Cleric Backstory | Patreon Weekly #326

Hey Patrons, I'm still stuck into technical work for v3.2 patches, so in this weekly I’m going to shift gears a bit and share the backstory for the Cleric!

This was originally shared in Shattered Secrets #41, back in September last year.

The Cleric

(Note that just like with the other hero backstories, nothing here is final until it appears in-game. I don’t expect the general direction will change, but some specific details might.)

Above the dungeon there is a bustling city, the capital of a large kingdom. The rulers of this kingdom claim to be blessed to rule by the gods, and there is some truth to that statement. They are a family of powerful empaths, gifted with the ability to feel the emotions and sometimes thoughts of others, and even channel them into powerful divine magic. Many years ago, this royal family had a prince and princess. You’ve heard the story of one of those siblings already, but what about the other?

The younger of the two, the prince, was born with substantially more empathic power than his elder sister. As the favoured child, the prince took after his father much more readily than his older sister, and saw no issue with the corruption he witnessed. His sister eventually fled, and he became the obvious heir to the throne, instead of simply the favoured one. Unlike his sister, he was eager to participate in the coming of age ritual, commune with the people, and start working on manipulating them into loving him.

Unfortunately, one major thing had changed in the decades since this ritual was last attempted. Far beneath the city, an ancient evil had started to grow in power. While this evil was not yet strong enough to affect the daily running of the kingdom, it was strong enough to notice a powerful empath opening his mind to the world, and seized the opportunity.

The ritual, normally more a publicity exercise than anything else, suddenly became a desperate struggle for survival as the young price silently fought for control over his mind. For the people, an exercise in supplication suddenly became an earnest plea to lend their mental strength and save the prince from an unknown assailant.

While the evil below was much stronger than the prince and people of the kingdom, distance gave it a great disadvantage. After a few hours of struggle and prayer, this evil force knew it would not win, and withdrew. The prince awoke from this ordeal a changed person, with a new appreciation for the world and the people around him. The original intent of the ritual was for a new ruler to build a true spiritual connection with the people, and for the first time in countless years that goal had been achieved.

Over the following weeks the young empath’s thoughts toward their father, the kingdom, and themselves changed. They began to see the harm their father’s actions caused, and longed to help the people they now felt a great connection to. As more time passed, and the distant evil force began to affect the kingdom, they took on the role of a cleric, and started directly supporting the people who were affected, a task their father had no interest in.

The Cleric enters the dungeon to protect the people of the kingdom, both motivated and empowered by their passion and strength. The Cleric hopes to put an end to the growing evil power below, but unfortunately, that hopefulness pushes into naivety. They have no idea just how great a power they’ll face, but also don’t fully know of the power they can wield against it.

(If you’re interested in more Hero lore, you can also look at previous backstory posts for the Warrior and Mage, Rogue, Huntress, and Duelist)