Hugh Stoddard

Hugh Stoddard

Introduction

Hugh paladin portrait 02.jpg

Hugh Stoddard joined the Calishite Campaign as a member of the infantry where he trained with polearms. His training sergeant assigned him to the Sling scout group as Hugh developed clear martial competence.

Hugh is close to his half-brother Barrick. They grew up together, trained together when they joined the army, and Hugh still prefers to fight side-by-side with his brother. Hugh took a well-maintained halberd from the burned ruin of a house after The Saliran Massacre that he has used for the rest of the campaign.

Hugh tries to be upbeat, so he doesn’t complain much and smiles easily, but he’s cracked biting jokes at the expense of Aurelian nobles and Amnian merchants while Sling was camping in remote locales. During one such night, when asked about the small iron horseshoe on a leather loop that he always wears or carries, he confided in the team that it was a gift from his grandfather and his personal memento for unsatisfied justice.

Background

Saddlestone

Hugh Stoddard’s life began on the Juniper Hills horse ranch, near the quiet hamlet of Saddlestone, which lay on the southern border of the Corsi Duchy under the jurisdiction of Gareth Hawkridge. Saddlestone served as a hub for the local ranchers and farmers to barter and sell their produce.

Mara, Hugh’s mother, tended to the stables at Juniper Hills with a capable hand.

In her 23rd year, Mara met Vance Thornfield during the week-long harvest festival at The Foal and Barrel, the only tavern in Saddlestone. Enchanted by Vance’s charm, Mara welcomed Hugh into the world the following summer.

As Hugh grew older, questions about his father were met with evasive shrugs from Mara, who instead encouraged a bond between Hugh and his half-brother, Barrick, whom Hugh grew to regard as his dearest friend. Hugh imagined his dad to be a heroic stereotype.

Under the guidance of his mother and grandfather, Cedric Stoddard, Hugh flourished in the art of horse ranching. From Mara, he learned a tender approach to animal care, while Cedric taught a discerning eye for Aurelian steeds.

Soon after he turned seventeen, Hugh’s life was upended when Vance returned to Saddlestone flanked by soldiers and Amnian traders. Vance brandished a writ condemning Juniper Hills to the hands of the Amnian Sapphire Syndicate, a merchant consortium. The writ bore the seals of Duke Corsi and Baron Hawkridge, sealing the fate of the ranchers.

Vance boasted of his influence over the Duke and Baron as the merchants ousted the ranchers. Cedric defied the order but Vance silenced him with a rapier thrust—an act that shattered Hugh’s world.

Mara was paralyzed when she recognized Vance. Vance’s political ascent, apparently driven by vanity and selfish ambition, horrified her. She could not bear to tell Hugh who Vance was.

Hugh and Mara laid Cedric to rest on their final day in Saddlestone. That evening, drinking with Barrick in The Foal and Barrel,  Hugh resolved to take the green to learn how to fight. The days ahead demanded not just resilience, but the ability to exact vengeance.

The Calishite Campaign

Hugh was trained by [[Sevestre]] during the Calishite Campaign. While Hugh never developed Barrick’s knack for manipulating the field of battle, he trained to become a competent pikeman on the field.

While looting after Saliran was sacked, Hugh discovered an old, well-cared-for halberd that had been hidden behind a false wall in an old veteran’s closet. Hugh took the weapon from the rubble and found he enjoyed it more than a pike, so he kept it.

Hugh gradually developed his paladin abilities through personal discovery rather than any specific mentorship or deity. At first he thought he had a knack for helping folks realize that they simply weren’t as hurt as they thought they were, or that needed a little encouragement. As his abilities continue to develop, though, he’s realizing that there’s more to it than that. He still isn’t aware of having ever met another paladin, so he tries to keep his spellcasting on the down-low.

Hugh’s focus is a small, iron horseshoe attached to a toughened leather necklace that Cedric gifted to him on his 16th birthday. Throughout the campaign, he’d often wrap the leather around his wrist and hold the token for a sense of connection and security.

While Hugh was marching home at the conclusion of the campaign, he saw the towns and hamlets that the army had plundered behind the scout parties. Hugh began to realize how many innocents had been slaughtered to stop bandits from making a dent in the purses of the powerful, seeing Cedric again and again in bloated corpses and graves of civilians wearing no armor and wielding no weapons. It was during this march that Hugh swore vengeance on nobility who’d abuse their station and kill innocent civilians over a little gold. While Hugh trusts all the members of Sling, he has so far only confided these deeper personal thoughts in Barrick.

Hugh’s desire for vengeance is focused on:

  1. Those responsible for the death of his grandfather and the loss of Juniper Hills. He blames Vance Thornfield, Baron Gareth Hawkridge, Duke Corsi, and the Amnian Sapphire Syndicate for this right now.
  2. The leadership responsible for lying to the army about the threats posed by the civilians that were murdered during the campaign. He isn’t sure who’s responsible for this yet, but he wants to find out and end them.

Hugh’s Oath

I’ll avenge my grandfather’s murder by corrupt nobles and the greedy merchants that own them.

I’ll bring justice to those who irrigate their wealth with the blood of innocents, and I’ll grant no ultimate mercy until the scales of justice are balanced. My vengeance is as patient and inevitable as the rising sun.

By my life and soul.

Hugh’s List

Hugh’s oath of vengeance is strict, but patient. The definition of justice in intentionally ambiguous and the acknowledgement of patience is intended to avert lawful stupid behavior, but Hugh maintains a tally of the wealthy who he knows have not yet received justice.

Hugh is not a genius, but he has enough self-awareness to recognize his own understanding of events is often limited. He may remove people from his list based on information that he learns.