Zavala Thualakei Irontongue
Initially part of a large and thriving herd of Goliaths,
Zavala met with tragedy when he was very young. While out playing one day; an archdemon descended upon his clan, and decimated the entire group. In an act of great love,
Zavala’s parents sacrificed themselves, telling him to run, while distracting the demon from their young son. Alone at the age of six,
Zavala would have perished, if not for the kindness of strangers.
After wandering alone in the wilderness for weeks, surviving as best he could off of the land,
Zavala stumbled upon a ferocious brown bear, and was fleeing for his life.
As fate would have it, a young wizard was traveling through the darkwood, on the way home to the modest family estate. Although he was only a young wizard, Blaise Lighthand cast an effective spell of freezing upon the bear, and rescued the hungry and distraught goliath child. Upon learning the young boy’s tale, Blaise folded
Zavala into his life, bringing the boy home with him to the College of the Arcane arts in Vastra City. While he wanted to please his new guardian,
Zavala found university to be tedious.
On a journey through town, a mere year after
Zavala’s astonishing rescue, the motley pair was walking through the market in Vastra City. They passed by a working blacksmith’s shop, and the siren song of hammered metal, and stoked furnaces called out to
Zavala. Enchanted, he started his apprenticeship immediately, under the stern but fair tutelage of Philip Hammersmeld. His shop was prosperous, but not wealthy, with more loyal long-term clients than flashy new custom. Armor and rare materials were his specialty, and it was these that he taught to the eager young boy.
Among one of Hammersmeld’s favorite customers was the acclaimed Paladin, Ser Josef Knotley. Born of a noble house, Josef frequently brought in his well-used, but still gleaming armor for repair and upgrade. To the young
Zavala, the paladin shone like a hero star. He tended the paladin’s armor like it were made of solid gold, instead of steel, and hero-worshipped the knight.
Zavala became quickly proficient at his craft, his large frame and endurance made him a perfect match for smithing. It was not long before even gruff Hammersmeld could find no more wrong with his metalworking. And so it came to be that the kind smith spoke to his famous patron about taking on a squire.
It is possible that these were the happiest times in
Zavala’s life. He worked Master Hammersmeld’s shop by morning, and at night trained at the temple, and learned how best to worship Inhotem. He lived happily with his adopted father, and felt that he had finally found a home in Vastra City. As he learned more and more combat from his knightly lord, Ser Knotley began to bring
Zavala with him on short travels. These excursions satisfied the nomadic need in
Zavala’s heart, while allowing him to still return to his home and hearth at the end of the short quests. He grew strong under Ser Knotley, and the two formed an unbreakable bond.
Tragedy struck again in
Zavala’s life, on the very day that he became a fully fledged knight in his order. By now a Master Wizard, and a venerated professor at the very university he had once attended, Blaise Lighthand was found dead in his research laboratory. In a haze of mourning,
Zavala set out on his own, to track down the demon who had initially sundered his life, in hopes of appeasing the grief within him, and to finally earn the rank of Knight of Justice within his order.
