Gloryus Mark
Background[]
For years, Gloryus was impressed by the comraderie and loyalty shared by his father and his two older brothers. That was until he discovered, at the age of 14, that all of that was but a façade... The two brothers, which always talked about helping their father, were, instead, a couple of miscreants that would rather steal from the family's clients. As they were peddlers - itinerant merchants - every morning brought them new dupes. Previous victims seldom found the brothers again to offer complaint. His fahter, likewise, a skilled merchant and dedicated father, used of similar artifices than those of his sons, furthermore, he frequented women other than his wife, many of them engaged... The family's mother, a woman who often received rich "gifts" from some of the commerce's clients, pretended to ignore the father's indiscretions, keeping up appearances and still benefitting from the luxuries of her affluent husband's household... Gloryus, when he noticed all the falseness around him, when he understood that everything his family did was in complete opposition to the principles his father and brothers kept droning about, felt disappointed - he felt betrayed - he left... He fled to the only place he knew that was a pillar of honesty and good intentions, the only place where he could find the principles being PRACTICED, the principles of the philosophy in which he intimately believe and that he thought still made even in the face of the duplicity in his home.
Thus, the young Human sought shelter and employment at the open and well intentioned institution, the Temple. The seminar at Margrav received Gloryus with open arms, it was the first time he adopted that name and the priests there had no reason to question his past. Feeling nothing but spite for his family and his former life, he told anyone who asked that he was an orphan. At the seminar, the young man found shelter, purpose and a future that, it appeared to him, seemed to follow the tenets of the philosophy he had been taught at his duplicitious family.
After some years at the seminar, Gloryus grew up, with the help of his ease of communication and power of persuasion inherited from his merchant father he earned recognition. He learned the rituals, ways, the etiquette, the magic and the orisons of the Cult of the Day. Meaning to be a missionary, Gloryus also learned a few languages and some combat practices, earning the title of Cleric. Once graduated as a Cleric, he was sent to Analia in southeastern Kaoteria and, there, due to his ability at dealing with people, received a comission as merchant for the church. The land still bore the mark of the Cult of the Night and there were often violent manifestations against the Temple. Gloryus volunteered more than once to head groups that sought to stop the rebellions, seeking to use word before steel at the contention.
For several years Gloryus thought he had found his home and his path until the day he found prutescence at the Temple similar to what he found in his first family. The seminar at Falkov, where the Cleric was raised, was accused of heresy by the Bishop of Holdrott. Yet Gloryus knew it was impossible that those old monks could be diabolists. It was for pecuniary interest that the Bishop sought to set the seminar to the flame. The cleric sent an impassioned letter to the Bishop and to the Purgers' High Council, defending the righteousness of his former teachers. To no avail. In the early days of winter, a Purge was called upon Falkov and the seminar and the nearby town both consumed by holy fire. It was a shock to Gloryus and he felt seriously swayed in his faith.
Quickly, disappointment turned to fury. Gloryus asked for a temporary leave, a season to think his life through. It was not an unnusual request and the high-priest of Analia granted it. On the second week of his leave, however, Gloryus was approached by a women that said she knew him, mentioning details about his past and words of his letter to the High Council, an indication of his connection to a heretic cult. She told him, however, that she believed in his righteousness and that he could be one of the few, one of the chosen. Joranna, she said she was called and he was invited to become an aspirant member of the Ministry of Justice, a secret organization that fought nodes of crime and corruption throughout the Lands of the Blessed. She would initiate him on the fundaments of the Ministry, its philosophy and practices. A ponderous man, Gloryus required some time to take his decision and Jordanna allowed it. For that time, however, he felt he was being constantly observed. After two days, however, there was nothing more to consider and the Cleric agreed to petition membership to the Ministry.
When Gloryus returned from his leave of absence, he received notice that he was to be tranfered to the new frontier of the Theocracy, the Province of Maldav, for the temple at Anspara, especifically. He felt the influence of the Ministry in that decision and quickly packed his things. An year later, Gloryus still seeks to uncover the deeper roots of the corruption that led to the burning of Falkov and keeps a vigilant eye for any sign of sin around him even among, and especially among, the clergy. It is in that way that he will, indeed, do his work for Helios Supremus and all the gods above.
Secrets[]
Secret Past[]
Gloryus is ashamed of his family's past. So, he changed his name and lied about his heritage.
Gloryus was born Sedric Demark. It is telling that his adopted family name bears a strong resemblance to his original name, evidence of how hard it is to turn back to everything he knew.
Sedric was born in the Boranell March. Since his family kept traveling continually, he considers all towns in southern Suluum and western Kaoteria to be his homeland. He only returned to Boranell twice, first at 4 and, then, at 13, a short time before abandoning his family.
Secret Allies[]
Gloryus also joined the Ministry of Justice a few days before leaving for Anspara. He was invited by the paladin Joranna and knows only her and his handler who communicates with him through coded letters and is known only as Lonely Eye.
Joranna seems to admire Gloryus for his rectitude, his dedication and his willingness to forgo the wicked ways of the Demark. She often calls him by his real name, Sedric, as a sign that she recognizes what he has overcome. There seems to be an attraction between the Paladin and the Cleric but neither has yet acted upon it.