ĞEternalDragoon's Profileğ

Current Username: EternalDragoon
Stars: 35
Rank: Ambassador

Character:

Name: Torog Derangul; known in some orcish circles as the “Stormcaller”

Age: 52

Gender: Male

Race: Orc

Appearance: As an orc, Torog is built large and powerfully with a frame measuring exactly seven feet tall. He is naturally massive, with sinew and muscle finely wrapped around sturdy bone and cartilage. Age has barely slowed him as every working part of his body is still equal to if not more sturdy than a human of half his years. His skin is a shade of dark olive green spotted with dark black birthmarks in some places. It is stretched as tautly as canvas over a drum with a texture of natural leather. On parts of his torso he is tattooed with various symbols and on his back a totem of spirits is literally carved into his flesh. His face is painted with various pigments that he keeps in a satchel with him. The paints differ from day to day depending on such things as phases of the moon and such, he applies them in a daily ritual. His jaw juts out prominently, and two large, yellowed, stone like canine teeth emerge from corners of his lower jaw. His other teeth are smaller but his heritage is apparent in his dental hygiene, which is sub-par by human standards. His chin and the sides of his face grow heavily with thick stubble and long scraggly sideburns. His nose is pierced with a brass ring through the bridge, a token of manhood most orcs receive in their 15th or 16th year. His eyes are fierce with distinctive furrowed eyebrows and heavy crows feet at the corners. His left eye has gone blind with a cataract and is blank and milky white while the other is coffee brown and surrounded by a permanent tattoo of a perfect circle in crimson, the sign of true sight. His forehead is sloping and prominent with oily black hair that is graying in the front draping over some of it. The rest of the crown of his head is covered by a bull-horned skullcap with the fur of a black bear draping from it down around the sides of the head to about shoulder length. The cap is solid oak and reinforced by iron studding. His ears are hardly visible, but are pierced in several places with rings, studs, and a solid gauge in each earlobe. He has a large circular pendant around his neck made of obsidian with an inscription of the seal of the order he is a part of in silver upon it.

He wears a pair of wolf heads as shoulder guards, engraved with shamanistic runes of warding and sanctifying. The two wolves were faithful protectors of his tribe, the Stormsong, and were slain in an assault by a human raiding party. The wolves were consecrated and fashioned by the tribe’s smith into a light armor to commemorate their noble act of sacrifice. Is supposedly has special properties when exposed to full moonlight. A gray cape made from their hides runs under the two heads. It runs about knee length behind him and in a semicircle in front of him down to the middle of his rib cage. It is held together with an oaken clasp at the center of his chest. The cape is reinforced by some of the wolves’ bones and is remarkably resilient. Further magical imbuing on the cape has made it entirely fireproof.

Underneath the cape wears an off white canvas robe that extends to about ankle length. The robe is also reinforced with the bones of the two wolves and offers good protection for its weight. It is also decorated with various tribal designs including interweaving lines and patterns in black ink on the vest that act as heraldry for identifying the tribe he belongs to and adds aesthetic flare. Down his forearms run a pair of bracers made from more of the wolf hide and are also reinforced with bone. The gauntlets run to the middle of the back of his hand where five long slender bones run to each of his five finger tips and are secured there by metal bands. About his waist is a sash made from the two tails and studded with the teeth of the wolves and is secured by another oaken clasp. From the sash hang the eight paws and the four ears of the two wolves. Torog claims they enable him to run faster and hear more keenly, but it the effect has never been proven. The sash also secures a length of black bear hide that drapes down to shin length. He wears a simple pair of brown moose hide moccasins adorned with brass and reinforced with thin plates of steel. Finally he has a large satchel made from stitched together deer hide. Inside he carries everything from war paint to wineskins, herbal remedies, and a small totem of animal spirits.

