Jerold Keegan

Sir Jerold Keegan was a paladin of Selûne, a dragon-slayer, and a knight of Cormyr in 236 DR.

History
Sir Keegan was a renowned dragonslayer. He was knighted by King Tharyann Obarskyr himself, who gave him the magic sword Aecris.

When the shadow dragon Shadraxil began to attack Cormyrian frontier outposts, it was Sir Keegan's duty to stop the dragon. He led a small force of armed men and War Wizards and created a magical trap within one of the keeps in order to ensnare Shadraxil and bind him in the Plane of Shadow.

Afterwards, Sir Keegan became the lord of that outpost, charged to keep Shadraxil sealed in the Shadow Rift. The keep was consecrated to the goddess Selûne and renamed Keegan's Keep. The town of Winterhaven was founded nearby, likely for the keep's protection.

It was said that some time after Shadraxil's banishment, Keegan became a crazed madman and slew all of his family and friends, cursing the keep forever. All of this was in fact due to Shadraxil, still locked away in the Plane of Shadow but nonetheless able to exert his dark power over Keegan's mind. It was believed Sir Keegan was driven into the passages beneath the keep and killed by a group of his own men. However, in truth, Sir Keegan was too skilled for any one soldier to defeat. Gravely wounded, he fled into the deep passages beneath the keep and hid. His senses returned while he rested and tended to his wounds. Crushed with remorse, he drank a vial of poison and killed himself.

His spirit was bound to the ruined keep, waiting for a champion to redeem his memory and complete his mission—to keep the seal in place and protected so that this passage into the Shadowfell and Shadraxil's prison remained closed forever.