Riot Woodhouse

Riot Woodhouse is a Tiefling Paladin in service of the god Ilmater. Little is publicly known about Riot other than that he used to be a Holy Guard of the Royal Family of a fallen kingdom, in a region now known only as the Ruined Sea. After the kingdom was destroyed by a pirate fleet, Riot joined a foreign navy, where he served as a ship's chaplain and cannoneer for six years. Having recently given up his commission, he now adventures full-time to make his living, and to find a new meaning to his life.

History
The other members of Riot's party are aware that he was formerly a Royal Guard at the Palace in Ruined Sea. Before that, while working his way up in the service of Ilmater, he basically lived at the Temple, where he made the acquaintance of the orphan child Fendrel. Riot rarely speaks of his experiences in the Temple or the Palace, though not out of shame or discomfort; it simply doesn't come up. After the kingdom fell, Riot served in a foreign navy, but he has returned to the land, and no longer seems interested in the open water. After coming ashore, Riot quickly made the acquaintance of semi-famous Bard Milo Oberhill, and enlisted his assistance in writing an autobiography. The two soon fell in with a rougher group of traveling companions, including Terra, Fafnir, Kazita, Sir Ganlin, and, serendipitously, Fendrel, the only other survivor of Ruined Sea that Riot has met so far.

Personality
Riot has shown himself to be saltier and more sarcastic than one would expect from a Paladin, though it's perhaps less surprising for a sailor. His strong sense of justice has occasionally been at odds with the party, and he seems to regard (his interpretation of) fairness over friendship. He is not shy about his burning hatred for pirates.

Abilities
Riot is combat trained and battle hardened, showing proficiency with both simple and martial weapons, particularly of the slashing and bludgeoning varieties. He is proficient with all shields and armor, employing chainmail to protect himself. As a Tiefling, he possesses darkvision and speaks Infernal. As a Paladin, Riot is a capable spellcaster, and has so far shown a particular affinity for Thaumaturgy and Divine Smite. He is very strong, and is of excellent health.

Equipment
Riot visibly carries a Great Sword, a mace, and a belaying pin as his weapons. He employs chainmail and a shield for protection. He dresses as a commoner, but carries a holy symbol of his god, Ilmater, and wears a silver teardrop earring in his left ear. He carries a priest's pack for performing rituals on the go, 50 feet of silk rope, and somehow a painting of the castle keep from his former home.

History
Riot joined the priesthood in service of Ilmater in 1019, as soon as he was of age to do so. He truly wanted to make a difference in the lives of those less fortunate, and to show that not all tieflings are evil. Focused on fairness and justice, Riot holds a great passion for combating racial prejudices and injustices, qualities which lend themselves well to a man of the cloth.

Riot slowly worked his way up the ranks in the Temple of Ilmater for two decades, training simultaneously for the priesthood and for combat. He eventually became a paladin, eager to serve his god in a physical capacity as well as a spiritual one. Just weeks before his kingdom fell, Riot was promoted to the Royal Guard.

During the 6 Janis 1040 attack on Ruined Sea, Riot fought in the palace, valiantly protecting the royal family with his life. He was finally thrown from a high window, knocked out cold, and left for dead. When the castle began to collapse as it was assaulted by evil magic, Riot was covered in rubble and forgotten. There he lay unconscious for an unknown number of days. When he finally came to, he found the bodies of the Royal Family he had failed to protect, and felt a deep, hollow shame. From the body of the eldest princess, he took a single teardrop earring, which he knew to be made from a real teardrop, though he did not know whose, or how, or why.

Impulsively, Riot joined a foreign navy on 13 Janis 1040 with the explicit purpose of tracking down the pirates who had destroyed his home and bringing them to justice. He secured a position aboard the SS Harkonnen, a Navy vessel with a penchant for finding and destroying pirates. He served as the ship's chaplain and a cannoneer under Captain Victoria Harwood and her first mate, Lieutenant Pip Bernadotte. Bernadotte also hailed from a fallen foreign kingdom, though he never specified which. Though the two had different command styles, they shared an emphasis on efficiency, and Riot developed a strong bond with his leaders. Riot counts his loyalty toward Captain Harwood first, and literally everything - and everyone - else in his life second.

On 22 Autumnal 1042, the Harkonnen led a weeks-long campaign to clear out the pirate island of Gildart. While there, Riot saw things he could never unsee, which trouble him to this day. The evil taint of that place is too much for him to bear; Riot wishes to never set foot on that island again.

After six years aboard the Harkonnen, Riot eventually found a tip about the pirate fleet that had destroyed his life. It was the fleet of Commodore Montana Max, a ruthless and bloodthirsty pirate who had already managed to wipe out himself and his entire fleet in a mysterious, large-scale accident two years prior. Riot verified the story at a nearby port town. Soon after, he resigned his naval commission. Publicly, Riot would always say that justice had been served, but privately, he felt that he had been robbed of his vengeance, and that Ruined Sea had not truly been avenged.

His love of the sea significantly diminished, Riot now sticks to the land, trying to figure out what the meaning o his life is anymore. At 42, he's no spring chicken, and taking up a new profession seems like a waste of time, but his existing skill set seems to translate over to adventuring pretty well.

Development
The idea for the character came when I sarcastically suggested a tiefling paladin as a player character. Shayne was not amused, but after I said it, it started to sound like it could be an interesting idea. So, i took it and ran with it.

As Amanda and I were working on developing our characters, I discovered the web site Who The Fuck Is My D&D Character, which randomly spits out tiny bits of backstory every time you refresh it. Rather than just taking one, I hit the button a couple dozen times and sifted through the bits i liked the most. So i grabbed "Fights for species equality," "Has a burning hatred for pirates," "Who failed to protect the royal family," "Who is writing an autobiography," and "From the Ruined Sea," and stitched it all together from there. Kazita was built in much the same way.

The name Riot is one that I have used for several characters over the years - in video games, short stories, and scripts. However, it's always been a female name until now. When i originally conceived of the character, i had intended for this tiefling paladin to be female, but once i realized the scope of our campaign, i decided to make things a little easier on myself and play my own gender, though i was undecided right up until about halfway through Tech Night. "Woodhouse" is a cultural reference, but not the one you thought of right away. I feel confident saying that because Shayne and Christi definitely laughed when i first said it. The last name comes from Rosemary's Baby, a movie about a woman who gives birth to a demon. Seemed appropriate for a tiefling living among humans.

Most of the rest of the names in Riot's backstory are references to the anime/manga franchise Hellsing.