The Backstory of Minato (D&D Character)

Minato, known to be a Pally that aligns himself with the Deity, Kord, and is considered to be a valuable asset to Vasant’s group of mercs after joining them in their aid to fight the evil known to as Damon Zausz and his son David. Though Minato is a powerful paladin by nature, he also knows that even he and the group can have limits and has learned how to heal along his journey to redeem his past, and though Vasant maybe his leader, Minato sometimes chooses not to listen to his leader’s orders. No one in the group really knows why Minato does this from time to time, but they naturally assume it deals with his past, and they rather not ask him questions about it. Minato mainly keeps to himself rarely speaks up, but when he is pissed off about something, he lets the group know that he is and sometimes, he gets in shouting matches with Clank about it. But there was a time when Minato wasn’t like this. He was once the complete polar opposite of what he is today. It dates back when he was just 4 years old, in the kingdom called Lilacia. A place that is located in East Istheria. When he was 4, He used to watch as the soldiers and king’s battle guard of warriors, and clerics would march on to take out the rival kingdoms that tried to take his kingdom away, and sometimes, his parents would be in that battle guard. While they were away, he was looked after by friends of the family. He always was happy to see that his parents fought valiantly in the battles and return home safe…that is until one day in particular. On his birthday, the battle guard was returning home. Minato could see that they fought hard and though he knew that they had won the battle, he could see that they had more causalities this time around. He waited at the entrance of the kingdom till he could see his parents come in but moment after moment past and the battle guard was beginning to slim down in numbers. He still waited but the last person to enter the kingdom was the king himself. The king looked down at Minato and asked him why he was standing looking out into the field afar. Minato replied, “I’m trying to find my parents, they are supposed to be here for my birthday. I turn 5 years old today.” The king asked for Minato’s name and when he got it, he knew that his parents were killed in the battle trying to defend the kingdom. The King didn’t have the heart to tell Minato about his parents and said, “Today is your birthday right? Well seeing as your parents aren’t here yet, how about we hold your birthday in the royal dining hall in my castle?” Minato looked at the king with excitement and nodded. The King picked Minato up and put him in his steed and they rode all the way back until they reached the castle. For hours the castle had partied and yet, the king kept a close eye on Minato. He could tell that Minato wasn’t enjoying himself and he knew that Minato must know about his parents sooner rather than later. While the king was thinking about how should break the news to him, the king’s daughter, Meia, wanted to know what her father was thinking about. The King didn’t answer but she could see his eyes were looking at Minato and she could see that he was down. She decided to go cheer him up and walked to him. She said Hi and spoke her name to him, Minato replied, “Oh so you are the princess…I’m sorry but this is the first time I have ever seen you before. I had heard your name before from my parents but…” Minato paused after saying the word of his parents and was down on himself again. Princess Meia asked him what was wrong and he told her that his parents were in the battle with the king and haven’t returned. She immediately replied,” Do you think that they might have died on the battlefield?” As soon as she said that, Minato’s eyes widened, the thought of them dying never occurred to him. He began to cry a bit when the Princess noticed she said the wrong thing to him. She immediately grabbed him and said,” Hey, don’t worry about them, it is your birthday, now is the time to have fun. Come on I’ll take you to someplace where you can forgot about all of your problems.” Minato went with her into a room; it was full of Lilac flowers and roses. Minato was in awe about his beautiful the room was, but he didn’t understand why the Princess would take him into such a room, after all, he is a boy. Before he could ask, the Princess said, “Welcome to my room. This is where I sleep, play and do my schooling every day. You are the first peasant to ever see this room, consider yourself lucky, I don’t normally show anyone this room, but you are a special case, it is your birthday after all.” Minato looked around until he seen a window, when he looked out of it, he could see the entire kingdom and all of its glory. To him, this view is the best he has seen ever. It wasn’t long that the King found Minato in his daughter’s room, he was angered at Minato and grabbed him, but the princess calmed him and said that she brang him there to lift his spirits. The King could tell that Minato was feeling better and released him from his grip. He then said,” Minato was it? I know it is hard for you to understand this but, I know of your parents and why