[OOC] Nar Mat Kordh-Ishi - The Orcish Mercenary Saga

[HeySeuss]

"It ain't easy being green."
Discord Chat - Guild server - #rp_nar-mat-kordh-ishi

TL;DR Summary

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- Fantasy/Medieval
- Characters are members of an Orcish mercenary company called "Nar Mat Kordh-Ishi" (Orcish - "Do Not Die In Bed") formed by a variety of orcish outcasts that served as the dregs of the mercenary community and decided that enough was enough.
- Company has a nefarious and unique reputation -- it's the only Orcish free company out there, and will fight for whomever hires them, except that until just now, they've been hired for campaigns that amounted to nothing -- sent to forage, but never depended on to fight a battle. The company is eager to prove themselves as reliable, if brutal, mercenaries that can hold their own in a real battle.
- The Company, is of course, betrayed by an employer, set up to be responsible for the killing of a bastard heir of the dead king of the kingdom they are serving in. That fails, and the girl is alive. Now she and the Company have common enemies.
- The RP is about an outsider's point of view of humanity and dealing with the way their employers constantly try to get them killed, assuming them stupid or totally brutish or otherwise regarding them as total louts.
- How much of that reputation the characters live up to is the decision of the players.
- The idea is to have some fun with this RP and be creative with the tactics; inevitably, the company is expected to fail and is often working for real scumbags. The fun is proving them wrong and chasing them down for payment.
- Players will have a hand in developing and creating the culture of the company.
- Company colors are blood red -- because Red Goes Faster.
- All characters must have orcish blood to get into the company; they don't trust others. There is only one exception, she is listed below.
- See the list of character requests.

In Character Info

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The lot of an orcish outcast in the human world is often rough -- orcish life in general, even as an accepted member of a tribe is nasty, brutish and short. The politics are cutthroat -- literally. It happens that intra-tribal politics have their winners and losers, and the change of a regime often means an outcasting for family and supporters of the deposed (inevitably killed) warlords. These orcs have a stark choice -- make it on their own somehow, isolated from everything or find their way in the outside world filled with enemies including humans, elves, dwarves, and just about every other race there is.

Regarded as brutes and scum, often with some reason, the orcs find that their employment options are highly limited. The trade most find, and welcome, is that of violence -- tavern bouncers, criminal muscle, pirate crewmen, and, of course, sellswords. But even in these jobs, orckind are not appreciated for anything more than their violent tendencies and brute strength. They are often swindled, mistreated and used for fodder by other races that deride them.

About six years ago, a group of orcish veterans decided to change that -- they decided to put aside the enmities of tribes that exiled them and started to recruit other outcasts into a frighteningly organized mercenary company patterned along human lines -- a blend of their brute strength and high endurance for hardship with military discipline that was unknown in the wild warrior society of the tribal orcs. They figured that if they were going to make it in this world where all hands were turned against them, they might as well at least watch each other's backs.

Of course, displaying a degree of gallows humor and self awareness that other races would be shocked to find among orcs, they named the company "Nar Mat Kordh-Ishi" -- Do not die in bed.

They're a small army. Now they need a battle.

Out of Character Info

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As above, the RP is about orcs operating in the human world -- the founders of the company, having learned their trade in human mercenary companies (to the shocked surprise of their 'teachers') decided to form an orcish company of mercenaries, but taking the elements of human warfare that they deem effective. They know, for example, that orcish tribal warfare is ferocious, but not particularly well suited to fighting an organized force in the field. As veterans of warfare against humans, the high officers and veterans of the Company know that discipline counts, and bank on the idea of harnessing orcish ferocity and love of warfare while teaching their recruits the lessons of discipline that seemingly come easier to Humans and other races.

The employers, however, think they're hiring a violent rabble, and the other human mercenaries do not like the Company. Hell, even orcish warlords, if they were to hear of the Company, would consider it heretical and set their hands against it. Alone in this world, all this fraternity of outcasts has is each other. Everyone else is against them and it's their lot to survive. On the other hand, it's a virtual certainty that they won't die in bed.

There will be Warg (wolf-ish beasts that the orcs ride) cavalry and that all recruits of the company will start out in the pike formations of the company, learning the hard lesson of discipline under stern drillmasters that exhort them to all work together.

(Subject to revision) Characters will be part of an elite group of orcish soldiers chosen for prowess (over rank) that are deployed into the most desperate situations. Specialists, skilled warriors and so forth. Of course, these characters are chosen for their skill as well as their ability to follow orders (they all served in the pikes) but they are an elite within the Company. That way, we have the characters all together.

Unit Organization

Unit Organization

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Nar Mat Kordh-Ishi
Warlord: Radush "Eye-Drinker" born an outcast, had the idea of starting the Company after finding himself leading units of Orcs being paid less by other mercenary captains, decided 'screw the middleman.' Radush carries himself like a warlord and the Tuskers of the Company see him that way.
Drillmaster: Koloch "the Butcher", a ferocious human-trained half-orc that oversees the training and discipline of the Company. He is a Tusker that every other Tusker comes into contact with, and he's got a reputation nearly on par with that of Radush Eye-Drinker.

Favorite Color: Red, it goes faster. (Everyone has at least a sleeve of their armor painted red. You can tell who is higher up in the organization by how much red they've got.)

Banner: Black with red orcish runes upon it. Also, the honored dead's tusks are carved into shapes and affixed to the banner of their company by chains. Being orcs, of course there's a skull on top of the flagpole. It's tradition.

Structure:

Companies:
Each company has a chief (equivalent of a captain), and and is composed of a number of smaller warbands.

- The Chosen (First Company - Elite warriors, scouts and specialist fighters as well as a reserve for when things get rough in a fight)
- Pikes (~200-300 orcs broken down into smaller units as necessary for manuever)
- Spikes (~160 orcs - Longbows)
- Wargs (~100 orcs and their warg mounts, cavalry)
- Blades (~100-200 orcs wielding bladed weaponry for close-combat and assaults)
- Campers (~450 or so orcs - Camp, Supply Train and other logistic specialties, including families.)

Warbands:
- Within each company, there are a number of warbands of 15-30 tuskers per unit under the command of a warleader, the fellow that calls the shots for that small unit, which is the company's equivalent of a sergeant.

The favored weapon of the orcs is a large, curved sword akin to a falcata or kilij with a forward curvature and a cleaver-like cutting surface, akin to a falcata. Large and heavy, the Company's swords are a little too much for a human to handle one-handed, but the orcs manage just fine. It can block a blow because it's built thick and it can cleave more than a typical human sword, but wasn't designed for deft parrying. Surprisingly, halberds are also favored weapons with the company, as they provide a degree of flexibility to orcish warriors in a fight for engaging a variety of targets. Veterans brought this weapon into the ranks of the company -- tribal orcs would sneer at something more complicated than an axe, but smart warriors understand the versatility of the weapon, and the importance of mastering it.

