Varak Krazz, a Hobgoblin Paladin — D&D 5e NPC portrait
#0145

Varak Krazz

"The Burning Mercy"

Hobgoblin Paladin (Oath of the Solar Discipline) LN Lvl 12 Soldier (General of the Iron Shadow Legion)

Female (she/her) · Middle-aged (48 years)

Ability Scores

STR
18
+4
DEX
12
+1
CON
16
+3
INT
10
+0
WIS
14
+2
CHA
18
+4

Combat

Armor Class
18
Breastplate, Shield, and Discipline
Hit Points
112
Hit Dice: 12d10+36
Initiative
+1
Speed
30 ft.
Proficiency
+4
Passive Perception
12

Attacks

Searing Longsword+81d8+4 slashing + 1d8 radiant
Sun-Strike (Ranged)+83d6 radiant

Personality

Personality

She speaks in barked, rhythmic commands and refers to medical procedures as 'tactical engagements.' She has no patience for self-pity and often adjusts her golden monocle to stare down a patient's infection with visible contempt.

Ideal

Discipline. The universe is a machine that functions only when the dark corners are burned clean of rust and rot.

Bond

The Golden Monocle, a relic of her lost legion that she has enchanted to see the 'heat signatures' of spiritual decay.

Flaw

She treats sentient beings like damaged equipment; her 'mercy' is often so painful that her patients fear her more than the disease.

Backstory

General Varak was the iron fist of the Shadow Legion, a tactician who saw the world as a series of vectors and supply lines. That worldview shattered during the Siege of Mourn-Hold when a 'void-strike'—a tear in the fabric of the Shadowfell—erased her entire battalion in a heartbeat. As the necrotic grey rot began to climb her own limbs, Varak didn't pray to a god for salvation; she demanded it from the universe. She found a kernel of absolute, unyielding order within her own soul and fanned it into a solar flare that incinerated the encroaching void. She was the only survivor found amidst the ash of five hundred soldiers.

Since that day, Varak has discarded her legion's colors for the ochre of the noon sun. She realized that darkness, disease, and death are not natural forces, but failures of discipline—entropy winning because the victim was too weak to hold the line. She now wanders the borderlands as a combat-medic, viewing every infection as a rebel insurgency and every wound as a breach in a fortification. She does not offer comfort; she offers the harsh, purifying light of the 'Commanding Officer'—the Sun itself. To Varak, a patient’s scream is merely the sound of the rot being court-martialed.

Abilities & Actions

Tactical Cauterization (12/Day)

As an action, Varak touches a creature and expends one use of this ability to heal them for 10 hit points. However, the process is agonizing; the target must succeed on a DC 16 Constitution saving throw or be Incapacitated by pain until the end of their next turn. If the target was suffering from a disease or the Poisoned condition, that effect is instantly incinerated and removed.

Aura of the Iron Sun

Varak and friendly creatures within 10 feet of her have resistance to Necrotic and Radiant damage. Additionally, any creature that starts its turn within the aura while Varak is conscious gains a +4 bonus to saving throws against being Frightened, as her drill-sergeant presence outweighs any supernatural terror.

Signature Item: The Solar Monocle

Varak uses her golden monocle to locate weaknesses. As a bonus action, she can designate a creature she can see. Until the start of her next turn, her attacks against that creature deal an extra 2d8 radiant damage as she strikes precisely where the 'rot' is thickest.

Sear the Flesh (Recharge 5–6)

Varak releases a 15-foot cone of blinding white light from her palm. Each creature in that area must make a DC 16 Constitution saving throw. On a failure, a creature takes 6d8 radiant damage and is Blinded until the end of its next turn. On a success, it takes half damage and isn't Blinded. If a creature in the cone is at 0 hit points, they instead regain 20 hit points as their wounds are fused shut, but they suffer one level of Exhaustion from the trauma.

DM Notes

Varak should be played as a woman who has seen the end of the world and decided it was 'unprofessional.' When she heals a PC, she should shout something like, 'STAY CONSCIOUS, SOLDIER! DYING WITHOUT PERMISSION IS A COURT-MARTIAL OFFENSE!' She reacts to monsters not with fear, but with the weary annoyance of a janitor looking at a mess. Her deal-breaker is cowardice; she will leave a fleeing man to rot, but will burn her own soul to ash to save someone who keeps fighting.