Steel Finley

Ignis "Steel" Finley was the founding member of the Gauntlet and was a strong fighter at the dawn of the adventuring age. He is widely regarded as a hero to many individuals across the Scorchlands. He wielded a longsword known as Shadow Slayer, which was given to him by the goddess Lux.   He was born the son of a human father and half-orc mother who ran the blacksmith shop in the village of Lowry. While he was an apprentice for his father, Ignis was sent out on the road to sell their wares and barter for some gold. He was ambushed by a couple of thieves and barely fought them off, and fell unconscious. When he woke up he realized it was night and he got back on the road. As he arrived back to Lowry he found it in flames and several skeletons laying siege to the village. He sprinted to his home and found his mother still fighting with his father falling to the ground. She yelled for the boy to run, but he did not listen and he was knocked unconscious again surrounded by the ruins of Lowry.   After this he took to the town of Stratum, hoping to strengthen himself so when the next threat arose he would not be so easily beaten. His chance would come when he found a basilisk that was petrifying those who wandered the road. He was hailed as a great hero for his slaying of the beast and he quickly began to be known across the Scorchlands. Due to his newfound fame, he received a great deal of gold for his heroics and was even hired to recover lost trinkets and goods for noble people.   While on one of these quests, he was sent to an old temple dedicated to the goddes of fortune, Lux, by one of her priests to find some ancient writings. Due to her interest in seeing what would happen to the young hero she offered him a deal. She would give him a blade forged in the flames of the divine, and he would destroy a nest of the undead lingering in the pass. He took the deal and named the blade the Shadow Slayer, he then embarked on a journey to kill the undead roaming in the south of the pass.   He experienced peace for a very short time in his life, something he had not had in a long while. However, that all ended when a wizard by the name Powell emerged from the pass, wishing to bring back the armies of the dead that Gregor had placed there centuries ago. When Powell began a siege on Stratum, Ignis tried to fight him but was quickly blown back and left to watch the city fall. He charged into the city and found a small group of citizens harbored in a tavern towards the outskirts of the settlement. Ignis convinced four of them to join him in his final push to kill Powell.   The five would succeed in driving Powell out of Stratum and would then form the Gauntlet. However, Ignis would seek a final fight with Powell alone, not wishing to harm any others. Where and when this fight occured are unknown to the commonfolk but it has been seen that the curse that the mad wizard imbued on the land. It is unknown what happened during this fight but neither of the two combatants have been found since the fight.