Tristan Kade

Basic Information

• Tristan Kade (Lampero) is a 33 year old male Ailor.

• Born to Thaddeus Lampero (Assumed) and Audrei Lampero on October 8th, 272 AC, in the Duchy of Vultaro. His real father is Ott Keppkuula. Thus, Thaddeus treated him poorly as he knew Tristan was not his son and sent him off to the Viridian Order at the age of fourteen. Tristan’s brothers, mother, and even a few cousins liked Tristan well enough, though. Aunts, uncles, even the servants all hated him, however. All of this led to him developing social anxiety for most of his life. At 14, he was sent off to the Viridian Castle to become a Knight. At 27, he became a Paladin of the Viridian Order and was offered the opportunity to join the Imperial Guard. Upon accepting the invitation, he went through four years of indoctrination and immediately afterwards an Undead attack in Vultaro led to a large portion of the Lampero family being slaughtered, including his father which resulted in Tristan leaving the Imperial Guard to take Vultaro. His time as Duke was brief and he made mistake after mistake due to his lack of political training before the locals ran him and his remaining family out of Vultaro. He married Leah Kade at 32, had a child, and is now currently 33 years old as of October.
  
  
• Tristan currently serves the Regalian Empire as Duke Consort of Testamere and an Imperial Guard Commander dedicated to protecting the Emperor and Kades. His goals include continuing to serve as a faithful Imperial for the Kades, to be a good husband and father to his family, and redeeming himself in the eyes of those he serves, along with the Imperial Spirit.

Visual Information

Body Description

• Tristan stands at 6’7 and weighs a heavy 245 lbs. He is a large, heavily-built Ailor with a body hardened by training, guard-work, and war. He believes in constant exercise to keep himself youthful and lean. He steers away from alcohol, but believes in the intake of anything that contains the much needed protein to keep himself physically strong and at his peak. The most accurate word while describing Tristan would be ‘burley’. He has long, capable limbs that are hardy and suited for his career choice. His hands being of large proportion and can be set to firm actions, or a delicate gesture. His powerful legs can carry his body weight, plus the heavy armor with speed that would surprise most.
  
  
• The Ailor has relatively pale skin and his body is rather scar-less for a man that’s been stabbed 54 times by Freya Lo.
  
  
• Dense body hair can be noted when unarmored that is thickest on his chest, arms, and legs.

Head Description

• Tristan has a long, rugged face that is mostly covered by a thick, blonde beard. His jaw is strong with a well-rounded chin to match and his cheekbones are set high upon his face. He has a sharp, angular bone structure to his face; his forehead being rather masculine in a sense. A set of scars from a Jungle Cat attack is shown on his face surrounding one of his eyes.
  
  
• Deep-set, keen gold eyes under a heavy brow that are constantly searching for trouble. He has thick, low brows that are often furrowed. Most describe Tristan’s expression as angry, or hostile due to the scowl usually on his face. When smiling, as rare as some people think it is, dimples can be spotted easily. The tiny muscles surrounding his eyes have gone rigid from excessive glaring. His mother used to tell him his face would get stuck like that one day if he kept making that expression.
  
  
• The Imperial Guardsman has a shaggy head of thick dirty-blonde hair kept at a short length for military purposes.
  
  
• His ears are not very noteworthy besides two upper earrings piercing his cartilage on both ears, nor his nose as it is not nearly as large as Basium’s. Around his left eye and left side of his lip shows the scarring of a Great Jungle Cat attack.

Clothing and Accessories

• Spoiler: Imperial Guard Armor

  
  
  
• Spoiler: Kade Armor

  
  
  
• Spoiler: Fancy Masculine doublet

  
  
  
• Spoiler: Jungle Stalker Battle Armor

  

Behavior Information
Personality Traits

• Loyal: Tristan is loyal to a fault. He believes in being a good friend and an efficient guardsman to his Emperor and those he swore to protect. He has never been disloyal to the crown, but only those who serve underneath him and prove themselves unworthy of the Ailor cause. He will never go against his duty to the Emperor.
  
  
• Brutish: Never one for hard-thinking, Tristan will often demonstrate that he’s more of a hands on sort of person. While he respects the usage of diplomacy and intellect, he would much rather punch his way through life. For example, Tristan was an awful noble and is a better guardsman. The way of the fist just calls to him, being much more at home when someone tells him who to punch or who to arrest. Tristan can often seem uncaring and rather temperamental in general. He finds it difficult to care about others when most people don’t care about him. The only people he minds his manners around are those he is sworn to protect and any they tell him to respect. Most people can go straight to the Void, though. That being said, he is not a man who goes around wishing bad things on people. Unless, of course, you have done him wrong.
  