The armor is generally so thick that they don't worry about shields so much -- it isn't pretty stuff like elven and human armor, and it isn't expertly forged like the dwarven stuff, but orcs are big, and they can carry more weight. It means their armor is more dense, and the Company's smiths use that extra weight tolerance to slope and angle the plates to deflect arrows and bolts, where a human or elf would crumple under the sheer weight. Anyway, even disciplined orcs aren't big on hiding behind shields. The typical suit of 'company steel' tends to be a suit of chain and plate, though the legs are chainmail alone and the forearms are often exposed, at least in the Pikes n' Spikes. The Blades tend to wear full suits, because they've scrounged or purchased the additional armoring on forearms and legs and because their fighting is closer in and less maneuverability based. No one bothers with engraving and enameling the armor, because the Orcish 'aesthetic' is to paint it red and stick a skull on a spike and fringe with fur. The company doesn't bother with much in the way of heraldry like a human army. Red, fur, skulls. Got it?

The pikes are counterbalanced with a weight on the end to make them more easily handled, barbed with a crosspiece behind the head and long-bladed. Orcs aren't naturally inclined to form pike squares, but Nar Mat Kordh-Ishi's drillmasters use methods designed to appeal to the Orcish mentality -- it's beaten into headstrong (all of them) recruits. The Pikes are the training ground of the Company, it's where recruits learn the fundamental lessons of fighting in the world outside the tribes of the orcs. It doesn't matter how high one was in a tribe, how experienced a warrior outside the Company, all recruits go through the Pikes as a rite of passage.

Longbows in the company are much larger than a human or Elven equivalent. What the orcs lack in the subtle sophistication of the elves, they make up for in being able to draw far more weight. Orcish archery isn't typically pinpoint, but some tribes have a long history of hunting with bows for survival, which makes them surprisingly good in addition to these other advantages. Bow companies tend to wear heavy enough armor that makes them pretty decent in a close in fight, and they carry blade weapons...and heavy hammers used to pound spikes into the ground, which gives them a defense against cavalry that comes too close or infantry that tries to charge them. They're also good for pounding a head in.

Warg riders are the only Company forces that really use the shield much, but they avoid lances -- warg cavalry work differently than horse-based cavalry -- because they do not frontally charge, but turn faster, and fight on the flanks and the rear, as a wolf pack might. The Company's warg cavalry are designed to kill other cavalry, as a wolf might take a horse, by nipping at the flanks, hamstringing and otherwise crippling the enemy's maneuverability in order to finish it at leisure. They go in for slashing attacks, nets, bolos and javelins as a typical tactic. Warg cavalry sits lower than horse cavalry, because wargs are lower-slung to the ground, and a favorite tactic of the wargs is to get in close and strike at the underbellies. It is a surprisingly close-combat oriented group. The wargs themselves are armored to protect from strikes hitting from above while engaged in this sort of fierce combat of gutting and crippling.

The Camp, Supply Train and Specialists is a concept unknown to orcish tribal warfare, but a necessity -- Nar Mat Kordh-Ishi is often on its own to feed itself, and humans and others won't always do business with them. It is a collection of orcish and half-orcish (a chunk of the company are halfies) ex-merchants, cart drivers, blacksmiths, fletchers, herbalists and other sorts, skilled but exiled from orckind and humanity alike, that help build the camps, raise the siege engines and keep the company in food and equipment. A lot of them are orcish women. Tribal orcs often have a disdain for those that do not fight, particularly women, but Nar Mat Kordh-Ishi has strong orders and punishments to prevent this -- the Campers are protected from hazing out of recognition that these people are vital to the functioning of the Company. A new recruit disdains them, but the veterans of the company recognize that some campaigns, they survive only because the Campers found food and keep the recruits well in line. It is also a place where maimed veterans go when they can no longer serve, and serves to tell recruits that they will always have a place in the company, rather than being discarded to die when too old to fight.

Company discipline is harsh; the new recruits are sent to the pikes because the typical orc is a headstrong know-it-all and the only real way to teach them is to establish dominance first -- inevitably, a Nar Mat Kordh-Ishi drillmaster is a tough son of a warg that spends a lot of time punching down recruits that act up and talk back, not out of mindless brutality, but because the warrior spirit needs to be harnessed. Orcs are fierce, and establishing the disciplines of the ranks can be hard to do with such headstrong specimens. It may seem unbelievably brutal to humans and particularly to elves, but it's an approach tailored to how an orc thinks -- occasionally a leader has to smack his subordinates into line. The natural orcish instinct is not to stand in a line of pikes, shoulder to shoulder, and work together to defeat a charging foe through superior defense, and that's precisely why every tusker in the company has to serve there to learn that peculiar form of discipline. Even after the pikes, the discipline continues, if it is necessary, but it's not as brutal or arbitrary as tribal orc society, and the warriors of Nar Mat Kordh-Ishi are compensated -- the rest of the world, as they know, is much worse for a Tusker on their own. To humans, there is a scant difference between one orc and another, but no one that's ever heard the bass drums that time the march of the Company, or the growled, grunted chanting that accompanies the drums, forgets the chill such a spectacle brings. It doesn't matter if they've fought Orcs before -- they haven't fought these orcs.

As a result, the Tuskers of the Company tend to start embracing ranks and titles because they often are outcasts without any right to tribe; a typical name might go "Drillmaster Koloch the Butcher" which is a position of high regard within the company. Titles come with deeds, and are bestowed by comrades or, better, a Chief or a Warleader, if not the old Eyedrinker himself. Some recruits come with titles already, if they were (in)famous with even non-orc society for a deed before joining the company. Rank is often important as well, with Warleaders often squabbling over little things like whose band gets which piece of ground, something that a good chief has to contend with in leading headstrong and competitive orcs; the typical solution is decidedly novel for orcs and disputes between members of similar rank are decided by seniority unless there is a clear right and wrong involved.

