Need Some Character Development

[Legimus]

Our campaign just hit a big milestone and our characters have all been through a lot. Our DM is giving us a little time to think about how the events have impacted us individually before our next session. Short summary:

My character is an Oath of the Ancients paladin (goliath) who works as a traveling judge. Usually a very positive fellow except for his work, which he takes very seriously. He helps people get justice, adjudicates disputes, etc. We were in a city that had a whole population of warforged slaves, believing that they weren't conscious. A man accused a warforged of murdering his son, and my guy was called in to investigate. I promised the family that the accused would be safe in my custody. Except the warforged tricked one of us and escaped, going on to kill another of the guy's sons. Shortly after, we discovered a warforged terrorist group threatening to destroy the city, and we stopped them while also convincing the masses that the warforged were like people. So in the grand scheme of things, we did a lot of good.

Yet my character still feels incredibly guilty for his failure. He promised the family they'd get justice, and instead they lost another child. He's not ready to forgive himself. I think it would be in-character for him to take some penance, but I'm having trouble thinking of good ideas that actually develop his character. I don't want him to just go on with this being just another bad memory. Any ideas?

Please and thank you.

[ImproperJustice]

Good question.

What is appropriate penance to someone who has lost a child?

In some ways, the guilt you express sounds like ot would fit the vengence oath.....

However, it seems to me thy an ancients Paladin would seek to do the following:

1. Do whatever it would take to raise the lost children. Find a high level cleric or wish spell...

2. Failinh that, seek whatever was held dearest to this family or the children and try to advance or support whatever that mey be?

[Unoriginal]

Create a fund to pay for the healing of sick or injured children?

[Nidgit]

I'd suggest two parts: some sort of memorial to the lost child, and some sort of penance for your own character.

As an Ancients Paladin, I could see some sort of work of art as a gift to the parents: a song, a painting, or perhaps some unique plant crafted in such a way to be reminiscent of the boy.

For your own penance, a charity of some type as others have suggested is a good thought. I'd imagine that your character would want to take steps to prevent such a thing from happening again, which might involve investing in more protective spells or setting aside a portion of your earnings to form a witness protection coterie. Lastly, I'd suggest developing a particular sensitivity to the plight of children in general, or perhaps to some specific trait of the boy if you knew him relatively well.