  
• Asocial: The only thing Tristan dislikes about being a guard is dealing with some odd people when not guarding the Palace. He’s never been one for making casual conversation and he finds it rather tedious when talking to complete strangers. Tristan has a small group of friends that are close to him and he’d rather keep it that way. To some he can be described as distant or reclusive.
  
  
• Follower: Like an obedient dog, Tristan listens and carries out his superiors orders without hesitation. He is far more comfortable following the orders of his Commander Cedric, or any other of the royal bloodline. Should he be put in a position of power, Tristan will usually feel clueless and aimless in his goals. This is a trait he is currently working on getting past.
  
  
• Courageous: The Lampero words are “Courage Before Death” and Tristan has proven himself to be a follower of them. He believes so long as you are courageous, your life will be deemed valuable upon death and final judgement. Or at least, he did before the Battle of Calemberg. He wonders if the Imperial Spirit deemed him to be a failure before casting him back onto Aloria and even mocking him in a final effort by making him carry on with his life as if he were a lesser race. Some part of him wants to believe that he was thrown back into his life to prove himself worthy before death reaches him for good. Either way, he continues to show courage when facing danger.
  
  
• Reckless: Tristan often goes rushing into a situation without proper knowledge and understanding, usually throwing himself into combat without thinking of the repercussions. His first instinct is to fight or oppose any sign of danger and will usually take some persuasion to stop him from doing so as he relishes a challenge in the face of true danger.
  
  
• Jovial: The Imperial Guardsman is actually friendly to those who are deserving of this behavior. Should he find someone that is worthy of friendliness, he will become entirely more approachable and lighthearted. He loves to enjoy humor, even if his time being indoctrinated taught him to be serious. There is always a time and place for laughter. The same goes for seriousness. That being said, he can switch from either behavior entirely too quickly.
  
  
• Unstable: Due to his interesting heritage, Tristan is prone to mental instability from time to time. Should something traumatic happen to him or anybody he deeply cares about, the Imperial Guardsman can become violent, wrathful… anything that involves doing harm to others. You name it. The man loses all control and finds it difficult to halt his actions without proper guidance.

Likes:

• Structure and Discipline: At an early age, Tristan took an interest to command structure and the way a proper soldier must behave. He isn't the one to make an outburst to a higher up, but he has been known to lose his cool before in moments of stress.
  
  
• Training: Tristan spends a lot of his time on physical training. He never takes a day off from sword practice and routine, believing in keeping himself constantly prepared.
  
  
• Orcs: Tristan has spent many years around Orcs and has grown accustomed to their ways. Though, he is all too familiar with their attitudes and dicey actions. He treats them with respect and values their friendship above most. Let it be said, that Tristan won't hesitate to put an Orc he doesn't know in their place.
  
  
• Jungle Cats: The sigil of Tristan’s house and the animal that gave Tristan his facial scars. He often wears a Jungle Stalkers pelt atop his armor or clothing.
  
  
• Horses: Tristan has great respect for these animals as he was trained to fight from horseback in the Viridian Order. He enjoys riding and hunting and even has a Freylian by the name of Pride.

Dislikes:

• Disrespect: Tristan despises rude people who go out of their way to inconvenience him or others. When speaking to somebody, he expects the same respect given to him that he would show them and he doesn't tolerate disrespect shown towards his superiors by citizens or nobles.
  
  
• Small Spaces: Rather claustrophobic and socially anxious, Tristan prefers to be outside, or in an empty room. He can be somewhat paranoid around people and finds it difficult to do his job when peasants crowd together. Social events give people the chance to speak to Tristan, which usually leads to them reminding him of past troubles.

• Undead: A few members of the Lampero family were wiped out during Tristan’s 31st year. He desires nothing more than to put a proper end to any Undead he comes across.

• Vampires: During his time in Regalia, he has often had to deal with a pesky vampire or two. He finds them to be a nuisance and annoying when there’s just one of them, but in numbers he’s cautious of their abilities. There’s been few times where a Vampire has had the upper-hand on him and one of which particularly makes him think again before descending into the sewers without proper authorization.
  
  
• Heresy: With his indoctrinations, Tristan has had Unionism drilled into his brain left and right. He will zealously deal with non-believers in whatever manners befit their crimes against the faith and Empire.
  
