Dakor Half-Man, also called Dakor the Defiant, is a half-orc born in the region of the Hold of Belkzen, son of one of the Steel Eaters who hold the ancient dwarven forges and a human slave who was formerly a priestess of Desna. Dakor grew up learning the usual brutal lessons of orcish childhood, forced to slave in the forges as soon as he was old enough to walk and drag things along. He supplemented his lessons in abuse and brutality with study of the forge and the weapons and armor his father and the other orcs crafted for sale to other tribes. Often, he went to sleep with the sound of his mother’s sobbing pleas to Desna ringing in his ears, the unanswered prayers leading him to a contempt of the divine order as he grew into an adult, despite the nearly spiritual exultation that awoke in him while watching battles and fighting for his place with his full-blooded half-siblings.
His initiation to adulthood came when his father decided to beat him for being careless; rather than submitting, Dakor seized the nearest thing to hand, a sword whose blade was still partly glowing with forge-heat, and defeated his father in a short and savage struggle, leaving the weapon’s smoking blade quenched in the orc’s heart. He gathered up his father’s tools and slaves, pausing only to intimidate his father’s mates into leaving him be, and left. His travel to the edge of orcish territory saw him learn another lesson, as he armed the former slaves and led them against any orcs standing between him and the edge of the orcish lands – the weak, together, overcoming the strong.
He split from the slaves at the first settlement they crossed, following an instinct that led him to a caravan in need of a skilled smith of weapons and armor to keep them in good shape as it headed east toward Brevoy, skirting well south of Numeria. Since reaching Brevoy, he’s worked as a smith in the southern reaches, reasonably content with the lack of slavers and open brutality, despite his tendency to using his intimidating size and savage glare to get what he wants, saving his profits toward future ambition – and with the promise of a reward for going into the Stolen Lands, the spark of ambition in his soul has started burning brighter, fanned by the promise of glory.
