Rage.
That powerful energy is all that got me through my youth. Magnimar may hold plenty opportunity for one to make a name for themselves, but for an angry little orphaned half orc, not so much. Rage made me ruthless and saw me into a prominent gang of street urchins. I thought life was good for awhile. I was eating. But rage seldom lends itself to a good life. So it was I found myself standing over the corpse of a noble after a botched burglary. The two guards who arrested me had no idea what they had on their hands and after seeing red I found myself standing over two more corpses. I grabbed a sword off of one of the guards and I ran. Boy, did I run!
I was chased out of Magnimar by the law. I was chased away from Magnimar into the wilds by bounty hunters employed by the noble’s kin, no doubt. And damnit, if I ever thought life on the streets was rough I was a fool. The wilderness? Far more unforgiving. Again, rage warmed me on those cold nights and kept me pressing forward.
I didn’t know it at the time but I was headed east. Foraging alone kept me just fed enough to stay alive but I was getting weaker and weaker. I don’t know how many days it was before I came across the abandoned cabin out in those woods but I was tired of running and grateful for a roof over my head, of sorts.
Turns out the cabin was used occasionally by Shalelu Andosana on her hunting excursions and to tell you she was surprised to find a 10-year-old starving half orc girl holed up there would be an understatement. She offered to take me into Sandpoint but I was afraid they would have heard of the murder of the noble and I declined. Her conscience wouldn’t let her leave me to die so she did the only other thing she could: she taught me to survive. She provided me with an old bow and taught me to use it. She asked no questions about where I got my sword, she only taught me to use it.
My rage was still a coal burning inside me, but Shalelu’s lessons gave me a focus I had never had before. When she left me alone at that cabin I felt slightly more prepared for living alone in the wilderness, and 16 years later I’d say I turned out okay. She has turned up time and time again over the years and invites me to go on occasional hunting trips. A couple years ago I even let her talk me into heading into Sandpoint to sell some meat and furs. I had what I needed out at my cabin to survive, but having that coin to enjoy things unavailable to me out there was nice. I make a point to visit town a little more often now and though I have been asked many times by the townsfolk about how I came to live outside of town, I have told no one this story.