  
• His seat: He has a particular seat in the tavern that he enjoys. Should he want to sit in it and find somebody else already in the seat… Needless to say, they will move one way or another. It’s his seat. One might even notice his name carved into it.
  
  
• Daendroquins: He despises their culture, he despites their accents, and he despises their skin color. The Knight only tolerates the important ones and if he had it his way… they’d all be shipped off back home. The only thing he likes about their culture is the food. Mostly because food can always be appreciated; no matter where it’s from.
  
  
• Dancing: He detests dancing. Not much to be said here. The only reason he does dance is to make his wife happy. The only form of dancing he will involve himself with willingly is Orcish ritualistic dancing. He enjoys hopping around a fire without any specific rhythm in mind.
  
  
• Mind games: Talk plainly and to the point. That’s what Tristan likes. He doesn’t like it when somebody beats around the bush or makes a point to screw with his head.

Abilities and Disabilities
Strengths

• Expert Swordsman: He has spent many years trying to master the usage of a two-handed sword, more specifically his claymore. While failing in many fields, Tristan has always trained relentlessly to be efficient with his sword in hand. His brute strength gives him a considerate advantage with his massive custom claymore; being able to cleave his way through enemies easily. Four times he has been defeated in war, once by a war-hammer when overwhelmed by a surprise attack, the second being a mad woman stabbing him to near-death when he was injured and weaponless, the third was when an arrow pierced his arm from a craven archer and the fourth was when he lost to Commander Jaliliah in the Qadir War. His skills with a sword are extremely evident and will not waver, but his luck will from time to time when the odds are against him.
  
  
• Determined: Tristan will always get the job done one way or another. He will go to any length to see an issue resolved. He is stubborn and relentless in his duties and would probably rather die than failing. One thing can be sure, if you upset Tristan, or break a law in any way, he’s not likely to forget it and will go out of his way to see closure to a situation.
  
  
• Resolute: Tristan's whole purpose is to fulfill his oaths and carry out his duties efficiently. When given an order by a superior, or faced with a decision that he has to make on his own, he will be quick-thinking and firm in his choice of action. Even if the outcome is negative.

Weaknesses

• Easy to abuse verbally: Due to Tristan’s history, the Imperial Guard is easy to poke fun at. While generally trying to ignore the insults, Tristan grows tired of them and actually becomes quite stressed from time to time. During these moments, Tristan will lash out verbally, sometimes physically, if the person doesn't matter. He's never enjoyed having his past mistakes shoved in his face repeatedly. Nobody really does.
  
  
• Innate Clumsiness: Due to his enormous size, Tristan can be found often making clumsy mistakes on and off the battle-field. Sometimes it proves for a difficult job, especially due to his armor weighing him down. He moves slowly and has major trouble against nimble and ranged fighters.
  
  
• Severe Headaches: Tristan suffers from severe headaches due to a head injury he received during the Elven War. During extensive combat situations, Tristan can be found making errors that would be easily avoided without the throbbing and pain moving throughout his head. This usually results in him becoming angry, trying to finish the fight quickly and losing all control over his actions. His caution goes right out the window.
  
  
• Zoning out: Unfortunately, one of the side effects of having his memory taken from him three times would be that he zones out quite often when he’s not concentrating hard enough. One might notice this because of the thousand yard stare his eyes suffer from when this occurs.

Combat Style

• Offensive/Defensive: Two-Handed Swords - Claymore
  
  
• Offensive/Defensive: Dirty fighting - Brute strength
  
  
• Note: Tristan uses his strength and swordsman skills to engage, drive back his enemy, and defeat them. He prefers to keep his enemy at sword's length and when they get too close, or if he wants to close the distance, Tristan will either finish or drive them back with offensive dirty fighting. While he is elegant with the claymore, he incorporates his own brute style into the weapon. He uses his size and strength to his advantage, hurling himself at his foe, kicking and punching. He isn't afraid to use cheap tricks, especially if the opponent proves to be too quick and Tristan has to go on the defensive. He will continue to use dirty fighting and defensive sword abilities until he has an opportune moment to go on the offensive. Angering the Lampero only makes him lose concentration and become berserker like until the fight has finished.

Weapon of Choice

• His trusty Claymore: Tristan has always been a fan of two-handed swords and has trained for many years to master his blade.
  
  
• His body: The Guardsman wasn't given his strength or stature for nothing. He will often use his fists, legs, head, and any other part of his body to finish or start a fight.

