Kolby is a small, wiry kobold with rusty red scales, a cream-colored muzzle, oversized ears, and bright amber eyes that dart nervously from face to face. His chain mail hangs carefully adjusted over a padded vest, and his shield bears a simple painted symbol of a candle sheltered beneath a mountain. He carries a longsword that is slightly too large for him, though he handles it with practiced caution. A bundle of dried herbs, prayer scraps, and carefully labeled vials hangs from his belt.

Anxious but ultimately well meaning, Kolby tries very hard to be useful before anyone has to ask. He is observant, gentle with the injured, and sincerely respectful of other people's beliefs. He expects disaster around every corner, yet his concern for others repeatedly overcomes his fear.

Kolby was born deep beneath a ruined hill-fort, among a kobold warren that survived by hiding, scavenging, and fleeing from anything larger than itself. Even as a hatchling, he was anxious about every strange sound and every shadow near the tunnels. Unlike many of his clutchmates, however, Kolby could not ignore the wounded. He learned the uses of cave moss, bitter roots, and fungus from an elderly hermit who lived beyond the warren, and he began tending injured miners, lost travelers, and frightened animals whenever he could do so unnoticed. During years of isolation in a remote shrine, Kolby studied old draconic inscriptions and discovered a fragment of a forgotten oath. It spoke of courage not as the absence of fear, but as choosing to help while afraid. The words awakened something in him. He fashioned a small shield, accepted the discipline of a paladin, and swore to place himself between danger and those who could not withstand it. Kolby still worries constantly that he is unprepared, too weak, or about to make a terrible mistake, but his compassion keeps pushing him forward. He now travels in search of the missing portions of the oath, hoping to prove that even the smallest creature can stand as a shield for others.