they will not return on this night or any for that matter. They served me well, and though they fought hard, ultimately, they died trying to protect the kingdom, and you. As I don’t like to talk about such things normally, this was something that I had to tell you. I’m sorry son…” Minato sat down at the realization of hearing the words of his parents gone. He began to wonder who will be there for him, will he be all alone for the rest of his life, what he was going to do about himself. As he thought about that, the Princess asked her father, “Daddy, is it fine if Minato stays with us. I mean, he needs to have a place to live now right?” The king never thought about what was to become of Minato after telling him the truth. The King cared about his loyal subjects and would often help the needy with food from the castle itself to even giving them a place to stay. Even he would help build things for his villagers if they needed help. But now it is a whole new experience for him, Minato is without a home, a caregiver, with no knowledge of cooking or taking care of himself…the king made his decision, “Minato, though this is a bad time for me to talk about this but due to your recent problems, you will need someone to take care of you until you are old enough to go on your own. So as authority of the King of Lilacia, I claim you as my adopted son.” Minato was happy that he would be taken care of but, he was still saddened by his parents. The King took Minato to his new bedroom and told him, that if he needed anything, that a guard is just outside the room. After the king left, Minato looked outside and said,” the only thing I want is my parents back…” Year after year past and Minato was beginning to be looked at more and more like a prince of the castle, but Minato wouldn’t acknowledge that status. He knew that he wasn’t royalty; he didn’t want to be known as it if he didn’t have the royal blood lineage of his king. More and more, the years past until he became 18 years old, the King had asked him what he was going to do with his Life, Minato replied, I will be part of your battle guard and protect this kingdom. The King was proud to hear it and gave Minato his blessing. Minato took the tests, both field exercises and mental. He learned how to use a fullblade and how to fight against someone that might be stronger than he was. At the age of 22, he had mastered all of what his teachers could teach him, but he wanted something more, something to resemble what his parents did, his mother, a cleric, and his father, a mighty warrior. Minato asked the King if he could learn to become a paladin. The King was shocked to think Minato would take such a hard subject to learn for battlefield use. But after hearing what Minato said, the king granted him his blessing and Minato was instructed to become a paladin with the Priests of Kord. But before he Left, He spoke with Princess Meia as she was saddened to hear that he would be away for awhile. Minato promised that no matter what happens, that he would be there for her and protect her at all costs. Once he reached the Priests of Kord, He learned the ways of using healing on allies, he learned how to control his emotions, but most important of all, he learned to care about others before himself. It took him 3 years to Master these attributes and upon telling the king, the king was proud. But there was a war brewing in the west, the king told Minato about it and though Minato was ready to prove his talents to his king, the king told him no. He wanted Minato to stay in the kingdom, to watch over it if anything happened to it. That Minato would be the last line of defense for the kingdom. Though mad about not getting his chance to prove himself, he took the orders that was given to him by the king. Once the king took the battle guard out of the kingdom and was gone for a couple of days, Minato watched over the kingdom like a hawk. One day, Princess Meia asked Minato for a favor; Minato replied,” Whatever it is my princess, I will do it for you.” Princess Meia responded,” You know, you have known me since you were five, you don’t have to call me princess…anyways, I need you to go locate a very specific flower for me.” Minato replied,” What type of flower are you looking for My Prin—I mean, Meia?” Meia responded, “I need you to go find me a blue Rose. I need it for something special that I want to do. It must be freshly picked and you have to find it from a field, not just pick one up at a shop.” Minato nodded and proceeded out of the castle to look for the rose. He knew of an area outside of the kingdom walls that roses grew and heard stories of blue roses once every few years growing there, though he never seen proof of that as a fact yet. He decided to check it out anyways and searched for 3 hours. When he found the area, there was red roses everywhere. He continued to look and look until there was one rose that had the color shade of blue. He picked it and carefully put it in his satchel. Upon returning to Lilacia, he could see smoke rising from it. He ran through the entrance and seen people screaming and running around. He grabbed on the of the villagers and asked to know what happened. The person