| Kress |
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Here's what Mark has to say about him:
21 Oct 1996
On 2967.4.3.3.6 (MA34, 27 Apr 1989), in Cobepar, Hazen, then a Thief-5, drew "The Knight" out of a "Deck of Many Things". Shortly thereafter Kress, a Fighter-4, showed up and became Hazen's loyal henchman. When asked about Kress, Hazen will say that he won him while playing cards. The two are usually seen together carousing in Mansfield's seedier spots, pulling off the occasional job, and of course, adventuring.
It would come as a great surprise to anyone who knows him now, but Kress is literally a knight, i.e. a nobleman. Kress was the only son of an Earl of a large township in the NW of Anglia. Growing up in the castle, Kress received all the training required of someone who would someday be the Earl. Kress was different, however: he had a great dislike for the court's silly pageantry, its petty intrigues, and for the way the commoners (the real people in Kress' view) were looked upon. Kress was also different in his choice of weapons. While most young fighters choose the long sword and tried to bring order to battle, Kress liked the great sweeping dramatic weapons, the battle axe and the two-handed sword, and wild melees. "An honest chunk of steel and real people make the best companions." Using his superior strength, toughness, quickness of feet and mind, and good leadership abilities, Kress rose quickly to Fighter-4 and a company leader in his father's army.
Kress' former way of life came to an end one day, when a neighboring nobleman, using false evidence of a plot, formed an alliance with others and attacked the castle with vastly greater force, killing his father and most of his troops. Kress escaped into the wilderness leading a few other fighters and what was left of his family. After successfully evading being hunted down by the attackers they disbanded When Kress learned that his Earldom had been awarded to the attacking nobleman, Kress vowed never to have anything more to do with court life or leading others again. Kress traveled to the anonymity of the big city of Mansfield. In meeting Hazen, Kress felt he met someone with the right outlook on life.
Kress dislikes authority, hypocrisy and anyone putting on airs, but not wanting to play the hero will rarely challenge them openly. He bears no ill will to anyone else, even those he finds necessary to slay to protect his companions. Thievery (by Hazen or anyone else) is fine, so long as it is not done with a pen.
Addendum Sept 9, 2003
Since the "Die, Vecna, Die!" adventure Hazen and Kress have moved into the house at Sigil although they still spend time at their old haunts in Mansfield.
Note also that even though Kress possesses a superior intellect and wisdom, he rarely shows it, preferring to "dumb down," although he won't actually follow through on something really stupid that he believes would cause harm to himself or his party.
