Kagrin

Information

Appearance

Kag'rin is an imposing specimen of his species, standing at 7'1" with a tall, muscular build, but lean where most Orcs are burly. He walks with an urgent, sure-footed gait, light on his feet and ever vigilant. Tattoos of Orcish design cover his arms and torso, from shoulder to waist, while his body is riddled in white scars about three to four inches in length. Two stray scars also stretch over his face, a long, curved one of about four inches following his lower jaw from chin to right cheek. The other rests right below his left eye, a horizontal scar of about an inch's length exposing bone.

His light-weight leather armor is designed for maneuverbility, leaving his arms and torso bare while his wrists and hands are wrapped up for protection. A pair of pauldrons are mounted on his shoulders to provide protection for his torso and head. The traditional banner of the Blademasters is attached to his back with a leather harness.

Personality

Kag'rin is a man molded by the wars of the latest decades. Fighting for a desperate, losing cause in Ashenvale and Felwood has taken its toll on his morale, and he has grown increasingly impatient and restless. In spite of his better judgment, he makes rash decisions and takes great risks with little reward, knowing well that his strategies and plans may not succeed. Loss and bittersweet victories have become commonplace, leading to the aged veteran questioning his ability to serve as the Deadeye Watcher's commander. He believes that he is unsuited for the leadership of a warband, frequently contemplating his role in the Horde and wondering if there are a suitable replacement. But many of the Watchers look up to him, and he recognizes that. In hopes of at least keeping the morale of his warriors up, he habitually avoids discussing the future prospects of the Watchers with anyone but Jurok, his trusted advisor and friend. Even this relationship has grown strained, as while Jurok believes firmly in the old warrior's abilities, he has grown distant and brooding, questioning his own worth. Kag'rin, on the other hand, is equally certain of Jurok's abilities and unsure of his own. Recent disagreements have only strengthened this feeling, as the Blademaster is repeatedly reminded of his mistakes by the other.

History

Early Life

Kag'rin Sunderskull was born into the Warsong Clan, to the warrior Largan Thunderhowl and his wife Ferha. At an early age, his father taught him discipline and respect, while his mother taught him compassion and kindness. During the festival of Kosh'harg, his father would bring him along, letting him play with children from other Clans. While the Elders and Chieftains were discussing recent events and the hunters and warriors discussed great feats, the children would play in the fields of Nagrand. It was during these festivals Kag'rin met Kho'rath, a youngster from the Frostwolves. The two children became friends, and every Kosh'harg, they searched for each other as the first thing they did. Over the years the two would come to regard each other as brothers, a friendship forming between them. Every year they would meet again, and every time they were both excited.

When Kag'rin came of age, he embarked upon the Om'riggor, the rite of passage among Orcs. He left the safety of the village for the plains of Nagrand, with an axe as his only protection and weapon. For hours he prowled the plains, searching for any signs of Talbuk. In the end, he managed to track one down, but the beast put up a fight. After a long and tiring fight, he finally brought the Talbuk to the ground. As is tradition, he smeared the blood over his face and returned to the village. One of the shamans tasted the blood, and confirmed that he had indeed killed a Talbuk. In the following ceremony, he was finally declared an adult and a true member of the Warsong Clan. He arrived at the Kosh'harg in pride that year.

As a full adult, Kag'rin joined with others fresh out of their Om'riggor, and hunted in the fields of Nagrand. Kho'rath, Kag'rin friend from the Frostwolves, was among them. The hunt seemed to prove successful. In the beginning, they managed to track down and kill many beasts, but as they progressed, the animals seemed far between. Soon enough, they understood why. In the south-western regions of Nagrand, they encountered nothing less than a Gronn. Their group was composed of inexperienced hunters at best, and they were easily beaten. Kag'rin woke up hours later, badly wounded and with his companions riddled on the ground around him. He searched desperately for Kho'rath, but couldn't find him among the dead. In shame, he and the other survivors returned with the news of their defeat. This news was not well-received, and the rest of the clan berated them for it.

