Tacitus Martialis: Vigilant of Helm.

[Gentlemen of the Empire]

Name: Tacitus Martialis
Class: Paladin [Helm], 'Vigilant'
Age: 43,
Alignment: Lawful Good,

Faction Membership: Watchers

Brief Biography: Tacitus's family originates from Tethyr, however fled from there during the civil conflict that decimated the country. As a result, he was born and raised in Arabel, Cormyr. During the Time of Troubles, when Tymora herself took up residence in the city, he was given to the Luckmaiden's priesthood as a gift. As an Acolyte, however, he was witness to the battle between Helm and Mystra. Inspired by the sight of Helm's victory, he felt called to serve and fled Tymora's priesthood to become a Squire of the Vigilant Eyes of the Deity. He had quite a long, but unremarkable career, as a Paladin with the Order and is now quite near the end of his prime.

Tacitus has met his end. He was a character I thoroughly enjoyed playing. In part this was due to the oaths that defined his actions. Playing a Paladin was challenging, particularly in the Watchers, but the scenarios that emerged resulted in some of the most satisfying roleplay I have ever had the pleasure of being part of. When I sat down to create the character I wanted to have very clear guidelines on how he would functionally work as a Paladin, the oaths below were my solution.

He had rather massive upswings and downswings as a character. Starting out as a Recruit under the tutelage of Edgar Flint and rising to become a productive rank and file Watcher, training many recruits and attempting to raise the standards of the Watchers. He would eventually be promoted to Sergeant, a position he served in for around three weeks before accepting a demotion. It was then that the character entered the long, dark, teatime of the soul; struggling to continue doing good and continue to stand by his oaths in the face of increasing political isolation.

[SIZE="3"]Paladin Oaths[/SIZE]

• Service: Tacitus must always seek to serve within an ordered, structured, organisation. Brief periods of unemployment are permitted, however should be corrected as quickly as possible.
  
• Courtesy: Tacitus is sworn to be well-mannered and polite, upholding Helm's image as a reliable and steadfast God.
  
• Vigilance: Tacitus has sworn to be watchful and to care well for his weapons and armour, that he might perform his duty at all times.
  
• Obedience: Tacitus must obey the lawful orders of his superiors, unless they contravene his oaths or require him to act in a manner that would not please Helm.
  
• Loyalty: Helm requires that Tacitus stand fast with his comrades and ensure that he does what he can to support them.
  
• Guardianship: Tacitus is required to act in the defense of the weak, particularly children, and can never permit anyone to be sacrificed over himself.
  
• Goodness: Finally, Tacitus has sworn to uphold the common good and to strive, always, to be pure of heart and pure of deed. As part of this he must oppose evil through putting it to the sword, or bringing it to redemption.
  

I want to say thank you in particular to Howland, Halfbrood, Talir and all the DMs who put up with my paladin antics within the Watcher faction. A massive thanks is also due to Divine Intervention for the best sendoff I have ever had for a character. Particular thanks also to the players of the other Watchers, whose characters were the main crowd I interacted with. My great respect also to those who Tacitus ended up fighting, without the mercy of a lot of bad guys (which at times wasn't returned!) the character would hardly have survived as long, or had as enjoyable a story.

Without further delay, screenshots are below.

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[StoneFolk]

Now to feel depressed for the rest of my life because I will never be this amazing or have an outro this amazing

[TheShadow]

I enjoyed my time with him immensely, and my only regret with him was that I didn't get to spend more time. Good job! :D

[Divine Intervention]

A well played paladin is something great to see. Keep on balling.

[Moonlighter]

What a g. Rest in peace.

[Abandoned-1]

Sick outro, dude.

[Knight Of Pentacles]

Nice :)

[Black_TopHat]

I loved Tacticus, as he was always fun to chat up. He's gonna be missed, we need more like him!

[granny]

He was a great guy. I remember of our long talks regarding Helm's symbol and the relation of it with Horus-Re. Even being evil, Kiskit had his time and attention, to whom he was ever kind and respectful, never pointing out her taint or humiliating her for having a dark heart. That talk brought up the plot that Horus-Re might have a son and this was Helm... thus....

OMG MY PLANS!

... yeah, man. This was a most interesting PC that could have cleansed some of the evil hearts that I have been playing. I am sad to see he go.

[The Old Hack]

Tacitus was an immensely enjoyable and fascinating character I loved to interact with. Chimaera respected and admired him and will be heartbroken now he is gone. Splendid work!

[CondorHero]

No rest for the best of the best. War well!

[d1n4l9q7]

A beaming light within a dark city flooded with questionable ethics and lack of morality.

[Sunburst]

May we be half so worthy.

[Hhean]

Edgar's one time pupil and best friend. They had such an interesting dynamic, with them both knowing what each other represented, and each knowing which of them was better suited to a situation. Then there was the strange position of Eddie being the senior watcher, then his right hand man and finally his superior (At which point Eddie said to never call him by his rank).

A character so good and true he made the watchers look better by association. Your extensive help on and writing of the second version of the recruitment guidelines will likely mean his influence will be felt on the watchers long past his death.

[whiterabbit]

A wonderful PC Gentleman.  I didn't get to be a fellow watcher with you for long, but it was short and sweet.  I loved your RP during the tenement ward hostage crisis.

Cheers boss.

PS, D_I, Halfbrood, awesome dialogue on that outro.  Dayum.