Yaz's page

The Tangled Briar
Aligned: Ancient triumphs return
Misaligned: Old evils endanger the present
(lawful evil, Constitution) is a card of ancient deeds. It indicates an object or person from long ago that will somehow have great influence on the situation. The object or person in question is one lost or murdered in some foul way. Misaligned, the thorny past brings not just pain, but hope for the future.

At first glance Yaz appears not to care about appearance, and is dressed in some badly-sewn fur garments over a ripped cotton tunic and leather kilt. A scabbard hangs on his back. His face and arms are bare and have several scars and tattoos. Little bones and trinkets are crudely woven into his long black plaits.
In fact everything he wears has a history. He killed the wolf that makes up his cloak, stole the sheep that became his boots, took the tunic as loot from a fight and was given the scabbard. Every time he kills something he takes a memento and eats it or weaves it into his hair.
While his hair is thick and coarse by human standards, by orcs standards it is gorgeous - though possibly a little feminine.
The scars are generally training scars and marks, rather than battle scars (outside some hunting he’s only been in three or four small skirmishes). The tattoos are the few marks of approval from his mother: a black sun tattoo to indicate his heritage, a tribal tattoo, a tattoo for his first kill, a tattoo for his name, and a tattoo of each of the brothers he has eaten.

In many ways a standard orc mindset: It is right and natural for the strong to dominate the weak and take what they want.
Raised by his mother who is a very powerful witch doctor he respects magic greatly and (very rare in orcs) respects women. He will respect the teachers at the College presuming they are powerful summoners.
Yaz will try to dominate any class he is put into, pushing himself to the top of the hierarchy through intimidation and physical strength. He’s a bully.
Yaz responds very well to those who accept his domination or put themselves under his protection, and actually cares for such people (he has a sense of empathy rare in orcs, so long as he doesn’t feel challenged).
Yaz is desperate not to be kicked out of the College as unlike most of his brothers he has not seemed able to attract a Witch Patron, and this is about his only chance at power. He will fantasise about returning as a powerful summoner, killing and eating his brothers, and enslaving his mother (which differs from the standard orc fantasy only in that he doesn’t dream of fighting and killing his father as well).
While passionate and prone to anger he has far more control of his temper than most orcs, and is capable of cunning, patience and long term planning.
Plays down his intellect, and plays up his strength.
Worshipper of the orcish Blood Gods.
Almost married once, but a brother stole his woman - secretly relieving Yaz who was being pressured into the marriage by his mother.
Personality views
Think about what people are saying and doing. Is any of it a dominance challenge?
Is this person below you? Are they challenging?
Is this person above you? Can you challenge them?
Is this person a peer, trying to take your stuff or people?
Does this make you look weak, or strong?
A gift is an insult, the strong take what they need.

The crusader looks at Hokuto askance.
”Yaz? Careful there, ma’am. Young orcs always have something to prove, and that one more than most. He’s one of the five sons and apprentices of Bear Eater, an orc Witch Doctor. She’s pretty powerful, too - she’s an independent orc woman, and that just doesn’t happen.”
The crusader, a hardened man, shivers a little ”I know how much we need them, but they’re not right - One of Yaz’s brothers fell in combat and last week and they ate him!”
”Bah!” spat a scarred young orc who had quietly approached after hearing his name.
”Humans, you don’t understand.” he starts in excellent Taldane
”Bear Eater sired my litter off the heir of Belzken, then called her patron to bless her. She wanted one child, Belzken reborn… but got nine.”
”One died of coughing when we were pups. She fed him to us so that we would concentrate the blessing. Two more died before the new Starfall.”
Another, larger, orc approaches
”When the Elves died to the new Starfall Bear Eater knew the time of the Orcs was coming again. She trained us all. The weak are food. The strong stand. The strongest will rule, one day, and bring a new age of Orcs.”
The new orc laughs and speaks in much rougher common tongue
”You think is you, Yaz Small-Tooth? You have lived so far by luck, but I will eat you one day. You are fourteen, do not even have wife. Have no slave anymore! I eat slave, I eat you.”
The look on Yaz’s face is pure murder, and the Crusader takes a step back. Yaz reaches for his massive weapon, and the other orcs pulls an even larger axe
”You want duel now?“ He mocks ”Or scared of mother?” he continues, laughing.
Yaz suddenly looks scared, drops his weapon and looks behind his brother. Suddenly panicking his brother whirls, axe in hand ”Mother” he starts explaining in orcish.
Yaz’s dagger finds his spine. He follows his brother down to the ground, almost carefully. He continues speaking, though quietly and in orcish
”I thought it was you, brother. Always teasing me about my slave. Saying how fat she looked. How she didn’t fear me. She was nice to me, and I saved her. I was going to free her and then she vanished. Mother may punish me, kill me for slaying you - but it is worth it. I will eat you. You are Weak.”
The dagger carves quickly, and Yaz reaches in, grabs and devours his brother’s heart.
He turns to the crusader and the stranger ”He attacked me.” he states in common. The crusader, both hands held out and up nods.
The Tian woman smiles

---
The orc boy keeps his word. For three days he watches the woman Hokuto joke and quietly walk through areas, avoiding notice. He watches their party dismissed by crusaders as unimportant and despised by human sheep for having a true Orc in it.

