One of my players has expressed interest in playing a Half-Orc.
With the whole occupation thing, what are some of the buy ins you have thought of for Half-Orc player characters
Any half-orc in my campaign who demonstrates a worth and drive to defend is accepted in Lastwall. We have had three half-orcs come through my game's party, and they've all had a place in the setting. There is however a sense that half-orcs are kind of second class in my version of Lastwall.
We have had a dirge bard from Roslar's Coffer that was the town mortician and grave keeper. He mostly kept to himself, but his vast knowledge and strict adherence to customary burial rites made him a great resource to the town.
We also had an orphaned half-orc that was delivering a "replica" shard of the Shattered Shield to Vigil after his participation in the PFS The Shattered Shield. While he was passing through Roslar's Coffer en route, his parcel erupted, starting the entire adventure.
One of my newest additions to the party is a half-orc who was once a draconic-bred experiment for the Twisted Nail Tribe. During his arcane training, there was a mishap and the half-orc sorcerer was turned small size. Due to this deformity, his liege decided that he was a reject and would sent to be destroyed. As such, the half-orc was sent to the Bastion of Light to capture the Red Reaver in the PFS prequel I ran for my group.
In that module, there is an orc named Uirich who was ravaged by the beast while attempting to undermine the beast-masters of the Twisted Nail. The party in the module assisted Uirich and healed him up. After the group defeated the Reaver, Uirich evaluated area before fleeing back to his position at the border. Upon surveying the wreckage, Uirich came across my new PC, a small half-orc child who was mortally wounded. Uirich is now a flame warden ranger in my game, and he slew the PC, only to cast breath of life rebirthing the PC in Sarenrae's Redeeming Light.
Since this PC entered at the end of book 2, I had to retcon some stuff in the background, but my party all loved the idea of playing half-orcs, so I wanted to make some stuff work. I think the prejudice may be more highlighted in Vigil than other parts of Lastwall, as they are more Iomdaen than Gorumite, but that plays perfectly into the mistrust of the leaders of Vigil when they enter in book 3.
I have really enjoyed having half-orc influence in my campaign.
The Davor family is one of duality, a union of species, and a union of religions. The story of Barid Davor the human father of the family is that of reclamation. Growing up in Roslar’s Coffer, it is only fitting that he returned home after his life full of adventure, after all he has not once forgotten the fond memories of his childhood. The laughter that filled the air as he and the other children chased one another along the cobblestone roads while the farmers took shade under the boughs of the trees. What he remembers most of all though is the Bastion of Light, the Sarenite temple that filled him and the townsfolk with so much pride.
The lessons and principles instilled in him from the clergy's teachings would play a major part in shaping the man he was to become. It was particularly the grand tales of the knights of the Shining Crusade that caught his wildest imagination, and his desire to become a stong and noble Paladin of Sarenrae. His legacy however would be forged as a Pathfinder, and would begin soon as he came of age.
Barid Davor on his journey was joined and accompanied by many a diverse collection of people from across the globe but, the one who joined, never left, and would later become his beloved wife, and the mother of this family, Tevaga Ausk. She a Paladin to Pharasma too joined the Pathfinder Society as part of her path upon divinity; Having grown up sheltered in Gracyce’s Ancient Shrine to Pharasma.
Barid and Tevaga, both strong willed and pure of heart, Barid known for his fearlessness, and Tevaga her skill at arms, these two became near inseperable, always able to count upon one another, fighting against the evils in the world side by side, and rescuing one another more times than they probably care to recount.
Time based, an adventures were had, and then across the span of a couple of years, the two embarked upon the adventure of parenthood; and blessed with a girl, and an albino boy by the names of Canan, and Silas respectively.
Their children grew up healthy, and virtuous, filled with the best teachings of both churches. As a family, they continued to adventure. Admittedly, with a little more caution than they had in their younger years. It filled their children with joyous curiosity about the world around them, and an appreciation for all things. As with all siblings though, there personality was not only shaped by their surroundings, and their parents but, by distinguishing themselves from one another. So as Canan the older of the too began to drift closers towards the teachings of Sarenrae, Silas grew closer to his mothers deity, Pharasma.
A decade and a half passed, Canan, and Silas grew into strong self sufficient individuals. Canan embodied the teachings of Sarenrae, each day she strode toward perfection, and not once did she allow herself to turn back into the dark.
