Benekander
by Marco Dalmonte(Gareth)
Patron of Mortals and Freedom
Level, Alignment, Sphere: 1st (Initiate), NG, Energy
Symbol: a beagle in a jumpsuit wearing a helmet and holding a monkey wrench in his palm
Portfolio: protect the mortals, freedom and truth
Worshipped in: Darokin (add Sind and Savage Baronies after AC 1010 )
Appearance: a 7' tall well-muscled man with green skin, dark hair, blue eyes and well-trimmed beard and moustache, wearing a blue jumpsuit with black boots and a round mirror-shield at his belt.
History: Rheddrian Benekander was First Engineer aboard the Beagle, a spaceship from a far world exploring the universe, when it crashed on Mystara because of a malfunctioning. The damage done to the ship was beyond repair on that primitive world, so the survivors sent a distress call and decided to wait for the Federation's rescue team in suspended animation chambers. Many centuries later, Rheddrian woke up from his slumber and discovered that one of his companions had gone crazy. His chamber had malfunctioned, releasing him before the due time, and he had murdered various members of the crew by altering their sleeping chambers. When he tried to kills Rheddrian, he activated the safeguard system the engineer had placed on his capsule, and he was forced to flee the ship with some other members of the crew to avoid being disintegrated by the defence robots. But the worst fact was that some native humans (Blackmoorians) led by the renegade had violated the ship and scavenged its technology. Rheddrian repelled the invaders and then noticed that their alterations had rendered the still active engine of the Beagle unstable. In order to prevent its imminent blow-up, he used all his knowledge to reprogram the containment measures and shut down the system. He did not prevent the explosion of the ship, but at least he managed to decrease its destructive power, and his body was disintegrated in the catastrophe together with the rest of the Beagle. However, immortals from the sphere of Energy magically saved the Beagle's nuclear reactor and altered it, transporting it to a remote area of the world and hiding it beneath the earth (creating Glantri's Nucleus of the Spheres). During this operation, Rheddrian's soul was sucked up in the magical enchantment of the immortals and ended up trapped in his own reckon badge, deformed by the explosion to resemble a mirror-shield. The mirror was then found and changed hands during the following generations, until Benekander was finally freed from his prison by a group of adventurers around AC 1001. He immediately understood that his essence had been transformed into something different, but only after experimenting his new powers and gathering some news about the Multiverse did he understand he had become a true Immortal thanks to the Radiance power.
Personality: Benekander's primary goal is to protect humanity from immortals' interference. Since he is still quite uncomfortable around other immortals and has not yet accepted his new state of existence, he prefers the company of mortals to his fellow immortals, and for now has not revealed his presence to the hierarchs of the Spheres. He spends most of his time on Mystara under the mortal identity of Rheddrian, a well endowed merchant and an expert of the arcane arts, and has used his charisma and treasures to create a secret net of informers and allies. After AC 1010, he will also appear as Gareth to the Sindhi, using miracles to extend his base of followers and preaching freedom and respect among mortals.
Patron: none (Radiance)
Allies: none (nobody knows of his existence)
Enemies: none (potentially all the immortals that manipulate the mortals)
Classic D&D Stats:
Followers' Alignment: any; Clerics must be Lawful or Neutral
Favoured weapon: none (allowed all bludgeoning weapons)
Clerics' skills and powers: permanent Infravision 60'
Paladins' skills and powers: Lay on Hands
D&D 3E Stats:
Domains: Energy, Good, Protection, Knowledge
Preferred weapon: light mace
Sources: WotI, PWA 1-3