Surd

An Orc Shaman that originally led the group of adventurers hired by Gareth to revisit the sunken tower of Onagal.

Character Quick Facts
Race Orcish
Weapon of choice Dai-Kyu
Religion Orcish - Shamanic
Current Location Sunken Tower of Onagal
Role Support Casting, Lookout, Cooking, Purveyor of things Orcy

(Player note: the conclusion stuff is written with assumption that Surd will one day be free of the tower. If he doesn't, he'll die a bitter, sad and lonely Orc)

History

One of the group of Orcs that decided to side with the Human kingdom of Epiach. Under some impulsion from the spirits, he answered Garreth's call for adventurers and decided that the group could use some decent Orcish common sense along with a feeling that the Orcs should have some representation in the venture.

Surd was marked out when young as a potential Shaman and was sent on a quest to commune with a spirit. After two days of travel he arrived at a spring where he rested for a night. As he slept, he was visited by the spirit of the spring and given a geas to heal a horse. After Surd awoke he searched for a week for the horse, finally finding a mare dying in childbirth. Surd tended to the mare as it gave birth and after the foal proved to be healthy, finally healed the horse as best as he could. The horse spat out of it's teeth into his hand, which Surd took back to the spring as a sign of his deed. When he returned to the spring the spirit appeared before him and directed him to drop the tooth into the spring. As Surd did he saw it glitter and after retrieving the tooth saw it had been transformed into a ring with an engraved horse upon it. Surd returned to his clan and was made a Shaman, beginning his true training as a spiritual leader for the clan. Later when Surd's father, a mighty hunter was mortally wounded in a hunt he passed on his magical quiver to his son.

After many years the Orc clans began to unite under a strange and powerful Orc, who claimed to be the "Once and Future Git". This should have been a time for rejoicing and passion as the Orcish clans prepared to turn their combined might upon the human nation of Epiach, but Surd was instead troubled. While this stranger did not truly seem to fit the prophecies of the Once and Future Git, even more troubling was that he brought strange and disturbing allies with him to watch over the clans. As the Orcs neared Epiach, Surd had a dream vision of the spirit of the spring he had met as a fledgling. The spirit warned him of disaster befalling the Orcs and told Surd that the true saviour and Git of the Orcs would soon confront them in their time of need.

Surd thus led his clan to the side of Drog and sided with the humans. Now finding himself in a strange country he struggles to retain his Orcish heritage while integrating into Epiach. As such Surd is uncomfortable in settlements and humans, which can lead him to being short tempered and terse. Surd is a staunch ally and a reliable friend but tends to be commanding and sometimes does not communicate well with people. He is also fond of criticising the foolishness of humans, or "'umies" as he calls them, seeing the direct Orcish way of doing things to be the best and most practical method.

Possessions

A standard Orcish Chopper, master-worked and little used in combat.

An Enchanted Dai-Kyu, which has seen some use during the adventure so far. Along with this bow, which was made with the greater strength of Orcs in mind Surd possesses one Quiver of the Spirits, an enchanted quiver that contains spaces for projectiles and the bow. Originally possessing only standard arrows, the amount of demons in the sunken tower has shown the Orc the virtue of cold steel weapons and he now has a set of cold iron arrows as well.

Surd also has a Ring of Sustenance which he acquired from a spirit years ago, allowing him to survive in the wild or in hostile environments more easily.

Recently Surd purchased a Cloak of Resistance, after being assured by the charming (for a human) shopkeeper about it's value and powers. Along with this new cloak, he has a couple of scrolls and potions

Lastly, Surd possesses a vial ashes. At first he thought they were Ritnik's but it's become clear that's not likely the case. After deliberating whether to destroy them or not, Surd decided to keep them as a reminder of the corruptive powers of demons.

Character

Surd is first and foremost an Orc. He looks like an Orc, talks like an Orc, acts like an Orc and thinks like an Orc. He will follow Drog as the Git, but this does not make it easier for him to relate and interact with humans and others. Surd can come off as short, even to the point of rudeness and condescension but this isn't because he feels ill for the humans he is now surrounded by. As a shaman the Orc has been a deeply spiritual person, giving guidance to his clan at the behest of the spirits when they have spoken to him. When he does not carry messages from the land, he has been a guide in other areas and has become somewhat worldly in the way an Orc sees the world. Surd also a direct and practical approach to doing things, not caring for politics or other forms of nonsense and trickery. Overall Surd can be a staunch ally but he is unlikely to see and approach a problem in the same way as a human would. He is also fiercely independent, being raised as a guide and leader has taught him that others rely on him and in the end he has no-one.

After his long incarceration in the tower Surd's basic character has not changed. However many aspects of his personality and world outlook have become much more darker and he is now even more fiercely independent than ever. Never an Orc of many words, especially human ones he now speaks even less than he once did, instead giving people a piercing and somewhat haunted look. Surd longs to once again bathe in clean water and sleep under a starry sky, to immerse himself in nature but by the same desire wishes to protect them as well. Taking his shamanic upbringing when given the chance, he will become an avatar for nature itself protecting the order of the world which is unable to protect itself.

