Skulf

Half-Orcs like Skulf are as characteristic of the barren wastes of Dendros Canyon as the resilient shrubs that cling to the rocks in its sulfur-laden air. There is a belief among their foes that such conditions are of great benefit to the Half-Orcs, allowing only the hardiest of the teeming hordes born there to survive, a belief proven by the likes of Skulf, inspiring fear in the hearts of their enemies and confidence in their allies. The life of a Half-Orc like Skulf is brutal yet pitiful, born with an ancient sense of tragedy and bitter loss dating back to a mythological golden age outsiders would not understand. A fierce and determined fighter like most Half-Orcs, Skulf's life was typical of a berserker in a raiding warband, a sight made all the more fearsome by his size, raising his mace over his head, charging into battle, and roaring to instill terror in his foes. Like many Half-Orc hordes raiding Human lands that mainly rely on crude tactics, brute strength, and vast numbers, Skulf was eventually defeated in battle against the Mosune Empire. Refusing to execute prisoners of war as a Solarist matter of principle, Skulf was denied what he saw as an honorable death by the Humans, instead banished to the south of Tya, an abandoned land filled with bandits, cultists, refugees from Half-Orc raids, and traitors. Unable to return home, ashamed, and hunted by Humans whose lives had been ruined by Half-Orcs, Skulf grew even more twisted, defending himself and biding his time for his return to honor and battle. Skulf crafted a new mace from what he could find in the barren land and found a band of banished Half-Orcs and escaped with them. They roam in shameful misery around Tya and attack Humans to claw back the honor stolen from them in the hope that one day, they may either die in battle or have the pride to return to the hellscape of Dendros Canyon.