Tidings of War

These mistakes were soon forgotten, however, once troubling rumors began to spread in the clan. War was coming. According to the Elder Shaman Ner'zhul and his supporters, the Draenei were a threat to the Orcs, and had to be eliminated. Kag'rin didn't have any experience with Draenei, and didn't even doubt their word. He joined in the genocidal campaign that followed, killing every Draenei he came across without mercy. A warrior at heart, he relished in the bloodshed and carnage, proudly believing that he was redeeming himself for his failure and obeying the will of the ancestors. During the genocide, he took the name Sunderskull. When Gul'dan called the clans together, the Warlock presented them the blood of the Demon Mannoroth, which would grant them the power to finally defeat the Draenei. When the Frostwolves refused to drink, he began to doubt, and became uncertain. However, when their chieftain, Grom Hellscream drank, he couldn't possibly refuse. He reluctantly drank the Demonic Blood, sealing his fate.

Consumed by indomitable bloodlust, Kag'rin and the others slaughtered the Draenei in the greatest massacre in the latter's history, sacking the city of Shattrath and mercilessly murdering thousands. The Draenei were scattered, and most fled or were hunted down and killed. With Shattrath in ruins, the Draenei no longer posed a threat. The Horde had passed its test. As Kag'rin returned from the battle, his actions began to plague him. If the shamans no longer could speak with the ancestors and the Elements, how could they have known that the slaughter of the Draenei was their will? He shook the thoughts away, afraid of the answer. During the aftermath of the sacking, up until the Second War, Kag'rin remained on Draenor with his Clan, while waiting impatiently for a chance to prove himself in real battle. He became restless and short-tempered, and spent the days training or hunting, to keep his skills sharp.

During the infighting that followed the Horde's defeat in the Second War, Kag'rin grew only more restless and resentful, and even the slightest provocation angered him. The few friends he managed to keep knew how to calm him, and amongst these he grew especially fond of one of the females. It didn't take long before the budding romance grew into something more, and after a few months she told him she was with child. To save face, the warrior made the bonding between them official for both her sake and his own. When the child was born, they named him Ogar'mash, after the Orcish words for 'death' and 'heart'.

The illusion of a bright future was ruined when the Warsong fled from Draenor. The clan rushed through the Dark Portal, into the awaiting hands of the Alliance. During all the chaos Kag'rin lost sight of his mate and child, and they were lost in the crowd. The Warsong managed to flee the trap, but Kag'rin could not find his family amongst those who escaped. They fled to Lordaeron, where they sought shelter in the wilderness and Kag'rin took to wandering the forests, mourning his loss. Unknown to him, his mate gave birth to his second child in the camps, a daughter named Akua.

The Lethargy of the Orcs

His warrior heart didn't lie dormant for long, as a stranger entered their village many years after the war. Kag'rin had a strange feeling about him. The way he walked and talked, it seemed familiar, while at the same time alien to him. The stranger demanded to talk to the Chieftain, and presented himself as Thrall, son of Durotan. This news made Kag'rin unsettled, as the Frostwolves had betrayed the Horde, and that the youngster was a Shaman didn't help. The Elements had failed them before, why would they be any different now? His chieftain trusted this Orc, yet he was conflicted about this strange newcomer. One part of him wanted to believe him, while the other was reluctant to forsake the ways of the Old Horde. Nevertheless, his chieftain followed him, which made him feel he had to, as well.

Rallied under the leadership of this youngster, Grom Hellscream and Ogrim Doomhammer, the Blackrock, Warsong and Frostwolf Clans assaulted the internment camps, and freed their captive brethren from the Alliance. When he saw the state of his people, Kag'rin was finally convinced that the Horde needed to redeem itself of it's old burden. As he saw the crippled, the old and the sick in the internment camps, he realized that Thrall was right: The Fel magics had not only brought them power, but also pain. As he fought to free his brethren, he made his decision. He would follow the path that the new Warchief set for him, whether it led to victory or death. These thoughts drifted through his head while he fought, fueling him with rage and determination. The Horde razed the internment camps, breaking free from the Alliance's shackles. When the fresh Warchief Thrall, at a strange prophet and Hellscream's suggestion, set sail for the unknown lands in the west, Kag'rin was conflicted about fleeing from the Humans. However, he realized that if the Horde was to ever be free from the Alliance, it had to leave the Eastern Kingdoms. There was no future for the Orcs in them.

