Klaust

Name: Klaust Faelandal

Race: Half Elf

Alignment: Chaotic Good


Class: Cleric

Domain: Grave

Deity: The Raven Queen - Lawful Neutral Goddess of Death, Fate, & Winter.

Holy Symbol: A carved wooden pendant of a raven sitting on a branch, curled around a red ruby.

Background:

Klaust Faelandal is often known as Klaust to the elven members of his family and Klaus to the humans. He is a half-elf born under a dark star. Throughout his life he has felt it watching him, cold and distant...but ever present. Sometimes he can hear it whisper to him...beckon him in the night...but he knows not why or where it's asking him to go.

He just knows it's presence sends a shiver down his spine.

Overall Klaust never fit in with his family. His father, a high-elf, had him out of wedlock with a human noblewoman...which caused her to lose much of her standing in high society. However the two managed to cling to their lavish lifestyle yet refused to show Klaust even an ounce of love and affection. They treated him more like something to be seen and not heard; part of the decor of the house, if you will.

So he took to rebelling where he could, leaving the house and wandering the surrounding lands whenever possible. He learned to wield sarcasm and laughter in order to mask the pain he was suffering...and oh, did he suffer.

Forgotten.

Unwanted.

Alone...

At the age of sixteen Klaust had been exploring outside in the snow when he fell through the ice of the local lake. Chilled to the bone and sinking fast, the young half-elf felt his vision fade and next thing he knew he was at the gates of the afterlife...where he would meet the most important individual in his life.

Materializing out of the cold and the darkness, bringing with her warmth and a sense of comfort, came The Raven Queen. The deity of death, fate, and winter who guides souls to their resting place and makes sure everyone dies at their appointed time.

And she was beautiful...

Klaust fell for her almost immediately. His graciousness and acceptance of his fate charmed the once-mortal goddess and she allowed him to return back to the land of the living after what seemed like hours of interesting conversation. She seemed...lonely. More so than even he was.

After all, most people fear death and spend their lives either ignoring or attempting to avoid it, to cheat their fates.

Not so for Klaust.

From then on the half-elf boy devoted his life to The Raven Queen, his beloved. He began to learn the art of the clerics, following her tenets as best he could once he earned his place among them:

Hold no pity for those who suffer and die, for death is the natural end of life.

Bring down the proud who try to cast off the chains of fate.
As the instrument of the Raven Queen, you must punish hubris where you find it.

Watch for the cults of Orcus and stamp them out whenever they arise.
The Demon Prince of the Undead seeks to claim the Raven Queen's throne.

He left his childhood home and wandered far and wide, communing with his Queen and learning where he was most needed. Where the strength of a Grave Cleric was required to send undead on their path to their final resting place. All the while, never fearing death but instead embracing it. Knowing that, should his time finally come, Klaust would be with the individual who stole his heart during that winter evening so long ago.

His beloved. His Queen.

Though he knows that he likely will not be able to, and is content to worship and love her from afar, Klaust secretly hopes to discover a way to ascend to godhood himself. To rise up from a mortal to a deity like she did in ages past and take his place at her side...her most loyal Champion.

Perhaps, with luck...he will succeed...

---