Young Writers Society

Name: Kahlak'tisht (Kahlak for short)

Race: Orc

Age: 38

Gender: Male

Class/occupation: Guard/fighter

Physique: Tall, big boned, well muscled

Appearance: Humanoid; bipedal, two deep set eyes and a hanging brow. Two short tusks protrude from either side of his mouth. His teeth are tapered to points, accustomed to ripping and tearing flesh. Large hands with multi-jointed fingers. His skin is rough and hardened, dark brown from years in the sun; a ridge of hair runs down his spine from his nape to lower back. His feet are gnarled, widespread with long toenails; he wears no boots.

Weapons/equipment: Standard orc-issue wooden club with spikes. Whilst their multi-jointed fingers allow for dexterity, they are trained never to learn their potential, thus awkward with finer weapons.

Skills/abilities: Kahlak has extreme endurance, trained to hunt for days until bringing back a kill for the hive. Orcs, as a race, also have fast regeneration, meaning that wounds knit, scab over and heal in a matter of hours, as opposed to days.

Weaknesses: He relies on brute strength in fights, putting no thought into technique or prediction. He has fast reflexes but almost no ability to react to fast paced action. He aims to first maim, then kill. He has a deep weakness for gambling and drink; he works only to feed his obsession on both vices.

Personality: Kahlak is quite withdrawn and barely speaks. He has no loyalty beyond coin and has deserted a caravan procession before. He is rarely impressed by anything, but he can have a deep respect for a person who does impress him.

Background/history: The orc society is similar to that of an ant or bee; there is one queen orc and the male orcs are divided into hunter/gatherer, guard/fighter or mate. As a hivemind, each orc knows what the other orc has learnt, but is limited in his actions due to the orders of the queen, destined to work for her survival and approval only. Kahlak'tisht is an outcast, formally a guard/fighter orc. Either from a birth defect or strong will, he was able to break the Queen's compulsion and escape to free lands. He is not the first to do so, and he won't be the last. Over the last 20 years, he has been working mostly as a guard to caravan troupes.