Glossary and Sayings

Glossary/Sayings

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- Everyone Starts in the Pikes -- anyone joining the company does time in the pike line, learning discipline, and likely having some bad attitude and stubbornness beaten out of them by the orcish drillmasters. The company believes that all the advantages an orc has are for naught without actual discipline. It's also one of the Company's biggest surprises for their enemies. Also, it imparts a new sense of rank structure to the orcs in the Company -- they learn the new hierarchy and to put aside old tribal rivalries, because the Company is their new tribe.
- Red Unz Go Faster - It's a classic orc rule, the Company likes the color red. Those serving in the Pikes get their arm painted red...but veterans paint more to symbolize the blood they've seen.
- Fresh off the Warg - An orc that just left the tribes and isn't very aware of the outside world.
- Smack the green off you - Common threat employed by drillmasters dealing with recruits fresh off the warg.
- Tusker - Slang for Orc. Used ironically by the Company among themselves and as self-reference, ie 'The Tuskers" because some people can't even pronounce the Company's orcish name.
- Halfie - Like their half-elven counterparts, half-orcs tend to take a lot of social abuse and have a chip on their shoulder from it. The difference is that knife-ears do a lot of passive aggressive little word games and giggling behind their hands, the orcish version tends to be more direct. Because there are so many halfies in the Company, this sort of thing just doesn't last long.
- Knife-ear, Pixie, Fairie, Daisy-chewer...etc - Elf
- Stumpy - Dwarf
- Bunny - Human
- Ugly - Approving "Ugly work, Tusker," is the equivalent of 'good job, buddy." Also means, 'fun.' So when a Section Leader says, "Looks like we got some ugly work ahead" and sounds gleeful, it means something enjoyable, like torching a glade of thousand year-old trees that a bunch of knife-ears sculpted as art.

The Setting

The Setting, the Kingdom of Ceril

A land in strife, Ceril is ruled from a throne, but never easily with so much that needs to be balanced -- the noble houses against the Church of Issad against the ambitions of the merchants that rule the guilds. Noble against peasant, baron against earl, family against family and the king seemingly set against all. Though civil war has been a mercifully distant memory in the last century or so, Ceril seems poised on it again, after the king, Stephen of Orenth, fell in battle during a border dispute with the neighboring nation of Samon.

House of Orenth

The Royal house, it recently lost its brash young king to battle with a foreign enemy over border lands. Stephen had no legitimate heirs, merely a daughter, and she is rumored to have inherited her mother's dark prowess at witchcraft. Her whereabouts are unknown.

Lord Arad

The Lord Arad has a strong claim to the throne by marriage, but no direct bloodline claim. Nonetheless, he is powerful and looks like the eventual winner of Ceril's succession crisis. He has, for the moment, retained the services of the Orcish mercenary company, Nar Mat Kordh-Ishi.

Druskel family

The Druskels are not one family, but two families each headed by a brother; Ren Druskel and Bant Druskel have a long running dispute among each other, especially as the old Lord Hon Druskel still draws breath and the brothers constantly skirmish with one another to position themselves for the favor of their dying, often demented, old father.

Brenton family

To be determined. I'm looking for suggestions.

Madjun family

The Madjun are a family that believe in a greater restraint of the crown's powers; while they can count many supporters among their number, their alliance is the most fragile. Lord Waus Madjun has managed to establish an alliance of smaller noble houses, guilds and, potentially, the Dwarves of Thorazum into a powerful faction...that is so large that it can't agree on anything.

The Church of Issad

The Church of Issad, for a long time, was the sole church of Ceril, until the reign of Jeren the Apostate. A man of a philosophic bent and himself an initiate in a religion besides the official state religion, he issued edicts restraining the power of the church and fought a series of bloody wars to make it so. In the end, Jeren prevailed and his heirs maintained the religious edicts, though the Church always remained powerful and influential in the Kingdom, a force to be reckoned with. Now with Jeren's line extinguished, the Church sees an opportunity to support the dynasty that will give it what it wants...

The Elves of Torceleblas

There was a time when the elves were a powerful empire, but time and catastrophe has reduced them to much smaller numbers of fractured enclaves throughout the world; near Ceril, the elves hail from the Torceleblas (the Silver Forest). The history of elvish-human relations is fraught with strife and conflict, though a wary cold war prevails for the moment, though the Elves seem to be taking sides in the recent rebellion for reasons of their own; their Queen, Iraphel, is a younger one, and is rumored to believe that the words of human are not enough to ensure the safety of the elven kingdoms.

Also, they like to sculpt trees as art. This sort of pretension makes orcish tusks hurt just thinking about it.

The Dwarves of Thorazum

The Dwarves of Thorazum are their own separate nation, some of which actually extends to beneath the lands of the Kingdom of Ceril; this created tension between the court at Cerilnay and the Kingdom of Thorazum, though these differences were worked out during the reign of Jeren, also known as the Apostate with a unique recognition of borders and rights that included drawing the lines for elevation as well as location.

Dwarven culture has an extensive system of guilds and craftsmen and tends to support their human counterparts in Ceril.

Role Requests

Role Requests

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(Not to be taken as the only open roles -- invent your own!)
- A bastard daughter of Stephen of Orenth, heir to the Cerilian throne. Just recently fell into the hands of Nar Mat Kordh-Ishi. It's entirely possible that -her- heritage isn't pure as the driven snow either. In any case, just like the Tuskers, she was betrayed and wants some payback...and her kingdom.
- Jagath Eye-Drinker - Radush's son, the leader of the Chosen and a very powerful warrior in his own right. But there's a lot riding on him and a dynasty to come. This character should be a full-blooded orc or half-human at most.
- An orcish (or whatever) magic user, probably female, powerful and scary as all get out. Half demon? Sure.

[HeySeuss]

@GrimmReconz@Dead Cruiser@Lurking Krog@Hank@Kangaroo@vietmyke

[vietmyke]

Thinking about making me a ranged specialist recently pulled from the Spikes to join the elite unit

[Hank]

Dibs on the Orc witch.

[Lurking Krog]

I think I will make an halberd user.

[Tybalt Capulet]

How would you all feel about a field-medic/sawbones character?

[The Angry Goat]

this is a beautifully put together world and I love the options for characters. I'd be down to play the daughter or mage, but am also fine doing something else. I'm also considering a mute character - seems to be an interesting challenge.

[Byrd Man]

Character Sheet

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Name: Bogugh aka "Boom Boom"
Age: 22
Sex: Male
Breed: Full blood Orc.

Appearance:


Source

Skills/Abilities:

- Please list with most potent skills first.

- Sapper - Boom Boom is skilled at building and destroying (mostly destroying) things in the heat of combat
- Orc-Fried Genius - With spit, dirt, and a strong curse word Boom Boom can rig improvised weapons and items.
- Sneaky Sneaky - When not in actual battle, Boom Boom's preferred method of combat involves sneak attacks and dirty blows.
- Four Finger Discount - Years of playing with fire and explosives has left Boom Boom lacking in the finger department.

Equipment:

- Boom Boom's combat attire is chainmail armor and pants. His helmet is open faced with a chinstrap and a single spike on top. The spike is the red. Scrawled across the helmet in red paint are the Orcish words for "Born to Die."
- For battle he carries a one-handed battle axe and shield, both with the ability to be strapped to his backpack. A dagger attached to his belt can be used for sneaky sneaky stuff.
- As a sapper, Boom Boom carries a very large rucksack filled with equipment and supplies that he needs for his kind of work.