Relationships: TBA

Spoiler: Life Story

Intro:

The Lampero family was built upon the hard-work of a single man who had decided to spend all of his hard-earned money creating a small mining operation. Gregoire Lampero was his name and he had high hopes for his business when he set his sight upon the mountains of Vultaro. Thinking of gold and other expensive resources, Gregoire opened his first mine and it wasn’t long before he found an excessive amount of coal. Disappointed with the lack of gold, but excited at the abundance of coal, Gregoire built his mining operation upon the black rock and it wasn’t long before he saw his legacy grow before his very eyes. The Lampero eventually became Ducal rulers of Vultaro and they ruled over the land for seven peaceful generations. That is, until Tristan was born.


Vultaro:

Growing up in the Lampero estate was Hell for Tristan. Throughout his childhood he noticed odd behavior directed at him from his father. The behavior only became more apparent after Tristan’s 10th birthday. The usual resentful daddy sort of crap. Beatings, lashings, telling him he was worthless. Tristan became accustomed to the hatred directed at him from his father and often used to ‘go away inside’ when his father let out his anger. Below is a short passage to detail their relationship.

Tristan’s 14th Birthday:

Midnight. Everything seemed calm in the Lampero estate when the clock struck Twelve. A few moments later, one might hear the jingling of keys unlocking a door, the creaking of a door being opened and the stumbling of a drunken Duke trying to enter a room without waking the sleeping Estate dwellers.

“Tr-Tristan. Merda. Svegliare. Up. Up.” Thaddues whispered into the dark, drawing closer to the bed tucked away in the corner of the small room. “Up, boy.”

With a groan, a lump moved from underneath the moth eaten blankets before a face peeked out. He was only Fourteen, as of five minutes ago and there was just a hint of facial hair already growing in along his jawline. “What, father?” He asked, but he already knew the answer to his question. Thaddeus could tell by the expression that Tristan wore. Another midnight beating was what the boy suspected his father wanted to give him.

“Do not scowl, merda. Where is the light?” Thaddeus mumbled out in his heavy Dressolini accent as he looked about for a source. “Light. Merda. I know you have a candlestick hidden away from me. Light it.”

Tristan obliged the wishes of his father and produced a candlestick from a loose floorboard beside the head of his bed. He avoided the judging stare of his father and lit the candlestick.

“Good! Good! Now listen carefully, Merda.”

“Father. Stop calling me shit. I’m your son.” Tristan replied in a heavy Northerne accent, one learned from his mother’s teachings.

“Aha! Straight to the point, Tristan! Very well!” With that, he went to pull the only chair in the room to the edge of Tristan’s bed. “You’re not my son.” He said, quite seriously and without the drunken aloof tone he had before. What was replaced was a more drunken, hate filled hiss.

“You. Are. Not. My son.”

Tristan merely glared at him silently while he waited for his father to continue.

“What? No questions? You’re hopeless, child. Let me spell it out for you.” With that, he pointed at a portrait of the Lampero main line. “Your dear mother. Look at her. Beautiful. Strong. Golden haired! She was defiled.” He spoke plainly, without showing much emotion on his face or in his voice now. “She was ruined. By a boy just a few years older than you are now.”

Tristan’s hands shook and he tried to hide them underneath of his old blankets but guile was not his forte and Thaddeus noticed.

“Ah. You’re scared. Scared I’ll hit you. For good reason. If I had it my way… I’d kill you, boy. I’ve thought about it. Many times. Even threatened your dear mother with it.” He leaned closer, rising from his seat just barely. “That is why… I’m sending you away. Next week.” He grinned, pulling back from the bed and rising to his feet instead. “Your mother has talked me into sending you to the Viridian Order instead of a mineshaft like I wanted to. Maybe then, you might actually do something for this family.” Thaddeus turned to leave but halted as if he forgot something. Turning back around, he grabbed the candlestick and departed.

Alone in the dark, Tristan wished he would have been given a simple beating instead of the emotional bomb his ‘father’ had just dropped on him.

The Viridian Order and Beyond:

The Viridian Order proved to be very beneficial for young Tristan. It kept him focused, disciplined, and distracted from his previous life. This was his life now and he promised to himself that he would become the best Knight Regalia could offer. First he started with the sword. He immediately found a weapon that called to his nature: The Claymore. It was relatively speedy and the length appealed to his body size as he was already large even for a 14 year old. Next came the horses. He found himself learning this subject easily as well as he enjoyed the animals and riding upon them. In the Order, he had the pleasure of meeting a few lifelong friends, as well as some mentors that would ultimately shape the way he looked at life. For a time, at least.

