About Czolgosz Man-BreakerBackground:
Great leaders often come from humble beginnings.
Czolgosz never knew his mother of father. His earliest memories are of the pits, and the whip. He grew up bleeding onto the sand. He never learned the city he was born in. The city of his first kill. The city where he bled, and killed, time and time again. His owner, Batiatus, decided that he wanted a champion gladiator. Rather than merely trust to training and skill, Batiatus hired alchemists to alter the basic physical makeup of Czolgosz. Csolgosz, as well as several other young slaves, were subjected to lengthy experiments designed to increase their physical capabilities. Czolgosz was the only survivor. The results spoke for themselves. By the time he was twelve, Czolgosz was able to survive the effects of a mutagen, vastly increasing his strength, making him tougher and dulling his intellect. One of Czolgosz's few friends was Nar Amyr'ac, an orc like himself. Where Czolgosz was a gifted warrior, Nar Amyr'ac was blessed with mastery over fire magic. As soon as the two were of age, Batiatus started entering them into matches as a team, and they were nigh unbeatable. They enjoyed the lives of champions, and were showered with wine, women and whatever else they desired. It never occurred to them to desire freedom. Not until they met Voltha. Voltha was the leader of the Ironback tribe. A warrior of great renown, the Orc woman was also something of a futurist, and she focused on building a community and a code of honor for her people. A human raid on her lands found Voltha sacrificing herself to save many in her tribe. Rather than kill her, the men that defeated her brought her to the city and sold her as a slave. Batiatus, loving the idea of a team of Orcs under his command, bought Voltha, and his greed sowed the seeds of his undoing. Neither Czolgosz or Nar Amyr'ac knew what to make of Voltha at first. She was completely different, a truly free Orc. But as time passed, they came to trust and admire Czolgosz. They realized that no matter how much gold there was, they still lived in a gilded cage. They didn't know what they could be on their own, and they were filled with the need to discover that. Czolgosz brought up the notion of buying their freedom. They'd earned enough money to do so several times over. Batiatus swore it would be done, but the next day, a man in a robe with an abacus talked at Czolgosz and Nar Amyr'ac about the costs of feeding, training and maintaining gladiators of their stature. He performed complicated (and, they knew, made up) math that pointed out quite clearly that despite the winnings Batiatus accrued from their gladiatorial victories, they had not equaled the debt that "caring" for them had incurred. It was immediately clear that Batiatus was not willing to part with his primary source of income. Voltha suggested a plan. A great tournament was being held shortly. The three would win, together. Batiatus would host a celebration. The house of Batiatus tended to overindulge while celebrating. When the other gladiators and guards had drank themselves asleep, they would break out and leave the city. One of the other slaves, one that a guard fancied, was sympathetic to their cause. She managed to steal the keys from the guard while distracting him with flirtatious promises. Czolgosz waited until a few hours before dawn, and then they moved. The plan went off perfectly. Guards were essentially non-existent. The city was not in a state of war, so once they had won free of the ludus (with their gear), they easily slipped out of the city. Voltha brought them back to her tribe, and the two became Ironback orcs. Finally, Czolgosz understood what it was like to feel like part of a family. Voltha was at once mother, sister and mentor. She was his hero. And then she died. Voltha did not die in battle. She died saving children of her tribe from a freak flash flood. In the years since they'd joined the tribe, Czolgosz and Nar Amyr'ac had become her left and right hands. Despite their friendship, however, both had radically different ideas about the future of their tribe. Czolgosz wanted to continue to build a community for orcs, and Nar Amyr'ac was more interested in combating the threat of encroaching humanity. The tribe split evenly on those lines, with half following Czolgosz and half following his friend. Their disagreement was not a violent one...at first. But over time, Czolgosz became incensed at Nar Amyr'ac's insistence on blind violence. Nar Amyr'ac, for his part, couldn't believe that Czolgosz was willing to forego vengeance against those that had so wronged them. It all came to a head.
Statistics:
Fighter (Mutation Warrior) 6 Lawful Evil Orc Languages Common, Orc, Goblin, Kobold, Draconic, Elf Init +5; Perception +5 -------------------- Defense -------------------- AC 22, touch 12, Flat-footed 20 (+1 Dex, +10 Armor, +1 Trait) hp 64 (6d10+12+6 FCB) Saves Fort +10, Ref +7, Will +5 -------------------- Offense -------------------- Speed 20 ft. Melee +1 Keen Falchion +15/+10 (2d4+13/15-20x2); Power Attack/Furious Focus +15/+8 (2d4+19/15-20x2); with Mutagen/Power Attack/Furious Focs +17/+10 (2d4+22/15-20x2) --------------------
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Half-Orc Intimidating: Half-orcs receive a +2 racial bonus on Intimidate checks due to their fearsome nature. Sacred Tattoo: Many half-orcs decorate themselves with tattoos, piercings, and ritual scarification, which they consider sacred markings. Half-orcs with this racial trait gain a +1 luck bonus on all saving throws. This racial trait replaces orc ferocity. Darkvision: Half-orcs can see in the dark up to 60 feet.
