The Cliffdweller
03-15-09, 01:44 AM
Basics
Name: Akkazhan (of House Uzzekhad)
Name in Tradespeak: Cliffdweller
Title: Sojourner to House Orriklugar
Race: Dwarf
Age: 58 years (Dwarven lifespans are such that this is considered young adulthood)
Height: 4'2", 200 lbs
Appearance: He is tall for a dwarf, and with a shock of red hair and a red beard that covers his face. Red is a strange color for dwarven-hair in his region of Althanas; while the Dwarves of the Dûmekhaz (also known as the Emyn Naug, the hills in east-central Raiaera) are often red-haired, Dwarves from the Kharakannad (the dwarvish term for the knife-like peaks that form the mountainous hub between Raiaera, Salvar, and Alerar) are far more often dark-haired. He is thus seen as someone different, and many in his small community assume that his hair is a sign of great blessing -- or terrible woe.
History
Born in the small village of Karad-Kuruk, and raised by a family of Orcs and Dwarves, Azzakhan never really knew that something was different about his childhood until his eighth year. At that time, a traveling-band of Elvish merchants came through on business. As life went on, he came to find that this had happened before, but he had been too young to notice, too caught up in the games and fancies of childhood to take note of the way things changed in Karad-Kuruk whenever the merchants arrived.
When the sentries posted on the southern slopes of the cliffs would call that merchants were coming -- and occasionally sentries would call from the northern and western reaches, when dwarves came, though that was much rarer -- the orcs would immediately begin a carefully planned but hastily executed retreat. They would pack what evidence of their presence was in public places, such as swords of orc-make lying in outdoor quenching-basins adjacent to the blacksmith, and head deep into the caves along the northeastern section of the village.
And then the dwarf elders would treat with the elves. They would exchange mythril cuirasses for fine liquors -- often useful when their own merchants left for dealings farther north -- and for gold, and often for fine objects of elven-craft; objects that produced fire at a word, or axes enchanted to need only a tenth of the maintenance of a regular axe. And when the elves left, the orcs would return to their homes, to their families, and so it went.
And so the village continued this elaborate deception, and one day he thought to ask why. "Son," his father said, "some people just don't understand us. The way we live, the way we live together. You know Iggy?" The name was a nickname Azzakhan had given his mentor, an slightly older orc Sojourner named Igglukaz. His father continued, "Some might say that he shouldn't be your friend. That orcs...well, that orcs are nothing but savages."
There was more to that talk; his father was, in addition to working the mines and the fields and doing all the other jobs required for the maintenance of a family name, the village savant. He taught in what passed for the village school, and was generally a purveyor of wisdom to those that called. But it was in that conversation that Azzakhan learned more of the history of the village, secrets usually told to youth approaching maturity, not children at the age Azzakhan was at the time. But he had always been a wise child, so his father felt free to tell him more, of how the village was founded to try to bridge the gap between two peoples often at odds, and how the dwarves of the north knew of this strangeness, despised it, but had at least come to give it a grudging freedom of existence, and how the elves needed never know that Karad-Kuruk was something other than the simple dwarven community halfway up Kilya Gorge.
As he matured into his coming-of-age, a member of one the fifth and smallest of the five great families of Karad-Kuruk (there were more than five families, of course, but these five great families taken together earned a plurality share of the land), he was appointed by the Joint Council of Elders to where he was to Sojourn. The Sojourn system was a staple of the village, involving the eldest child of each family living with another family for ten years upon their coming-of-age. This formed a loose network of ties between the entire village, as even the heirs to the greatest houses might end up as Sojourners to the poorest peasant. Appointed to Orriklugar, a small family of Orcs on the northern end of the cliffs, he put his skills to the tasks normally assigned to those who lived on the north slopes, where the pine trees grew thickest, and became a lumberjack.
Now entering the eighth year of his Sojourn, Azzakhan is growing restless. With two years left in his appointed service, he is ready for something new.
Property Owned
As a Sojourner, Azzakhan is not allowed to own property. In two years, at the end of his Sojourn, he will be paid a stipend commensurate to ten years of service and will be able to either return to living with his family or purchase his own property. And when his father dies, he will be entitled to one-third of the family estate, split into equal portions between his two brothers. As is the custom in Karad-Kuruk, however, Azzakhan will probably live with his family until the death of his father, at which time he will use his Sojourn money to purchase his brother's shares from them and thus maintain the size and income of the family estate.
Weapons and Armor
Azzakhan owns one simple steel axe and a variety of knives. These are mostly tools, the axe for cutting wood and the knives for a variety of carving tasks, from simply whittling to pass the time to trimming a tree trunk of any extraneous limbs. While all can be turned to combat if required, Azzakhan has no formal training in the combat arts, save for what small time each male child of the village spends during their early youth as irregular followers of the town guard.
Skills/Magic
Due to his red hair, many in the village believe that Azzakhan is destined to be some sort of shaman, or is someone with a special power that is yet to be developed. And Azzakhan himself has sometimes noticed that he often has strange dreams before portentous events. Several summers ago, he dreamed of a great flame dancing before his eyes and suddenly awoke to the sound of alarum-drums announcing a fire in the village square. But such omens have not come at every crisis or moment of fear, and he has thought little of it. If he has any magical or exceptional physical prowess, he has not yet discovered or trained it.
But what he can do is chop lumber; chop it, cord it, store it, split it, pile it, and so forth. And as a child, he learned all the basics for a variety of useful skills, from smith-craft to farming. But he has not yet landed on the profession -- and the skill -- that he will cultivate into a lifetime of passion.
