Foundling

(This was my first attempt at changing an old character into a new one.  But I don't think I'm satisfied, yet.)

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The warrior clerics of my Temple usually take children for training at age four, but it is not uncommon for foundlings to be left on their steps.  What is uncommon, however, is for that foundling to be a Tiefling.

I can guess why my parents abandoned me- my scarlet skin and tail gave me a demonic appearance long before spiraling black horns broke the flesh of my brow- but it is harder to discern why they left me to the Temple.  My master says they were compelled to by the gods themselves, to ensure that I would have the training I would need to act as sword and shield.  But perhaps they thought holy men and women would know best how to handle a descendant of evil.

The clerics named me in the tradition of their faith; a threefold name to encompass the virtues of my past, present, and future.  Thus was I christened “Innocence Hope Perseverance”, and began a life dedicated to protecting the weak.  My fellow acolytes shortened my name to “Severan”, and I have gone by that ever since.

My master took special care with my education- he warned me of what I would face in the world as a Tiefling, and I encountered it for myself, the first of many times, when I was only five.  The man who gave me this scar did not survive the retribution of my master, who used it as a teaching moment in protecting the helpless from the brutal.

I know that my kind are drawn to the darkness of our ancestry, and the constant suspicion of others weighs heavily on a soul, until one is tempted to become what one is believed to be: it is why I consciously strive to stay on the path of righteousness at all times, no matter the abuse I may endure.