Tummo
12-16-12, 10:29 PM
Name: Morfug
Age: 18
Race: Orc
Hair Color: Black
Eye Color: Brown
Height: 7'3”
Weight: 310lb
Occupation: Mercenary
Class: Monk
Personality
Morfug's dominant trait is self-consciousness. He stands at the crossroads of orcling-hood and adulthood, an awkward age where a young orc's skull has gotten thick enough to withstand constant punches enough to allow the teenager to develop the ability to think for itself. He attempts to conduct himself with dignity, and ends up over-compensating. He's the type of person who thinks about their posture a lot and has trouble understanding how much eye contact is appropriate. (In all seriousness, are you supposed to one eye or bridge of the nose or what?) He can't quite deal with his own strength and he thinks a lot about how hard to shake people's hands. As far as moral compasses go, the young orc can be described as profoundly neutral. He possesses neither the cruelty necessary to be considered evil nor the altruism and sentimentality necessary to be considered good. He is capable of heroic as well as villainous deeds.
In interactions with others, especially humans, he comes off as overly formal. The young orc suffers from acute social anxiety over his appearance and smell and has an especially hard time interacting with females. On the other hand, when drunk, Morfug parties like a tiger under a catnip tree. The drinking age in orc society is nine, and he's been something of a lush ever since late-childhood.
Appearance
Morfug always looks dirty. Not because he rolls around in mud puddles—in fact, the young orc is very conscientious about hygiene—but due to some hereditary curse. No matter how hard he tries, he just can't seem to get clean. He's scrubbed his hands with limestone, scraped his feet with rose stems and meditated under waterfalls for hours on end and all he got out of it was a rash, some thorn wounds and a trout in his eye. His pores exude dirt and his hair secretes grease and no amount of soap or lye does the trick. His teeth, however, are quite clean. Flossing does wonders.
He dresses plainly. He wears brown pants cut off at the knee, a brown vest and a brown shirt beneath. None of these browns match in the slightest, but orcs have never been known to follow the cardinal rules of fashion. Most of the time he walks barefoot—few cobblers cater to people Morfug-size. As far as accessories go, two green beetles dangle from his ears. The earrings were coming-of-age gift from his Mom. A long ponytail flops from the back of his head.
Like most orcs from Morfug's society, he is green with black hair, pointed teeth and bulging muscles. To humans, he cuts an imposing figure.
Skills
Morfug considers himself an above average swordsman. As a trained spiritual warrior, he possesses more nuanced skills with the blade than your run of the mill town guard or militia-man. However, the warrior-monk is far too young to be considered a master or expert.
Thanks to his spiritual practice, Morfug also possesses the useful skill of perception of magical auras. He can determine how powerful other characters are (their level) and whether or not they possess magical abilities. He can even gain a vague sense of what kind of elemental magic they might possess based on the aura's color, although more subtle forms of power only project as a vague sense of magnitude.
He is a skilled meditationist and spiritual practitioner, and learns new concepts quickly. He possesses great focus and respectable discipline considering his age. The areas he considers himself knowledgeable in include theology, mysticism, swordsmanship, warrior codes, herblore and entomology.
Abilities
Through Smellist meditation and spiritual pursuit, Morfug has developed the ability known as Tummo. Morfug can increase his body temperature up to 130 degrees Fahrenheit (55 degrees Celsius). This temperature is sufficient to give mild burns to anyone touching his skin for more than a few seconds, or moderate burns to anyone persisting in their grip. He can activate this power nearly instantaneously and use it in self-defense during hand-to-hand combat. Once activated, the state of Tummo persists for ten minutes and then dissipates, leaving him exhausted.
Morfug also possesses the positive Orc racial trait of strength 1.5x that of a human.
Equipment
Morfug wields a curved iron single-edged sword with a grip long enough to accommodate one or two hands. It looks surprisingly feminine.
