Barbao grew up in a village where everyone was happy and knew everyone else.
He loved to catch tadpoles with his younger sister, Aarila and he loved
eating the delicacies of his people. But, despite all this happiness there
was a sadness in Barbao. Being so small, Barbao and his sister were
constantly bullied by the older Halflings. Day in and day out he would have
bruises and scrapes from protecting his sister from her would be assailants.
Barbao always wondered why the bullies picked on them, and slowly he began
training with the local warrior guildmaster. The day came when the bullies
cornered Barbao and Aarila and to Barbao's surprise, they did not leave with
a single mark. His training had paid off and he was grateful to his
guildmaster for teaching him how to defend those that may or may not be
smaller than the average bully. He then decided that he would take up the
call of Protector and after saying goodbyes to his family and ensuring the
bullies would never harm his sister again, Barbao travelled to Valour where
he took apprenticeship under their local guildmaster and began his training
to one day become a Knight of Valour.
His will
Barbao had always been a humble and quaint Halfling, never getting into
too much trouble besides the bullies that haunted his village. He had known
that he wanted to become a Warmaster so he could best protect himself and
his sister, and eventually it came to pass, but there was something else
that he had yet known was inside him, purpose. It was on one of those days,
where everything seemed perfect. The mid-morning air was crisp and a slight
dew rested on the leaves of the forest. Birds sang their lovely melodies in
the distance and the quiet whisper of the wind swayed the grass with each
breath. Barbao had been walking down the same path he always had when he
wanted to go to the stream to fish for food, but today was no ordinary day.
Today would be the day that would give Barbao direction for the rest of his
life. As he was walking the path, happy and content, he came from around a
large boulder to a brutal seen. A man lay dead in the street, his throat
slashed and a woman was on the side of the road, being harassed and
tormented by orcs. Seeing such devastation on such a day in such a place,
Barbao charged onwards without regard to his own health. Fighting wildly,
the young Barbao somehow overcame the orcs and they soon fled. Barbao
kneeled next to the woman and tended to her, whispering to her that
everything was going to be alright. Barbao didn't necessarily believed it
to be true, but it felt right to try and comfort the woman. Afterwards, on
his way home, Barbao saw a man, or perhaps it was not a man, sitting on a
tree stump just off the path. 'Hello, Barbao, I am pleased with your
actions today. ' The man's voice carried like the sound of fire and burned
with the ferocity of the Sun. 'Who.. Who are you? ' Barbao couldn't help
but keep the fear from his voice, even though he didn't sense any harm in
the man-being before him. The man, or not a man, carefully held Barbao's
gaze, 'I am Soluminus, and it is My will that you embark on the path of
which i have seen you so do this very day. Know this, it will not be easy,
you will lose many a friend and many innocents. But you have the Fire in
your heart. Use it, and repeatedly cleanse this world as long as you must.'
With those final words, Soluminus was gone, leaving Barbao alone and back
into reality. He thought for many days upon what he had seen and heard,
deciding that if a God himself chose him, who was he not to follow Him?
With his mind and heart set, Barbao would never be the same humble and
quaint Halfling he used to be.
Description:
A Halfling of small stature, perhaps even smaller than is normal for his kin stands here, arms folded across his chest in what might appear to be a menacing stance. Large almond coloured eyes carefully observe his surroundings from beneath a mop of unruly brown hair. His skin is slightly tanned and covered in a coarse hair which seems more apparent on the tops of his overly large and dirt feet. He is garbed in bits and pieces of what seems to be randomized armor, though the colours and hues actually seem to match in an odd sort of way. A set of matching red arm bands have been tied off over his tiny biceps.