Stephen

Stephen is a paladin of the Saint of Steel, and the aforementioned paladin in Paladin's Grace.

He is described as being brunette with blue eyes, and handsome - though not as "pretty" as the paladins of the Dreaming God. Stephen is quieter and more sensitive than his friends Istvhan and Galen, who are quicker to joke and employ dark humor. He doesn't believe himself to be especially attractive, believing that "there was nothing about him that would set a maiden's heart alight." Rather, he is proud to be dependable, caring, deeply devoted to his siblings in the order of the Saint of Steel, and dedicated to lending his talents to the Temple of the White Rat.

He is characterized in Paladin's Grace by the signature scent of "gingerbread," which is a balm made by his fellow paladin Istvhan.

Background

Stephen was raised in Archenhold by a presumably single mother in a building "full of seamstresses and tailors." To avoid professional redundancy, his mother knit and sold socks for a living, and she taught Stephen, saying "people always need socks." He joined the army rather than seeking an apprenticeship with a weaver, as "the weavers could take their pick of apprentices, and mostly they picked ones that looked easier to feed." His large size and desire to provide for his mother led him to some success in the military. In his early twenties, he joined a special unit to clear out violent cultists, that led to him being chosen by the Saint of Steel as a god-touched precision berserker.

He and Grace bond over the experience of having lived in poverty.