Morfug wears a suit of armor made up of the following parts:
Chest armor made up of both leather and iron plates
Leather shoulder protectors
An iron helmet with two wicked buffalo horns extending from the top
Leather thigh and shin guards
On Orc Society and Religion
In order to come to an understanding of the character of Morfug the Orc, let us first examine his people. Certainly, orc society is brutal. Orc schools foster abysmal literacy rates. Parents abuse children, bosses abuse employees and tribal leaders abuse everyone. Little motivates Morfug's fellow orcs so much as the love for money or the lust for power. Alcoholism runs rampant. The orc military-industrial complex is out of control. Tribes go to war with one another over petty disputes and religious leaders bicker over trivialities. Orcs haven't even managed to construct a healthcare system that meets the needs of all orcs. In other words, basically the same as human society, but smellier.
Morfug was raised in a temple dedicated to the pursuit of the esoteric religion known as Smellism. The basic tenets of Smellism are as follows, though entire books could be written on the minutia of doctrine:
The Three Great Truths of Orcdom:
That to be alive is to suffer, and to be an Orc is to suffer never-ending embarrassment at the hands of the Stink.
That an Orc can free his mind by reaching the state of Poop-Stink—something akin to what humans call “enlightenment”. Poop-Stink is a plateau of spiritual attainment so high that an Orc will no longer feel embarrassed about his smell, even if he is, for example, on a date with his lover, when he decides to order a whole nest of larva with onions, and then realizes the consequences of said action, which is truly an awkward situation, and not feeling embarrassed in those circumstances would be impressive you must agree.
That the state of Poop-Stink can be achieved by following the Noble Path laid out by Gronbock the Very Smart. The Noble Path consists mostly of meditation on the absurdity of existence and the futility of trying to make a good impression on members of the opposite sex.
History
Some cultures revere their ancestors. Orcs do the opposite. In fact, they make a religion out of denigrating and spitting upon the graves of their deceased relatives as much as possible. Orcs consider last names irrelevant for this reason, and try not to tie themselves to history. Morfug is no different. Disgusted by his parents by the age of four, he left home and joined a Smellist monastery. There, the older monks and acolytes trained him in combat and meditation. Training consisted of everything from hard physical labor, to combat, to whoopie-cushion obstacle courses. At the age of sixteen, they kicked him out due to his stink and sent the young orc out into the wild wastes of Berevar.
From this point on, he wandered the world—working as a deck swab on a corsair ship to pay his fare from continent to continent, he escaped Salvar and arrived at the civilized world of Corone.
Age: 18
Race: Orc
Hair Color: Black
Eye Color: Brown
Height: 7'3”
Weight: 310lb
Occupation: Mercenary
Class: Monk
Personality
Morfug's dominant trait is self-consciousness. He stands at the crossroads of orcling-hood and adulthood, an awkward age where a young orc's skull has gotten thick enough to withstand constant punches enough to allow the teenager to develop the ability to think for itself. He attempts to conduct himself with dignity, and ends up over-compensating. He's the type of person who thinks about their posture a lot and has trouble understanding how much eye contact is appropriate. (In all seriousness, are you supposed to one eye or bridge of the nose or what?) He can't quite deal with his own strength and he thinks a lot about how hard to shake people's hands. As far as moral compasses go, the young orc can be described as profoundly neutral. He possesses neither the cruelty necessary to be considered evil nor the altruism and sentimentality necessary to be considered good. He is capable of heroic as well as villainous deeds.
In interactions with others, especially humans, he comes off as overly formal. The young orc suffers from acute social anxiety over his appearance and smell and has an especially hard time interacting with females. On the other hand, when drunk, Morfug parties like a tiger under a catnip tree. The drinking age in orc society is nine, and he's been something of a lush ever since late-childhood.
Appearance
Morfug always looks dirty. Not because he rolls around in mud puddles—in fact, the young orc is very conscientious about hygiene—but due to some hereditary curse. No matter how hard he tries, he just can't seem to get clean. He's scrubbed his hands with limestone, scraped his feet with rose stems and meditated under waterfalls for hours on end and all he got out of it was a rash, some thorn wounds and a trout in his eye. His pores exude dirt and his hair secretes grease and no amount of soap or lye does the trick. His teeth, however, are quite clean. Flossing does wonders.
He dresses plainly. He wears brown pants cut off at the knee, a brown vest and a brown shirt beneath. None of these browns match in the slightest, but orcs have never been known to follow the cardinal rules of fashion. Most of the time he walks barefoot—few cobblers cater to people Morfug-size. As far as accessories go, two green beetles dangle from his ears. The earrings were coming-of-age gift from his Mom. A long ponytail flops from the back of his head.