Personality: Made wise by age and his many years as a shaman, he has collected knowledge mostly through personal experience. He is worldly, knowing the cultures of many races. He spins fabulous tales from all parts of the world, painting captivating pictures of valor and cowardice, heroes and villains alike. A firm believer in the adage “A passion for wine is a passion for life”, he is never one to turn down a fine vintage. One of the staples he carries with him along with his satchel is a pouch of whatever wine he can find in the towns he stops in. He is in all forms a free spirit, a lover of life who seems to be in constant peace. He has a very warm vibe, willing to impart a bit of wisdom for no other reason than it seems to fit the situation. Most cannot believe he is of orcish heritage, because he is so subdued. In truth, he has found peace in his shamanistic beliefs and is remarkably centered. He is a believer in balance and order, and wishes to bring both order to the world and to change the common opinion of the orcish race. In battle, he exhibits the same cool level headedness he displays outside of battle. He is no stranger to combat, and will use any means to maintain the natural balance. He is extremely opposed to the undead and other abominations that corrupt or defile nature, and attacks them with zealous passion. He is also talented at path finding and trailblazing. If not for his heritage, he would likely be adored by many people. He is at times stubborn to a fault, however, and so focused on the particulars of the consequences and moral implications of actions that he can be seen as indecisive. Also, though he means well, his tendency to impart wisdom can cause him to seem preachy and haughty. Also, his endless wisdom should not be confused with his intellectual capacity. All the stories he knows are from oral histories. He is largely illiterate aside from a rarely used orcish dialect and cares nothing for mathematics or the sciences, as he considers them unnecessary and petty. He is, however, well spoken, and is very good at conveying messages simply in few words. If one could get past his heritage, they would find that there are few companions on the road better than Torog. Weaponry: Torog wields only one weapon, being a heavy orcish maul called “Storm Sunder”. It was gifted to him for excellence in his devotion by the high council. It was painstakingly crafted from a single block of solid granite by a team of expert smiths. The entire construction is indeed solid rock although the shaft was made to be a only a very thin core. The head is, however, a solid block of stone and engraved with the inscriptions “Valor”, “Justice”, and “Honor”; one on each of the three visible sides of the hammer. The other two visible sides contain an engraved seal of the order. Though its purpose is mostly as a walking stick and a staff to direct spells, Torog is not afraid to swat an enemy away when they are too close. The head is very heavy, being made of stone. It is nearly a hundred pounds and is roughly the size of four bricks laid two by two. The shaft that supports this massive weapon is about seven and half feet long and a whopping one and three fourths inches in diameter. It is made from sturdy oak and iron and secured by multiple iron rivets. The bottom of the shaft is tipped with a four pointed barbed iron spear head. It causes an extremely nasty wound and is invariably fatal if it strikes the torso because it causes massive tissue damage and blood loss. The effort that it takes to swing the hammer is enormous, but Torog’s brute strength can manage. He is beyond his years where he could continually swing it effectively, however, and attacking with it is reserved for defense when cornered. The hammer is enchanted so that it will never break. An additional enchantment has made it so that only Torog can wield it, for if one besides him should try to carry it, its density will increase tenfold, making it all but impossible to carry as its weight increases exponentially. Torog can draw on this enchantment at will, and can make its density increase just as it connects, causing ridiculous damage, but causing the old orc to require a few seconds to recover from the strain.

Fighting Style: A powerful shaman and master of the earth, Torog is proficient at enhancing the abilities of his allies as well as attacking with elemental powers.

Upheaval: Demonstrating his attunement with the earth, Torog creates a localized earthquake underneath an enemy causing a sharp stalagmite to suddenly shoot out from the ground, seriously wounding anyone in its path.

Hold Enemy: When this technique is used, the ground beneath an enemy’s feet turns soft, acting like quicksand to swallow the target’s legs up to about the knee (if it is a human) and then suddenly harden to immobilize them unless they are somehow able to break themselves free.

Call Lightning: The ability that made him famous among orcish circles, Torog need only to point his staff at his intended target and wait a few seconds. The target is then struck by lightning. This is, however, a defensive spell that targets allies. When struck, the lightning element is temporarily added to their attacks and they fight with new vigor.

Create Golem: Torog smites the ground with his hammer and in a few seconds a small (about five foot tall) golem will rise from the ground from the impact point. It is usually made of whatever substance the ground is made of, but with great concentration, Torog has succeed before in creating golems out of piles of steel in this manner, but they have often been incredibly unstable and shatter with the slightest amount of force. Torog hopes to be able to perfect the art someday. Golems have free will and move of their own volition, but Torog’s affinity with nature allows him to have slight control over them and influence which way they go or what creature they attack. Golems can take a fair amount of damage but will eventually crumble after time or damage. Stone Armor: Torog uses this basic spell defensively to temporarily turn the armor of his allies to the hardness of stone. The effect is magical and does not impede the target’s movement in any way. Torog can however use the spell to affect the movement of enemies, for instance, by turning their footwear to stone.


Maelstrom: His ultimate defensive spell, when this spell is used it surrounds Torog with a fierce swirling wind that deflects most missiles and low clouds that swirl just overhead and rain lightning at any hostile creature that enters its radius. Torog is kept at the eye, where he can continue to cast spells or attack, though spell’s effects are reduced as he has to divide his concentration to maintain this ability.

