Joseph Moroni

Joseph Moroni is a level 3 Human Cleric.

Character Bio
The first gleaming beams of sunlight broke the veil that night had painted over the agricultural town of Eastern Peloria. The silence the night had created was broken by the hustle, bustle, and grumblings of the town waking up. A lone cleric approached the town center, where an altar of Pelor stood taller than any other structure in the town. The cleric knelt before the altar, and began to pray, preparing his spells for the day.

The cleric was well respected, and one of the more intellectual, scholarly residents of Eastern Peloria. This was no impressive feat by any means, as most of the town knew nothing other than farming, religion, and drinking. Although the town at one point had thrived due to it's impressive agricultural yield, the crops had been getting worse and worse every year. Trade had died down significantly with other towns, as Peloria had nothing to offer the rest of the world besides large quantities of food. The lack of trade led to a slow, but noticable decline in the quality of life. The citizens of Peloria ignored this decline for quite some time, believing that Pelor would not fail them. Many citizens were hopeful, and believed the crops would come back ten times as bountiful for the struggles they had to endure. The cleric wanted to believe.

Somebody tapped the cleric on his shoulder to interrupt his prayer. He looked back, mildly irritated. It was seriously disrespectful in Peloria to interrupt a man whilst praying to Pelor. "Joseph, I hate to bother you... But Leon has taken a turn for the worse. We're going to need your help with him. Please... Joseph, you're the only hope left for the kid..." Joseph nodded solemly, stood, and began to walk away from the altar. Before it was out of view, he glanced back at it over his shoulder. His eyes narrowed, and he couldn't help but feel a trickle of resentment towards the altar. He pushed those bitter feelings far back into the deep recesses of his mind, suddenly very embarassed that such blasphemous thoughts had ever even occured to him.

Joseph approached a shantily constructed hut, sighed deeply, and entered. Several beds lay in the hut, all of which were occupied by townsfolk with serious ailments. The town doctor stood in the center of the beds, a look of defeat upon his face. "Joseph. Thank you for coming so soon" said the doctor. "It's Leon. I don't have the supplies I need to  fix him up. 'Fraid he'll die within the week if you don't do something about it." Joseph turned his attention to Leon, a boy of only 15. He lay unconcious in his makeshift hospital bed, sporting a bloody stump with a shoddy bandage job as a left leg. An accident in the fields had sliced his leg clean off from above the knee. Infection was surely set in. He was sickeningly pale.

Joseph placed his hand on the boy's forehead and began to recite a prayer. Leon seemed to glow slightly as Joseph's healing spell began to work. Color returned to Leon's face almost immediately, but he remained unconcious. "He'll need plenty of rest. Even with my healing, we have neither the medical supplies nor food to nurse this boy back to health. When he wakes, send him to the altar to pray for his health. If the boy's devotion is true, he will grow up to be strong despite his crippled condition." The doctor nodded at this advice, and Joseph exited the hut, but not before stealing a quick glance back to Leon. That feeling of resentment threatened to show it's ugly head again, so Joseph quickened his pace. He wanted to be as far away from the boy, who would surely die within the year despite his healing powers.

Conditions only continued to grow worse as time went on. The townspeople were growing hungrier, angrier, less rational, and a host of other unpleasant adjectives. Their faith never faulted however. Nobody blamed the great god Pelor for their plight. He, after all, would be responsible for bringing back the town's prosperity when they deserved it.

Joseph sat at a desk in the town church. He was researching religious texts, looking for some sort of prophecy or guidance. He wanted to save his dying town. Was Pelor really the way to save the town though? He ignored this thought. Those thoughts were becoming more and more frequent, and that surely was not how he would get Pelor to help his people. The leader of the Cleric Order of Eastern Peloria entered the room. "Joseph. I have uncovered the answer to the problem of our people." he said. "What might that be?!" inquired Joseph, clearly excited at this prospect. "Pelor visited me in a dream last night. He told me that we must choose a champion to send out into the world to spread his name. When his name has been spread far and wide, he will look favorably upon our town once more. There will be much feasting and rejoycing!" the cleric paused to smile at the idea, then continued, "The crops will return and harvest will be bountiful. Trade routes will pick back up. We will expand our town, and construct a larger altar." "What wonderous news!" Joseph said. He was elated. He had questioned his faith recently, sure. But this was what he needed to solidify his beliefs. This prophecy was proof that his town would be thriving again in no time!

"Who will be our champion, then?" asked Joseph. "Pelor instructed me to send out only the most devout, pious cleric." "Ah, so you're going to be our champion? How exciting! Congratu-" the cleric cut Joseph off with a bemused chuckle. "No, no. I'm not going to be the champion of Eastern Peloria. You are, Joseph. Everyone in town agrees." Joseph's heart sunk. His elation had left him entirely. The town had already made up their minds. Joseph was their champion, and nothing he could do would ever change that.

A week later, Joseph stood at the altar in the center of town, all of the inhabitants crowded around him.The townspeople had pooled their dwindling supply of gold together and purchased Joseph a new set of scale mail armor, as well had him a new shield and mace crafted. They provided him with a quantity of gold for his adventure that he  feltvery guilty accepting. The leader of the Cleric Order was making an inspirational speech. Spirits were high in every townsperson, but not in Joseph. He felt like a fraud and a con artist. He was taking all of these people's money, and filling them with false hope. He had failed his people already by questioning his beliefs.

If he had tried to tell the townspeople that he wouldn't be fit to be their champion, they wouldn't have listened. If he fled town, they'd be hopeless. Joseph had decided that the best course of action was to go off in search of something he could bring back to save his town, whether that be riches, magic, or by some miraculous odds, the grace of Pelor. He was going to save his dying town somehow.

Adventuring
Joseph spent the first few months wandering attempting to do things how his cleric order would have wanted him to. He went from town to town, spreading the word of Pelor. As he moved further and further away from Peloria however, his beliefs only grew weaker and weaker. He was exposed to all sorts of other dieties in his travels, all of which seemed to treat their people better than Pelor had treated his.

Eventually, Joseph gave up spreading the word of Pelor entirely. He still believed in Pelor, and channeled his beliefs to perform spells when necessary. He still prayed to Pelor daily, but he decided it was unfair to try to spread his beliefs when he questioned them himself.

After a little over a year into his journey and very little progress, Joseph met up with a party of adventurers who time and time again defeated evil creatures, and acquired riches in the process. Joseph began to satisfy the role of healer in the party, tagging along because he felt that he was doing good in the world, and hoping that if he did enough good, good fortune would shine on him.

He frequently called upon Pelor in times of need to cast spells that would save he and his party from undesirable situations when he began adventuring. He was disappointed nearly every time. His sun spells would fizzle, or produce effects to a fraction of the degree that they were supposed to. After a particularly disappointing Holy Bolt spell failed to do more than give an enemy a mild irritation, Joseph's religious beliefs were finally crushed entirely, and he gave up Pelor.

It's time to find a new god.

Equipment
Joseph currently wears a set of scale mail armor, with a brown cloak over top. He is armed with a mace and a +1 wooden shield.

Feats
Write the first section of your page here.