It was easy to respect the woman when he first met her. One eye lost is a scar of wisdom. Covered properly in tattoos. Wearing expensive jeweled brooches - even if butterfly ones - in areas where thieves would kill you for your clothes.

But throughout everything all the butterfly bedecked woman does nothing! Never does she even yell at anyone, simply responding with soft words and self-deprecating jokes! Jokes! At their expense!

Every smiling human face she leaves behind her is like a knife in Yaz’s gut.

Finally, three days in to their trip when a particularly rude stablehand asks if Ichihara wants her mount stabled and looks at him he explodes.

Yaz is no slave, no livestock. Yaz is an Orc.

In the way of the Orc he challenges her for leadership - by drawing on her and attempting to cut her down before she can cast. His Falchion rises behind her.

Yaz awakes in a cushy human room. Soft downy pillows. Clean, soft sheets. His sword missing. His clothing removed and cleaned. A new shirt left for him!

He considered killing himself. To be defeated, without memory. Stripped - but then given back his possessions as gifts. Disarmed! Left in a room a soft human noblewoman might like, as if he needed coddling! Had another Orc seen him he might have, at best, hoped to be blinded and sold into slavery. Had another Orc seen him? He comforted himself with the hope it had only been humans.

And her of course. She would always know. Every time she talked to him they would both know, forever.

He had considered the time his mother punished him for lying to be extreme. Locked in a small iron cage for five days, forced to kill and devour the animated dead rats she sent against him for food and drink… but compared to this that was nothing. His mother left him his pride. Showed she considered him tough enough to take it.

Carefully he went through his hair. She had left his trophies intact.

A fingerbone. He remembered when they Tyrant had emptied the boneyards of Ustalav and sent the dead out to kill the orcs. Long dead bones with no meat on them, but a hunger for the living. He had smashed this one when the orcs charged. A glorious melee with no rules, no tactics, just endless fighting between the orcs and the skeletons. Dead orcs rising under his mother’s command to deprive the Tyrant of their service. Dead orcs fighting dead men.

A frayed piece of rope. His recon commander had given it to him when they took that village back from the Tyrant. Yaz had worked out the Tyrant might have poisoned the well - having no need of water for his troops. He had, and Yaz had been praised, given some of the rope that had tied the hands of the captive they tried the water on.

Well, are not apprentices dominated by their masters? There was no shame in it. Bide his time, and one day take her place. He was a new-apprenticed-child who had tried to challenge his teacher on the third day. Stupidity is not strength.

---

Yaz was one of seven brothers born in a litter to a female Witch Doctor of the Black Sun tribe, sired by a warrior who could trace his lineage back to Belzken himself.
The Witch Doctor raised her sons brutally, then took them to the border to fight and die.
Yaz had a bitter, hard life. This was exacerbated by the fact that unlike his brothers he is actually a half-orc (though believes himself an orc). His brothers matured faster than he did because of this.
When he was thirteen (orc adulthood) he fought another orc and acquired/rescued a slave who had been nice to him. After they came to the border she vanished, despite the fact he was going to free her. He suspected his brother, and killed him when he discovered the truth.
At that point he was offered training in the College of Shadows and leaped at the opportunity.

Str 14 [5] +2 racial -2 young = 14
D 10 [0] +2 young = 12
C 14 [5] -2 young =12
I 10[0] =10
W 10 [0] -2 young =8
C 14 [5] =14
race: half orc
alt racial traits: Darkvision 60ft, Shaman’s Apprentice, Sacred Tattoo, Orc Blood, Orc Weapon Familiarity
Feat: Diehard, Endurance (Bonus feat)
Trait: fate’s favored
Skills: Intimidate (+3), Survival (+2)
Weapons proficiencies: Dagger, Falchion, Greataxe
HP: 8
Fort: +3 (+2 luck, +1 con)
Will: +1 (+2 luck, -1 Wis)
Ref +3 (+2 luck, +1 Dex)

Looking to go Blood God Disciple, maybe one level of barbarian. Eventually pick up Eldritch Heritage:Orc.