Storm Sunder The ultimate display of Torog’s affinity with nature (his maul was named for this ability) is the ability to unleash the wrath of the very earth and shake it to the very core. This ability is triggered by a span where Torog must establish a hold of all the land around him. He then raises his hammer, which is struck by lightning, and amplifies the latent energies within it, which causes the engravings on his hammer to glow a glorious shade of gold. He then pounds the ground with the hammer at ten times density, and then all hell breaks loose. Fault lines open in every direction, large enough to swallow friend and enemy alike. The faults crackle with remnants of the lighting energy, shocking those near the crevices. The ground also rolls outward in a circle, heaving nearby enemies to the ground. The open cracks vent superheated air and spout short bursts of flame. The old orc has passed his age where he can cast this with no repercussions. The great amount of force exerted from this power would, in Torog’s estimation, cause him to collapse on the spot. The ability also has one drawback: in order to affect an enemy, they must be in contact with the ground.

Background: Torog was born the son of a moderately powerful tribal chieftain and his concubine and raised in the presence of a number of talented leaders were he learned at an early age how to lead effectively. His physical prowess was recognized early on where he showed great stamina and was a good runner. His upbringing was not one of training to be tribal chieftain, however, for he was not the eldest. He was given to the dangerous job of being a scout, however, and was originally excited to be involved in such a job. He was also a running messenger and was in touch with much of the orcish world. His horizons were very broad, and he was eager to explore more of the world. One of his most important jobs carried him across a vast expanse of land previously thought to be impassable to deliver summons of war to a number of allied tribes. However, his tribe was devastated by drought and a series of bloody feuds between a number of other tribes and later with human expansionists. His father’s death in a large scale raid by humans meant his brother was to become chieftain, but he felt his brother would not be able to manage at the time, which was marked with general discord throughout the orcish world. He began to lead a movement to leave their ancestral homeland and leave for more livable areas. His stance put him at odds with his brother, who had grown to show the potential to be a tyrant. Torog protested this, and at only 17 years old, he was exiled. He gathered what supporters he had and left for the forests of the northwest. He used his exceptional talents to lead his followers over a series of arduous mountain passes and to the land he had hoped he would find. He founded a settlement near a winding river in the valley between two mountain ranges, called it Hurondarg, and was elected by the people as their leader. During the days, he devoted much of his time to scouting through the forest for food and resources, but was never prepared to find other inhabitants, let alone other orcs. In the dark, dense forests he found a small commune of six elder shamanistic druids. They were an offshoot of a major group in the southern marshes originally sent to spread their beliefs to the north, but became lost after their navigator fell ill and died. They settled here and decided to live the rest of their lives peace in this place, as it was largely untouched. Their simple and peaceful ways intrigued Torog, who invited them to live in his settlement. The druids politely refused, stating they were content in their lives and that they would rather stay where they were. Torog was not discouraged, however, and returned a few weeks later to inquire again if they would join him. This time they told him that they would see this village for themselves. They saw that the people there were good, hardworking people and agreed that they would stay with them and teach them the old shamanistic ways. The years passed, and with them the old shamans one by one. The last and greatest of the shamans was compelled by the situation and to teach Torog the ways of the shaman. At only 20, Torog was still young and the long path to becoming a shaman seemed daunting. The study of ritual and lore was a challenge to the young orc, who lacked previous formal education. However he willed himself to excel and through the course of six years of initiation and rites of passage- the most daunting being the carving of the totem on his back- he became a shaman. Shortly after, his mentor fell ill. The old shaman told Torog that for the last six years as he had been kept alive only by the earth mother to train him in his ways, for he said that the very stars prophesied greatness for Torog. He was to go out to the outlying lands of orcs and teach them the shamanistic tradition, for many of the orcs had become pagans and some even worshipped human gods. Torog accepted his mission, and told his mentor that he would do as he was told. With that the old orc passed on. For seven days and seven nights the land was covered by dense fog, and on the eighth day, Torog told his people that he would have to depart from them to take on his new mission. He appointed an able assistant of his as the new chieftain of Hurondarg and left with the support and goodwill of the settlement.

