Post/Author/DateTime	Post
SolidusSnake 01-12-07, 10:05 PM	Hey everybody I'm planning to play in an Orc War campaign soon that takes place in Eberron. Basically what I have so far is he fought in the Last War and when its all said and done he returns home to the Shadow Marches and sees that his particular tribe is not as strong as they once were talking of nothing but peace. He does not like this much and seizes control of the tribe and decides to unite his tribe to rekindle the fires of war within there spirits. The goal of the campaign is to unite the shadow marches under one banner and start a new war since all the other countries are recovering from the end of the war. What I'm trying to figure out is how he got involved in the Last War and how he learned his magic. Any help would greatly be appreciated.
JulesCARV 01-12-07, 11:56 PM	What kind of caster is he? Being a druid or sorcerer requires no explanation, since Gatekeeper druids are common among Shadow Marches orcs and sorcerers can appear anywhere, but if not one of those, what are you? I'll try to help adapt the backstory to the specific type of caster you are if I can, once I learn it. An idea: As a young buck, he felt sick of the rural, quiet life of the Shadow Marches, consisting of small rice-farming communities and such. He was raised in the Gatekeeper tradition of the orcs, and he paid service to the traditions, although he never was truly pious. Deciding to make his name outside of the stagnant isolation of the Shadowmarches, he naïvely went out to seek his fortune in the last war. He was hired as an auxilliary for the Aundairans. The auxilliaries consisted of frequently poorly trained and undisciplined troops, intended as reserves. They were commanded by an unqualified officer of House Vadalis who was given the position as a sinecure to cement the ties between House Vadalis and Aurala ir'Wynarn, and solidify the deal that created the marriage between Aurala ir'Wynarn and Sasik d'Vadalis. However, with the insurgency in the Eldeen Reaches, they were pressed into battle, suppressing the Eldeen Reaches independence movement. Unable to distinguish between civilian and rebel, friend and foe, the auxilliaries resorted to brutal tactics, forcing all suspected druids to wear cheap shirts of metal rings (like chain shirts, but ineffective as actual armor) to suppress their spellcasting. All druids and rangers were assumed to be disloyal to Aundair until proven otherwise, and occassionally the Vadalis officer ordered the killing of all people of fighting age in certain troublesome settlements or mass internments. Many of those killed were orcs loyal to the Gatekeepers, even though they were indifferent to whether Aundair or the Eldeen Reaches ruled over the land so long as Xoriat was kept out of Eberron. Eventually, the brutality and incompetence of the Aundairan auxilliary unit angered him enough that he became one of many soldiers to desert from the unit. He fled back to the Shadow Marches, infuriated. Then... you take it from here :). Update: Alternatively, if he was a pious Gatekeeper, he could be a druid, and have gone into the Eldeen Reaches to help defend the Gatekeepers and their followers who were caught in the crossfire between the Eldeen Independence movement and the Aundairan military, seeing both sides attacking the Gatekeepers and orcs more generally for being suspected of aiding the "other side." That could drive him to hate other humanoids.
SolidusSnake 01-13-07, 12:18 AM	I had wanted to try out a Warmage or Wizard (first time being magic user) except the problem I see with that is Warmages are trained in colleges and I wouldn't be able to explain how a respected magic college would train an Orc. Though this background is awesome Thanks and sorry about not mentioning the class earlier
JulesCARV 01-13-07, 12:58 AM	Warmage or wizard? Okay. I can work with that. Insert the following paragraphs between the paragraph ending with "... Xoriat was kept out of Eberron" and the paragraph starting with "Eventually, the brutality and incompetence of the Aundairan military...": As the situation worsened in the Eldeen Reaches, Lord Darro ir'Lain sent a group of Aundairan Knights Arcane to aid the struggling auxilliaries. Major ir'Vadalis was temporarily overruled as commander, and troops were given on-the-job training in how to be better soldiers. The orc character, along with a few other of the soldiers, was spotted by one of the Knights Arcane -- a (warmage/wizard/whatever) -- as having great innate potential, and the arcane arts were drilled into the students, who learned them while at the base camp between the hellish patrols they were sent on. However, as the situation in the Eldeen Reaches improved with the addition of the Knights Arcane, and conditions on the Thranish front deteriorated in the area around Thaliost, threatening the Aundairans with more lost territory, the Knights Arcane were recalled to fight on the Thranish front, leaving Major ir'Vadalis once again in command of the unit. Bitter about his time as a subordinate of the Knights Arcane, he became determined to prove his genius as a commander, experimenting with unorthodox and ill-advised tactics, which lead to massive suffering among Eldeen denizens, further alienated the populace and worsened the rebellion, and lead to many deaths among his troops. More Gatekeepers were slaughtered, and the orc character came close to being killed many times following Major ir'Vadalis's orders.
SolidusSnake 01-13-07, 05:43 PM	Wow thanks a lot for the help