obligatory link for any pally thread:
http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=218542TWF pally can work; I have a 18/2mnk KotC myself, following this lines of Junts' Aryenne
http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=204161.
I am not pleased with his DPS output at all, even though I take him only in quests with Evil Outsiders. I think that having a pally is useful if you want to do a tank, and otherwise a different mellee class is a better choice, imho. If you are interested in a self-healing melee, I think that a Ranger would be a better choice.
If you want the past lives, I suggest a build which is as light as possible on paladin levels, because they are sucky DPS. It might work to have a 12 Pally/8 Monk, or something similar. Divine Favor (+1 damage/to hit at pally levels 4, 6 and 9) and Divine Might (+2 damage at pally levels 5 and 10; the latter requiring 16 CHA) synergize nicely with Handwraps.
In fact, if you are interested in leveling only, KotC is starts being relevant in Vale, so HotD seems to be a much better choice.
Speaking of AC. It might be worth it to collect some low-level AC stuff. This will not help you at cap, essentially, but will help you while leveling not to get hit.