It is often said that life is hard. Nowehere is this more obvious than in the Paladin Galerius Valens. In tales of those sworn to the service of the gods, they are usually shining paragons of virtue. Galerius is different. He is no less zealous, but he is more concerned with results than glory. A pragmatist in the service of Deus.

Originally from the small village of Barcino, his family tried to make a living as trappers, a trade that they passed on to their child. However, when the mad Necromancer Geralf Cecani marched on The Sidonian Empire, Barcino was overrun by Zombies and most of its inhabitants slain. Galerius was among the handful of survivors of the doomed town, and fled with the refugees to more stable city of Ilion.

With no other living family, he was given over to the Church of Deus as a child of the state. The orphanage was not a gentle place to spend the remainder of his childhood, but Galerius was safe within its walls, and learned much of the teachings of Deus. While he grew to be a tall lad, thick with iron thews, he was never adopted by any couple or business. His survivor's guilt and burning anger at the injustices of his life gave him an ill-temper that turned away any potentially interested parties. So it was that when he came of age, he petitioned the church to join the ranks of the Knights of the One. He knew nothing beyond the church, but felt that he could focus his anger and neurosis into more constructive ends by being a warrior than a priest.

His petition was accepted, and he was sent to their headquarters for training. The grueling years of training made the hardships of the orphanage seem a pleasant summer holiday, but Galerius took to it well. It was determined by his instructors that his temperament would serve him best in the Knight-Inquisitors. Which is just fine with Galerius, as the idea of proactively seeking out evil appeals to his need for justice, and to protect any other innocents that might suffer the same fate that he did.

For the past twenty years, the zealous warrior has been taking the holy fight directly in the teeth (pun entirely intended) of the horrors of the night. And despite the fact that he has seen terrors that would break many men, he has also seen the triumph of the human spirit in the face of insurmountable odds. Despite the scars on both his flesh and soul, Galerius is more certain than ever about the righteousness of his path, and the good works that he has accomplished.