Bohalid Gold-Giver

(This is for a cleric of the Morninglord I may never use at some point)

Bohalid Gold-Giver is an odd sight: a dwarf that worships a foreign elven god.

Bohalid's clan long ago helped to build the imposing Crimson Citadel-Fane that crouches over Bergovitsa, but now they have dwindled, confined to the sub-human ghetto alongside halflings and gnomes.

Bohalid's parents both worked as ironmongers for the town guard and occasionally even equipped the enforcers of the Lawgiver. Bohalid grew up relatively secure and safe, but all around him he could see brutality and callousness: most of his neighbors had inherited a life of desperation, privation and hardship.

When he was a scant thirty years old, one of his childhood friends, Salile Quickmoot, was killed on a cruel whim by some unknown gutterscum. Most dwarves are stonehearted, or so they say, but not Bohalid. The senseless killing of the halfling maid caused the dwarf to grow despondent, and he wandered the streets of his ghetto, searching for fights with drunk humans- and often ending them too.

On one of these violence-prone nights he encountered a strange man, but when Bohalid sought to antagonize him, the tall proselytizer spoke of alien virtues: mercy, kindness, and above all- hope for a better life.

The stranger introduced himself as Urior Kilmarten, a wandering missionary of the Morninglord. The man had traveled across Barovia to bring his message to the downtrodden masses of Nova Vaasa, and had eventually made his way to the unyielding seat of the Iron Faith.

Bohalid was entranced by this figure- the only faiths he had firsthand knowledge of was the cruel church of the Lawgiver and his parent's own cold and silent hearth gods. But Urior spoke of a loving deity whose called upon his followers to treat one another with compassion and respect, and to work together in harmony. It almost sounded too good to be true!

Bohalid and Urior became constant companions, with the young dwarf acting as a sort of backer or financier for the impoverished preacher.

His parents thought him somewhat mad when they found out- in Nova Vaasa, following after a god other than the Lawgiver was good way to disappear into the Crimson Citadel's oubliette.
Nonetheless, Urior continued to quietly heal and feed the poor within the nonhuman ghetto. Bohalid helped as much as he could, often leaving his parents' armory where he worked as an apprentice and heading straight for the Morninglord's meetinghouse.

Urior taught Bohalid the scriptures of the church, discipling the dwarf. Bohalid strove to share the hope represented by the Morninglord, and often spoke of what he learned to his skeptical parents.
Their apprehension slowly curdled into distaste. Their clan had worked for generations to be tolerated by the Lawgiver's church, and now their bleeding heart of a son was going to throw it all away.

Bohalid's mother grew to be openly contemptuous of her son's friendship with Urion and his treatment of the poor. It was she who gave him the mocking deedname 'Gold-Giver,' but to her chagrin he bore the title with pride.

Bohalid was never sure, but he believes it was his mother who finally reported Urion to the Iron Inquisitors.

Though Bohalid was released after only a week in the Lawgiver's dungeons, he never saw his mentor again and the tiny congregation they had built together was scattered, destroyed beneath the steel-shod boots of the Inquisition.

Bohalid only returned home to steal a forgehammer, some chainmail, and several days worth of food. He left Bergovitsa and never looked back, heading towards the border.