Zoltan Melioda

The Councilor of Security for the city of Scornubel, Zoltan Melioda is a tall, imposing half-orc paladin with grey skin and a shaved head. A former paladin of Bhaal, the god of ritual murder, he and his Bhaalist family participated in untold crimes, something he was brought into unwillingly considering he was raised from childhood to follow Bhaal and not question his cleric father.

He was raised to fight, sacrifice and defend for the cult, but eventually broke away from the group in his teenage years, always knowing that it was not what he felt was right or good. He spent some years traveling, working as a blade-for-hire following this, before establishing himself with the Silver Hands, a mercenary company out of Scornubel. The Silver Hands had a heavy presence of worshippers of Helm, the god of guardians and protectors, and he quickly fell in with this group, having found a god in Helm that represented what he felt paladins should, unlike the tasks he was asked to do by his family for Bhaal. He rose up the ranks of the Silver Hands before retiring in later years, establishing himself in a townhouse in Scornubel on his earnings. Not long after his retirement, he got offered the position of Councilor of Security by the former mayor of Scornubel before Anya Selden, something he took with a little hesitation but quickly adapted to, streamlining the town guard and cutting away the glut, keeping only the most dedicated guards.

Current Status:
Zoltan was at the end of the Scornubel Summit, and participated in the battle against the Zhentarim forces who tried to assassinate him and the other councilors during this. Despite his efforts, one of the phlogiston bombs that was under the councilor stand was detonated, leaving nothing but a smoldering crater where Lonny Valleybrook and Wanda Craghold had been, along with some of the advisers and servants of the councilors. He was quite dejected following this, but knew he had to stay strong for the rest of the guard and the city.

He is working with Anya Selden to make sure that Scornubel stays on track and does not fall into the Zhentarim hands, a group he looks at with disdain due to a portion of their members worshipping the dark god's Bane and Cyric, a reminder of his past life in the Bhaal worshipping clan. In reality, these are two competing factions of the Zhentarim that do not agree with each other but still worship said deities, a fact that doesn't matter to Zoltan.