Bendek Deorac

Bendek was a trueborn son of House Deorac without any prospect of inheriting any land but with honorable parentage regardless.   The Deorac family is a royal family of Talama in exile that has not given up on their birthright. In order to prove the veracity of their royal blood, the Deoracs push their sons and daughters to be the ideal nobles. Brave, well-spoken, well-read, courteous to other nobles, generous to commoners, and pious towards the the Nine.   No matter how humble a court or knightly position a Deorac might hold, the family ideal is to carry out his/her duties perfectly. The Deoracs were expecting an eventual rematch with the Swynfaredian Dragonbloods, so they trained as many of their sons and daughters in wizardry as possible. Often, cousins of similar age were bundled together and fostered from Deorac household to another, rotating through various aunts and uncles to maintain family ties and to ensure young Deoracs had a diversified education with many mentors.   This is the heavy expectations Bendek grew up in. Bendek grew up with loving parents and a supportive network of aunts and uncles, but his family placed a lot of pressure on him grooming him to be a strong, chivalrous wizard knight. Bendek did fairly well growing up in these environment picking up many useful skills but maybe with subpar social skills and a somewhat reclusive demeanor.   Bendek's parents and grandparents expected the Deoracs would have to go to war with Swynfaredia again "eventually". When Bendek was coming of age, it was clear from connecting the dots that "eventually" was coming quite soon.   When Bendek was young and undergoing his knightly and hermetic wizardry training, the plan was to find Bendek a respectable if not especially exciting knightly posting. But he pivoted towards preparing for the big confrontation with Swynfaredia though he wasn't sure how.   Kormatin and his adventuring party were the most active enemies of Swynfaredia and he had worked with multiple Deoracs in the past. WHen Kormatin's companion Tihalt died in battle, one of Bendek's mentors, his great aunt Anja was even a participant in that battle.   Bendek was looking for a way to serve the family and fight Swynfaredia and Kormatin was looking for a replacement party member. Anja recommended Kormatin take on Bendek.   Bendek joined Kormatin's party when they were about to arrange a coup in the Swynfaredian puppet states in the Borderlands. Admittedly, his individual contributions were the least dramatic. It took him a while to find his footing (and at one point a Death Goat knocked him off his footing and into a chasm.   It was a little awkward stepping in the shoes of Tihalt the dead hero, but Bendek fit into the party well. He could fight with a sword well and it was highly useful to have someone in the party who could cast Abjuration spells. That was kind of role, remove hostile magic effects when necessary and hit things with a sword when Abjuration was not necessary.   Shortly after the Borderland coups, Kormatin and company got pulled into a situation where they were the only party that could save Krogresli, Eclipsed Caste Dwarf from a bunch of cannibals. Since cannibals had slain Tihalt, Kormatin, Brigid, and Ragani were extremely motivated. Bendek was an awkward tagalong.   As word of Kormatin's deed spread, House Gorisonad put a big bounty on Kormatin's head. And Brigid and Ragani's head. But not Bendek, the newest companion. Bendek half in jest made it a goal to get a large price on his head too. Kormatin and company hatched a scheme to have some allies pretend to be shady bounty hunters and turn in Kormatin, Brigid, and Ragani as "prisoners". Bendek played the role as one of the shady bounty hunter turning the fact that the Swynfaredians didn't recognize him into an asset.   The party took the bounty, freed some other prisoners, and looted the dungeons before fleeing. They got a lot of money. Even better, they got a lot of Swynfaredian money.   Kormatin and company assassinated several linchpins in House Gorisonad's spy network. Bendek was a fine warrior, but his social sklls and ability to read nuance was not great making somewhat of a liability during deep cover operations. Bendek gradually got better, but this was a slow and painful learning process.   The party went on to kill some camazotz mercenaries and solve a cold case for the assassination of the Duke of Palbuc. Bendek was a useful companion during these adventures, but he was often overshadowed by the other three.   As his Abjuration got better, Bendek became indispensible to the party. Bendek was an Enchanter as a secondary focus behind Abjuration which normally wasn't a big deal, but once Bendek learned Overland Flight, he became the taxi driver for Kormatin and Company. This let the group travel long distances much faster which opened new opportunities to pull sorties against Swynfaredia even faster.   The party went on to thwart Swynfaredian Dragonbloods in many places. Bendek was very instrumental in the efforts to thwart the Gorisinod attempt to reconquer their lost Borderlands territories. Then not long after that, Bendek and Kormatin launched a scheme to liberate several lots of Deorac heirlooms right out of the Queen of Swynfaredia's banquet hall embarassing the royal family, causing them to redirect war resources towards internal and giving House Deorac a huge psychological win.   On a personal level, this was the first undercover operation where Bendek was highly useful outside of combat. Usually Bendek tries to avoid talking as much as possible, but here he was often taking point in social scenarios and acquitting himself well. This marked a turning point, he became more social both undercover and acting above board from here on out.   King Henryk recognized that Kormatin's party was a cohesive unit. Bendek was the only trueborn Fumayan noble in the group. He knighted Bendek as a nod of approval to the whole group, but it was also a personal honor for Bendek which was a confidence booster and spurred him onto to focus more on the diplomatic side of being a knight, an aspect of his life that was underdeveloped.   Now that Kormatin and company have information that might be able to start a new Swynfaredian Civil War, Bendek looks to the future with cautious. Maybe Fumaya can do more than just survive the war, they can potential liberate some or all Talama.

As a little kid, Bendek grew up hearing tales of how Swynfaredia unjustly conquered Talama and sent them into exile. It was assumed he eventually get in a respectable marriage and make little Deoracs some day to keep the family line alive.   When Bendek was going through puberty, it was clear that the big battle with Swynfaredia was nigh. Bendek shifted his life plan from "get married and raise a family" to "Die with honor." He didn't want to leave fatherless children behind, so he pushed the idea of women out of his head.   After recent public victories and being knighted, it's only recently dawned on him that "I might actually live through the war". And his downtime in King's Lake revealed has more than a few attractive lady admirers.