History:

Bogugh was the youngest son of his tribe's chieftain and grew up like royalty in his small tribe's social setting. But when he was six, Bogugh's family was betrayed by another Orc who wished to rule. The chief was slain while Bogugh, his mother, and his two brothers and sister were all sold into slavery. The men were sold to a fight promoter who soon had the sons fighting in gladiatorial combats across the world. Bogugh and his two brothers worked as a team and became something of an attraction on the fighting circuit.

On the circuit Bogugh did something that was strictly forbidden by his master: he began to learn. Every night after the fights he would learn to spell and read from a grammar book he had smuggled on to his person. Eventually his master found it and punished him for it. His punishment was not to be a physical one. Instead, Bogugh was forced to fight his two brothers to the death. In the arena, the three Orcs were unable to turn their blades against each other and instead turned them instead on their master. After butchering him in front of stunned onlookers, the three brothers ran away and began to search for a place they could hide.

That was when they found Nar Mat Kordh-Ishi. The three brothers signed up with the group and became Pikers and fought side by side. Bogugh watched his oldest brother be cut down by an arrow in battle right beside him two months after they joined the company. The two remaining brothers continued as Pikers until Bogugh became a Sapper due to his reading abilities and intelligence. Shortly thereafter his brother became a warg rider. Working with the Sappers is where Boom Boom both acquired his nickname and began the process of losing his fingers. He showed his aptitude for building and destroying, especially for destroying, takes pride in his work.

Personality and Psychological profile:

The deaths and sufferings Boom Boom has witnessed in his time alive has made him cynical about society, life, and Orcs place in it. He deals with these feelings with a type of gallows humor that hides his own anger and sadness. In terms of his job, he knows that making things go boom is what he's here to do and it's what he's good at. Boom Boom is, above all else, fatalistic. His life thus far has showed him that an Orc's life is painful and brief. The point of the company is to make sure to give some of that pain back to the world before they all die. His love of destruction plays into that. The way Boom Boom sees it, setting a house on fire or destroying a city is just letting others take part in the Orcish experience.

Relationships and Acquaintances:

A brother who is also a member of the company as a warg rider. Potential PC connection.

[Samdragonx]

@HeySeuss

I heard there was this orc mercenary company.. Any room left for me?

[vietmyke]

And here's my scout/tracker: Gormac. A play on Gore and Cormag (or just Cormag with the C and G switched)

Gormac the Bloodhound

Source: Dmitry Prozorov

Name: Gormac the Bloodhound
Age: 20
Sex: Male
Breed: Orcish

Appearance:
Gormac is smaller than most full-blooded orcs; he's thin with a rather lanky build- at least compared to orcish standards. Standing in at 6'4", Gormac possesses a lean and sinewy musculature with ashen green, almost gray skin. His black-gray hair is coarse and tough and pulled behind his head and kept in place by a band, and he wears a rough beard over his chin. He has three red streaks painted across his face, reminiscent of a claw mark or a gash from talons. Gormac forgoes chainmail in his armor, wearing a combination of hardened leather with metal plates affixed to it, and softer leather where his joints are. A warg pelt is draped over his shoulders, with the skull affixed to his left shoulder- which faces his enemy when he draws his bow.

Skills/Abilities:

• Tracking - Called the 'Bloodhound' for a reason, Gormac is a predator of predators. Rumored to be able to pinpoint the scent of a human from over a mile away, Gormac uses a combination of extremely keen senses, and predictive reasoning to root out his quarry. If the Nar Mat Kordh-Ishi need something or someone to be found, followed, and killed- Gormac's the one to turn to.
• Archery - More than just marksmanship, but the ability to continually draw massive orcish bows and consistently hit targets. Through his years of training Gormac has considerable strength and endurance- and is regularly among the sharpest shooters in the company.
• Trapping - A subset of tracking, but equally important, Gormac's keen eyes and hunter's training means he is capable of spotting and disarming traps meant for the company that some of the others may not see. With enough logic and deductive reasoning to disarm most traps, Gormac is generally able to at least estimate the general effective area of traps outside his skill level to disarm. He is also able, to an extent set up his own crude traps, for game and human alike- not that there's much difference between the two. His preferred traps are the simple but effective 'bear trap'.
• Swordsmanship - Not unused to melee combat, and having had his training with the 'pikes, as well as other members of the Company, Gormac is fairly good with a sword. While he may not be the fastest, or strongest, or most clever melee combatant of the Company, he can still hold his own with the other members of the Chosen.
• Fletching - Gormac fletches arrows in his own time- good busy work for the hands. He marks his arrows with bands of white on the shaft so he can collect them later.
• First Aid - Armed with a variety of poultices, herbs, wraps, and other small supplies, Gormac isn't a surgeon but he can keep himself or others from dying from an wound or cut.

Equipment:

• Leather Armor - Gormac forgoes noisy clinky chainmail for a thick set of tough leather with layers of metal plates woven between layers of leather. Not unlike a brigandine, but with more layers. Underneath the stiffer cuirass, Gormac wears softer padded cloth and leather for some means of protection. Draped over his shoulders as the fur of a Warg, with its skull on his left shoulder.
• Falchion - More akin to a crude military cleaver than a man's sword, Gormac's falchion is heavy and tough piece of shit, meant to crush and cleave its way through armor and bone alike.
• Recurved Longbow - A recurving longbow or orcish make, this bow is bigger than human equivalents by far, and at full draw delivers enough force to knock a man off his horse. With its considerable draw force, this bow can send even Gormac's heaviest arrows at blinding speeds.
• Gormac's Quiver, 40 arrows - While Gormac will used arrows supplied to him by the Company in battle, he shows a preference for using his own arrows in small unit or individual actions. Gormac's personal arrows are heavier than most, sturdy wooden shafts with barbed arrowheads- the barbs at the end of the arrowhead make pulling the arrow out the way it came just as excruciating as pushing it all the way through. Gormac marks his arrows with white bands on the shaft so he can locate them and retrieve them later.
• Kukri Knife - a weapon with an inward curving blade, this orcish weapon is closer in size to a shortsword than a dagger. There's a human saying that the best way to a man's heart is through his stomach, Gormac generally finds this statement to be true- and the curve of this blade makes that job all the more easier.
• Supply Pack - A small pack affixed to the small of his back affords Gormac with much of what he needs in the field. Whetstones for maintaining weapons and arrows, a waterskin, a small knife for fletching, a roll of bandages and some poultices, some rations, rope, flint, and the like.
• Bear Traps - Affixed to his pack are a pair of bear traps- crude circular things with rusty jagged teeth and a pressure plate in the middle. Gormac's first attempt at making these traps snapped a most mens' leg clean off- especially the skinny daisy-eating ones, no good for actually trapping the bastards, so Gormac has toned the strength of these traps down just a notch- broken bones are inevitable, but the leg will still be stuck.

