair enough. From your résumé you are obviously experienced at working in the field and we would like you to continue this, if you agree?” Ir’Olias said this with a slight glint in his eye.
“It would be hard not to work in the field.” And Haldren added to himself, ”After all can be quite profitable, as I’m sure you plan.”
“Well I see no issues here. Your past and willingness to work for the advancement of this establishment proves you will be an asset here. Gentlemen?” Talos looked to his left and right and got nods from both men, if a bit begrudgingly from Shiel. “Welcome to Morgrave University.”
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