I think you're looking for a different archetype than what Thorm is. You want a hard bitten campaigner and what we're getting is a fallen paladin. That means ornamentation.
If Ketheric had rusty and dented armor it would only tell me that he didn't take care of it, or couldn't. If they played up the revenant angle, which is what I thought you might be getting at, then rust and disrepair would be another matter. But still it would mean magic was involved, because it's not practical.