History:

Gormac was born a member of a tribe of mountain orcs in the north- the Spine Mountains. The Spine Mountain orc tribes were rather peaceful peaceful ones by orcish standards- there weren't a lot of humans that wandered up the wilderness of the Spines so there wasn't much killing of 'civilized folk' to be had. Skirmishes with other tribes were fairly commonplace, and taking slaves were the general order of business. Gormac's family were among the lower rungs of the tribe's society, and so he did a lot of the grunt work- hunting, gathering, and securing food for the rest of the tribe while they did all the fighting. Gormac's family were slaves, they would fight for one tribe, be beaten and taken by another bigger, meaner tribe, and then fight for that tribe before they were beaten and taken by another, even bigger, even meaner tribe. Of his half dozen siblings, Gormac was the only one to make it to the age of 8.

As Gormac reached adulthood, life continued on as normal- he hunted, food, and at times fought other orc tribes. As humans and more civilized people began to move closer to the Spine Mountains, setting up small villages and townsteads, conflict with humans, elves, and more 'civilized' peoples became more commonplace. Hunters venturing into the rich forests of the Spine Mountains would come across Orc tribes, and would either shoot, or be shot at. Lumberjacks and farmers clearing land for farms would get spooked by the Orc tribes and flee screaming bloody murder. A small militia would occasionally in response venture into the mountains to root out the source of the Orcs. Occasionally they would beat back a small tribe or hunting party, but usually they got scared off after losing a few men.

Around the age of 14 is when Gormac's life experienced any noticeable change. Gormac's hunting party had strayed too far from the mountains tracking down prey, and came upon a mixed band of humans, elves and dwarves- self styled as 'adventurers'. These 'adventurers' took the Orc hunting party as their call to action, to save the nearby town of its scourge of raiders. After a short, but bloody conflict, the adventurers, armed with magic and steel, managed to defeat Gormac and his small hunting party. Left for dead, and covered in too much blood and gore to find his way anywhere, Gormac dragged himself aimlessly across the ground, somehow reaching the edge of the woods before losing consciousness.

When he came too, Gormac found himself in tent belonging to the Nar Mat Kordh-Ishi. His wounds had for the most part been patched and treated. In that tent he found himself face to face Drillmaster Koloch "the Butcher", who noted that he had watched a bloody and beaten Gormac drag himself almost a mile along the edge of the woods before passing out. That sort of drive, and will to survive is something Koloch found worthy of saving, and honing into a tool of war for the Company. So, with little else to lose, and with a glowing recommendation as any from the Drillmaster himself, Gormac found himself dressed in plate and pike, and thrust into the center of the Pikes, the Company's training grounds.

Gormac would prove to be one of Koloch's favorites- that is favorites to beat down and ridicule. Sometimes with words, usually with fists, clubs, and the like. Gormac, like many orcs, proved to be particularly hard headed and resistant to the Company's strict and more regulated manners. After a few years of getting his skull bashed in, Gormac eventually found his stride and finished his tour in the Pikes. He was quickly moved to the Spikes due to his keen eye and original role as a hunter.

Here Gormac really came into his own. He was excellent as part of the Spikes, he could shoot faster, more accurately, and for longer than most Spikes recruits, and his skill as a scout and woodsman became a defining trait of his- leading to him being named Koloch's Bloodhound (which was eventually shortened to just the Bloodhound). During his three years in the Spikes, Gormac was elevated to the role of subleader, under his Warleader, for his excellent tracking abilities, as well as sharp shooting skills. He would eventually be picked out by Koloch to join the ranks of the Chosen.

Having only been a part of the Chosen for a relatively small amount of time, Gormac is one of the newest members of the Nar Mat Kordh-Ishi's Chosen.

Personality and Psychological profile:

Sullen and brooding, Gormac isn't as loud as most orcs, and makes his presence known through sheer force of personality. Gormac is strong willed to the point of stubbornness, and in his earlier years in the Company had been beaten down more than once for refusing to obey orders. Experience and beatings have long since eroded any sense of insubordination, and while Gormac may doubt and question orders, he still carries them out to the fullest of his abilities. Gormac is fiercely loyal to both the Company, as well as Drillmaster Koloch in particular, whom he respects unconditionally. Though a bit of a grump, Gormac embodies the Company's esprit de corps and is more talkative in smaller settings or with those he's had more experience with. He views magic and sorcery with suspicion and unease, and is often visibly uncomfortable when magic is used in his vicinity.

Relationships and Acquaintances:

TBA

[HeySeuss]

Dibs on the Orc witch.

@Hank

Sounds good. This character will be working with our heiress and teaching them some of the lessons of terror and cunning. Should be a person that scares the piss out of all the other orcs.

I think I will make an halberd user.

@Lurking Krog

Sounds good. The weapon has a history in the company.

How would you all feel about a field-medic/sawbones character?

@Tybalt Capulet

Makes sense to have people around that can sew up wounds. I figure that orcs are generally accustomed to rougher handling and kind of like the scars.

this is a beautifully put together world and I love the options for characters. I'd be down to play the daughter or mage, but am also fine doing something else. I'm also considering a mute character - seems to be an interesting challenge.

@The Angry Goat

Well, we need the daughter, first and foremost.

@HeySeuss

I heard there was this orc mercenary company.. Any room left for me?

@Samdragonx

We're considering characters, sure.

And here's my scout/tracker: Gormac. A play on Gore and Cormag (or just Cormag with the C and G switched)

@vietmyke

I posted Dakgu before I read this, but there's always room for more archers that can do their killing from a distance, and the company needs as many scouts as it can get, because they're under a constant threat of ambush.

[Hank]

Sounds good. This character will be working with our heiress and teaching them some of the lessons of terror and cunning. Should be a person that scares the piss out of all the other orcs.

@HeySeuss

Shouldn't be a problem. I went with the blood-witch-that-binds-demons route. She's terrifying. Sheet's about half done right now.

[HeySeuss]

<Snipped quote by HeySeuss>

Shouldn't be a problem. I went with the blood-witch-that-binds-demons route. She's terrifying. Sheet's about half done right now.

@Hank

Sounds good. If I'm gonna be home sick for a couple days, I might as well work on getting this moving. I still need to work on how to structure this to work for the people playing and want to institute a "post 3 paragraphs and leave it at that" rule for people who aren't feeling more, just to keep it moving.

[Hank]

Moordekrai, the Wailing Doom

Name: Moordekrai, the Wailing Doom of Gash-Alsur.
Age: 34.
Sex: Female.
Breed: Orc (with Elvish blood).

