Urdos
Urdos is a dark and brooding dwarf, always on the lookout for an ambush
and very weary of strangers.
Appearance
Urdos is almost always clothed in brown, supple leather or cloth.
Noteworthy is the fact that he almost always has a small drape with
a bird-stand on it pinned to his right shoulder, so that Occolo can
rest at his side.
Religion
Urdos was taught by his tribe's Okranna, the wisest of the tribe.
Since this wise man was not a worshipper of any god, he never put much
emphasis on the religious side of learning. Urdos therefore does not
have a strong faith in any god, performing just the most common rituals
for Moradin but not much more. Most other dwarves would consider him
bordering on faithless. He doesn't much care.
Biography
Urdos was born in a small village at the edge of the mountain range of
Pirra, as the son of the local horsesmith. The village lies in an otherwise
inaccessible valley, surrounded by the icy tundra's all the way except for
the north where the mountains begin.
The village itself was a peaceful one, with many traditions, most of
which where invented over the years to keep everybody happy during the
long periods of winter in which there was not much to do besides
survival. One of these traditions was that the village "Okranna",
the eldest and wisest person (be he male/female, dwarf/human/elf, or
otherwise), every 5 years chose two of the children that had come of age
that year to serve him/her for the next 5 years. Invariably, these chosen
ones came back with more knowledge of nature and sorcery than most in the
village, and while some of them left the village to become Okranna somewhere
else, most stayed and bestowed their wisdom on the village in turn.
As it turned out, Urdos was chosen along with a female dwarf named
Kurena in the year that he came of age. Of course they had known each other
before, and they already had a special sort of friendship between them
(although they were never lovers, nor did one of them declare that intention).
Both Urdos and Kurena were very happy to be chosen, and gladly joined the
Okranna in his home just outside the village, on a hilltop overlooking the
valley.
Four years passed in peace. Both Urdos and Kurena turned out to be
excellent students; because other than most of the chosen ones, both of
them turned out to have some innate ability to shape magic. Kurena was
best at this, though not by much. Conversely, Urdos was best in the
physical activities, mostly the bow (which was a village tradition
also), though not by much. In these years, Urdos learned a bit of the
arcane, most notably how to summon his own riding wolf. He also gained
the trust of a small snow owl, which he named Occolo, after the sound
the little owl made when hooting.
Then an unfortunate incident happened. While on a spirit-quenching journey
that the Okranna had them make, to "embrace survival in the tundra as an art",
they had wandered too far and gotten themselves lost on the icy plains.
Shivering around a small campfire they tried to warm themselves in the cold
night, when all of a sudden a regiment of strangely clad and very long humans
attacked them. There were too many. Both Kurena and Urdos fought bravely
but they did not stand a chance. Urdos got knocked out, his last vision
that of his friend Kurena surrounded by the men.
On some strange stroke of luck, Urdos awoke the next morning with a headache
amidst the battlefield. The men had left him there, probably to die on his
own on the plains. They had probably taken Kurena though, because Urdos did
not find a sign of her in any direction. Doubly unfortunate was the fact that
Kurena was always the better tracker; however he managed to pick up a faint
trail with the help of Occolo, and began to follow it, knowing that the
Okranna would not have it otherwise.
After three long days of traveling, the climate seemed to change a bit.
And after yet another day Urdos found himself in the middle of a thick jungle,
staring at a distant hilltop on which some sort of castle was visible. As
far as he could tell the tracks ran straight on to it. Determined, he made
his way through the unfamiliar territory and arrived at the gates the next
morning.
Just as he was deciding on his next course of action, the gates of the
mighty castle opened, and a carriage and a cart came out. On the cart was
Kurena! Bound to a pole, barely dressed and at least severely wounded, but
Urdos did not think to stop to see if she was dead or alive -- she had to
be freed!
From the covered location that he was sitting in, behind one of the many
thick trees in the jungle, he began to fire his deadly arrows. Each one of
them hit their exact target; each one killed one of the horses that bore
the carriage and the cart, until after merely half a minute of firing both
carriage and cart had ground to a halt.
None of this appeared to have any effect for a while, which seemed strange
to Urdos; just as he was about to approach the carriage however, one single
elf stepped out of it. He was dressed in a robe, covered with many strange
and some familiar symbols; clearly this was a great wizard, and he did not
look very pleased with this turn of events.
Urdos knew he did not really stand a chance; nevertheless he aimed his
bow straight at the wizard's heart. At the exact moment that he fired
however, the wizard looked straight at him; and his image seemed to grow in
Urdos' mind, and he could do naught but stand there, clinging to his sanity
while he listened to his Okranna's voice draining away, his childhood memories
fading...
At that moment the arrow hit the wizard, for all of the magic disappeared
suddenly. Urdos felt very faint, but managed to scramble away from his
discovered hiding place. He dare not go back to the wizard that nearly
killed him, even though he did not know Kurena"s fate; all he knew was that
he needed treatment soon or else he would still die...
He walked for about an hour in a random direction before he collapsed.
When he next woke, he found himself in a strange bed, in a strange chamber.
Scared, he gathered his stuff and was about to get away when the door opened
and a halfling walked in, exclaiming 'oh you're awake! please don't go
yet!'.
As it turned out, Urdos had the fortune of being rescued by the local
village's huntress, Li-esa, who was curious about the dwarf lying in
'her' woods with an obviously magical bow. Urdos had slept for about 7
days before awakening. Each day she had treated him with her knowledge
of the forest herbs. She had saved his life.
Urdos stayed at Li-esa's place for a while until he was completely
recovered. Then, he bade her farewell, repeating that he owed her his life,
and that one day he would be back to exact his revenge from the elven wizard.
They parted on friendly terms.
Since then, Urdos has not dared to go back to his Okranna. He believes he
must free Kurena before he can go back. He secretly hopes that the Okranna
believes him and Kurena dead, and therefore he does not want any of his
village people and or relatives to know that he is alive. This is why he
is very untrusting of strangers until he gets to know them better.
All of the events above took place about one year before. Urdos still
hasn't found out anything else about the wizard, but he does know that he
will have to gain much in power before he has a chance to beat him. Which
is why he is traveling throughout the land, doing the occasional mercenary
job to hone his bow-skills. One day, he swears, he will get his revenge!
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Character descriptions