Herlish Insigal
The story of Herlish really starts with the story of his
mother. She was a woman with little to no luck throughout her life. She was
born in Lastwall, a place at constant war with the orcs of the Hold of Belzken.
Unmarried, she bore a half-orc child, although she had never had any untoward
contact with any of the orc raiders. It is believed that one of the many
half-orc warriors who come to Lastwall to live down their heritage is the
father but Anka never said and fled the frontier country with her child.
She made her way to Absalom and managed to secure a
husband despite having a bastard half-orc child. The man was a gruff former
soldier who sold his services to any who would hire. This included a merchant
who was traveling to far off Nex. So Herlish’s father uprooted his family and
they took the long trip across the inner sea to Nex, and from its capital
Qauntium to the city of the fleshforgers, Ecanus.
Ecanus was where Herlish was born, although his parents
had already spawned one boy child. Herlish was a twitchy child and as he grew
up he was constantly bullied for his nervous reactions. The young boy found
solace in watching all the bizarre creation going around him. Although he could
never quite grasp how these oddities were made, he cherished the art of
creation and many of craftspeople would show him how they made their ideas come
to life.
Ecanus was also a dangerous place, and the merchant his
father worked for did volatile, although not illicit, work. When you buy and
sell living creatures crafted by magic, accidents are bound to happen. Some of
the beasts shattered their bonds on the small estate of the merchant and sent
his staff and their families running. Herlish’s father stood firm in protecting
his charge but fell in the battle, leaving Anka with now four children,
Herlish’s younger sister having only recently been born.
The fleshforges often require living flesh to create the
monsters that are birthed from the vats. Although many of these are
unintelligent animals or horrors not worth mentioning, some unscrupulous
crafters will use sentient creatures to fuel their creations. In Nex slavery is
legal and the fleshforgers will often buy slaves just for these purposes. But
sometimes those slaves escape.
Orc and half-orc were often used as stock for these
experiments because of their durability. Those that escaped started a secret
underground based out of the Barrier Wall mountains to help others avoid the
horrific fate of being immersed in the vats. Herlish’s older sister Alysse got
herself involved with these freedom fighters and dragged her younger
half-sibling along.
Since Herlish was human he could pass more easily among
the oppressors, and he did this willingly, flaunting the law for his sister and
loving every minute of it. The young man was adept at keeping to the shadows
although not every excursion was without incident. Herlish was slowly learning
the tricks to battling the creations of the fleshforgers.
Some of the beings they rescued were already changed by
preparation rituals or even just proximity to magical and alchemical
substances. But they were not the only ones that saw a change come over them.
Whether it came from his mother or father’s side he didn’t know, but Herlish’s
found the ability to alter his own shape. He was able to take on aspects of a
rodent and minor abilities attributed to wererats, of whom he realized he was
probably kin.
As things became more serious Herlish and his older
sister went to their mother and got her to leave the city and take up residence
in the stronghold in the mountains that the rebels were using. There she
married yet again, a half-orc with some mutations due to experimentation. She
bore one last child, another half-orc bringing her brood to a total of five
children.
Herlish and his sister still fight the good fight and
their younger brother seems eager to join when he comes of age. Life may not be
easy for the odd family but they’re still happy.
What did you do with your skinwalker? What class did his
background dictate for him? Who did he have both a younger and older
half-sibling? What law or oath did he break?
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