[piosenniel]

Orcs of Sauron’s forces


Firefoot's character

NAME: Grimkul

AGE: He’s not really sure – all years tend to run together in dark tunnels under the mountains - nor does he care. But even if he did care, it wouldn’t matter much since he can’t count much higher than 20.

RACE: Orc

GENDER: Male

WEAPONS: Grimkul’s favorite weapon is a long, slightly curved scimitar which he hasn’t ever cleaned, more out of laziness than any other reason, though he does pride himself on the different kinds of blood the sword bears: Elf, Dwarf, Man, Orc, rat (and other rodent), fish, bat, and once he was even lucky enough to spear a bird. He has a wooden bow, on which is scratched all kinds of crude symbols and marks; his arrows are fletched in black feathers. He also has a short dagger and a heavy wooden cudgel, useful for bashing in heads and squashing things.

APPEARANCE: Grimkul is of a smaller mountain race, though he is rather large for that, with comparatively broad, albeit hunched, shoulders and tough wiry muscles. He is bowlegged. He has dark, splotchy skin, and what sparse hair he does have is coarse and black. His yellow eyes are accustomed to the dark and bulge out of his misshapen skull. His teeth are yellow and crooked, and not a few are missing; his fingernails are similarly yellowed and tough. His only armor is a chain mail coat, over which he wears dark breeches and a jerkin made mostly of bats’ wings crudely sown together.

PERSONALITY/STRENGTHS/WEAKNESSES: Grimkul is not very intelligent and, if confused, is more likely to kill the source of confusion than try to sort the information out. The notable exception is his more intelligent companion Ulwakh; their relationship being a mutually beneficial “brains/brawn” type. Grimkul tends not to back down from a fight even when his chances at winning are considerably slim, whether because he is too stupid to realize this or doesn’t care is undecided. Luckily he is larger, stronger, and more skilled in weapon use than most of his kind. He dislikes being among the legions of Sauron’s army and would prefer to go back to the mountain tunnels in the Misty Mountains. Nor does he bear any love toward his commanders (who are generally bigger than he is), and, largely at Ulwakh’s bidding, avoids their notice whenever possible.

HISTORY: Grimkul was born in the Orc tunnels of the Misty Mountains and has spent most of his life there. This part of his life was basically uneventful: he survived off the creatures sharing the tunnels with him, fought in some small battles between Orc clans, and sometimes ventured out of the mountains in small raiding parties (always at night) to harry any living things unfortunate enough to be in the area. Several years back, however, he was part of a raiding party that had gone farther than usual from their mountain tunnels and had a run-in with a small force of Sauron’s. Those that survived (including Grimkul and Ulwakh) were driven to Mordor and integrated into Sauron’s army.

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Carry-along character

NAME: Ulwakh – Grimkul’s companion

AGE: About the same as Grimkul, though he could probably give a more precise answer, as he understands numbers and such better – he could probably count to 50, and if he thought about it would be able to tell you that they were at least that old.

RACE: Orc

GENDER: Male

WEAPONS: Ulwakh’s first two weapons, a scimitar and bow, are similar to Grimkul’s. His favorite weapons, however, are a variety of crooked knives with jagged edges, no two alike. These are useful for throwing, stabbing, cutting, and other more ordinary purposes (e.g. cooking, should he ever care to cook), but more interesting to him are the different ways each can provide pain. Ulwakh does not enjoy killing and fighting so much, but he finds giving pain fascinating, and his knives are useful for this.

APPEARANCE: Similar to Grimkul in complexion, though little else. He is much smaller and less strong, and his arms and legs are proportionately longer. His skull is rounder; his eyes are deeper set and an almost luminescent green color. His garments are also similar to Grimkul, except he is far less choosy in the materials for his jerkin and he wears a helmet as an extra piece of armor.

PERSONALITY/STRENGTHS/WEAKNESSES: Ulwakh is quite intelligent and cunning (for an Orc, that is). He is quick and agile, though not particularly strong or prone to fight. He prefers to flee rather than fight, though he can ably defend himself (or Grimkul can defend him; it’s all the same to Ulwakh). He takes a perverse delight in giving pain, and while his subjects are usually small animals that he catches, he prefers such rarer subjects as Elves and Dwarves when he has had the fortune of a captive. Ulwakh has no desire of personal power, as he generally sees leadership roles as a good way to get killed (by followers), and in further self-preservation he draws as little attention to himself as possible.

HISTORY: About the same as Grimkul.