The years went by quickly and his skills grew so much that he was promoted to First Sergeant when he took part in his first tournament. Still, the Knight was disappointed in himself that he failed to become a Paladin on the first try. This disappointment would occur 4 more times until finally during his 27th year, Tristan was proclaimed to be the victor of a tournament and was awarded the rank of Paladin of the Viridian Order. A few days later, Tristan was approached about joining the Imperial Guard. At first, he almost refused, but accepted after a few days of thinking over the offer.

Four years later, after Tristan’s indoctrination into the Imperial Guard, his mother and father had a fight which resulted with Tristan’s father storming out of the Estate and to one of the first Lampero mineshafts. The men had been unclearing the abandoned mine which had caved in generations ago. Nearly two-hundred men had been trapped inside the mine and either due to laziness or superstition had remained shut until recently. The Undead shambled out and killed a good portion of Lampero, guardsmen, and locals before they were put down. This tragedy forced Tristan to leave the Imperial Guard after his indoctrination and return to Vultaro to take the title of Duke.

Nothing had prepared Tristan for this. He was no leader and questioned his rule constantly before he decided to travel back to Regalia to learn the ways of nobility firsthand. Unfortunately, he was easily distracted by the cities going ons and even neglected his Ducal duties. He traveled with the Orcs, he fought with the locals, trained more than he studied, and he even went hunting when bored. Then war was announced and Tristan knew he had wasted precious time.

During the Elven War, Tristan had already lost most of his men in a single battle. They had won, but the cost was great. Meanwhile while most of the other houses were fighting the Elves, House Santorski and House Lo formed an alliance and took Typhonus lands with their armies. They formed the Consortium and with their madness, they sent out letters among the nobility. Tristan replied to their offer of joining the Consortium and being rewarded with lands should he betray his friends. Being a man who honored his friendship to Ulric Typhonus, Tristan joined the Consortium and sat beside Freya Lo when his armies turned on her. She showed her disapproval by stabbing him in the chest 54 times and leaving him for dead. A powerful Vice by the name of Ott dragged Tristan off the battlefield and nursed him back to health. During this time, Tristan learned of Ott’s real identity. The man was his father, but before returning Tristan back to society, Ott wiped the Duke’s memory of the past month he had spent with the Vice. Tristan was handed over to Cedric Kade by his father and later awoke on the ship back to Regalia with no memory of the month with Ott.

Finding himself very much alive, life went on for Tristan. He kept quiet about what had happened to him, only telling a few close friends but even that was limited as he had his mind wiped. Left with a confused mind, he attempted to pick up the pieces of his Duchy but he had done too much damage by then. His mistakes in the Elven War and the Battle of Calemberg had cost him dearly. The unseasoned leader had managed to have his whole army killed off causing the entire Duchy to riot against his rule from time to time. The slaughtering of their sons, and the fact he had lived when none of them had dug Tristan into a hole he couldn’t climb out of. Mistake after mistake and finally the Duchy of Vultaro rose up in a true rebellion which ended as quickly as it had started. Tristan had sworn fealty to the Anahera’s, thinking it was for the betterment of his people should they have a more powerful army to guard the borders of Vultaro. The peasants and the newly formed army promptly ran him and the other Lampero out of Vultaro.

So the landless Duke crawled back to Regalia, relinquished his titles, and begged to be allowed to return to the Imperial Guard. Luckily, the Emperor allowed him to rejoin under the condition that Tristan spends his time guarding the aft-hallway for however long the Emperor deemed it necessary. Tristan took the opportunity but soon found out that this fate was worse than death itself. The hours were long and immeasurably boring, but the Imperial Guard was determined to show his dedication.

This went on for at least a year before Cedric Kade, the new Imperial Guard Commander, pulled Tristan out of the aft-hallway after a conversation they shared in the tavern. Unfortunately, the circumstances were not the best, as the Qadir were invading the city. Tristan was at the tavern when they were doing so and he considered fighting them off before a letter came in requesting Tristan’s presence. By the poor district, Tristan found Cedric Kade and he relayed the Emperor’s message to him: Keep Cedric Kade safe.