Like most orcs from Morfug's society, he is green with black hair, pointed teeth and bulging muscles. To humans, he cuts an imposing figure.
Skills
Morfug considers himself an above average swordsman. As a trained spiritual warrior, he possesses more nuanced skills with the blade than your run of the mill town guard or militia-man. However, the warrior-monk is far too young to be considered a master or expert.
Thanks to his spiritual practice, Morfug also possesses the useful skill of perception of magical auras. He can determine how powerful other characters are (their level) and whether or not they possess magical abilities. He can even gain a vague sense of what kind of elemental magic they might possess based on the aura's color, although more subtle forms of power only project as a vague sense of magnitude.
He is a skilled meditationist and spiritual practitioner, and learns new concepts quickly. He possesses great focus and respectable discipline considering his age. The areas he considers himself knowledgeable in include theology, mysticism, swordsmanship, warrior codes, herblore and entomology.
Abilities
Through Smellist meditation and spiritual pursuit, Morfug has developed the ability known as Tummo. Morfug can increase his body temperature up to 130 degrees Fahrenheit (55 degrees Celsius). This temperature is sufficient to give mild burns to anyone touching his skin for more than a few seconds, or moderate burns to anyone persisting in their grip. He can activate this power nearly instantaneously and use it in self-defense during hand-to-hand combat. Once activated, the state of Tummo persists for ten minutes and then dissipates, leaving him exhausted.
Morfug also possesses the positive Orc racial trait of strength 1.5x that of a human.
Equipment
Morfug wields a curved iron single-edged sword with a grip long enough to accommodate one or two hands. It looks surprisingly feminine.
Morfug wears a suit of armor made up of the following parts:
Chest armor made up of both leather and iron plates
Leather shoulder protectors
An iron helmet with two wicked buffalo horns extending from the top
Leather thigh and shin guards
On Orc Society and Religion
In order to come to an understanding of the character of Morfug the Orc, let us first examine his people. Certainly, orc society is brutal. Orc schools foster abysmal literacy rates. Parents abuse children, bosses abuse employees and tribal leaders abuse everyone. Little motivates Morfug's fellow orcs so much as the love for money or the lust for power. Alcoholism runs rampant. The orc military-industrial complex is out of control. Tribes go to war with one another over petty disputes and religious leaders bicker over trivialities. Orcs haven't even managed to construct a healthcare system that meets the needs of all orcs. In other words, basically the same as human society, but smellier.
Morfug was raised in a temple dedicated to the pursuit of the esoteric religion known as Smellism. The basic tenets of Smellism are as follows, though entire books could be written on the minutia of doctrine:
The Three Great Truths of Orcdom:
That to be alive is to suffer, and to be an Orc is to suffer never-ending embarrassment at the hands of the Stink.
That an Orc can free his mind by reaching the state of Poop-Stink—something akin to what humans call “enlightenment”. Poop-Stink is a plateau of spiritual attainment so high that an Orc will no longer feel embarrassed about his smell, even if he is, for example, on a date with his lover, when he decides to order a whole nest of larva with onions, and then realizes the consequences of said action, which is truly an awkward situation, and not feeling embarrassed in those circumstances would be impressive you must agree.
That the state of Poop-Stink can be achieved by following the Noble Path laid out by Gronbock the Very Smart. The Noble Path consists mostly of meditation on the absurdity of existence and the futility of trying to make a good impression on members of the opposite sex.
History
Some cultures revere their ancestors. Orcs do the opposite. In fact, they make a religion out of denigrating and spitting upon the graves of their deceased relatives as much as possible. Orcs consider last names irrelevant for this reason, and try not to tie themselves to history. Morfug is no different. Disgusted by his parents by the age of four, he left home and joined a Smellist monastery. There, the older monks and acolytes trained him in combat and meditation. Training consisted of everything from hard physical labor, to combat, to whoopie-cushion obstacle courses. At the age of sixteen, they kicked him out due to his stink and sent the young orc out into the wild wastes of Berevar.
From this point on, he wandered the world—working as a deck swab on a corsair ship to pay his fare from continent to continent, he escaped Salvar and arrived at the civilized world of Corone.