To the West

However, the path to destiny wasn't an easy one. Caught in the middle of a storm, on a ship headed for an unknown shore, Kag'rin was more frightened than he had ever been in his life. He was certain that it was the Elements punishing them for their betrayal. And then it had stopped. They were wrecked against the unknown shore, but it had stopped. Wandering for days without anything but quillboars and centaurs to fight was tiresome, and Kag'rin wondered if this truly was the fate of the Horde; to wander aimlessly in the wilderness. It would not be long before they encountered the unexpected: Humans. In outrage and bloodthirst, Kag'rin and his Clansmen attacked. Kag'rin couldn't believe their nerve, following them to the uncharted continent. They were locked in a bloodbath with the Humans, until the rest of the Horde caught up with them. The Warchief ordered the Warsong to stand down, but they wouldn't listen. Despite any discomfort with disobeying the Warchief's orders, Kag'rin followed his chieftain into battle against the Humans once more. For their betrayal, the Warsong Clan was sent north to Ashenvale, to gather lumber for the Horde's war effort. Like his chieftain, Kag'rin was furious that the Horde's finest warriors were to be demoted to the work of peons.

Left to brood in the forests of Ashenvale, Kag'rin spent long hours supervising peons work. The lust for battle throbbing in his veins did not make the task easier, and he struggled to keep his temper in check around his fellow Orcs. Insults, growls and shouting was exchanged, and the mood grew only worse. Suddenly, this overpowering irritation was overshadowed by a new threat. While he had been sure he had heard whispers in the woods, and seen shapes in the darkness, he had thought it to be nothing but his imagination. But strange lights danced in the forests, and he had an unsettling sensation of being watched. Soon enough, they were attacked. Their enemies baffled him, as he had never seen anything like them. They were like Elves, but taller, and they seemed far wilder. Luckily, it made no difference to their blades. The Orcs fought them back, cutting their way through threes and Elves alike.

To the Forest

Kag'rin found himself facing enemies unlike anything he had ever seen before. The forests themselves seemed to make every effort to slow them down, and they were certain that the trees were moving, from time to time. As they trespassed further into the forests, the attacks became more frequent, and the Elves were aided by stranger and stranger creatures. Kag'rin had seen the gryphons in the Eastern Kingdoms, but these creatures still amazed him. Two-headed dragons and half-does, half-women was beyond his wildest imagination. However, they soon realized they had disturbed something far worse than simple warrior women and crazed woodland creatures. Kag'rin was captured in a mad struggle to survive, like most of his Orcish brethren, when the Night Elven Demigod Cenarius emerged from the woods. The very trees themselves fought against them, and they were pressed hard from every direction. When Grom ordered them to drink from tainted waters they had found in the woods, Kag'rin didn't object.

Embracing the sheer power of Mannoroth's Blood once more drove him into a murderous bloodrage. Kag'rin fought relentlessly, sparing no one in his path of destruction in the chaotic battle that followed. The whisper of arrows, the screams of blades and the thunders of catapults engulfed the forests. Kag'rin watched in awe as the Chieftain of the Warsong Clan, Grom Hellscream, killed the demigod Cenarius. And then it was over. When the dust settled, the Warsong were victorious. With his thirst for blood sated, Kag'rin began to calm down and regain his mind, for the briefest of moments. But then Mannoroth claimed them. It dawned upon them what they had done, and it struck Kag'rin that he had sacrificed his freedom for victory. He was under the Legion's reign again. But the horror was soon replaced with the drive for battle, the Blood in his veins urging him on.

Not even when their own brethren in the Horde came to stop them did they realize their madness. Kag'rin's mind was twisted and corrupted to the Legion's cause. Like his fellow Warsong warriors, he felt nothing but disgust when he saw that the Orcs had allied with the Humans to defeat them. He felt the other Orcs had betrayed the Horde and it's Legion masters. In the heat of battle, Kag'rin cut through his brethren, killing countless of his own kind. The corrupted Blood drove him to kill, not caring who was on the receiving end of his blows. But then, as sudden as it came, the Blood Haze disappeared. It faded from him, leaving him confused and weakened. He was struck down, and he fell to the ground, buried among the corpses of his brethren. When he awoke, he realized the horrors he had committed. The shock hit him hard, and he was left wounded and crying on the ground, mourning his kind and pitying himself.