replied,” It was 5 riders. They came into the village and started burning things. They destroyed crops, killed livestock, even trampled some of the villagers to death. They even said that they were going to end this kingdom’s reign once and for all and headed to the castle.” Minato let go of the villager and began to worry about the princess and the queen and quickly ran up the village to go into the castle. When he approached the doors, he heard a scream of a woman. He busted the doors open and seen one of the riders, holding a dagger in his hand as the queen laid motionless on the floor. He seen another of the riders having his dagger around the princess’s neck, laughing hysterically. Minato ran in closer, only to be caught by the other three riders. The rider holding onto to the dagger that killed the queen turned and said,” Looks like we have an unexpected visitor come in. Too bad that he is powerless to do anything about it haha!! But nevertheless, we came here to cripple the king at his most weakest, and what better than to attack his own family. And you know, it would be even better to let this visitor watch as that blade around the princess’ neck cut through her vitals so he could tell the king just how much of a failure he is and so the king knows just how graphic his daughter died. Slit her Throat!!” Meia yelled out Minato’s name as the rider holding her, used his dagger to cut deep within her throat. Minato was helpless and all he could do was watch as his princess slowly died as the blood that left her throat, stained the floor of the castle. Minato closed his eyes; the thoughts of Princess Meia ran through his mind, the times they played games with each other as kids, the times that they were taught from the knowledge of their kingdom from their teachers, the times that Minato would take the blame for Meia, when Meia did something wrong. Minato even thought of the day that he promised to protect her forever just before he left to go do his paladin training. The thoughts ran through his mind, circling endlessly until the realization of that he couldn’t protect Meia anymore. His rage began to build well within him. The riders holding him down let go of him thinking that he calmed down when he laid still, they laughed louder and louder, echoing through Minato’s ears. Within him, a rage boiling deep, something made him snap from his helpless state. Suddenly, nothing mattered to him anymore, all that he did for his parents, didn’t matter to him anymore, except Meia, becoming a paladin, didn’t matter, protecting the kingdom, didn’t matter. The thoughts of Meia, that was his fuel, his rage, his hatred, all things that he was taught as a paladin to not allow to come in his emotions, have all come out. He was more focused than ever before and he stood up, he pulled his fullblade from his belt. He opened his eyes again and looked straight at the five riders. His goal, to kill them. Nothing else. The Riders laughed thinking that Minato would be easily put down, but Minato’s knowledge helped him take down each of the riders. One by one, Minato took them down, hacking a slashing his way through like a man possessed. But just before he finished killing the last one, he said to him, “I’ll tell my king everything about this day, but you will tell your king…nothing. For this Kingdom! For My Queen! For My Princess!! To Hell you will rot for eternity, but know this…” Minato moved up closer to the now frightened rider, and looked him straight in the eyes. The frightened rider could see the anger in Minato’s eye as he finished his sentence,”…your head belongs to me now.” Minato then decapitated the last rider’s head. He then dropped his full blade and rushed up to the fallen queen and princess. He tried to save them by healing them, but it was far too late. The Villagers came in and seen Minato on his knees. They saw the riders, all laid dead on the floor. They saw their queen and princess motionless. They knew that their king would return any day at that point and quickly began preparations on holding the funeral for the fallen queen and princess. The servants cleaned up the floor of the blood and as they were about to take out the bodies, Minato stopped them and said, “We are going to send a message to the rival kingdom.” He told the butcher to cut the rest of the heads of the other four riders and threw the fifth in a burlap sack. He tied the bag up and wrote a note on it. He told a messenger to take that sack and the note and give it to the rival kingdoms’ king directly. When the Messenger left with it, Minato told the servants to throw the bodies away and bury them in an unmarked grave. When he returned to the castle, the place had been cleaned up from the blood. The undertaker of the village was standing near the bodies of the queen and princess, taking measurements of them. Minato then said, “Make sure you make the caskets for these two the best you have ever made in your lifetime.” The undertaker nodded and took the bodies with him. Minato then sat on the king’s throne and wait for his king’s return. A few days past and the king returned him, proud to know that he took down the enemy with ease. He didn’t lose a single person in the