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Persable, Cleric of St Cuthbert.
Persable wasn't raised in the noble environment that most that join the priesthood are. He was raised in a village of Zenway to the age of 9. It was at that time the village elders of Zenway had decided they had enough of Persable’s family. His father, or rather the man who raised him, was a farmhand. He was also a bully, a drunk and a thug. He spent most of his time in the constables holding cell. His mother was left to fend for herself most of the time and turned to the world’s oldest profession for money and comfort.
Persable was the youngest of three children. His was preceded by an elder brother, Manzier and a sister, Phenny.
Manzier was the spitting image of his father. Tall, lean and muscular, he had a way with the ladies. Until he had his way with a lady after she rejected his advances. Manzier was imprisoned after the young lady reported the crime. She disappeared shortly after that time and no formal hearing was made. Rumors circulated that Persable’s father had “silenced” the girl. No evidence was ever found to confirm this rumor.
By age 16, his sister Phenny, a petite and raven haired vixen, had made a reputation for herself as a high quality bed companion. She had much success as a mistress until she hatched a plot to blackmail one of the merchants who had been enjoying her services. This merchant responded by paying the constables to harass her at every turn. This started a feud with the constables and the family. This feud escalated to the point of the city elders stepping in and banishing the family from the town.
In a bizarre stroke of luck, the family fell in with a roaming band of bandits. Here Persable’s father and brother earned a living with steel and blood and his mother and sister were highly prized for their “talents”. At his young age, Persable was delegated the duty of scavenging for useful items for the family. This is where he found prayer book belonging to a follower of St. Cuthbert. Knowing how his family would view this mundane item, Persable kept it and hid it from them.
Three years later, when he was old enough and strong enough to brandish a club, his father and brother took him on his first raid. They attacked a caravan that had parked for the night. The attack was brutal and merciless. Persable had used the club primarily to defend himself and had rendered a young elven woman unconscious.
Manzier and his father discovered Persable with the woman and congratulated his on his first “conquest”. They then offered to show him how to handle such a prize. The elven woman cried and begged for mercy, they showed none. When it came time for Persable to claim his share of the bounty, the woman saw that Persable didn’t have the soul for such a crime and again asked for mercy. In that moment, everything he had been reading about, how upholding the law protected the innocent and honorable vengeance as a path to justice, suddenly made sense. Persable took his first step to righteousness that night by slaying his father in the name of vengeance for the woman he had raped that night, and for all of his father’s previous victims.
Persable then escaped in to the wilderness that night with the woman. She led them to an elven outpost where they were given shelter. There he shared what he knew of the bandits and their camp. In exchange for what he knew, the elves gave Persable a few supplies, directions and a chance for freedom. With only those few supplies and the club he had killed his father with, Persable made his way west.
Within two days, his supplies had run out and he had become hopelessly lost in the elven forest. Three days later, starving, lost and exhausted, the rains came and forced him into a small empty bears cave. With only the burning desire to find a path to justice to keep him warm, Persable endured a long cold day in that cave until night fall when he was finally claimed by exhaustion. This is where he had his first encounter with an avatar of Cuthbert and was rescued by the High Priestess Angeline and her companions.
Guided by the Avatar, Angeline blessed and healed the young boy she had found. Vowing to rejoin her companions soon, Angeline took the boy to a nearby monastery stronghold of St. Cuthbert, and released him into the care of the warrior monks and paladins there.
When Persable awoke, he was first greeted by seeing the symbol of St. Cuthbert hanging on the wall above him and a paladin of the order who was charged with sitting with him. Realizing where here was, Persable immediately began an impassioned plea to be allowed to join and to be taught the ways of the Order of St. Cuthbert. After telling the tale of his life to the Headmaster of the Order, Persable was welcomed.
The harsh training of the order was nothing compared to the regular “discipline” he had received at his alleged father’s hands. Having already devoured the teachings from the book had had claimed years ago gave Persable the knowledge to excel farther and faster than any had expected. Many believed that Persable would come of age and begin the path of the Paladinhood, but it was not meant to be.

On the day of the Avatars, Persable was not chosen by a warrior aspect of St. Cuthbert, as many had expected, but by an Aspect of Mercy. Avatars are representatives of the divine power of a god or goddess. Only the most special of people are chosen by them, and only individuals of great power or destiny.
Although Persable excelled at the martial arts of combat, he also displayed great wisdom for such a young person. This wisdom would get have him engaged in long discussions with his instructors on the nature of many things. This wisdom would also allow him to exceed others in the healing arts. This gift for healing is what would have him chosen for a mission of mercy to a nearby hamlet that was recently attacked by a bandit gang.
Persable, along with two other older and more experienced acolytes, travelled to the town to render aid. The mission went well until the second night of their visit. This is when the bandits returned to finish what they had started.
The acolytes joined forces with the townsfolk to defend against the bandits. During the raid, Persable began to recognize a few of the faces within the bandit gang, and a cold chill ran down his spine when he heard the scream of a young woman followed by his older brother’s cruel laugh. Again, Persable found his older brother, Manzier, and a few of his friends assaulting a young girl. At this time, Persable’s Avatar of Mercy revealed that it was also an Avatar of Justice and then guided Persable into battle against his own brother.
With odds of five to one against Persable, the power of justice filled him and carried him into the fight. In the end, only Persable walked out of that arena carrying his brother’s victim. Still filled with the power of justice, Persable spent the remaining night of the battle dishing out punishment to any bandit unfortunate enough to cross his path.
When Persable had left his position to save the young woman, he had also left a gap in the defense of the town. A young couple and their child were left undefended in his absence and perished when the bandits burned their cottage to the ground. The guilt of this failing mixed with the feelings of satisfaction from following the righteous path of justice. In that moment, Persable finally understood the last lesson of St. Cuthbert. The bitter sweetness of Vengeance.