Before he learned to fight, John was a slave laborer. Every day, he would get up, grab his hammer, and pound what he was told to pound. Road building and quarrying were common tasks, but occasionally he was given an axe and made to chop down trees. John accepted this fate.
When John was younger (he doesn't quite remember how old he is) he was free, and he had a family. One day, his baby sister was afflicted with a mysterious disease. Fearing the worst, John searched for a cure. The only cure to be had was at a local temple, where a priest could carry out a purifying rite. Unfortunately for John, the price of the incense and herbs required to carry out the rite were too expensive for his family to afford. Seeing no other way, John indentured himself to the temple's priest. His sister was cured, but John found himself in a heap of trouble. He was quietly sold off to a slave master, Dalak, that hired off a group of laborers for unskilled construction tasks, and John was put to work. John accepted his fate.
One day, things changed. The gang had been hired to prepare a road to be paved, and John was packing the earth with a giant hammer as usual. Out of nowhere, a pack of wolves attacked the gang. The laborers tried to fight back, but were untrained and their hammers were only good for hitting the ground. Many men died, but not John. John stood out in front and smashed wolf after wolf, taking their bites without flinching, until they gave up and ran. His master was so shocked at John's bravery and endurance, that he decided to retain him as his bodyguard.
John was trained to use many kinds of weapons and fighting techniques, but he still felt more comfortable with a big hammer. So that's what he used. There were other occasions where John had to protect his fellows and his master, but none of them bear mentioning. Recently, John's master received a terrible message from his brother, Daram the High Enchanter. That evil old bard was asking to hire his workers for a road surveying expedition up in the mountains, and Dalak knew that something was wrong. But he was unable to refuse his brother's request due to the magic woven into the words he read.
"If you free me, I will take your place," John told his master. Dalak was not eager to lose his favorite servant, but he was even less eager to lose his life over another of his brother's dangerous schemes. So John was sent to the High Enchanter's villa in Dalak's place, as Daram had planned from the beginning when he poisoned John's sister.
Description: John is a hulk. Outsiders have been known to confuse him for a short Goliath, and with his armor covering his face this mistake is even easier to make. John's armor isn't the best-looking plate mail in the world, but it's certainly functional.
Personality: John doesn't like to speak much, instead expressionlessly interposing himself physically when he feels it will help a situation. He isn't so good at piecing together clue to form coherent theories about things, but he is always ready to defend himself or others when threats arrive. If he learns secrets, it's likely that he won't ascribe enough importance to them to even mention them to anyone else.
