Ezekiel

Overview

Ezekiel serves as Captain of the Arvendor Guard. He also serves as chief custodian of the crypts. This responsibility places him in charge of one of the most spiritually significant and emotionally weighted duties in all of Arvendor. For five thousand years, some of these crypts have held the spiritual aftermath of a cataclysmic war. This was a war between the Arvendor and the Ombric. It is a conflict most of his civilization have chosen to forget.

But Ezekiel refuses to forget.

Expertise

Unlike most Arvendor who focus on military glory or magical prowess, Ezekiel's expertise lies in understanding the spiritual world. He is an authority on exorcism. He understands the nature of trapped spirits. He knows the specific necromantic corruption left behind by the Ombric war. His knowledge extends to the detailed history of the conflict itself. He knows the names of fallen warriors on both sides. He knows their lineages. He knows the specific curses that bind them.

This makes him something rare among the Arvendor. He is a historian who actually reads the Archives. He learns the difficult truths. He insists on acknowledging what his civilization would rather leave buried.

Background

Ezekiel carries both pride and burden in his Arvendor heritage. He is proud of his civilization's accomplishments. Yet he is deeply troubled by what the Arvendor did during and after the ancient war. He honors his ancestors' victories while grieving their mistakes and the terrible costs those mistakes imposed on others.

Where many of his people see the war as a triumphant victory over evil, Ezekiel understands something different. The Ombric soldiers, despite being enemies, were conscious beings deserving of respect. Their trapped spirits require someone to witness them. They require acknowledgment. They require help to find peace. This belief puts him at odds with much of Arvendor culture. His people prefer to look upward toward the heavens rather than downward into the crypts where the real work of honoring the past must happen.

Mission

Through his work in the crypts, Ezekiel has uncovered the profound costs of the war. Official history glosses over these costs. He has freed trapped banshees. He has addressed the necromantic corruption that claimed entire families. These families tried to protect themselves. He has honored spectres who maintained consciousness through sheer force of will across a millennia.

In the deepest crypts, he discovered something that changed his understanding of everything. An Arvendor and an Ombric had fallen in love during the war. Their forbidden love was deeper and more powerful than the conflict itself. It became the binding force that held all the other trapped spirits in anguish. Their story revealed a truth that Ezekiel believes is essential to his civilization's healing. Enemies were still people. Even war cannot eliminate human connection.

Role

Ezekiel represents what the Arvendor could be if they faced their history with honesty. He is the uncomfortable voice. He speaks truths that most of his people would rather not hear. Victory is not the same as peace. The dead deserve acknowledgment regardless of which side they fought for. Atonement requires facing the painful past rather than burying it.

In a civilization obsessed with divine heritage and celestial connection, Ezekiel insists on the grounding work of honoring those who rest in darkness. He is the conscience of Arvendor. He may be unwelcome. But he is necessary.