Velendo of Calphas

(elderly human cleric 15)

Old and skinny, with brown eyes and a wry smile, he's in his sixties and mostly bald now, with the tufts of hair on either side of his head turning gray.

He dresses in simple brown robes over chain mail; his holy symbol is a large, solid stone shield carved with runes. He's grown wiry instead of stooped, and he still carries his stone shield with ease.

He used to have a very peaceful life. Until his mid-50's he had never left his small fishing village of Hunnerstide, running the local temple (as did his father before him) but never especially espousing true faith. Then one day, he had a vision from his God that he should leave the village. This horrified him; deep down, he didn't really believe that his God knew he existed, and this made him re-examine his entire faith.

The ship Velendo took was seized by minotaur pirates, who took the cleric back to their island fortress and made him a slave. After escaping through a teleportation device to the mainland, Velendo fell in with the Defenders of Daybreak.

Three years ago, Calphas selected Velendo to be his proxy for a Holy mission, and this has inadvertently catapulted Velendo to fame and recognition everywhere within his church. Much to his disgust and embarrassment, he is now considered a prophet and living saint, and churches are queuing up to take pieces of his body as relics when he dies.

Velendo tends to argue with his God a lot. He has a reasonably low charisma despite all of his fame, and so tends to be brusque and snappy at people who annoy him. These idiosyncrasies are typically written off by fervent believers as mere eccentricities.

For a long time he wore banded mail that made him look heavier than he really is; nowadays he sticks with magical bracers, and his aching frame is thankful of the change.

Velendo has worry lines with laughter in them.

Portrait with brick by David Hendee