When Regalia was finally rid of the Qadir, Tristan was rewarded for his loyalty and ensuring that Cedric Kade was kept safe during the occupation. He was offered the hand of Leah Kade in marriage. Tristan accepted this offering without much hesitation and set upon the path of turning his life around finally. Since then, he has fought in the Qadir War, had a child, fought in the battle against the fog creatures and the statue of Estel, lost his memory two more times, and is preparing to fight the rebels in Ithania.

 

Made the edits. I hope they are to your satisfaction!

The personality traits first. I removed guileless entirely. After thinking about it and his roleplays, I've come to realize that guileless isn't entirely accurate to his character.

I've combined Brutish and Physical
Brutish: Never one for hard-thinking, Tristan will often demonstrate that he’s more of a hands on sort of person. While he respects the usage of diplomacy and intellect, he would much rather punch his way through life. For example, Tristan was an awful noble and is a better guardsman. The way of the fist just calls to him, being much more at home when someone tells him who to punch or who to arrest. Tristan can often seem uncaring and rather temperamental in general. He finds it difficult to care about others when most people don’t care about him. The only people he minds his manners around are those he is sworn to protect and any they tell him to respect. Most people can go straight to the Void, though. That being said, he is not a man who goes around wishing bad things on people. Unless, of course, you have done him wrong.

I've added Jovial as you suggested. I thought it was a good idea. You are correct, I don't focus on positive traits enough. Still. I think one more positive is enough for me.
Jovial: The Imperial Guardsman is actually friendly to those who are deserving of this behavior. Should he find someone that is worthy of friendliness, he will become entirely more approachable and lighthearted. He loves to enjoy humor, even if his time being indoctrinated taught him to be serious. There is always a time and place for laughter. The same goes for seriousness. That being said, he can switch from either behavior entirely too quickly.

I've added Unstable.
Unstable: Due to his interesting heritage, Tristan is prone to mental instability from time to time. Should something traumatic happen to him or anybody he deeply cares about, the Imperial Guardsman can become violent, wrathful… anything that involves doing harm to others. You name it. The man loses all control and finds it difficult to halt his actions without proper guidance.


Now for the dislikes

I've added Heresy to a dislike as he is an over zealous Unionist due to lore changes.
Heresy: With his indoctrinations, Tristan has had Unionism drilled into his brain left and right. He will zealously deal with non-believers in whatever manners befit their crimes against the faith and Empire.

The seat suggestion cracked me up so I had to take it.
His seat: He has a particular seat in the tavern that he enjoys. Should he want to sit in it and find somebody else already in the seat… Needless to say, they will move one way or another. It’s his seat. One might even notice his name carved into it.

;D <3
Daendroquins: He despises their culture, he despites their accents, and he despises their skin color. The Knight only tolerates the important ones and if he had it his way… they’d all be shipped off back home. The only thing he likes about their culture is the food. Mostly because food can always be appreciated; no matter where it’s from.

Added dancing to a dislike.
Dancing: He detests dancing. Not much to be said here. The only reason he does dance is to make his wife happy. The only form of dancing he will involve himself with willingly is Orcish ritualistic dancing. He enjoys hopping around a fire without any specific rhythm in mind.

And last but not least... Mind games for a dislike!
Mind games: Talk plainly and to the point. That’s what Tristan likes. He doesn’t like it when somebody beats around the bush or makes a point to screw with his head.


Now for the life story edits! I admittedly, had a hard time with this part, but I'm going to flesh it out more in the future as I build his Viridian Order past up in roleplay!

The Viridian Order proved to be very beneficial for young Tristan. It kept him focused, disciplined, and distracted from his previous life. This was his life now and he promised to himself that he would become the best Knight Regalia could offer. First he started with the sword. He immediately found a weapon that called to his nature: The Claymore. It was relatively speedy and the length appealed to his body size as he was already large even for a 14 year old. Next came the horses. He found himself learning this subject easily as well as he enjoyed the animals and riding upon them. In the Order, he had the pleasure of meeting a few lifelong friends, as well as some mentors that would ultimately shape the way he looked at life. For a time, at least.

The years went by quickly and his skills grew so much that he was promoted to First Sergeant when he took part in his first tournament. Still, the Knight was disappointed in himself that he failed to become a Paladin on the first try. This disappointment would occur 4 more times until finally during his 27th year, Tristan was proclaimed to be the victor of a tournament and was awarded the rank of Paladin of the Viridian Order. A few days later, Tristan was approached about joining the Imperial Guard. At first, he almost refused, but accepted after a few days of thinking over the offer.

 

@Shayin ^ (For some reason, it didn't tag you properly the first time.)