In order to celebrate the launch of the Pixel Remaster version on September 8th, I want to take a look at a character idea inspired by the main character of Final Fantasy IV – Cecil Harvey. A dark knight in the service of the country of Baron, Cecil undergoes a personal journey after coming to the realization that the machine he serves has tilted too far towards darkness and rebels. This character is designed with a similar thought process mind.
Cullen was raised with the belief that he would become a powerful general of the Nine Hells. His parents were both part of a cult worshiping Asmodeus and he was raised to be a conquering sword for that cult. He was trained early in the arts of war as well as how to draw on the powers of the Nine Hells to aid him in battle as well as the importance of authority and respecting the rule of law no matter what. The brainwashing, coupled with the power he was given access to, proved to be intoxicating and Cullen spent his youth slavishly devoted to the ideals of his parents and the cult leaders.
It was a certain battle that shook him and made him begin to question his purpose. His team were being sent after deserters, labeled apostates by the cult leaders, fit only for execution. But when they came upon them, he found not the monsters he was sold, but people, one of them a girl his own age. The other soldiers fell upon them and butchered them in accordance with their orders, but Cullen found he couldn’t draw his own blade. At the end of it, he stood over the body of the young woman, cracks forming in the conditioning that he had undergone – this couldn’t be right, could it? And if that was the case, what else had he been a part of that was wrong? He ran from the battlefield, never once looking back.
The Oath of Conquest is very much a domineering, warlord type of Paladin with abilities meant to inspire fear and subordination. Having a character struggle against the nature of their abilities as they come into them and attempt to use them for a different purpose is a situation rife with roleplaying possibilities. And like the character’s inspiration, maybe there’s a chance for redemption somewhere in the future and they can take advantage of the retraining rules to renounce his Oath and become something suitably heroic.
Ben Erickson
