Geraknor the Halfbreed
Gender: Male
Age: 22
Race: Uruk-Hai/Half-Orc
Allegiance: Glanz Empire
Equipment
- War Cleaver
- Iron Breast Plate
- Iron Chain Mail Suit
- Iron Tower Shield
- Simple necklace interspersed with small Lapi rocks and the finger bones of fallen foes.
Abilities
- Berserker Rage: Geraknor's use of Lapi centres itself around unlocking his inner rage, allowing him to push his mortal flesh to its very limits in terms of strength, reflexes and speed. A single rock, the size of a finger nail, can be used to more than double his physical attributes and constitution, making him a foe to be feared in single combat.
- The Flames of Hate: Second to his Berserker Rage, Geraknor is also a competent warlock when it comes to handling fire Lapi. He can put this magic to varied use, allowing him to cast fire balls at opponents, or to spout fire from his mouth. Such spells require that he sacrifice one of the Lapi rocks on his necklace, so he uses them sparingly, but usually to devastating effect.
Talents
- Accomplished Fighter: Geraknor did not climb to the position of War Chief, as a Half-Breed, without besting the greatest champions of the clans. Suffice to say, his skill with sword and shield will put most adversaries on edge, regardless of their reputation.
- Great Orator: Keeping rival clans of Orcs from killing each other, and further more, keeping them in some semblance of order, requires a charismatic leader of near legendary proportions, and Geraknor is such an individual. From fiery speeches on war and glory, to soothing songs of justice and retribution, this Half-Orc's tongue is nearly as sharp as his war cleaver.
Personality:Geraknor shifts between two extremes; ever a victim of his parental heritage. One moment, he will appear calm and rational, and the next, he will be baying for blood. He tries tirelessly to seek a happy balance between the two, and as a result wears a mask of indifference. Both friend and foe alike will not know his mind, until he's either patted them on the back or shoved his cleaver through their skull.
Biography:Geraknor's origins are not known, even unto him (lest you read the "Other" section!). He was conceived between an Orc and a human, in a union that has both been condemned as unholy, and praised as progressive - depending upon which part of the Kingdom you stand. Unfortunately for Geraknor however, he was an outcast from the moment of birth.
He knows nothing of his mother, but his earliest memories recall the wrinkled and kind face of an old fishermen, who apparently looked after the Half-Orc when he was not more than a babe. Geraknor is unsure if this was a happy time of his life, or even if "happy" is something he is able to experience, but he knows a simple truth: the fisherman's kindness surely spared him an early demise.
Something happened; perhaps the Fishermen died of old age, or perhaps he was murdered by locals who took a disliking to his Half-Orc "pet", but either way, Geraknor remembers returning to the old man's cabin one day and finding nothing but a ransacked ruin. He also remembers an old crone pointing at him accusingly, and pitch forks, and fires.
Geraknor travelled the realm as a vagrant for much of his youth. As a Half-Orc, he matured quickly, and by the age of six, he was already as tall as a man and well muscled, though he had the mental capacity of an infant. As such, he found work in the employ of loan sharks who needed rough and stupid hands to squeeze debt repayments from desolate clients. He murdered his first man doing such work, at his employer's request, and went on to murder many more throughout his tenure.
By the age of 14, Geraknor had acquired enough money and sense to begin questioning his origins. He left the hired-muscle line of employment, and ventured to the Orc lands deep to the south in search of some kind of belonging. However, if he thought the humans and Elves treated him like a soiled dish rag, then the Orcs treated him like the last sausage at a communal camp fire. Suffice to say, he was forced to flee the Orc lands, and resumed life as a wandering vagrant.
Robbed of purpose, friends and morality, Geraknor fell into a life of mercenary work as a cut-throat sword for hire. Here he toured the Kingdom, fighting for King, Empire and Thief, and leaving a trail of death and stories behind him. It was through his experiences in the war that he was tutored in the arts of Lapi, and taught to apply them to his strength and blood lust, as well as how to shape their energies into pillars and balls of flame.
At the age of 20, Geraknor was a towering mountain of muscle and iron, and his reputation as a bloodthirsty mercenary was well established. With wealth and new found confidence, he returned south to the Orcs, where he sought his birth-right. This time, the Orcs came worse off.
Geraknor made it his custom to promptly walk into an Orcish village, locate the Chieftain, and slay the beast where he stood. Then, he would proclaim himself the new Chieftain, and dare any to challenge him. Sometimes there were several; sometimes there were none. In any case, all fell before his berserker rage and flames of hatred.
After a year of touring the Orc lands, Geraknor had become a powerful warlord, with thousands of Orcs who called him "War Chief", and all who vied for his favour. He led many incursions into the Kingdom, under no flag, burning villages left and right and raiding their goods for his own coffers. Armies of the King, of the Empire and even the Thieves (when they could gather enough mercenaries) either fell to his unstoppable raids, or failed to corner him when their forces were superior. Elusive and deadly, Geraknor remained an intermittent terror of the south for many months.
This was until, the Glanz Empire reached out to him, and offered him and his Orcish horde what they wanted: a land to call their own, with green pastures and human slaves to carry out their work. Whether the Glanz Empire ever wished to hold up their end of the bargain was irrelevant; Geraknor had beef with the humans and the Elves, and allying with one of the Civil War's factions swelled the might of his armies.
With the Empire's assistance, Geraknor besieged the southern city of Alfron, and despite several attempts on behalf of the Crown to relieve the settlement, it fell after a mere month due to the Orcs' sheer tenacity and Geraknor's cunning (and a little help from the Empire). The once ancient and proud streets of the ancestral human city are now a ruin heaving with Orcs and their human slaves, and it serves as a major staging point for further Orc attacks in the region.
Other:Geraknor is the bastard son of Sir Gallan of Fordsen, though neither are aware - but perhaps another character is, and may be able to use this to gain some kind of edge over one of them as the story continues.