Well, yeah, I’ve got Orcus in my blood. With ears and tusks like these and you have to ask? Not too bright for a human, ain’t ya?
See, my ma would grow a fair farm and take the extra to sell in the Themsdalr Agora. She did as well as any and …. What? No, she’s sun good. She’s mostly orc, just enough dhin to give her that. So ….
So, there she is in the market and sees this fellow. His ears be trimmed, but you can’t really hide our smell, even with a fresh bath. Well, she looked at him, went back to selling.
He saw that, didn’t like that. And the temper of Orcus made himself known. They argued, push came to shove came to wrestling, he pushed her, she pushed back, knock down grab ‘em by the orchids and, well that’s about when the fight started. When it was over her opinion of him improved and eleven months later the iman handed me to me ma with much chuckling.
Then the markets around Themsdalr got strange. Sure, people still want cabbage and wine. But the crops weren’t doing so well. Knives and fighting sticks did better. War was coming, everyone who knew anything knew that. Wizard up north calling for that war, wizard down south answering in kind. Us in the middle doing the best we can to join or keep out.
Then, when I was six the wizard up north called for orcs and ulfgard to join his ranks. Some orcs answer, war is good for the soul and the treasury. Most, though, just laugh at him, maybe even mock him.
I hear the ulfgard nearly cut down one of his lieutenants. Maybe that’s all it is, just something told to entertain. Then, the wizard in the south invaded Artimusdalr just south of us. They caught orcs and a few others and killed them like cattle. Well, not quite; take them out with hope it’ll be fine, that part’s like cattle. Tying them up and lopping their heads off, that too is like cattle. Leaving them to rot, not even eat any of them? No, you don’t do that to cattle, not even if they be sick to death.
My ma just closed up shop, that night, didn’t even pack her booth. We stopped at the farm to collect things and set the goats loose. Then headed into the East Wood to find family.
That’s where I met my uncle. We hit it off and he started teaching me my nose and feet. Learned to talk with wolf and raven too. Herb-lore, knot-craft, tracking, and fishing, he even taught me to swim. Imagine that, an orc swimming and liking it.
A few weeks ago strangers came to our woods. My uncle offered to scout them through. They see his ears and without warning took his head off. If it weren’t for his dog, Clean, they’d have had me, too.
So, here I am, old enough to make my own way, nothing left but my kit and his dog. Smart nose, sharp ears, and sun-good, I can I tell you your path and get you through the wood? Maybe I do want some time to season my skill, but if you got no other, I’m your man.