Redemption

While lying among the corpses, broken in both spirit and body, he was found by a Tauren shamaness. She pitied the poor Orc, and took him away from the place. She brought him with her to Mulgore, where she kept him in her home and tried her best to nurse him back to health. However, it was a long and tiresome process. He seemed to be broken beyond repair, and his scars seemed to be too deep to mend. He was haunted by nightmares and hallucinations, unable to tell reality and his fantasies apart. Still, the Tauren did her best to mend his wounds and calm his mind, making use of a multitude of treatments. After many months he finally began to show signs of recovery, regaining some of his old strength. Although his body seemed to mend well, his spirit was still restless, and he would wander the plains of Mulgore for hours in solitude. Or at least, so he thought. She would follow him, and watch him as he would lie down and stare up into the skies. When he came home, she'd be waiting for him, with the food ready on the table. He rarely spoke, and always ate in silence. But one evening she asked him why he wandered, and he answered that the embrace of the winds calmed him. She gave him the name "Wanders with Winds", and told him she was glad he was recovering.

His time with her affected him, and he began to philosophize about his life. He became more thoughtful, and perhaps wiser. He returned to the Shamanistic faith that his father had raised him with, along with the teachings of the Tauren. Under the Tauren's guidance, he grew to believe and to respect nature, with it's creatures and spirits. With returning to his old faith came the will to live, and the will to regrow. He began to train, seeking to reclaim his old strength. Instead of wandering for hours, he would hunt. He wanted to prove that he wasn't broken, and that the heart of a warrior was still beating within his chest. The shamaness watched him grow stronger and stronger. When he told her that he wanted to prove himself, she told him to seek out an old hermit in the Barrens. She didn't explain, but he obeyed and left Mulgore's plains to track him down.

Destiny

When he found him after weeks of searching, he understood why she had sent him to the hermit. Finding him alone was a hard task. He lived alone atop a mountain, and the path was littered with dangers. But unlike what one would expect, he was no withered, old sage or some crazed old loner. He was an aged, honorable warrior of the Burning Blade. A Blademaster. When he approached, the old warrior barely wasted time on introductions. Without asking any questions, the Blademaster handed him a sword and told him to prepare for his first test. With blade in hand, Kag'rin was sent to Ashenvale, to hunt down and kill a Felguard. Reluctantly, he returned to the forests that had caused him so much pain and sorrow. While the woods themselves haunted him with memories of death and destruction, seeing the woods destroyed by the Legion angered him after a long time in Mulgore. Without any hesitation, Kag'rin unceremoniously killed one of the Felguards and took his helmet as proof of the deed, before returning.

Upon his return, the Blademaster announced that his training had begun. Over the course of several months, Kag'rin was introduced to a hard training schedule, composed of hours of meditation, intense physical tests and lessons with the Blademaster in swordsmanship and Shamanism. He steadily improved, beginning to match, if not even surpass, the strength of his youth. But he was still not ready, and his mentor pushed him to go even further. He killed Warlocks and Demons in Ashenvale and Felwood, and he spent days alone in the wilderness to meditate and feel the Elements on his body. After all this intense training, the day finally came when the Blademaster told him he was ready to face him in a one-on-one duel, in the Ring of Valor in Orgrimmar. Awed by the Blademaster's trust in his skills, Kag'rin readily replied that he was ready to face his final challenge.

