Ceto Malderra

Ceto Malderra

(Person)

Aliases

Hero of the Belkzen Front

Titles

Marshal of the Flood Road

Alignment

Lawful evil (formerly lawful neutral)

Ancestry/Species

Human (Taldan) graveknight

Class

Warpriest 15 (formerly Warpriest 12)

Gender

Female

Homeland

Lastwall

Deity

Asmodeus (formerly Iomedae)

Organization

Knights of Ozem; Malderra family

Died

4719 AR

Destroyed

4719 AR

Source: Midwives to Death, pg(s). 44

Ceto Malderra was the Marshal of the Flood Road and a celebrated hero of Lastwall against the orcs of Belkzen. She viewed the orcs as lesser enemies, and their wars as petty games, compared to the true enemy of Tar-Baphon, the Whispering Tyrant.

Appearance

Ceto stood more than six feet tall. Her blonde hair was cut short to keep her vision clear. Long stretches of time spent on the battlefield callused her hands and tanned her face. She wore her armor with little difficulty and kept it clean off the battlefield, as she considered it critical to look like a shining beacon of virtue.

Relatives

Ceto was born into one of the most decorated families in the Knights of Ozem. The Malderras originated in Taldor and came to Lastwall during the Shining Crusade, heeding the call to defend the land from Tar-Baphon. Many Malderras met heroic ends on the front line, bringing honour to the family. When the Tyrant was sealed in Gallowspire, the Malderras opposed and argued that it was time to destroy him for good, their quest for glory blinding them to the fact that there were insufficient resources to do so.

Since then, while all generations of Malderras have served among the Knights of Ozem, they have also held the belief that the Shining Crusade made a cowardly error in sealing Tar-Baphon away instead of destroying him. Many of them have proposed to set aside resources from the Belkzen front in case the Tyrant returned, but they were outvoted every single time.

Background

Ceto grew up with her family's beliefs since childhood, and like her ancestors, joined the Knights of Ozem. She was sent to fight the orcs of Belkzen, but secretly hoped for Tar-Baphon to escape so she would gain greater opportunities for heroism. Her prowess and tactics quickly granted her the rank of marshal and a celebrity status within Lastwall. However, her secret desire to confront Tar-Baphon in person remained out of reach.

When her proposal to divert resources from the Belkzen front to Gallowspire was declined, like her ancestors before her, Ceto decided to take matters into her own hands. For many years, she had abused her military rank and celebrity status to stockpile resources intended to monitor Gallowspire and guard against infiltration of Lastwall in her family tomb in the Ossuaries of the Fallen, justifying this embezzlement by insisting that she would be proven right all along when the Tyrant finally returns.

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In 4719 AR, after the Tyrant destroyed Vigil with the Radiant Fire, Ceto collected her embezzled possessions from her family tomb before fleeing the doomed city, justifying her cowardice by convincing herself that she could put the loot to use against the Tyrant elsewhere. A band of adventurers came to investigate, discovered her crime, and killed Ceto in self-defence when she attacked them to preserve her family legacy.

Due to rage and envy at her killers, Ceto's soul did not rest and transformed into a graveknight. Abandoning Iomedae for denying her victory, Ceto's pleas for a patron who would honour her sacrifices were answered by Asmodeus. She decided that Lastwall would deserve to burn for overlooking her righteous sacrifices in the country's name, and pledged her allegiance to the Whispering Tyrant, quickly proving her usefulness by clearing several pockets of resistance. The Tyrant stationed her at Fallowdeep, which was later invaded by her former killers, who again defeated her and ultimately destroyed her.