Cock Buttowski is a broad-shouldered goliath standing over seven feet tall, with slate-gray skin marked by natural pale marbling across his arms and neck. He wears well-maintained chain mail beneath a battered priestly tabard, carries a shield painted with a suspiciously cheerful sunburst, and keeps his holy symbol tucked beneath his collar. His hands are large, heavily callused, and permanently stained with ink from years of forging documents and copying parish records. Within a minute of meeting someone, most people notice that he repeatedly checks the edge of his shield and rubs the thumb of his gauntlet across his holy symbol whenever he suspects someone is lying.

Cock is direct, watchful, and unexpectedly warm toward ordinary people. He remembers the names of stable hands, cooks, porters, and children, but remembers the faces of con artists even better. He enjoys sermons, strong tea, practical jokes that expose hypocrisy, and the satisfying sound of a dishonest ledger being torn in half.

Cock Buttowski spent ten years serving a remote parish whose congregation included merchants, pilgrims, smugglers, debtors, and people who claimed to be all four at once. He began as a strong-backed assistant responsible for hauling bell ropes, repairing fences, and carrying stubborn parishioners out of taverns. Over time, the priest taught him to read ledgers, recognize forged seals, and listen for the tiny changes in a person's voice that appeared whenever they were about to cheat someone. Cock discovered that he had an unusual talent for spotting fraud, though his preferred method of resolving it was less theological and more physical. When the parish treasurer vanished with the poor box, Cock followed a trail of false names and altered records into a network of traveling swindlers. He exposed the scheme, recovered most of the stolen money, and delivered the ringleader to justice after a very short sermon and an even shorter fight. The experience convinced him that goodness needed both a clear conscience and a strong arm. He took up the path of the paladin, carrying his parish lessons into the wider world. Now he travels under several aliases, using the skills of a charlatan to infiltrate cheats, frauds, and corrupt officials before bringing them down with righteous certainty. Cock believes the gods can forgive many sins, but they have little patience for someone who cheats widows and then lies about it.