Party Relationships

Having been in a position of some leadership and influence with his clan, Surd tends to look down and out for people. This means he tends to want to do things himself, or take over some job he sees as undone by others. He views himself as the leader, or at least the most competent for the task ahead out of the group.

Ritnik - Surd had bonded to Ritnik as much as he was going to be attached to anyone in the party. He was sad when the Goblin died and had been determined to make sure his death was not in vain. He had even heard the spirits mention that those especially tuned to nature could also bring back the dead into a new life and had kept what he had hoped were ashes of his friend for that reason.

Surd was therefore somewhat taken aback when Ritnik was in fact, as the possessing spirit had said, alive and healthy in one sense of the word. However considering his reunion consisted of Ritnik cursing him as he fell into unconciousness there wasn't even the chance for a spilt second of joy. Surd is disgusted that the goblin would have given in to the demons of Onagal and has vowed to himself to one day kill the goblin and burn his remains. Hopefully the spirits will grant his now wicked soul mercy when the wheel of life spins for him once more.

Ranubi - Ranubi was an enigma to Surd and due to his unfortunate and untimely demise will remain one. His final moments were gruesome and confusing, but despite his end the human had proven to be useful with his strange abilities and magic. Sadly there's no chance of retrieving anything to give the human a fitting burial, perhaps he will find comfort in whatever strange afterlife it is that humans have.

Tawny - Tawny is the only member of the group to survive the ordeal of the tower with some degree of sanity, something which even Surd can see is plainly due to her faith in her strange human goddess. Surd also knows that he owes his survival and freedom from possession to Tawny and considers that he has something of a life debt to the human cleric. He will see to it that she makes her way to safety and will be ready to assist her if she ever needs his help. What Tawny thinks of this is not known to the Orc.

Theopholous - Theo was unnatural which always made Surd a little uncomfortable but he wasn't bad and proved to be an asset to the group on numerous occasions. Furthermore he was stoic and brave, qualities that the Orc could relate to more easily than some of the other traits of the humans. Sadly though Theo lost his eyes in one unfortunate encounter and has since descended into madness as the trio await rescue. Theo has given into the temptings of the demons of the tower, so Surd was forced to regrettably tie him up. Surd is now uncomfortably aware of what the others of the group would have felt when they tied him up during his possession and the words of the evil spirit still sometimes echo in his mind. Not sure of what else to do, Surd will see to it that Theo is taken somewhere where he can be properly taken care of by those humans who deal with people who have become like Theo now is.

Maximus - Surd was suspicious of and often hostile to this strange man. His every action and mannerism was strange, alien and confusing to the Orc. However he has to respect that in the end Maximus chose to die as a warrior, in combat fighting for his freedom, rather than give into the demons surrounding their sanctuary. Despite being anathema to the Orc while alive, he has gained some redemption in his death.

Angus - Surd was very suspicious of this strange flame headed human. He talked strangely and seemed very eager to ingratiate himself into the group. Admittedly he seemed quite good at killing the various demons of the Tower, but Surd wasn't about to let that make him lower his guard. In hindsight it was simply perhaps Angus' misfortune to wander into the group at roughly the same time as Ritnik's fiery demise. Given how readily Angus stepped in to defended the group Surd was willing to make an uneasy alliance for the time, but Angus was killed by the now traitorous goblin Ritnik.

Strategy

Surd prefers to stand back and support the group through his divine Druid spells, or with his bow and arrows. Due to his Orcish nature he is just as comfortable to use weapons as he is with his spells. Surd has recently taken a more offensive approach to spellcasting, having decided that the tower will not effect his ability to commune with the spirits. Surd has not often needed to cast spells while become an animal, but he can do so just as competently as if he was in his regular Orc form.

Conclusion (To the original game)

Trapped in the tower, the key to the exit lost to the fallen Ritnik the survivors of the group had no choice to fall back to the top level and bunker down. Twany has given them, with divine intervention from Elona, a safe haven for the time being but this only guarantees their physical safety. Surd has been exorcised so while the voice inside his head is now gone he, Tawny and Theo are still surrounded by the gibbering hordes outside with only themselves for company. Eventually Surd was forced to tie up Theo who has since turned inwards and entered a somewhat catatonic state.

Surd is unsure of what to think of his newfound freedom. He is free from the room that was his sanctuary in the hell that had once been the tower but he doesn't find his new surroundings much to his liking. Rescued by the party led by Typhenon he was once again confronted by the reality of the Three, those strange primarily Human gods. Servants who radiate light and goodness, men who have wings and other unnatural signs which although preferable to those of Demons and Undead still make Surd unnerved and down right uneasy. Needless to say the approval of the Three was something the Orc received with somewhat mixed feelings.

There's a rage smoldering inside Surd and something changed in that room. Left with nothing to think about but the events of the tower the Orc began to rationalise death and murder as being part of the natural cycle of life. He no longer cares so much if people murder each other and die, but the touch of the evil beyond the world and the living dead is a taint that the Orc will not tolerate. Once the human Cleric Tawny is safe and his debt served blood will be spilled…

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