"The Hound of St Cuthbert"
Sometimes the world just stops moving and you find yourself wondering how you ended up here and how you became who you are.

Yanos Vernan used to be a bounty hunter with a purpose.

Criminals were everywhere and he was the one bringing them to St Cuthbert’s justice. He never wanted much out of life and was content on travelling the roads by himself trusting his well honed skills. Occasionally he spent time training new recruits at the church and his duties often required him to socialize in different taverns, but apart from his good friend Yenja, he preferred the times when he was alone.

His life suddenly changed when he met Jill

She was so different from him, a nobleborn used to the finer ways of the city, seldom travelling by herself and taking things for granted that he never even dreamed about.

By then Yanos was well known in the little town, but he couldn’t believe she would notice a simple man such as him.

Not even wanting a to be tied up by any woman, he didn’t even feel nervous the evening they first spoke and without knowing it he had got stuck forever in her net.

Of course secretly dating a nobleborn wasn’t without dangers.

With his skills they avoided notice for about a year. Yenja probably suspected something was up as he started avoiding missions that would take him far away from Cauldron, but true to her friend held up appearances.

It wasn’t to remain hidden for long.

Jill got pregnant and they were forced to act.

Yanos dressed up in formal gear and pleaded her parents for her hand. Despite his smooth tounge and polite ways a marriage to a commoner didn’t sit well with them and he was told he wasn’t welcome there or even near their daughter ever again.

They tried to send her away to distant cousins, but she wouldn’t have it their way and instead moved into Yanos little cabin in the woods outside the city walls.

Yenja agreed to marry them and for a few months they were happy.

Money were scarce however as they got nothing from Jill’s parents.

A large bounty took Yanos away for a few weeks and when he got back things changed abruptly again.

He came back to find his door bashed and his beloved ravished and murdered.

Rage awakened from the sorrow and he spent the next few months tracking down the heinous murderer.

Finding him he realized any punishment decreed by St Cuthbert’s law wouldn’t be enough and for the first time he took the law in his own hands slowly torturing the murderer over several days. Suddenly realising he was enjoying it far too much, he threw the murderer off a cliff.

It didn’t fill the void of his lost wife and unborn child of course and feeling empty he withdrew to his cabin, blaming himself for letting them come to harm.

He wouldn’t likely have survived the next few years without Yenja’s occasional visits and support.

Days were spent blaming himself and the gods for their cruel games. He never doubted St Cuthberts ways, but obviously his power here was limited or such things would never be allowed to happen.

His ponderings lead him to believe what happens in Oerth is a pointless game where our little deeds will not make much difference in the long run. There will always be criminals, injustice and strife, until the gods agree otherwise.

Justice is only what we make of it and St Cuthbert’s wise laws will not reach everyone in the end. Only those who follow him will be judged to see if they have been worthy and when that time comes Yanos is certain he will no longer be worthy.

But even though this is likely the reason Yanos would give himself and others who ask why he quit his life as a bounty hunter, in his subconscious an even greater fear hold him back. The fear of the feelings that emerged when he took the law in his own hands…

People started talking about him as the crazy hermit and stories of him cutting litanies into his own flesh would likely have been all that remained, if Yenja hadn’t asked him to set aside his dread and sorrow to help an old friend and the Cauldron itself.

He didn’t really see the point, but she awakened the long forgotten feeling of duty that had been his core for most of his days.

He didn’t come back for Cauldron, he came back for Yenja, his friend who had always stood by his side.

With lost hope he found once again the only thing that remained to give him joy and somewhere in his subconscious the beast reawakened and laughed…

Sometimes the world just stops moving and you find yourself wondering how you ended up here and how you became who you are.

Yanos is too afraid to stop, to afraid the beast will swallow him whole.

Min DD bountyhunter har sedan dess dött och återfötts, som en bättre version av sig själv, hound archon som botgöring tjänar St Cuthbert på obestämd tid.
lvl 18 Paladin/fighter i Shackled City