Shylock Black's page

Shylock was born in the town of Logas in the Chelaxian vassal state known as Isger. After being orphaned during the bloody Goblinblood Wars, Shylock became a ward of the state when he was institutionalized into the caring arms of the Church of Asmodeus. Since the age of five, Shylock has been trained to be proficient in the ways of battle and courtly manner in accordance to the ways of the glorious Prince of Darkness.

Shylock remembers very little of his birth parents. His mother, Addessa, was a talented string musician serving as a privately funded performist for a noblewoman in Logas. His father, Deldrid, made a lucrative living in the trapping of firewood fennecs and selling their pelts to merchants along Isger’s well-known trade route that feeds the nation of Druma’s booming mercantilism. Deldrid’s trade caravan was beset by a rolling tide of goblins that washed over the traders that left none alive. Addessa’s fate was soon after sealed when a raiding band of goblins, hobgoblins, and bugbears broke the defenses of Logas in the year 4697 AR. Shylock’s last sight of his mother was watching as a bugbear's spiked club came crashing down on the back her skull. Shylock was doted upon heavily by his parents, and the harsh transition of life to the Asmodean orphanage broke him of any habits of having lived a “soft” life. Yet he still possesses one of his mother's fine violins; Shylock treasures this heirloom more than any item in the world

Shylock was adopted shortly after his fifth birthday. The Church of Asmodeus graciously took him in when he would have surely died in the wilds of Isger, or worse, his head fitted onto a goblinoid’s pike. Shylock is, and shall ever be, eternally greatly to his benevolent wards for saving him and teaching him the ways of serving as a paladin in the Prince’s service.

War. Terrible war. The bloody Goblinblood Wars in Isger shaped the young mind of Shylock Black. Those few people that he does remember from that time are long dead. During the years of the war, and also while in the orphanage, Shylock grew accustomed to a hard life. Amenities should be earned, and only after one has purged weakness within their spirit. Life is a privilege and discipline is what maintains that privilege.

Faiths need champions. The only way that Shylock could attempt to repay his gracious saviors in the Church of Asmodeus was to devote his life to unquestionable service as a paladin serving in the Prince of Darkness’ service. While the exalted Order of the Star interested Shylock upon finishing his cavalier training, the Order of the Cockatrice was more appealing in that the order preaches self-interest; he would strengthen himself in order to weaken lesser faiths, and to build enough strength to purge the lawless.

Shylock’s prime mentor was Sir Eldaxer the God-Fist. This Hellknight in the service of the Order of the Nail was a frequent visitor to the orphanage outside of Logas where Shylock lived. During missions which brought Eldaxer from the Order’s headquarters in Varisia, Eldaxer mentored the young man in the ways of solitary combat and mounted warfare. Eldaxer’s zeal in the absolute destruction of savage brigands and lawless peoples fueled a fervor within Shylock’s chest that still burns strong to this day.

At the age of seventeen, Shylock was released from the church’s warm embrace. Using Sir Eldaxer the God-Fist as a model, Shylock wished to travel the world in order to quell lawless savagery wherever it may be found. After pledging himself to the Order of the Cockatrice, Shylock decided that service as an agent in the Pathfinder Society would serve him best in spreading his glorious name throughout every corner in Golarion. Spending every copper he possessed, Shylock staggered into the City at the Center of the World, Absalom, and reported to the Grand Lodge of the Pathfinder Society. During his four years of academy training Shylock excelled in combat at arms and social interactions. At the age of 21, Shylock was given a field commission as a full Pathfinder after he returned to his home of Logas and successfully wiped out a cabal of undead goblins which were rampaging his former homeland.