Philip is strikingly handsome and highly charismatic; his features are flawless, one would hardly believe he has been in so many battles as he has, his eyes are green like emeralds, filled with determination. His short hair is blond and clean, one can notice that the man takes good care of it and his overall appearance.

He is always dressed in a shining silver armor, with a small white vest of cloth over the breastplate, depicting a templar cross (or any other appropiate symbol of a good aligned faith or knightly order). He wears a long red cape, once a gift from the king himself. He wears a medallion with a part of a dragon fang hanging from his neck, which he keeps as a sentimental memento from his teacher (see below, that dragon killed his teacher). He has no weapons with him but a beautiful two handed sword he keeps sheathed in his belt.

This sword was created nearly three hundred years ago, crafted by a master dwarven blacksmith. It was enchanted by Tyrax, an infamous evil priest, who sealed a fiend within the sword, hoping to use the weapon against his enemies. But before the sword could be used, Tyrax was murdered by one of his followers, who took control of the dark cult. The cult was anhililated by the king's soldiers years later, sustaining large casualties.

The sword was believed to have been destroyed or lost since then, but it was actually hidden away by one of Tyrax's servants within a cave, a cave that was later used as a lair by a black dragon. It was this dragon who slayed Tyrax's servant, who was killing all travelers or villagers he saw in an attempt to gain the fear and respect of others.

The sword feeds mostly on obssesion and desire; it intensifies the wielder's determination on a particular cause to the extreme, and twists it towards evil.

If a person is controlled by the sword, nothing can save him, even if the sword is taken away from him, it will reappear in his hand or sheath the next round. The only solution would be to kill the wielder and destroy (it is unknown whether this is possible or not) or hide the sword, being careful not to touch it.

• The Whispering sword of Tyrax is intelligent. It has the soul of a demon trapped inside, a demon whose only pleasure is death and destruction, specially when it comes through the corruption of good aligned creatures. It has an intelligence of 17 and an ego of 24, makimg it nearly impossible to control.
• The sword, in Philip's hands, functions as a holy avenger, giving him all the normal bonuses associated with it. (this may change if it wielded by somebody else, it becomes what the owner desires).
• Not only is the sword able to speak verbally and telepathically, but it is capable of projecting an ethereal image that can move, talk and even cast spells (only Charm person and Forget). This image, which normally looks like a jester, has 50 hp, and can be created again within 1-4 rounds after its destruction.
• It can detect magic or invisible objects (or persons) in a 10' radius at will.
• It allows the wielder to cast a self-only Strength spell once a day
• Unknown to the wielder, the sword can Charm person at will, using this power to persuade others into obedience. It can also use a Forget spell three times a day, to get rid of witnesses.

Philip Hargrove is a well known figure in this and other far away lands, for he is considered a great hero, a defender of all that is good and lawful, and his numerous adventures and battles are narrated or sung with great respect and admiration by all bards within a vast region.  

He was raised in an orphanage in the kingdom's capital city, where he was raised by pious monks and clerics. Even at that age, Philip showed his interest in learning all the monks' lessons on piety and goodness, even though he was a bit of a troublemaker, since he dreamed of one day becoming a great warrior.

Upon leaving the orphanage, Philip followed his dream and began the search for Andrew Fireheart, a renowned errant paladin, a true folk hero. Six months later, just when he was about to give up, he caught up with Andrew on a small fishing town where a band of orcs were stealing from the townspeople. Philip joined the figth and was gravely injured.

Sir Andrew tended to his wounds, and Philip later told the great paladin his desire to become his pupil. Sir Andrew had never taken any apprentices before, but he saw something in the boy, probably the courage he showed on joining the battle with the orcs to help him (help that Andrew didn't really need, but...)

He stayed with Andrew for nearly a decade, learning about swordplay and magic and the knightly ways. Philip actually became an adventuring companion for Andrew, that is, until Andrew died, locked in battle with fierce dragon (which Philip later hunted and killed).

On his own, Philip had many adventures and etched a legend for himself, one even greater than that of his friend and teacher. He even saved the king's life once, and was knighted for it, but...

Six months ago, Philip and his adventuring party were in a black dragon's lair, and his partners were rummaging through the lizard's treasure when something caught his eye; beneath a pile of cloth and rocks, he found a beautiful sword, which he felt contained great holy power, believing it to be a holy sword, he picked up.

The spirit of the sword inmediately filled his mind with madness, a whirlwind of images, sounds and ideas screamed in his brain, prompting him to destroy any and all evil around him. The sword made him become obssesed with this idea, and now he saw even the smallest offense as the greatest of crimes, punishable only by death.

When his adventuring partners expressed their concern over his behaviour, he did not see his companions and friends of many battles, but evil hypocrites who wished to stop his holy crusade; and so slayed them all.

He now travels all across the land, slaying anyone whom he believes to be evil.

The whispering spirit of the sword has made this once hero seriously unstable, he sees everything in black and white, he sees no circumstances and doesn't believe in lesser crimes. He once killed a five year old child for stealing an apple in a town's market, and later slayed the many merchants who tried to stop him, after all, anyone who interferes with the destruction of evil, in his eyes, has to be evil.

He is also capable of seeing evil where there is none, for the spirit of the sword feeds his mind and soul with lurid and absurd ramblings he believes to be true, he sees conspiracies against him everywhere, and is quick to take action against them.

The problem is that nearly all authorities, including the king himself, still believe in Sir Philip's goodness, and it would hard evidence to prove otherwise. This evidence would be hard to obtain, specially since Philip leaves few or witnesses of his heinous acts.