DIOMEDES, OUTCAST OF TYR

As the rain beat down on the roof of the house of Kelaria and Garen Lightstar in the town of Soldale, the village meicine helped bring a new life into the world. Kelaria and Garen named him Diomedes, after his grandfather, who passed many years ago. Prideful and joyous of their new son, the Lightstars raised him as a typical Soladian, raised as a warrior. Boyhood was wonderful for the young Diomedes until one day when he was 16 years old.

The village bells rang that day, summoning the men and elders to the square for a meeting. A village woman was kidnapped by an orcish hunting party, raped, then murdered and left on the village wall. They were now at war. All men who were able were forced into military service, the woman as nurses, blasksmiths or cooks. Many years went by and many men died, their woman either taken slave by the orc war boss, or killed on sight. The village held on though, refusing to fall to the orcish hordes.

Diomedes had 7 brothers, 6 natural and one adopted brother, orphaned from Tethir Forest. Although the elf was rare in the village, Diomedes and him became very close. Diomedes and the young elf, Evalius, were the youngest of the siblings, the rest all old enough to join the army and fight in the war. One of Diomedes brothers, kalchas, led a company of soliders against the horde and changed the tide of the war into the villagers favor, but losing his own life in the process.

As the war was seemingly comming to a close, the unthinkable happened; The Drows took advantage of the weakened village defenses and began an invasion. Diomedes' whole family was wiped out in the massacre, mother included. The only Lightstar survivors were Diomedes and Evalius. The village was burned and they fled back to Tethir and lived as honored guests among the elves there. It was here that Diomedes learned the ways of the rangers, but as he grew older he realized his love for nature was not as great as his calling to help implement justice throughout the lands, to twart evil, protect the innocent and he knew Waterdeep would be where he could find this.

It was here that he met the Knight Sir Veritas of the Order of the Merciful Sword, from the service of Lord Tyr. Diomedes knew that this is where he belonged. Veritas saw is heart was true, and squired him. The training was difficult but Diomedes took it in stride, his heart guiding him the whole way. Veritas assigned him to many tasks as part of his training and he did them as quickly as possible, always wanting to do more. Then one day, after slaying the Red Dragon near Zhentil Keep, with Veritas' help, he became a true Paladin of the Evenhanded.

His adopted brother Evalius has been absent many years and the two have not seen each other since Diomedes left for Waterdeep. Dio's heart is unwavering in his love for Lord tyr and his quest for justice and stopping the evil across the lands, but in his heart still burns a hatred for the orcs and drows who destroyed his world. Now he wanders the realm, helping those that he can, slaying dragons and doing his God's will, head heart and hand devoted to Tyr. In his heart also looms a great longing for love and companionship, unable to be expressed because of his paladin vows, his eye sparkling with this longing, trying to get out.

Since this time, Diomedes fell from grace with Tyr, was thrown out of the paladin order and the faith. He wandered faithless until he took up with the fighters of Tempus. He served on the Waterdeep City Watch for a time, until he went to Zhentil Keep and betrayed the city he had served so long. His corpse turned up in the waters around Skullport.