Helena and Bullok, Separate Backgrounds.

So, these are the individual backgrounds for Helena and Bullok. My wife, Jacqui, wrote her background and it's here with her permission (she's also a talented writer).

These backgrounds are far more brief than the previous one due to the fact that our joint background was much longer. These are meant to be supplemental.

Stuff you should know: Lok is a "Factotum". It's basically a person who can do a little bit of everything. He's a total utility player. Pelor is the deity of strength and healing, and is NG.

Shout out to Colton Neiger for DMing this campaign.
Shout out to Jacqui Valdez for playing Helena Vix.

Lok Vix

My parents were always surprised at me. First, as to how I was born. My mother went into labor in the middle of a trip. There was panic, there was anger, and it was all happening at once. So my father stopped the cart to allow her to give birth…in the middle of a forest road. Against all odds, one of the fey stepped near him to help. He insists the dryad was simply curious as to what was happening. After a successful birth, a dryad leaned over and kissed my forehead as my mother held me.

Crazy, right?

So, my parents had high hopes for me. Unfortunately, the next surprise was that I didn't quite live up to those hopes as a teenager. I wasn’t really motivated by many things. I had a calm demeanor and just kind of let life happen. I just said I was “a passive person”. My dad called me “lazy”. My mom called me a “follower”. But in truth, I just didn’t see any good reason to get worked up over things.

Well, except for Helena.

We were best friends all throughout childhood, but just friends.

No, really, just friends.

We were friends until we both made a huge mistake. We did something stupid and someone innocent got hurt. She took that mistake as a cue to become a better person. So she decided to become a paladin. I took it as a cue to do a bit more with my life.

Okay, a lot more.

So I decided to learn. I decided to learn as much as I could. Carpentry, locksmith, fighting, spells, healing, whatever I could learn, I learned it.

I didn’t become great at anything, but I thought that if I knew a little bit of everything, I’d never be unprepared again, and if someone else was hurt or in trouble, I could help.

Oh, yeah, I ended up marrying Helena after she came back from paladin training. I’m perfectly happy with her taking the lead. I’m a background guy anyway. But as long as something needs doing, as often as I can, I’ll be there to do it.

Helena Vix

I am a Paladin of Pelor; a believer in good, truth, and purity.  I uphold the law and trust that it is there for a reason – to protect the citizens from their own destruction.  Without it, there would be chaos.  Breaking of the law in any way leads to the breakdown of a successful and prosperous society.  I have learned to forfeit my own desires to protect the weak and the innocent.  Well – most of them…

I came from a broken home – my parents were together, but things just seemed broken.  My father was a self-proclaimed sage.  “We must always do our best.  We cannot afford mistakes.  We must use the tools available to us to make things right.”  Really, there’s no harm in the words…it’s the follow through that made him hard to follow.  He was very wise, unless he had been drinking. 

My father was the one who first taught me to stand up for myself.  I was the son he never had.  He taught me how to fight…well, how to beat others that is.  He was kind of a bully, and in the beginning, that’s all I knew how to be.  It wasn’t until I met Lok that I found out there is so much more power in quiet strength.

Looking back on my childhood, I realize how stupid I was.  I was a bully, out for my own gain.  I had an out of control temper that got me in trouble more than once.  If it wasn’t for Lok holding me back and keeping me sane, I don’t know where I would be.  You see, there were these neighbors of mine that had made it their personal vendetta to ruin anything I accomplished.  They would pull one stunt after another, and all I could think on was revenge. 

It wasn’t until the accident that I realized there was more to life than stupid pranks.  What happened was…I don’t really want to talk about it.  What matters is that I learned that I had to grow up and start helping others rather than hurting them.  I had to stand up for good and truth.  I spent some serious personal time wrestling with my conscience and the idea of the future.  That’s what led me to Pelor.  I knew that I had a great destiny, and that Pelor was calling me to be a Paladin.  He would show me how to make up for my past mistakes. 

I joined a Paladin order and trained with them for a couple years.  I am only a novice, but already they have sent me on a few quests.  I have upheld the name of Pelor and shown that I am not only brave, but strong and worthwhile to have in a fight.  I know that my calling is doing good and fighting injustice wherever it is to be found.  It’s one of the few things about my life that is right.

That, and Lok.  Being the strong-headed girl that I am, after meeting up with Lok after several years apart, I proposed to him.  He said yes, of course.  But, I kind of bypassed the whole letting the guy charm the girl part.  I struggle a little with letting others be in charge…but it works for us.  He is always there when I need him, and a perfect companion to a bull-headed gal who likes to make the decisions.  He’s not exactly the rule follower that I am (and that has led to some tension), but he’ll do. 

So in the meantime, we have been adventuring on a few quests.  Fighting bad guys, protecting the innocent…you know the drill.  We are just waiting for something really important to come along – the quest that will change our lives.

For those who care: Lok is currently a Factotum5/Chameleon3 (lvl8), Helena is currently a Paladin5/Annointed Knight/3 (lvl8). This campaign is ongoing.