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When Kurtash was spawned, his skin was such a sickly, ashen gray that the priest believed he was born already dead. Normally that would have been the end of it, but the tribe had lost many members recently in a failed raid. They had straggled back into the Thunder Peaks and begun to recover, but with their numbers so greatly reduced, the priest decided to try and salvage the life of even a runt. He channeled healing energies into the babe, and Kurtash suddenly erupted with a loud wail, his eyes popping open. His mother matter-of-fairly took him back and began to nurse, but the priest lingered briefly, confused. Something about that miracle had seemed just a little off, but he couldn’t place quite what it was, so he turned and left, just as a little stream of blood trickled from the newborn’s ear.

In his younger years, Kurtash spent much of his time in isolation on the mountains. Although strong by the standards of other races, he lacked the sheer physical power of the other children his age. Besides, it was widely known that he lived only because the priest had shown mercy at his birthing, a fact which did no favors for his reputation. Upon reaching adulthood, he left the tribe and his familiar home in the mountains and began wandering. For no particular reason, he set off to the north, and spent two years aimlessly walking and scavenging. Eventually he found himself longing for the mountains again, and so he began making for a range he could barely see in the distance: the Ice Spires.

When Kurtash entered the mountains, he immediately felt as if something wrong had been righted. Something in these harsh peaks drew him in, and he eventually found himself on the slopes of the Three Sisters. He could feel the heat rising from deep within them, could sense the power, barely restrained by the quiet and frigid stones that made the surface. The juxtaposition resonated with him, and he understood for the first time that he was different from the other orcs for a reason. Alone, gazing into a hole in the old volcanoes, he felt a trickle of energy and released a divine spell for the first time. As he matured, focused on the mysterious connection he had discovered, he learned to harness his abilities into power beyond the typical brute strength revered by his people.

Confident in his newfound magic, Kurtash decided to return to the Thunder Peaks and prove he had deserved his place there all along. It took months of walking, but he made his way back...and found the tribe in an uproar. Apparently some leaders among the orcs had sent out a rallying call to see Sembia punished for their countless transgressions. It was to be a raid on a scale greater than any in memory, the perfect opportunity for Kurtash to make his abilities and strength known. He grinned and left his bags packed; he was leaving again anyway.

Kurtash is an Oracle, cursed with vampiric symptoms, but blessed with the mystery of volcanoes.