Name: Akkazhan (of House Uzzekhad)
Name in Tradespeak: Cliffdweller
Title: Sojourner to House Orriklugar
Race: Dwarf
Age: 58 years (Dwarven lifespans are such that this is considered young adulthood)
Height: 4'2", 200 lbs
Appearance: He is tall for a dwarf, and with a shock of red hair and a red beard that covers his face. Red is a strange color for dwarven-hair in his region of Althanas; while the Dwarves of the Dûmekhaz (also known as the Emyn Naug, the hills in east-central Raiaera) are often red-haired, Dwarves from the Kharakannad (the dwarvish term for the knife-like peaks that form the mountainous hub between Raiaera, Salvar, and Alerar) are far more often dark-haired. He is thus seen as someone different, and many in his small community assume that his hair is a sign of great blessing -- or terrible woe.
History
Born in the small village of Karad-Kuruk, and raised by a family of Orcs and Dwarves, Azzakhan never really knew that something was different about his childhood until his eighth year. At that time, a traveling-band of Elvish merchants came through on business. As life went on, he came to find that this had happened before, but he had been too young to notice, too caught up in the games and fancies of childhood to take note of the way things changed in Karad-Kuruk whenever the merchants arrived.
When the sentries posted on the southern slopes of the cliffs would call that merchants were coming -- and occasionally sentries would call from the northern and western reaches, when dwarves came, though that was much rarer -- the orcs would immediately begin a carefully planned but hastily executed retreat. They would pack what evidence of their presence was in public places, such as swords of orc-make lying in outdoor quenching-basins adjacent to the blacksmith, and head deep into the caves along the northeastern section of the village.
And then the dwarf elders would treat with the elves. They would exchange mythril cuirasses for fine liquors -- often useful when their own merchants left for dealings farther north -- and for gold, and often for fine objects of elven-craft; objects that produced fire at a word, or axes enchanted to need only a tenth of the maintenance of a regular axe. And when the elves left, the orcs would return to their homes, to their families, and so it went.
And so the village continued this elaborate deception, and one day he thought to ask why. "Son," his father said, "some people just don't understand us. The way we live, the way we live together. You know Iggy?" The name was a nickname Azzakhan had given his mentor, an slightly older orc Sojourner named Igglukaz. His father continued, "Some might say that he shouldn't be your friend. That orcs...well, that orcs are nothing but savages."
There was more to that talk; his father was, in addition to working the mines and the fields and doing all the other jobs required for the maintenance of a family name, the village savant. He taught in what passed for the village school, and was generally a purveyor of wisdom to those that called. But it was in that conversation that Azzakhan learned more of the history of the village, secrets usually told to youth approaching maturity, not children at the age Azzakhan was at the time. But he had always been a wise child, so his father felt free to tell him more, of how the village was founded to try to bridge the gap between two peoples often at odds, and how the dwarves of the north knew of this strangeness, despised it, but had at least come to give it a grudging freedom of existence, and how the elves needed never know that Karad-Kuruk was something other than the simple dwarven community halfway up Kilya Gorge.
As he matured into his coming-of-age, a member of one the fifth and smallest of the five great families of Karad-Kuruk (there were more than five families, of course, but these five great families taken together earned a plurality share of the land), he was appointed by the Joint Council of Elders to where he was to Sojourn. The Sojourn system was a staple of the village, involving the eldest child of each family living with another family for ten years upon their coming-of-age. This formed a loose network of ties between the entire village, as even the heirs to the greatest houses might end up as Sojourners to the poorest peasant. Appointed to Orriklugar, a small family of Orcs on the northern end of the cliffs, he put his skills to the tasks normally assigned to those who lived on the north slopes, where the pine trees grew thickest, and became a lumberjack.
Now entering the eighth year of his Sojourn, Azzakhan is growing restless. With two years left in his appointed service, he is ready for something new.
Property Owned
As a Sojourner, Azzakhan is not allowed to own property. In two years, at the end of his Sojourn, he will be paid a stipend commensurate to ten years of service and will be able to either return to living with his family or purchase his own property. And when his father dies, he will be entitled to one-third of the family estate, split into equal portions between his two brothers. As is the custom in Karad-Kuruk, however, Azzakhan will probably live with his family until the death of his father, at which time he will use his Sojourn money to purchase his brother's shares from them and thus maintain the size and income of the family estate.
Weapons and Armor
Azzakhan owns one simple steel axe and a variety of knives. These are mostly tools, the axe for cutting wood and the knives for a variety of carving tasks, from simply whittling to pass the time to trimming a tree trunk of any extraneous limbs. While all can be turned to combat if required, Azzakhan has no formal training in the combat arts, save for what small time each male child of the village spends during their early youth as irregular followers of the town guard.
Skills/Magic
Due to his red hair, many in the village believe that Azzakhan is destined to be some sort of shaman, or is someone with a special power that is yet to be developed. And Azzakhan himself has sometimes noticed that he often has strange dreams before portentous events. Several summers ago, he dreamed of a great flame dancing before his eyes and suddenly awoke to the sound of alarum-drums announcing a fire in the village square. But such omens have not come at every crisis or moment of fear, and he has thought little of it. If he has any magical or exceptional physical prowess, he has not yet discovered or trained it.
But what he can do is chop lumber; chop it, cord it, store it, split it, pile it, and so forth. And as a child, he learned all the basics for a variety of useful skills, from smith-craft to farming. But he has not yet landed on the profession -- and the skill -- that he will cultivate into a lifetime of passion.