Redleg's page

About Redleg

Twenty-five years ago in the cosmopolitan eastern part of Katapesh City, the orcish bodyguard of a travelling spice merchant grew bored waiting for his master at a bordello. Fearful of the offhand destruction wrought by an idle orc, the brothelkeeper offered the bodyguard an hour with one of the girls, assuming he stopped wrecking everything.

The next day, the merchant concluded his business and moved on. His bodyguard went with him, unconvinced of the prowess of a human lover. He left behind a baby, though, and one that the mother could not keep if she wanted to keep her job. Thus, a baby half-orc in swaddling clothes was left outside the city to die in the heat, where he was picked up by a tribe of wandering nomads.

If the child’s mother gave him a name, that name is now lost to history. If he was ever referred to at all by the nomads, it was as “the half-breed.” The half-orc child may not have known love or had a traditional childhood, but he did carve a niche for himself in the tribe amongst the warriors, helping to maintain and even use the siege equipment. This continued for many years, and the half-orc proved himself to be a skilled warrior and artillereer in half a dozen campaigns, though he was rarely recognized or even thanked.

This might have continued for his whole life until one fateful day, when the tribe passed near Katapesh City again. The bulk of the tribe’s warriors, including the half-orc and the siege equipment, were swept up in a general conscription by the Zephyr Guard to root out a particularly dangerous force of gnolls who had been striking trade routes throughout the mountains. In the grueling campaign that followed, for the first time in his life the half-orc earned respect, credit, and even a name.

The Zephyr Guard, being less parochial than the desert nomads, appointed the half-orc a very junior officer in charge of a catapult. After a few successful engagements he earned promotion within the guard, and even a few medals (his first possessions aside from his clothes and weapons.) One day in the heat of battle, the half-orc defended a battery of trebuchets against wave after wave of gnolls in the blistering heat. His companions fell, and soon the half-orc defended the emplacement single-handed. The men of the Zephyr Guard joked after the victorious battle that the half-orc stood knee-deep in gnoll blood. Thereafter, instead of “you there” or “half-breed” the warrior was known as “Redleg.”

Then the war ended. The gnolls were routed and the trade routes were safe again. Redleg’s conscription was over, and though he was well-liked amongst the Zephyr Guard, he was firmly ordered to leave. Occasional clashes with orc war parties in the far south had led the Pactbroker Hashim ibn Sayyid to enforce a strict no-orc policy in the Zephyr Guard, which extended to half-breeds. Redleg had the confidence to give his nomad “family” the kiss-off, but beyond that he had no plans.

Disreputable work in the gladiatorial arena and for slavers in Katapesh City kept coins in Redleg’s purse, but brought no real joy to his life. He began to turn to pesh, the mildly addictive euphoric drug from which Katapesh garnered its name, to get over his loss of purpose. Although he still enjoys pesh when he can get it, he has found a new sense of purpose traveling with the party. During his hardest times on the streets of Katapesh he found a kindred spirit in a street cat which he calls Behemoth. Behemoth usually prowls the wilderness as he pleases, and sometimes shows up in Redleg’s bedroll, even on the trail.

Wish: Redleg feels he was cast off by the Zephyr Guard, despite being one of their best warriors. His ideal wish would be to be welcomed back into the Guard with open arms, and appointed as a captain, or maybe a general, and be recognized as the great fighter he is. Failing that, he would be satisfied being recognized similarly by a different military. As a result Redleg is hard to bribe, but easily susceptible to flattery.