Red Wizard — Roleplayer Guild

Name

Holgarth Half-Blood, King o' the Hills and the High Places
Race

Half-Giant
Gender

Male
Age

35
Appearance

Hair: Shoulder length, coal black, rough like horsehair
Eyes: Dark and challenging
Skin: Tanned, weather worn, tattooed, scarred
Length: 200cm / 6ft
Weight: 120kg / 265lbs
Build: Heavily muscular, broad chest, straight back
Clothes: Loincloth and boots, all leather
Personality

Say one thing for the King o' the Hills, say he's a hard bastard. Holgarth is focused to the point that he is sometimes percieved as humorless by other people. He's infamous for his fiery temper, judging quickly and harshly. Once Holgarth has set his mind on something it is hard, if not impossible, to sway him from his course. This stubborness of character doubles as bravery in battle, which he persues fearlessly when given the chance. Holgarth is that man that fighting men dread having to face, the kind that smiles and licks the blood of his teeth after you've punched him square in the face.

Holgarths philosophy can be quickly summed up as "Might makes Right". If you can take a thing, it is yours. If you can force an opponent to submit with violence, your position is the superior one. In his mind, violence is the supreme authority from which all other authorities are derived. This belief has bestowed him with a somewhat surprising respect for King Tyronde, whose force conquered Hogarths own. He is not one to submit, however, having vowed revenge and intending to collect Tyrondes head one day. He looks forward to the struggle with all his heart.

Bearing this in mind, one could be led to believe that Holgarth is nothing more than a mindless, bloodthirsty brute. Nothing could be further from the truth. The King o' the Hills and the High Places is a cunning man; perhaps not learned, but in possession of an uncanny guile forged from years and years of wars and battles. Holgarth knows that telling a man you will kill him does not make it so. The true warrior hides his blade in the grass and strikes when least expected. All in all, the Half-Blood is a very dangerous man to count among your enemies.
Background

Holgarth was born to certain stars by uncertain parents under a bloodied moon somewhere in the High Places of the Westerlands. His mother, a human whose name has been lost to history, died giving birth to the giant baby. The abomination was quickly discarded by the tribe she belonged to, put in the wilderness to be eaten by wolves. They had not counted on Holgarths father to care for his offspring, but he did. The stars told of a promising future for the youngling, and the giant took him on to explore what destiny had in store. Not much is known about Holgarths formative years, but the rumor is that his giant father fed him blood instead of the mothers milk he was robbed of.

Many years later, Holgarth returned to his mothers tribe. She had been of noble blood, and the Half-Blood came demanding his position as chieftain of the tribe. They flatly refused, and so it came to be that Holgarth slew the twelve men that dared challenge his claim. The tribe reluctantly decided to accept him for fear of losing all of their warriors, and Holgarths life as a leader began. He wasted no time in demanding submission from the rest of the tribes in the Hills, conquering them one by one in a decade now known to the hillfolk as the Red Years. Finally, with noone left to challenge his rule, Holgarth named himself King o' the Hills and the High Places, and for a short while there was peace.

Not that there wasn't violence, though. The Half-Blood had barely consolidated his reign before he found other things to battle besides rivalling tribes. There were monsters in the hills, and warlocks, and roaming giants, all waiting to feel the bite of Holgarths blade. One of his most noted battles was his duel against the ancient undead giant warlord Geur-Nagh Under-the-Hill, from which Holgarth stole the Underblade; a terrible weapon, forged from Starsteel by the secret blacksmithing of the giants of old.

There came a day, however, when Holgarths reign would come to an end. A new King, Tyronde, was rising in the west, and he wanted the Hills for himself. The Half-Bloods forces met those of the White Tiger in the Valley of Fangs, and for a time they were evenly matched. Holgarth, excited about the strength of his foe, called on the White Tiger to meet him in single combat to decide once and for all who would be the victor, and to his great joy his adversary agreed. Only he didn't come himself. He sent a champion. He sent the Warden.

When he stared into the Wardens eyes, his gaze meeting those dark pits of cosmic horror, Holgarth knew fear for the first time in his adult life. The duel was over before it even began. The next thing he knew, Holgarth was no longer in the High Places, but in a cold and dark cell inside the Maw. Why they let him live, he cannot say, but he has sworn a sun-oath and a moon-oath for vengeance against those who bested him that day.
Talents

The Blood of Giants: Holgarths veins flow with the blood of his fathers people, the giants. This renders him stronger and tougher than humans, as well as speeding his recovery from injuries and granting him an innate resistance to magic. Unlike other men, Holgarth will never cease to grow, although he will never be the size of a true giant.

Forged from War: The Half-Blood is a monster in all forms of melee combat. The skill and ferocity with which he fights sends even hardened warriors scrambling in panic as their comrades are hacked to pieces by the fury of the madman. Though defeated by the Warden in their duel, Holgarth has never actually yet been bested in hand-to-hand combat.

King o' the Hills and the High Places: Holgarths name carries weight in some parts of the kingdom. Some still revere him with respect, while others cower in fear by the mere mention of his deeds. He still very much regards himself as King, and has the gravitas of character to back it up.
Flaws

Barbarian: Holgarth is not a learned man. He has no academic training of any kind, and is even unable to read or write. He knows nothing of history, heraldry, or any other useful knowledge outside of combat and bushcraft.

Arcanophobea: Holgarth is incredibly wary of magic, to the point that he fears it. The one thing that has ever brought him to his knees is sorcery, and it was not a pleasant experience. This fear is multiplied by a lot where the Warden is concerned. Holgarth hated and fears her like the night does the day.

King o' the Hills and the High Places: Holgarths name is a two-edged blade. It inspires as much hate as it does fear, and there are many grieving widows and orphaned children out there who have sworn revenge for his crimes. Holgarths high thoughts of himself as King also comes with drawbacks of their own; arrogance, for one, and a sometimes unfounded demand for respect and authority.
Equipment

The Underblade: Holgarths most prized possession. The blade is black as tar, and was supposedly forged from Starsteel by giant master smiths in the time before time. It was weilded by Geur-Nagh Under-the-Hill until Holgarth stole it from the undead giant warlord. The blade is seemingly unbreakable and cuts through most armor like a hot knife through butter. It is said that once the blade is drawn, it must have its fill of blood before being sheathed again, lest its wrath be awakened.
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