The Warden
-
Artwork is (c) me__________
"He who fights monsters should see to it that he himself does not become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you."__________
CURRENT STATUS: Drunk in a tavern.
FULL NAME: Barabbas Colburn
NICKNAME(S)/ALIAS(ES): The Warden; Barry; Bar; Mister (used occasionally by those who enjoy making fun of him for his age); Ol' Blue Eyes; The Dragonslayer; The Giantkiller; The Witchfinder; Trollsbane; etc.
ETHNICITY: English, or the equivalent thereof
NATIONALITY: Midlander
PLACE OF BIRTH: Midland
DATE OF BIRTH: UnknownSEX: Male, cisgender
APPARENT AGE: Mid-60s/early 70s
ACTUAL AGE: Late 60s
HEIGHT: 6'5" (195cm)
WEIGHT: 225lbs (102kg)
HAIR: Gray and shorn on the sides while grown out ont he top. Usually done in a bun.
EYES: A very pale blue.PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS: Tall and remarkably fit for his age.
PERSONALITY TRAITS: Polite, chivalrous, well-meaning; prideful, lustful, selfish, arrogant
DISTINGUISHING MARKS: His height. His bushy beard. The numerous hard-earned scars on his hard-lived body.
VOICE: Gravelly with a non-descript accent.
SCENT: Smoke, leather, alcohol.
All legends have a beginning. For Barabbas, his starts in a rural part of Midland, in a small farming community. His life is simple and expected: an often drunk, occasionally abusive father; an overbearing, world-weary mother; and a young, bullheaded brother. His childhood is spent toiling away in the fields of the family farm and causing mischief with the other boys in the community. In those glory days of his youth, he experiences hard work, adventure, confinement, excitement, disappointment, love, loss. At the ripe age of sixteen, when he, like every other boy his age, has fashioned a sword out of wood and is dreaming of bigger, better things, tragedy strikes.
It comes from the Witchwood to the west, a horrific winged beast that fills the air with not only it's piercing cries but the screams of those it carries off. For weeks it will terrorize the community. No more does Barabbas work the fields. Instead he, like everyone else, hides away inside, trying to make as little noise as possible lest they alert the monster. Attempts to contact nearby towns and cities for aid are fruitless: messengers ride fast and hard only to be plucked up from their steeds before they even disappear over the distant hills.
When the villagers decline to even dare step out their front door, the beast becomes bolder. It tears through homes like a wrecking ball, exercising the strength of its great taloned hands. One by one, houses fall into disarray until only one remains.
The Colburn home is not large, though it does possess two stories. The beast starts on the second level, breaking through the window into the room belonging to Barabbas' parents. Thankfully, none of them are up there at the time, though it matters little. Huddled together in the pantry, a trembling mess of fear and unwashed rags, the family awaits their imminent doom.
His father dies first, exercising one last attempt to defend his family. His mother next, her shrill screams still haunting him to this day.
While the beast is busy with his parents, Barabbas snatches up his brother, just a small boy at the time, and runs into the living room. It is by either coincidence or fate that his father would keep the sword he used when he still served in the king's army above the fireplace.
The young Barabbas, not knowing what else to do, grabs it to defend both himself and his sibling. What happens next is but one of the many, many, many stories told about the man they call The Warden..
