About Ardent SteelbornArdent Steelborn
House Steelborn is a Chelaxian noble house with strong, but distant, ties to the Orlovsky family from Brevoy. The family is known for producing warriors and holy warriors, and has even produced a few of Chelax's famous Hellknights. While certainly not the first paladin from the House of Steelborn, Ardent is the first paladin to come from the family since the rise of House Thrune. House Steelborn is based out of Steelhold, a small city on the northern border of the nation located between Kantaria and Kintargo. A scion of the House of Steelborn, Ardent was born to the Chelaxian branch of the family. His youth was spent in marital training and competition. He was friendly enough with his twin sibling Miles and his younger sister Chastity. His only real trouble in life was a young boy named Orden Bloodblade, a Dhampir from another noble family, who always was competing with Ardent in tournaments. The two developed a fierce rivalry that lead to a fight where Ardent threw Orden's bastard status in his face and Orden tried to kill Ardent. While our friends and parents quickly separated us, there has been animosity between us ever sense. As Ardent grew up, he found that while he shared much of his native nation's temperament, he didn't care for much of the moral character of his countrymen. However he continued to pay lip service to Asmodeus and ignore his qualms untill he met Sir Valric, a Paladin of Iomedae. Ardent immediately became intrigued by the man and sought to learn more about the Paladin Order that the knight was from. Sir Valric told him that he should look into his own family history to see what a Paladin should be. Much to Ardent's surprise, he found that his family used to have a strong tradition of Paladins before the rise of House Thrune. At that moment, Ardent decided that he would do everything in his power to restore that tradition. With the support of his parents, Ardent began training with Sir Valric until he became a full Paladin. While training, Ardent noticed that his younger sister Chastity was always nearby, watching intently. After being pronounced a full Paladin, Sir Valric and Ardent parted ways. Ardent went on to become an officer in the Cheliaxian Army. His superiors, seeing the unique opportunity that a Paladin provided, often sent Lt. Steelborn after demons (and on the incredibly rare occasion, devils) who were causing problems for the Cheliaxian nation. During this time, a rift developed between Ardent and Miles over their personal character. Ardent was always trying to live up to his duty as a Paladin and as a soldier while Miles was more interested in having a good time and enjoying himself. In order to avoid causing more conflict with his twin, Ardent avoided his brother, preferring to spend time with his sister and teaching her about Iomedae and Paladinhood. He also spend more and more time with his unit and the military. Ardent's increased time with his unit lead to the unpleasant discovery that Orden Bloodblade had reappeared in his life. Orden was a member of a similar unit in the Cheliaxian military and their rivalry quickly sprung up again. Unfortunately for Ardent, Orden's distaste for him lead to his association with some unsavory characters, a cult of Orcus. The Cult of Orcus advised Orden to go find Doxotar Aldas of the city watch and inform him that Ardent was a Paladin of Iomedae. Orden assumed this would lead to Ardent's execution, but instead the Doxotar turned out to be a follower of Iomedae and a spy for Andoran. He wanted Ardent's help in turning in information to Andoran in order to help hasten the downfall of the Infernal backed house Thrune. After a night of meditation and prayer for guidance in an Church of Iomedae, Ardent decided that he had to turn in Doxotar Aldas. His reasoning was that he had sworn an oath to serve and defend Chelaix and that turning in information to the Andorans would cause the deaths of many good men who were simply patriots like he was. He went to the Inquisitors and informed them of what he knew. Although Ardent was praised for his actions and received a commendation for it, he has felt terrible about what he had to do ever since. After the incident with Doxotar Aldas, Ardent decided that his stint in the Chelaxian Army was over. He felt that he was better off searching elsewhere for a honorable career. He left his home and left for the outside world. Paladin Code: The paladins of Iomedae are just and strong. Their mission is to right wrongs and eliminate evil at its root. They are crusaders and live for the joy of righteous battle. They serve as examples to others, and their code demands they protect the weak and innocent by eliminating sources of oppression, rather than the symptoms. They may back down or withdraw from a fight if they are overmatched, but if their lives will buy time for others to escape, they must give them. Their tenets include: o I will learn the weight of my sword. Without my heart to guide it, it is worthless-my strength is not in my sword, but in my heart. If I lose my sword, I have lost a tool. If I betray my heart, I have died.
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