Joseph Light

Joseph Light was once a Human Paladin of Gond, born to an expert mechanical and magical engineer named Thomas Light. After a tragedy, however, Joseph's body was mangled beyond even the repair divine magic could muster, forcing Dr. Light's hand:  transfer his son's mind to another, artificial body.

Early Life
Joseph was a very passionate young man, striving to do good wherever he went. Following in his father's footsteps, the boy had taken to working with clockwork machinery, often helping his father with some of the more simple inventions and projects. As he grew older, he was introduced to Gond, the god of craft and smithwork, one of the two primary gods worshiped openly in the Dwarven nation of Begnion, the other being Moradin, god of Dwarves. Excelling in his lowly tasks, Joseph soon found himself as a Paladin of Gond, ready and willing to spread His gospel to those that would listen, and determined to eradicate evil.

Betrayal and Fall
As a Paladin, Joseph intended to accomplish the best of his goals, often defaulting to non-violent solutions first if ever possible. A group of humans and dwarves living in Begnion near the port To Hell With It were being assaulted by pirates and reports of some sort of mechanical device not dissimilar to a golem.

Given his task of protecting the innocents, Joseph made a fast trek out to the small city and was greeted by cheers from the individuals being oppressed. He quickly made his way to the source of the problem, an unidentified Warforged and a group of pirates it had managed to seize command of. Light engaged in combat with them, and soon found himself being torn apart by the overwhelming odds.

He reached out to the onlookers, Humans and Dwarves alike, who stood there in silence, watching the slaughter. Light called for their help, knowing that if they did something to help, it would give him enough time to disengage and collect himself before attempting another press. No one lifted a finger, leaving Joseph to die, watching as their last hope was crushed before their eyes.

It was in those last moments before everything went black that Joseph realized a frightening truth about those he had been trying to protect:  no one was ever willing to stand up for another in the face of impossible odds, even for their salvation. Heroes were a breed apart, something so rare that they truly faded into legend, often as soon as they appear. No one, not even his god was willing to help him accomplish good in life. Hope, in the face of darkness, rides alone.

Reconstruction
Joseph's body was utterly destroyed, and the fact he had clung on to life as long as he did was a miracle in itself. His father had been in town, secretly trying to help free the people, but upon hearing of Joseph's defeat, Dr. Light quickly recovered his son's body and brought it back, keeping him barely alive through the divine magic granted to him as a cleric of Gond. The entire time, Dr. Light began crafting a new host body, modeled after the body that had destroyed his son's: a Warforged. The most significant difference was that this body would not have a soul comprised of magic controlling it. Instead, it was designed to host the brain of Joseph Light, and through his father's tinkering, keep his brain alive without a natural host. This process was taxing on the integrity of  Joseph's brain, and the transfer effectively destroyed his amygdala, the center of his emotions, as well as the majority of his memories in the process.



Life As Warforged
Now an emotionless construct that lacks the need to sleep or eat, rechristed "PR0T0M4N" or simply "Protoman" due to his prototype nature to replicate the life of a man, Joseph worked for the Begnion military as a mercenary solider. As a fallen Paladin, he lost all divine powers granted to him by Gond, yet retained his martial training. He then found the need to track foes in combat and navigate more hostile, natural environments, which led him to his training as a ranger. While he may have lost most of his memories during the transition to a Warforged, there was a distinct anger toward Humans, which he knew was somehow related to his prior death as a Human. The words "Hope rides alone" seemed to be etched into his thoughts, and as such he had carved those very words into his shield to mirror his mind. Having no scruples about any job, Protoman willing killed any targets in his way just so he would have something to do with his new life, one he was unable to truly appreciate.

Current Party
Traveling with Captain Ariana Dumon, an Avarial Elf pirate and a Tiefling barbarian by the name of Skalhor Strigvorhen.

Weaponry
Protoman is armed with two weapons. The first is the sword he once carried as a Paladin, which was an unassuming blade until recently, when he had it enhanted with the Keen enhancement.

The second, are more deadly weapon, his his Protobuster. The Protobuster is an extension of Protoman's body, allowing him to produce and fire projectiles to damage his foes from a distance and can be augmented through a variety of ways.

The Protobuster
The Protobuster is beyond adept at manifesting new powers. These powers manifest traditionally after Protoman has consumed the power core of another Warforged, often granting him the key ability of the most recently slain Warforged.