Appearance:


Tall, fierce and supremely physical, there is no doubt that Moordekrai is not your average female tribal Orc. She moves with the supple grace of a feline predator on long, formidable legs, supporting a body that is both curvaceous and muscular. She would be very attractive to any Orc if she wasn't so frightening (or perhaps that only makes it better), but her feminine wiles are probably wasted on the other races. She is possessed of an intense, piercing stare that feels like it peers effortlessly through every deception -- and indeed, it is useless to try to lie to her. Her dark hair is swept back and usually braided, which she gathers up and wears in a long ponytail for convenience. Unlike most of the orcs of the company, Moordekrai goes through daily life and into battle scarcely dressed, relying on her speed and powerful magic to slay her enemies. Her skin is the same shade of mottled green that most Orcs have, but her frequent bloodletting has resulted in an intricate network of scars that spiderweb across her otherwise unblemished form, especially on her arms, palms and legs.

Skills/Abilities:

- The Demon Inside: Using her indomitable will and powers of necromancy, Moordekrai has bound the incorporeal form of a demon of Hell to herself, sealed away with various invisible arcane runes (once drawn with blood) on her skin. She is at the apex of her power when she unleashes the demon; a raging, screaming monster that calls itself Ghrokesh, which takes over her body in a symbiotic half-possession that sets her form ablaze with supernatural hellfire, turns her gaze into a blinding, baleful glare that inspires terror in mortal souls (especially humans) and propels her body forward with superhuman strength and speed. When Ghrokesh is set loose, Moordekrai truly becomes the Wailing Doom, leaving only ashes in her wake. It is an extremely painful process, however, and puts Moordekrai at risk of becoming entirely possessed and consumed by Ghrokesh's power. As such, she uses it very sparingly.
- Sanguine Power: Instead, Moordekrai mostly uses blood magic in battle, a technique forbidden in most civilized societies... but Orcs have no qualms about working with someone who engages in such dark practices, entirely different from the elemental magic of the human mages or the psychokinetics and nature magic of the elves, even if it does scare the superstitious Orcs (which is almost all of them). By spilling her own blood, she can inflict horrendous wounds on her enemies, resurrect fallen corpses to fight for her and even heal the injuries of her allies. Outside of mortal combat, she can use blood (not necessarily her own) to draw runes and diagrams with various supernatural powers; traps that turn the victim inside-out when triggered, hexes and curses that cast ill-fortune on her enemies in the battle to come and profane rituals that allow her to commune with the dead. Blood is power, and Moordekrai can revitalize herself by drinking the blood of slain enemies to sustain her use of blood magic in an extended engagement -- draining your own veins leads to fatigue, after all.
- Quick Edge: She is still an Orc, and Orcs are dangerous in close combat. Moordekrai does not wear heavy plate, nor does she carry a huge axe or a heavy blade into battle, but she is blessed with catlike reflexes (probably a result of the Elvish blood in her lineage) and is very handy with her twin daggers, used both for blood magic and simply to stab people in the face.
- The Sight: As a hobby, she dabbles in fortune-telling with a set of small bones she carries with her wherever she goes. The accuracy of her predictions are up for debate.

Equipment:

- Tribal Garb: Moordekrai does not wear chainmail or plate armor, disliking how it restricts her movement, and she needs easy access to her skin at all times to perform blood magic in combat. As such, she is quite scantily dressed, usually wearing nothing more than a pair of boots, a fur-and-fabric top, underwear and an improvised belt of sorts around her waist. You can imagine she does not like cold weather.
- Twin Daggers: Unlike human mages who carry thick spellbooks with them wherever they go, Moordekrai only needs something with a sharp edge to perform her particular brand of magic. Her instruments of choice are a pair of long daggers, not as thick as the average Orc blade but easily as long as a human shortsword, sporting supremely sharp edges that can easily draw blood at the slightest touch. Moordekrai also uses these blades to slice her foes to death when there's no time for magic. She's skilled but outmatched against talented and experienced warriors.
- Miscellaneous: A pouch with a set of bones used in fortune-telling, a bag with some coins, a necklace with (what she believes to be) a protective charm made from bones and feathers, and whetting stones used to sharpen her daggers.

History:

Moordekrai is last of a long line of Orc witches that lived with the Gash-Alsur tribe in the temperate southern human kingdoms. They were isolated, hiding away deep inside the wild forests and plains, and preferred to mind their own business. Moordekrai began learning her craft from her mother at a very young age, just like her grandmother had taught her mother before her, and so on, while her father ruled their tribe and remained distant. Moordekrai was gifted and took to her training immediately, despite its gruesome nature. Most Orcs are wary of magic and its practitioners but Moordekrai and her ancestors had played an important role in the tribe's history, helping defend them against human extermination campaigns and occasional skirmishes with neighboring elven conclaves. As a result, Moordekrai was raised to distrust humans and elves completely.

When she was fifteen years old she had mastered everything her mother could teach her about blood magic but she hungered for more. The power Moordekrai wielded was like an addiction, a testament to her dangerous personality, and she sought out her grandmother who had already retired as the tribe's shaman and now lived in solitude deep in the forest. From her, Moordekrai learned even more; forbidden techniques, even by the Orcish tribes, that Moordekrai's mother was never taught. Her grandmother, however, saw the hungry spark in her grandchild's eyes and knew that Moordekrai would not rest until she knew everything she could. Wary at first, but with growing enthusiasm, she taught Moordekrai how to commune with Hell's demons and how to use their power for herself, curious to see in the twilight of her life what her grandchild could do with such power. This was much more difficult material than blood magic, however, and it took Moordekrai almost a decade of secret training (in between her other duties to the tribe) to finally master the necessary spells.

Not one for caution, Moordekrai found a secluded spot in the woods and began the ritual of binding, determined to steal a demon's power. She does not remember much of what happened, but the end result is that she successfully captured a demon's spirit and bound it to herself, using so much of her own blood to draw the corrupt runes that it almost killed her. The next thing she knew was that the forest was on fire all around her and the ground beneath her feet was charred to coal, as if a violent explosion had taken place. The inferno raged for days, hungrily making its way westwards on the summer winds towards the lands occupied by one of the human kingdoms. They suffered for it; a significant portion of their harvest was lost and several villages destroyed, displacing thousands of people. The human king was quick to pin the blame on the Gash-Alsur tribe, who they had begrudgingly tolerated, and the kingdom's armies marched out to destroy them.

It was a massacre. The tribe was completely unprepared for the assault and the humans put every Orc to the sword that they could find. Moordekrai, recovered from the ritual, joined the desperate defense and used Ghrokesh's power for the first time that day. She was a terror on the field, ablaze from head to toe in incandescent hellfire, sending humans running for their lives with so much as a glance, but the unnatural rage of the demon was almost impossible to control and Moordekrai found herself chasing a battalion of fleeing humans deep into the woods while the rest of the king's armies slaughtered her tribe behind her.

