Vindu

From RPGwiki

South of Bok is an island, unnamed on many maps, but known to its inhabitants as Dagobah. It is here that the kobolds of the White Tooth Tribe live. They are almost unique in their devotion to Paladine and some have wondered how such a tribe came to exist. The answer lies deep in the history of Taladas, in the time before the Cataclysm, in the time of the Irda.

According to the oral history of the tribe they were once part of a greater group, also called White Tooths. Galen Tarn, a druidic knight and collector of pre-Cataclysm oral tradition around Taladas, has suggested that this may be a connection to the Order of the White Bear, a holy order of Paladins who legends say maintained law and justice in the old times and who had members from all races. The kobolds claim that when the dark times came that most of the White Tooths were killed by the Irda. Tarn has confirmed that a ballad of such a massacre of the Order of the White Bear does exist though in that tale it was also an act of betrayal. Several paladins whose loyalty was more to the Irda than to the gods turned on their comrades and were cursed with unlife as death knights as a result. The death knights encountered by the Heroes of the Vale during their fight with the Phoenix are rumoured to have been from the Order of the White Bear. According to the kobolds they survived because one priest uncovered the plot beforehand. He saved those he could, mostly his fellow kobolds, and they fled to the furthest point they could find from the Irda temple, the island of Dagobah.

When Tarn visited the White Tooths in search of their tales they claimed that the kobold who led them to safety was Vindu, the same Vindu who had only recently acted as mentor to Krag Ironbeard and died protecting Waltdorf. Naturally Tarn was sceptical about this and reckoned that there may have been a whole family of kobolds, all named Vindu who kept alive the tribe’s faith in Paladine throughout the dark years when Paladine kept his powers from them. According to him the continuing legends of the family blurred together, into one extended life. The kobolds just maintain that Paladine kept his beloved servant alive all that time.

Whatever the details of his long life the Vindu who met the Heroes of the Vale was old when he met them. They learned little of his history before then but he met them in the subterranean tunnels that were the lair of the Phoenix. He was there because of Krag Ironbeard, having been told in dreams that the minotaur paladin was wavering in his faith, being tempted to ask for riches when offered a wish and displaying an unholy arrogance. Vindu did his best to rein in the excesses of his young ward. He finally realised that the only thing he could do to show the paladin what was required of him was set an example. When they finally faced the Phoenix he called down a pillar of fire upon the foul creature but was immolated by the demon’s breath in return. Not a shred of his body was left.

When Krag faced Splatterblood, his armour in tatters, his body criss-crossed with a multitude of wounds, his blood dripping on the soil, he was heard to whisper ‘Vindu’ before charging out to attack the red dragon. He died in flames as his mentor did.

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"It goes to show just how varied a species kobolds are. On one hand we have individuals like Klob who have the spiritual wisdom to follow Chislev. At the other extreme there is Vindu, who actually worshipped Paladine. I worried at first that this... individual... might upset my attempts to spread the true faith amongst the little lizards, but fortunately he died. It was such a bad idea to go adventuring at vindu's advanced age..."

— Schallat