Orc Blood: Half-orcs count as both humans and orcs for any effect related to race. Fighter (Mutation Warrior) Bravery (Ex) Starting at 2nd level, a fighter gains a +1 bonus on Will saves against fear. This bonus increases by +1 for every four levels beyond 2nd. Mutagen (Su) At 3rd level, a mutation warrior discovers how to create a mutagen that he can imbibe in order to heighten his physical prowess at the cost of his personality. This ability functions as the alchemist's mutagen ability, using his fighter level as his alchemist level. This ability replaces armor training 1. Weapon Training (Ex) Starting at 5th level, a fighter can select one group of weapons, as noted below. Whenever he attacks with a weapon from this group, he gains a +1 bonus on attack and damage rolls. Every four levels thereafter (9th*, 13th, and 17th), a fighter becomes further trained in another group of weapons. He gains a +1 bonus on attack and damage rolls when using a weapon from this group. In addition, the bonuses granted by previous weapon groups increase by +1 each. For example, when a fighter reaches 9th level, he receives a +1 bonus on attack and damage rolls with one weapon group and a +2 bonus on attack and damage rolls with the weapon group selected at 5th level. Bonuses granted from overlapping groups do not stack. Take the highest bonus granted for a weapon if it resides in two or more groups. Weapon Training- Heavy Blades Ironback Orcs:
The Ironback Orcs are now a fractured tribe. Those that follow Czolgosz and those that follow Nar Amyr'ac each still carry the name of Ironback. Nar Amyr'ac left their ancestral lands and headed east to begin anew, and they have come to be known as the Eastern Ironbacks, and Czolgosz's tribe are known as the Western Ironbacks.
The Ironback Orcs have a long history that flies in the face of what most "good" races would associate with Orcs. They have a proud, noble tribal community. Their tents are easily portable. They are round and generally covered with animal skins. The structure includes a "door", with wooden frames built into the tent. The flap may be easily tied to close the entrance. The inside of the tents vary from orc to orc, though nearly every one contains basic necessities and containers. Single orcs have smaller, more sparse tents, but families can have much larger ones. Children are raised and educated by their parents, but it's quite common for children to begin to apprentice to someone in the village, such as one of the hunters or leatherworkers. The Ironbacks have a rich warrior tradition, and invariable most of their members end up as combatants of some type. The focus of the Ironback has been on securing their lands rather than infighting among themselves or with other Orc tribes, though some conflict is inevitable. Women are just as valued as men, and the leader of the tribe before Czolgosz was a female. The elderly of the tribe are valued for their wisdom and form a council that, through a few spokespeople, advise the chieftain. It is also quite common for the elderly to take over the education and care of children if their parents are called away. The Ironback are attempting to cultivate good relations with other Orc tribes, mostly through trade. Any who think them soft because of this swiftly see that the Ironback are not to be taken lightly. Any violence against a member of their tribe is dealt with harshly. They take care of their own. The Ironback are extremely mistrustful of non-Orcs. Humans killed the previous chief, Voltha, and Czolgosz spent most of his life as a gladiator slave. The Ironbacks also see other "good" races as invaders, expanding into their lands. Property is handled in a very specific way. Whatever is brought into the tribe is the wealth of the entire tribe, though the chieftain is in direct control of the resources. If resources are brought in through trade or hunting, whoever was responsible for the income is granted a tenth of that income as their own personal wealth. If resources are brought in through battle, either through a raid or from defeating invaders, the battle group is allowed to keep a fifth of the wealth and divide it between the surviving fighters as their own personal wealth. All other resources are held in trust for the entire tribe, and the chieftain may direct resources to Orcs that fall into poverty, or use it to open up trade with another tribe. The Ironback Orcs celebrate the autumnal and vernal equinoxes, and the summer and winter solstices. These celebrations take the form of festivals. The hunters provide much meat, and the Ironback Orcs honor their dead. They celebrate the renewal of the earth and give thanks for their abundant land, their lives and their good fortune. They give thanks to The Four. The Ironback Orcs venerate The Four, who, in the lore of their tribe, are hero-Gods that created the Orcs. In the myths of the Ironback, The Four were powerful demi-gods, servants of ancient Curchanus. The Four, who have never been named by the Orcs out of respect, saw what Lamashtu began to bring into existence after she stole the Beast domain from Curchanus and slew the old God. They decided to interfere with Lamashtu as revenge for their fallen master. Lamashtu was creating a new race, one almost human, but more powerful, more brutal, more bestial. The Four found the first male and female of this race and stole them away. They couldn't undo what Lamashtu had done, but they could add more. They could add a sense of community, a nobility to their savagery. They could give them intelligence and curiosity, the ability to question their own savage natures and rise above it, or even incorporate it into the tapestry of their existence without being ruled by it. The Four molded and shaped this male and female, who were the first Orcs. All tribes are descended from them. When a young Ironback Orc comes of age, they are brought before the chieftain. The chieftain asks them to swear an oath of loyalty to the tribe. Once that is done, the chieftain gifts them a bar of iron, broken into four pieces, to remind the young Orc of their faith and their tribe. Ultimately, the tribe is growing and changing, and Czolgosz and those who follow him want the Ironback Orcs to become the catalyst that brings all Orcs together, so that all Orcs can prosper however they wish, not merely by the sword. |
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