And so the tribe of Gash-Alsur came to an end. Stories of the horrifying, screaming demon-orc spread far and wide, and Moordekrai came to be known to the humans of the southern kingdoms as the Wailing Doom. By the time she had regained control and sealed the demon away again she was lost and far away from home... a home that didn't exist anymore. She made her meandering way back in confusion and exhaustion only to find nothing but death and destruction. A human in her position would have felt immeasurable grief and sorrow, but Moordekrai was an Orc, and Orcs get angry instead. She knew she could not wage a one-woman war against the human kingdom and instead traveled north with a band of Orcs from another tribe. The human king had gained a taste for slaughtering Orcs and all the southern tribes were in such great danger that many migrated away from ancestral lands they had occupied for centuries. The Orcs she traveled with told her of a newly found Orcish mercenary company that would definitely take her on, Nar Mat Kordh-Ishi, and Moordekrai decided to follow their advice.

She has been with the company ever since, becoming one of its most valuable members, advising Radush Eye-Drinker on all things magical and channeling her simmering, sulphuric wrath into keeping the soldiers in line -- if there's something scary at the front, put something scarier at the back, and few things scared the Tuskers more than Moordekrai and her lethal blood magic. "Don't wake the demon" became a common saying among Pikers... for obvious reasons. When the Chosen were first formed Moordekrai became a founding member and, like the rest of the Company, she is eager to dive into battle against bunnies and knife-ears alike to prove her worth.

Personality and Psychological profile:

Moordekrai is a dangerous, fierce and unpredictable sorceress that commands fear and respect in all those she meets. Her anger at having her whole tribe slaughtered and her inborn lust for power have combined to make her a terrifying she-Orc who never backs down from a challenge and does not take shit from anyone. One of the first things the Pikers often learn about discipline is not to insult Moordekrai for being a female, as doing so could be a potentially lethal mistake.

She has deliberately cultivated that imago and takes pleasure in inspiring fear among the other Tuskers -- not to dominate them, but to make them stronger in battle. Once they fear her, bunny knights in full plate don't seem so bad at all. On the other hand, she has no close friends or companions. The closest thing is her advisory role to Radush Eye-Drinker, but even he is wary of the blood witch. Now that she's getting on in age, Moordekrai might begin to finally crave companionship after all. Not that she'd ever admit it.

Relationships and Acquaintances:

Nothing yet.

[DJAtomika]

Interest here. A spot open for a more technical, strategic fighter?

[HeySeuss]

Interest here. A spot open for a more technical, strategic fighter?

@DJAtomika

Got room for more, and we can get them up.

A word to the wise, however, for all applicants, is that I want to start this RP in a couple days with IC posts.

Whomever takes vital roles within the RP, and we need that heir, needs to be in it for the long term, because we can't have those characters knock off. I suppose I can back up those roles or something, but I'd rather have the engaged players. I also am trying to set loose posting criteria. If you want to do a long post, great.

If not, three paragraphs is also great. It's more disappointing to have the RP go under because people don't want to post little than to have little posts that advance the plot rather than big huge ones, if you get my drift.

[HeySeuss]

Our chat is on the Discord Chat - Guild server - #rp_nar-mat-kordh-ishi

Good place to brainstorm.

[Samdragonx]

Tendun, dead hard

Name: Tendun, dead hard.
Age: 22.
Sex: Male
Breed: full-blooded orc.

Appearance:
Tendun possesses long, black hair, woven in dreadlocks. Combined with a small goatee.
His red eyes are smaller than most. He has no visible nose as he lost that during an ugly fight. The holes are still there. He has an underbite that accentuates his face and drives attention away from the rest of his scarred face. He’s rather large by Tusker standards and possesses next to no bodyfat.
The left side of his armor plate is painted red. A fur pelt covers his right arm. It is attached to his back by bunny skulls on spikes. The spikes, in turn, are adorned by the neckbones of the bunnies. The tip of his spikes is still showing. Indicating room for more.

Skills/Abilities:

- Battle hardened – the body of this tusker has received so many beatings, it doesn’t respond too severely when something tries to wound it. Skin that’s thick enough to grab hold of a flailing sword. Only the most severe wounds put him down(for a nap).
- Battle dancer – After his years of being shot at, Tendun has learned of the value of dodging piercing weapons, like arrows, by jumping and ducking.
- 3 out of 4 senses is good enough – having lost his nose, this orc has an absolute 20/20 vision.
- Tasty tongue – having lost the ability to smell, this orc relies on his tongue to test if something is edible. Putting various things in his mouth has led him to better identify and harvest natural resources.
- Axe flinging – seeing a big orc can be intimidating. Seeing that big orc hurl a heavy axe at you can be just as intimidating.
- Bleeding merchants coin – Looting is important. One of the riches Tendun and his tuskers have acquired was a coin that bled. Though he keeps it on his person, Tendun is not one to let his loot slide. After spilling blood on the object it reveals the location of the treasure of the (often)killed person. It helped him find many secrets.

Equipment:

- The falchion. Tenduns favorite curve. The blade he uses most frequently to chop his way through enemy armors. Being bigger than most really gave his blade the advantage of elevating a lot of heads from their bodies. That, in turn, caused plenty of his weapons to last longer. When he holds 2 skulls and the blade in his hand, cutting off bunny arms and heads are made to become a game. A game in where he’s the rule-maker and the winning player. (Standard issue.)
- a Macuahuitl. Even though the strange teeth on the blade are not custom among tuskers. This sword has some interesting additions to it that make it bloodier than most other orcish weapons. Like the thicker blade. The heavier tip and the curve on both ends. It was one of the more ancient and heretical relics from the church of Issad. But he mostly wears it for aesthetics and the executions of “prisoners” as it has very little impact against heavy armor.
- Full plate body armor(heavy). Tendun might be tough, but he’s most certainly not invincible. The spikes on his armor make his hugs, punches and headbutts deadly to most. As he doesn’t care much for long ranged battles, his armor allows him to move forward easily, but making turns takes longer. Thick plates and the occasional plates sliding past one another make him a great shield for any orc standing behind him.
- 8 axes. The axes are versatile. Though they are mainly used for combat, they could serve as tools for climbing. Only smaller orcs could hope to use them for this purpose. Tendun uses them for cutting through bushes and food, to disinfect wounds and ultimately to throw at something he can’t reach. He might use them as a last resort to save an orc in danger, but more often than not to try and break ranks and enemy morale. They are often in need of replacement.
- Drums. As a master of discipline, Tendun carries a specific set of drums that vibrantly bring battles to life. They contain of leather, wood and a few animal tendons. Tendun doesn’t start to play these until most of the armies have commenced in battle. It serves as a reminder of the sound of the drummers. He also serves as back-up in case any drummers fall in battle.
- Back-pouch. Tendun is well aware that taking down strongholds can be too great a task for one orc. When the time comes, either explosives, a smaller orc or an extra battering head will make their way to the frontlines with him.