battle. Expecting a loud praise from the villagers, he was shocked to see them looking down and pale. He then noticed the burn marks of the housing. He returned to the castle as soon as possible and looked for Minato. A servant told him that he was in the throne room. The King headed there and seen Minato, still sitting on his throne. The King yelled,” You dare sit on my throne Minato? What gives you the right? You are not of my blood to be sitting there.” Minato didn’t answer. He instead rose up, and grabbed his bloodstain fullblade. He then walked to his king and handed him the blade. He then said,” I have failed to protect this kingdom. I’m not worthy of his blade or being in this kingdom.” The king ask him why he said that to which Minato replied, “ the Blood on that blade is the blood of the five riders that came into this kingdom, killed livestock and villagers alike, burnt the village houses, trampled the crops, and…” the King ask,” And what?” Minato looked him in the eyes and said, “Killed your Queen and Princess.” The king dropped the blade and yelled out angrily at Minato,” You were supposed to—why would you let them—where were you when this happened?!” Minato didn’t reply and instead walked away from the king. The King yelled back at him, “ You are banished after the funeral Minato, You hear me, and you are no longer part of my kingdom!!” Minato could still hear the king yelling but he didn’t care anymore. He instead walked out of the castle and into the village. He found the house that he was born and raised in and opened the door. Nothing had changed outside of a little dust and spiders. He cleaned the place up and waited there not coming out of it until the funeral for the queen and princess came. On the day of the funeral, Minato was standing next to the king. Though the king didn’t like it, he had to let his family be buried first before he could put the punishment on Minato. And the end of the eulogies for the Queen and Princess concluded, the King was about to announce something to the villagers, but before he could, he looked at Minato and seen him hold a blue rose. Minato then dropped the blue rose into the princess’ grave and whispered, “ I’m sorry I couldn’t find this rose earlier for you, I know it was important to you.” Minato turned and walked away as the king watched him. The King then ran to catch up with Minato and asked him,” Before I banish you officially, I must know why you weren’t able to protect my family from the riders, please, tell me.” Minato replied,” Meia asked me to go find a blue rose for her, and I chose to go find it myself.” The king then said,” You don’t know what the blue rose was for do you? She had chosen her prince.” Minato replied, “ Who was it?” the King replied, “ It was you.” Minato was a bit awestruck from what the king said to him but the king explained to Minato what the blue rose represented in Lilacia, “It represented the immortal bond between two lovers. And usually the woman that requests her lover to find the blue rose means she has chosen to be with him forever. Men don’t know generally know of this because they aren’t supposed to. It is supposed to be a surprise. The Lover will seek for the blue rose and if they find it, the surprise is given to him. She chose you because you aren’t a blood relative to my royal lineage and that you two know each other for a long time. It was the perfect choice for her…Minato, I’m sorry for out bursting on you…I shouldn’t have jumped to the conclusion. I will not Banish—“ Minato cut him off and said, “My king, it is alright. I failed to do a direct order from you, I deserve all the hatred that came from your mouth that day and I deserve far worse than you are giving me. I am leaving this place because I feel that I have wrong you and this kingdom. I feel that what I did was the wrong choice and I need to do some soul searching in my life. I have thought about this long and hard since before you came back into the kingdom. I seek to do a quest of redemption for my life and to cleanse my spirit of the bloodshed that happened. I just want you to know that I thank you for all that you have done in my life so far, thank you for giving me the chance to have a life. But alas, I must bid you farewell my king.” Minato turned away and began to walk. The King stopped him again and said,” At Least take your fullblade. You might need it.” The King handed him back the fullblade, which was clean from the blood shed from the riders and nodded. He then proceeded out of the kingdom and never seen from there again. Over the course of nine years after the events of what happened in Lilacia, Minato had gone back to the Priests of Kord and he found his deity, Kord. He left the Priests of Kord after not agreeing with some of the things they chose to do and he has gone from kingdom to kingdom to look for work and survived on the gold he has. He still carries his fullblade and uses it in combat when he feels it is needed and holds onto it as a symbol of his past. He now seeks redemption from that event nine years earlier, hoping that he may find a way to be put as ease and cleanse his spirit of the blood shed he holds, and maybe, just maybe, see his Princess once more.