For a week, the fight was announced. The Horde would soon have a new Blademaster, and excitement was building up. It seemed to Kag'rin as if the Blademaster wanted as much pressure on him as possible. Defiantly, Kag'rin decided that if the Horde wanted a Blademaster, he'd give them one. He couldn't fail them. As he marched into the ring to the cheers of the crowd, Kag'rin held his head high and his back straight, appearing confident despite the turmoil of emotions swirling within him. All of them faded away as his mentor entered the ring opposite of him. And then the fight began. Both of them were swift, their blades clashing violently, screaming so loudly that not even the roar of the crowd could drown it. But after a long, harsh fight, Kag'rin was still unable to beat the older Blademaster, but he had lasted long enough. The Blademaster lifted his blade to the sky and announced that he was no longer an apprentice. As Kag'rin slipped into unconsciousness from his wounds and the tiredness, he heard the crowd cheering his name. Despite being wounded, he felt a greater sense of triumph than he had ever felt before.

The Return to Draenor

Mere months later, Kag'rin was given the chance to prove himself in real battle, with the opening of the Dark Portal. He was among the first to cross the Dark Portal, and although he was prepared for the worst, he was still shocked by the sight that met him. He realized Draenor was nothing like he remembered. He cried out in rage and sorrow, mourning the shattered remains of his home and cursing the Demons, swearing he would do everything in his power to avenge Draenor. Serving at Thrallmar, he quickly became known for his determination in battle and was tasked with performing hit-and-run raids against the Legion and Illidari strongholds littered across the broken world. He accepted the task with vindictive pleasure, gladly bringing his enemies to justice for their atrocities. During these raids he earned the respected of his fellow warriors with his displays of graceful skill and ferocious cunning in battle. But as the war in Outland died down, he was left with nothing but a broken world filled with corpses.

The Cold North

It would not take long before he was called back into action after his return from Outland. With the Scourge activity increasing in Northrend, the Horde gathered it's finest warriors to invade the Lich King's frozen realm. As a Blademaster and a veteran of countless battles, Kag'rin was naturally chosen for the Warsong Offensive, and was dispatched to Northrend along with his brethren in arms. In the meantime he also heard that the Argent Crusade, Ebon Blade and Alliance also had turned their eyes towards Northrend. He was pleased by this news, hoping that the four forces combined would be able to defeat the Scourge once and for all. However, he was sickened when the Horde and Alliance were unable to set aside their differences at the doorsteps of the Lich King, and fought amongst themselves when the greater enemy was waiting for them. Although disgruntled, he nonetheless remained loyal to the Horde and fought for it's cause until the Lich King's death. Then, at last, he could leave war behind and return.

Upon returning to Orgrimmar, Kag'rin was unable to settle with a normal life, and longed for something he couldn't quite define. He began wandering, and found that it seemed to calm him. If he remained in one area for too long he became restless, particularly in cities and towns. He gave up on everything he didn't need to survive, selling most of his belongings and keeping only the things he needed for long travels. After many months of traveling, he eventually found himself seeking the Argent Crusade, realizing that he could fight for a cause again. He left for the Eastern Kingdoms as soon as he could, hoping to find a purpose in the newly liberated city of Hearthglen.

To the Forest Again

Kag'rin served the Argent Crusade for a good while, but his time was cut short by an abrupt command from the Horde. Overlord Kaz'gil Bladereaver, a high ranking commander in the Horde and one of Kag'rin's old officers, called him back to Kalimdor and appointed him to lead his own warband. With reluctance, Kag'rin accepted the task. He returned to Ashenvale and resented the task from the very beginning. Part of him feared that the Warsong would succumb to the temptations of the past, so close to where it happened last, but he was proven wrong. Unfortunately, Demons were not his only concern. To Kag'rin's dismay the Night Elves were as relentless as ever, and their hatred of the Orcs had only grown over the years. Despite this, he tried to reason with them, sending envoys and meeting with leaders of their kind in hopes of establishing some sort of truce but his words fell on deaf ears until a new threat arose from within the forests.

Skills and Abilities

Mastery of the Blade: Kag'rin possesses a skill with swords and other bladed weapons that can only be matched by other seasoned combatants.

Ancestral Rage: Kag'rin draws upon the strength of the ancestors in battle, fueling him with all the strength of a raging fire.

Strength of the Elements: When the Elements oblige, Kag'rin can unleash fearsome flurries, run like the wind and react quick as a coursing river.

Predatory Cunning: Kag'rin's honed senses make him an excellent scout and a master of stealth, capable of moving through vegetation and similar obstacles almost soundlessly.