History:

The tribe of the ungracefull were often praised for their hardened upbringings and large posture. Tendun fit in just fine. Though he was born son of the chief, he had a hard time understanding what that meant. He received no extra privileges. In fact, it caused him more harm than good. His tribe was overthrown for control of the Angara desert. Even as a young grunt he received plenty of beatings and was sent to do various dangerous tasks. Often it resulted in blood loss and beatings. And when the tribe waged wars, he was often sent in first. First to take the arrows, first to reach the walls, first to fall, but always last to stand.

When he was old enough to make his own earnings, he was became a sell sword for various armies. Many of his earnings went to the employers for whom he worked. But blood and blade were not enough for him. He craved more. He craved a corpus greed. He wanted honor for himself. Loot he could keep. However, after word came out that he was as cunning an orc leader as he was a businessman, many people wanted him dead. 42 assassins in a year worth of time. Seeing how he was in danger by his 1 drop of blood business policy, he’d need to seek out help and could no longer solely rely on himself. To seek out proper training and someone to temporarily replace him. He stopped meddling with human affairs and he joined Nar Mat Kordh-Ishi. All of his small business funded part of Rudash riches. Though it’s share could barely be noticed.

His time among the Pikes was harsh. As expected, Tendun received various beatings. Not only because he failed to meet expectations, but also because he’d been so used to being in command. His will was strong and took quite some time to break. When finally he accepted discipline, he would tolerate nothing less. Often speaking up against higher ranks, specifically to get beaten again. After many beatings, he lost feeling, sense, awareness and ultimately attachment to his nose.
This is ultimately how he ended up as a low rank grunt between the blades for a few years. But it is how the chosen got to hear of him and gave him a few useful instructions the next time he’d charge into battle head-first.

Personality and Psychological profile:

He doesn’t put his nose into other people’s business and doesn’t normally challenge his commanders. No matter how ridiculous their request might sound.
He keeps his head down and follows orders as best he can. When in control, he is brutal and harsh. Countless beatings have brought about an absolute zero-tolerance mentality. Failure is not an option, the command is law and order. Eye-drinker is highest priority. No matter how you were born, you’ve got to fight your way into earning it. Once you’re certain you can overthrow someone, get just 3 extra securities to ensure your victory over them. Tendun does not care about betrayal. After all, the loot is but one blood drop away. These sum up his creed, mentality and battle-prowess.

Relationships and Acquaintances:

He knows orcs that know him. He knows command when spoken to.

[Tybalt Capulet]

My Hider

Name: Shragatch "Old Shrag" Gorehook
Age: 45
Sex: Male
Breed: Full-Orc

Appearance: Smaller than the average orc, both in height and build. Barely six feet tall, in part due to a slightly hunched back. He also lacks the imposing bulk that most of his kinsmen have. Stringy black hair hangs in a rough knot at the back of his head, and his tusks are chipped and yellowed with age. One eye is slightly rheumy. Left hand was lost in combat, and has been replaced with a bladed hook, which is fastened on with leather straps wrapping to the elbow.

Skills/Abilities:
- Seasoned Veteran: Shragatch has been fighting since his youth, and carries with him a wealth of experience that makes up for his underwhelming stature and aging body. He's survived more fights than most Orcs will ever see, and it is by no accident that he is still fighting at his rather advanced age.
- Field-medic: While he generally uses this skill to care for himself, Shrag is well-versed in field-medicine, and can easily perform such tasks as splinting, setting, and cauterizing.
- Close-combat: While in his earlier years he fought with a pike, though having lost a hand, he now favors the combination of a sickle-like hook and dagger. The two weapons are used in tandem to disarm (hook) an opponent, then strike a weak point (dagger).
- Herbalism: While by no means an apothecary, Shrag knows his plants, and is perfectly capable of creating poultices to aid in his medicine, or poisons to clear out a chain of succession. His knife is treated with the latter.
- Nimbleness: While not significantly so, Shrag is lighter on his feet than could be reasonably expected, a misconception that he very much takes advantage of.

Equipment:
- Scale maile
- Hook prosthetic and poisoned dagger
- Simple metal helm with leather neck-guard
- Herbalist's bag
- Sling and stones


History:
Shragatch was born to the Gorehammers, a nomadic Orc clan. Fought in the Pikes, like any other young Orc. In this position, he learned quickly the balance of inconspicuous survival. Never the strongest in a warband, yet also never weak enough to catch the eye of a warleader as a slacker or incompetent. Throughout his youth, he fought skillfully in the Pikes, and if not for his diminutive stature and distaste for leadership and authority figures, could very well have been picked for promotion.

Eventually, the unthinkable happened. On a routine maneuver, Shragatch lost his left hand to a Dwarven axe. As a Pikeorc, this made him incapable of wielding his primary weapon, and almost certainly destined him to serve with the Campers for the rest of his days. This was, in his eyes, not an acceptable option. At the first opportunity, he joined up with a small gang of mercenaries, and ran with them for a few years, biding his time and growing more capable with his one hand. His dagger eventually found its place in the squadleader's back when he decided that he was through with the small band, and he came to Radush Eye-Drinker's squad: Nar Mat Kordh-Ishi. His long years of experience, cunning nature, and passable skills as a field-medic didn't do much for rank in the company, but they made him an excellent candidate for the elite group.

Personality and Psychological profile:
If one word had to be used to describe Shragatch, it would be "cunning". He never gives more effort than is needed, but also keeps a constant vigil over those around him, assessing them, studying their strengths and weaknesses, judging how best to take advantage of his peers. This is his greatest strength, and has not grown weaker with age. He excels as an advisor, strategist, or simply at being underestimated just enough to strike at the opportune moment.

Shrag also holds quite an elevated opinion of himself. He's sharper than the average Orc, and well aware of it, which has helped him to survive longer than most of his peers, and his constant efforts at manipulation give him an overinflated opinion of himself. He's nearly convinced that no other orc can rival his scheming, and he has plenty of little threads in place to keep him safe should emergency strike.

Relationships and Acquaintances:
To be established.

[HeySeuss]

@Samdragonx Can you pull out the stuff from the character sheet, like the instructions you copied over? Also, in a fight with lots of armor and so forth, I'm not sure a macuahuitl cuts it as a main weapon. I mean, the reason they're using axes, halberds and heavy swords is that they need to pierce armor.

@Tybalt Capulet Looks good, though in this setting, pikes and orcs are rarely seen together. It might well be that tribe was where the thought came from. On the other hand, we probably need to figure out how to say "Gorehammer" in Orcish. (Zor-Kokan was the closest I got.)