Greznok did not have an easy life. Born into an Orc tribe he was an outcast from birth. The only thing that probably saved his life is that he looked more Orc than Human. Taken in by one of the outcast women of the tribe, she was his only savior. She spent time teaching Greznok about life outside of the Orc tribe, about honor and love. This did not make life easy though. His “Mother” was spit on and slapped on a daily basis. Greznok did not know what had once happend, but it was important. The only reason she lived had something to do with the Orc Chief Zerzolk. For some reason he would not have her executed. This allowed some anonymity in their hovel at the very edge of the every moving encampment.
The years went by and his mother began to realize that Greznok was different. He had some sort of latent power inside him that she spent years trying to unlock. When the time finally came for Greznok to do his duty and join the hunting parties his abilities had just begun to blossom. Zerzolk had picked out a farming village on the edge of Dwarven territory for them to raid. Having no choice Creznok went along, but tried to blend into background. Hoping to not have any direct influence on the raid he didnt even bother drawing a weapon.
During the chaos of the raid, Greznok stood in amazement of the sheer destruction his “family” was committing on these simple farmers. Lost in thought he barely saw the young boy charging him with a sword. A sword that was so big in his hands that it appeared he would topple over at any minute. Not having any time to think he instinctively threw his hands out in front of him and the boy fell to the ground, skidding to a stop at Greznoks feet. A loud snore emanating from his prone body. Panicking, Greznok tried to pull the body into the bushes, so that it would not be noticed. He was not quick enough. One of the other Orc’s on the raid noticed what he was doing and came over to congratulate him on the kill. As the Orc approached, Greznok dropped the body and went to cut off the other male. Again, he was not quick enough. As the other Orc approached he could hear the audible snoring coming from the child.
With a roar the other Orc grabbed Greznok by the back of his head and threw him towards the young boy. “Kill him” the Orc muttered. Not wanting to do it, Greznok looked for every possible way out. “Do it now! Or I kill you and then kill your so called mother while she weeps over your corpse.” Through his tears Greznok pulled out his sword and quietly apologized to the boy as he slid the sword into the chest of the young man. Snapping awake and staring into Greznoks eyes, he had no choice but to watch the life flow out of the young man’s eyes. Climbing to his feet he joined the group who was cheering his kill. How had it gone from being on the precipice of death to being a hero. It was at this moment that he realized he did not know what it meant to be an Orc, and to remain with them would slowly erode what little bit of decency he had left in him.
When he returned home, he wept in his mothers lap as he retold the story. His mother picked his head up and asked him, “Do you regret what you did? Can you live with yourself after this?” Without even a pause, he responded that he had wanted to kill himself ever since it happened. He couldnt live with himself with what he had done. “You are too precious and unique to be taken from this world. What you need to do is flee this awful place, Find a way to right the wrongs that you have done. Maybe someday if you do enough good in the world it will balance out the evil in you.” Looking up at his mother, he looked her into the eye and said, “Yes mother, i shall spend every day to come performing my penance.” With that last words he reached over, took the skinning knife and brought it up to his face. With barely a wince, he drew the knife across his face, from nose to chin. Cutting in deep enough that his teeth and jawbone were visable. Without another word he got up and walked out of the tent, knowing that he would not return home until he had righted his wrongs.
