Drake Roxley

Drake Roxley is a paladin of Nalindra, and founder of Drake's Company.

Early life
Drake grew up in Inethar in the nation of Varen. When aberrations set loose by the wizard Tephra attacked and left the ranks of the city watch depleted, Drake joined them to help protect his city. He proved to be somewhat overzealous in enforcing the law, both enforcing heavy punishments for minor crimes and refusing to look the other way when it came to the crimes of the nobility, as many of his fellow officers did. Eventually Drake effected the very public arrest of the halfling noble Neff Willowrush for human trafficking; shortly thereafter, Drake was dismissed from service. When his wife and daughter were murdered two months later, and Neff's symbol drawn onto their backs, the city watch did nothing; Drake decided then and there that no justice could be found in Inethar.

Hearing stories of a monastery across the sea dedicated to the principles of justice, he sailed to Orodeth and sought out the Thundering Hall to become a paladin of Bahamut. Drake embraced Bahamut's teachings, vowing to bring justice and enforcement of the law to all--especially Neff Willowrush. However, he frequently clashed with the monastery's leaders and had little patience for the military drills and rigid rules imposed on him. When he witnessed what he believed to be preferential treatment given to a paladin hailing from a noble house in Northeron, he demanded that both the paladin and abbot be held accountable; instead, Drake was ordered to leave the monastery.

Drake eventually found work as a bounty hunter, traveling up and down the Belsimar Strait imposing justice on lawbreakers when the legal authority of the Mercantile Alliance proved inadequate. He soon made a name for himself in Drakkengarde, alongside his friend and fellow bounty hunter Bran.

Drake's Company
In 2964, Drake was tasked with hunting down a fire genasi sorcerer named Bastian Thermandar, accused of murdering high-ranking Mercantile Alliance officials and carving a mysterious symbol into their bodies. Perhaps seeing similarities to the murder of his family, Drake and Bran reached out to hire help in tracking this quarry. They set out from Drakkengarde accompanied by Bran's old friend Waedin, a Shai wizard named Ru Bae Ya, an elven rogue named Láfièlthién, and a halfling bard named Qwynn Cupsigh. Their quest soon uncovered a conspiracy of elemental cultists sowing chaos in the region. After saving a farm from an orcish attack and asked who they were, Lafiel simply said "we're Drake's Company," and the name stuck.

When they eventually located Bastian Thermandar in the midst of the Cult of the Eternal Flame, Drake was shocked to discover that due to their activities, Thermandar had been hired to kill him by a mysterious individual named Stormfront. Not only had Bastian's murders of Mercantile Alliance officials had also been carried out under Stormfront's orders, but Stormfront's letter implied they were responsible for the murder of Drake's family as well. Burning with rage, Drake escorted Thermandar back to Drakkengarde to be tried and executed for his crimes. Instead, the Mercantile Alliance allowed him to serve a reduced sentence of imprisonment in exchange for information about the fire cultists. Incensed at yet another failure of justice, Drake renounced Bahamut altogether. He soon found himself in the church of Nalindra, and rededicated himself to her service. Henceworth he would seek not justice, but vengeance.