DM Squirrel Ninja's 2-PC Kingmaker

Game Master The.Squirrel.Ninja

Holst was born the third and youngest child of Georg and Elena, though as a child Holst always thought there were just two children. Only later did he discover that at some point, before his own birth, there was another boy also named Holst who died of consumption. His parents decided to have him as replacement for the child they had lost. That was also why his sister Myria was six years his senior while in most of the surrounding families the ages of the children were closer together.

They lived in the poorest part of the city. Father worked in the docks while mother worked as a seamstress. Generally speaking his childhood was harsh and poor but also warm and full of love. The coldness of the world did not penetrate his little bubble until he was a teenager and found that the world did not seem to care. The sons of local lords and other rich folk came to their part of town and terrorised the inhabitants for their own enjoyment. The considered themselves untouchable and they were, in a sense, as law enforcement was forced to look the other way by their superiors who were either paid by or friends of rich parents.

When an eleven year old Holst, already very large for his age, punched one of those rich brats, causing a black eye, because the boy tried to take his dog there were calls for Holst to be strung up. The only reason that did not happen was that a handful of good guards sabotaged the search until the anger died down.

In Holst this started a burning hatred for the rich and powerful. This resulted in him and his friends sabotaging the forays of the rich kids in nasty and covert ways. Things like spiking the alcohol they inevitably brought with human faeces while one of them distracted the invaders.
Eventually it escalated to going into the rich neighbourhood and setting a manor on fire. As Holst saw the people, servants and owners alike, coming out of the house in panic he realised he had gone too far. These weren't the monsters he painted in his mind, just normal human beings. Even the horrible boys were just crying in their mother's skirts. So how did they become such monsters? For while the boys appeared to be mostly misguided it were their fathers that called for the head of another child, so something must happen in between that fouled their hearts. He decided it if he wanted to change anything he had to do it from inside the system, so at the age of 14 he joined the guard regiment in his own part of the town.

With the guard he learned to fight. Though they focused on using a cudgel and a shield he quickly found he favored the bigger, heavier weapons. He also discovered very quickly how many of the guards took bribes, not just from the rich folk but also from local gangs. Gangs that included some of his own friends and that weren't any better than the rich bastards . Their corruption was different but just as vile. At the same time he couldn't really blame the guards who took the bribes to simply look the other way. Sure it was wrong but they did it to protect and feed their families and the root of the problem was not in their behaviour. That root, laid deeper, or higher up depending on your point of view. It was during his time there that he first heard about a group of international law enforcers that worked to root out corruption on the highest level, so called Scourge Hellknights, as some guards occasionally remarked drawing their attention in moments of their own frustration.
His time in the guard was also when he fell in with a small group of mystery cultists, worshippers of various Empyreal Lords, that existed within the city guard.

In the years that followed Holst's life followed the same routine every day. He trained, he patrolled, he prayed and he visited his family. His father had died by this point, drowning after getting knocked into the water at work. Mother died shortly after, grief weakening her resolve allowing consumption to take her.
He also started exchanging letters with the Order of the Scourge Hellknights in an attempt to secure himself a place as an armiger. He had at this time become the apprentice to one of the executioners working for the city guard, a fellow from the empyreal cult he had become part of.

This all fell through the day Elena was born and Myria died giving birth to her. Officially the father was not known, but Holst knew who it was. His sister had become the mistress of one of the rich brats that used to terrorise their neighbourhood. He had become a lush with a notorious penchant for women of lower status. Holst figured that was because that meant he wouldn't be held accountable for any brats he sired, like what happened with his sister. And normally this wouldn't have been an issue. Myria worked as a seamstress, like their mother, and could afford raising a child on her own and that was before considering any help Holst would offer. But there were complications during labor and as Elena entered this world her mother left it. Now it was up to Holst to take care of his niece while at seventeen, some would still consider him a child himself.

Elena doesn't really have a catchphrase but she does sigh a lot. Despite being very mature for her 16 years she's still a teenager and as such prone to being embarrassed by her uncle's behaviour even when it doesn't make much sense.
She has a profound weakness for cute things and finds it hard to resist baby animals. She only learned to leave baby birds alone when her intervention caused the parent to reject the chick because it smelled like human.

Holst also doesn't have a specific phrase he uses a lot but there are recurring themes. He often mentions "bearing the burden so other don't have to" and "carrying the guilt of the people". He also often talks about corrupted systems and how he wished he could remove a judge/magister/mayor who, in his eyes, is corrupt.
When on the road with his niece he doesn't feel the need to keep up his solemn demeanour he loosens up significantly and is prone to making dad jokes (further increasing Elena's embarrassment)