His travels took him many places and he was instrumental in saving a number of orc villages from invasions and other threats; notably, a small army of human conquerors, a host of marauding gnolls, and a band of angry trolls. His name began to carry weight and eventually, he found his way back home in his 31st winter. Here, he and his brother reconciled, and Torog agreed to take his brother and his tribe to Hurondarg under the condition that his brother live peacefully and allow his appointed chieftain to rule. Though it was a bitter pill to swallow, his brother gratefully accepted and was led to Hurondarg where he lived out the rest of his life humbly farming and caring for his family. Torog’s welcome home was unexpected, but joyful. The people under the care guidance of their chieftain had turned Hurondarg into a thriving community. They lived simply among nature with great respect for the environment and the creatures within it. Torog was proud of his people and blessed their earth with his increased powers. The earth mother had looked upon Hurondarg with favor from that day, and Hurondarg has never since suffered a crop failure. Torog left again, and was bound to leave for the south and the marshes as he realized he had never visited the home of his beliefs, Imberaugh. His mentor had talked much about it, and he was guided by the earth to his destination though he truly did not know the way. When he arrived, it was his 33rd year and he hoped he would be able to gain an audience with the high council. He hopes were not needed, for his deeds had already spread. He was given a hero’s welcome by the high council, who begged he stay within the city’s walls and become an assistant to the high council. He graciously refused, citing his wanderlust as the reason why he could never do such a thing. Nevertheless, the council showered him with gifts including his hammer for restoring shamanism to many of the outlying regions and insisted he return someday. As a token of gratitude he spent two years in the city teaching and being taught. Stronger and wiser, he bade them farewell and struck out once again shortly after his 35th birthday.

For his next four years he traveled to all places of the orcish world, welcomed by some and shunned by others, but always respected. His 39th winter saw another return to Hurondarg, and remarked that his tiny encampment had blossomed into a large town. The inhabitants had replaced straw huts with mud brick houses and had built a large mill powered by the river. Their supplies of grain were plentiful and their population was climbing into the high hundreds. Yet through it all they had maintained the balance and still lived in harmony with their surroundings. Torog was proud to enter the chieftain’s home and see his able lieutenant had managed to keep the people united and content and progress without creating an imbalance. They held a feast in his honor, and after three months he left once more. He then left and traveled in the east for two years, and there received an introduction to herbal medicine. He left before he achieved mastery, however, as he wished to return to Imberaugh, now known as the Earthen Citadel. It too had grown in size and prestige, and the high council welcomed him again with open arms. They told him however that the stars had foretold dark times on the horizon, with trouble in the northern lands. They told of blood to be spilled and things to be overthrown, but it was said the discord would be in the human lands. Nature had to have a hand in these affairs to be sure balance was maintained even in the human worlds. This new daunting task was given to Torog, for only he had the skills needed to navigate the unfamiliar human lands. Though he had traveled the orcish lands many times and walked thousands of miles, he had never ventured into the human world. Yet he was glad to accept this task as it awakened his sense of youthful adventuring. The high council gave him his pendant as a reward for undertaking this brave new venture. Torog stayed for another few months to prepare and train his abilities. He was 42 when he left for the human lands. Along the way he lost the use of his left eye to a cataract, but his right eye remained in good condition. In a ritual, he tattooed a perfect circle in a crimson ink around his right eye guided only by his instinct and the earth spirits. In this, his right eye was endowed with true sight, and was blessed to never deteriorate.

His next many years were filled with wandering and helping the human lands to achieve balance. His travels were fraught with danger and hatred kept him from the further east, but many of the more tolerant lands welcomed him. He met with moderate success, though the some of the lands showed the beginnings of turmoil. He helped to stop an all out overthrowing of the government in a northern city-state and helped engineer a compromise that both parties felt satisfied with. After seven years he returned to the Earthen Citadel. The high council was pleased with his success, but were distressed that he could not reach the lands further east. They asked if he would dare go further, and he accepted, but were filled with regret suddenly and asked him to stay for fear he was biting off more than he could chew. He said that the earth mother would guide him, and so after a year of rest, he set out again. He was indeed guided by the earth mother for the next two years past the various traps and pitfalls of the human world. His travels brought him to a new city: the city of Kotir. He sensed the air of something brewing in the city, and sure enough he witnessed a bloody spectacle in the marketplace, and later heard that the persons involved had taken over command of the city. He decided to go to the inn and spend the night. In the morning he would go and request an audience with the new lord. However, in his sleep he had a vision of the earth mother. She told him in his dreams that he must ally himself with this new lord and with the help of this new power organization, bring peace and balance to these lands and beyond. He accepted her orders and went to the palace the next day, pledging his allegiance to the new lord and his organization, appropriately called the Intrepid Genesis in order to further his beliefs in order and to bring respect to the orcish race.