Rekah

Name: Rekha "Heckles" LeChance

Race: Gnoll

Alignment: Lawful Good


Class: Paladin

Sacred Oath: Oath of Redemption

Deity: Savras - Lawful Neutral God of Divination & Fate

Holy Symbol: A crystal ball containing numerous different monster eyes affixed to the pommel of his weapon.

Background:

Rekah looks like most other gnolls; an anthropomorphic spotted hyena, standing at a towering seven feet on his hind paws. Although he is extremely tall and rippling with muscle, Rekah is still very skinny and recovering from practically being starved to death a year ago.

Rekah's back is littered with scars of past abuse and his ears are full of small nicks. He alters from walking on all fours to his bipedal form whenever the mood strikes him. However his eyes are the most noticeable thing about him: a piercing molten gold with spider-webbing patterns of green streaking out from the pupil. There is an intelligence behind them not seen in most gnolls.

He was found as a newborn pup after being left behind by his war band, most likely for being a runt. The god of divination and fate, Savras, saw potential in the young creature...and made it so a passing human mercenary (Victor) and his tiefling daughter (Mercy) found and adopted Rekah. He was eventually nicknamed Heckles by the girl, as he was always cackling with joy as a pup.

As the gnoll grew they found that he was more like an oversized dog than a monster, and so became the young girl's "pet" and protector. Rekah loved them both fiercely, with all his heart, and as he grew stronger he began to join Victor on hunts...whether it was that night's dinner of venison or a more humanoid bounty. Life was good, and the two humanoids taught Rekah how to read and write as well as how to tell right from wrong.

Eventually, however, their luck turned. Victor was betrayed by a Lord who had purchased his mercenary services. The gnoll fought viciously, attempting to protect his found family from the attacking soldiers. But he was eventually subdued and subsequently captured. He spent years being brutalized and starved in the Lord's castle, paraded around on chains like a circus animal. But Rekah bid his time and endured it all, hoping that Victor and Mercy had escaped.

Eventually, he managed to break out of the castle, slaughtering all who stood in his path, and found that Mercy had managed to flee and survive. But her father had gone missing that fateful night...and so, the two reunited friends decided to go hunting for him together.

For the most part, Rekah is still the same gnoll he always ways. He would prefer to make a new friend rather than a new enemy, and is extremely affectionate with those he cares about. However his hatred for the Lord and his men is blinding and unreasoning. Should he encounter that Lord again, nothing will stay his paw...he will rend the flesh from the man's bones and devour it as he watches.

Time will tell how this story plays out.

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