Silas’ jounrey and experience with divinity on the other hand did not come quiet so easily. It took perseverance to not loose faith. When he could he would spend his time reading what religious texts he could lay his hands on, and constantly rereading a copy of ‘The Bones Land in a Spiral’ that his mother had passed down to him. Everyday he would prayer, and show his devotion to his deity of choice but, it was all to no avail. There was a pressure he felt to feel the presence of a divine essence in himself, the same way that all his family had, and with that pressure, time takes its toll.
There parents, Barid and Tevaga grew old as life intended. Before they retired though, they accepted one last mission from the Pathfinder Society, one that would take Barid back to Roslar’s Coffer. They alongside, Ollysta Zadrian, and a few other esteemed leaders of the society were tasked with retrieving a helm of a crusader, resting in an ancient font, from the now ruined Bastion of Light, guarded by the fearsome creature known as the Red Reaver.
Having successfully slain the beast desecrating the once great temple of Sarenrae, and that had plunder nearby farms and assaulted travellers for nearly a decade, handed the helm of the crusader over to the correct people. They set about establishing the next chapter of their life, and to lay down some roots in the very place it had all started for Barid Davor but, as one chapter closes, another was only just beginning.
The very next night after the vanquishing of the Red Reaver, Silas was visited in his sleep. He awoke to find this plate-clad woman with large bird wings augmented with overlapping pieces of metal. Wearing armour adorned with skulls, and her open-faced helm revealing nothing of her features but a pair of intensely-glowing white eyes standing at the foot of his bed. From the time it arrived to the time that it had gone, it spoke one cryptic sentence “Our god will have need of you in the time to come”.
Awakening the following morning, no sign of any entity being there could be found except, Silas had undergone some kind of metamorphosis, his eyes transformed into these orbs of pure white light, and suddenly knowing how, and being able to bend a little of the winds of magic to his whim.
Upon witnessing what stood before them that morning Barid and Tavuga without hearing any explanation, took it as a sign that their son was finally accepted by the gods. Silas remained silent, unwilling to tell them that he still had yet to feel the presence of the Mother of Souls within himself, as this occasion was perfect cover to remove what felt like overbearing parents.
From that day onwards, the next chapter of the Davor family was being written. Canan joined the displaced church of Sarenrae, Barid and Tevaga started to try and enjoy retirement, and volunteering their time to help the rebuilding of the town, while Silas became the town’s gravekeeper.
At first the family’s arrival was treated with mistrust stemming from the long history of violence with the Orcs of the Belkzen Tribe. Over the following year their treatment steadily improved but the deep seeded negative perceptions of orcs among humans sees that the Davor family bears at least some stigma.
The perception of Silas in the town after a year is relatively positive. Day to day he carefully tends to the many graves from those lost to the Orc attack twelve years ago to the sacrifices of the Ozzem Knights over the centuries.
Working closely with members of other faiths clergy has earned him a reputation for bipartisanship as he helps tend to their funeral rights of their faithful. The clergy of Iomedae inparticular put aside their slight grudge with Pharasma while in his presence after the success of his first, and the latest Remembrance Moon holiday when the gates to the cemetery are swung open, and Roslanders break bread and eat meals in front of the graves of their loved ones or in and around the monument dedicated to those who fell during the Shining Crusade.
The Iomedae and Gorum pilgrims that occasionally visit to pay their respects to the fallen heroes of the past will find Silas assisting them in what manner that he can, often providing the magnifying glass so that they may read the small and worn script upon the obelisk, that serves as a focal point for the graveyard. On occasion he will join them in prayer and offer a prayer of his own. He sees them well and sees them off, suggesting on their way that if they are in need of accommodation or food then they should visit the [INSERT LOCAL TAVERN NAME] .
Silas keeps with the tradition though of neglecting Roslar’s Tomb. His predecessors began neglecting the age-worn tomb of town-founder Ervin Roslar after the rumours of scandal arose following the town founders death, and has remained sealed for the centuries that have followed. How Pharasma views these actions are yet to be seen.
That sounds great! Is Tevaga an orc then? Half-orc?
That sounds great! Is Tevaga an orc then? Half-orc?
Yes a Half-Orc I believe