Ripdar

Information

Player: DuskWolf

Character Full Name: Rip'dar Farwolf

Character In-Game Name: Ripdar

Nickname(s): Rip, Dar, Son of Rip'lah, Rip Pup

Association(s): The Horde, FarWolf Clan

Race: Orc

Class: Raider

Skills and Abilities: Very good at fighting and shooting from wolf back. He is also a skilled cartographer.

Age: 21

Sex: Male

Hair: Black

Eyes: Red

Weight: 350

Height: 6'3"

Appearance

Usual Garments/Armor: He mostly wears hand stitched leather armor topped with a wolf mask. Like most wolf raiders shuns most chest armor. He carries his fathers dual fire burnished hand axes.

Personality

Rip'dar has big boots to fill and he knows it. He does his best to live up to those expectations, however he is still young and impulsive. He tries to be wise and calculating in his decisions but lacks the experience to be truly wise. He respects his elders and is not above asking their advice and counsel, though he reserves the final decision for his actions for himself. He has always felt a connected with the natural world and will often spend long hours or days in the wilderness to help him think and find answers that he is looking for. However, when it is time for action he will rush headlong into battle or danger without looking back. He definitely favors the direct approach.

Alignment: Neutral Good

History

Rip'dar was born into captivity, the human internment camps were a safe but extremely dull place to grow up. His father Rip'lah seemed to be the only orc he knew that had even a shadow of a spark within him. His mother was not as hopeful but like to see it in her mate and child. They were young parents but really, what else was there to do in the internment camps. Rip'dar spent most days running around with the few other orc kids in the camp. They played lots of games but the guards would get edgy if they did anything that looked like "war." Though being orcs, it was their favorite game to play, so they got creative about disguising it. For example, they would play hide and seek but had to not just tag the orc but wrestle him to the ground without getting caught by the guards.

Those first few years all ran together like it was one day, that is until, Thrall. It was so exciting when Thrall and the Warsong clan freed them. Rip'dar ran around the orc warriors excitedly chattering questions, until his father saw that the large orc warriors started to get annoyed and snatched him back. Rip'dar's excitement was still running high as his family walked on to the ships together. His father holding his and his younger sisters hand and his mother holding his baby brother in her arms. His father started finding his shamanistic potential soon after leaving the shores of the eastern kingdoms. He also tried to teach Rip'dar, though he never really felt the connection to the elements the way his father did. Though he did feel some connection with nature and the spirit realm.

Once they were in Kalimdor his father left them to train to become a shaman and join the Horde army. The rest of the family followed behind with the supplies. In their march Rip'dar found an apprenticeship with the wolf wrangler. From the first time he saw the wolf mounts he always felt drawn to them, and his bond only grew when he got to know them. He learned to ride, fight and shoot from wolf back. He also learned how to take care, train, and breed the large riding wolves.

When the Third War was over and his family reached the Orgrimmar settlement they all did their part in helping build it up. Though, most of the time Rip'dar was just watching his younger siblings. Eventually, the family traveled to Thunder Bluff, so that his father could gain further training in shamanism. It was there that Rip'dar turned sixteen and his father thought it was time for him to start his trials. He left Thunder Bluff with only a loincloth to see what the world would test him with. He was tired and hungry most of the time. Eventually, his hunting skills and handmade tools were honed enough that he started to bring down his own meat. It was around that time he noticed a large wolf following him, it took some time and coaxing but eventually they came to an understanding. They figured out how to work as a pack, hunting together. Rip'dar named him Longpaw, for his over sized paws that he had not quite grown into yet, and his tireless lope that he could keep up for days. The wolf must have been a young riding wolf who had wandered away from his pack because it was not hard at all for Rip'dar to train him to bare his weight. Together, they were able to range all over Kalimdor, exploring and testing their limits. When he figured his seventeenth birthday passed he decided it was time to head home. His mother was so mad at him for staying away for so long, but father was just excited to have him back home. He seemed to know that he was alright the whole time he was gone, and that this long trial was all part of the plan. Rip'dar sat down with his family and sketched out his travels on a map. Then told somewhat embellished stories about what he saw and what he did. His father with a knowing smile he gave his son the name Farwolf, in honor of his travels. Though, warned him was not yet an adult. He still had a few more trials to face before he could be a full warrior of the Horde.

It was not long after that things significantly changed again. His father told them that he had a vision and they we going to start a new clan. Looking proudly at his son, he said the name of the Clan would be Farwolf. They gained members and it started to grow slowly. They were nomadic, never staying in one spot for very long. When Rip'dar was eighteen he was given his final trial, to bloody his blade on the foes of the horde. At that time the small clan had a few raiders and Rip'dar was allowed to join them on Longpaw. They were to raid the harpies' nest who were encroaching on horde controlled territory. He cut down two harpies himself, however was raked across the shoulder with their talons. In fact, one of the talons was still stuck in his flesh when he made it back to camp. It made a perfect trophy for his first battle, and it was made into a necklace and used in his ceremony to adulthood.

The next few years were great. Rip'dar could not ask for a better life, riding his wolf, exploring, and fighting for the horde. Though towards the end of this period his father, who was the high wolf of the clan, started acting different. He seemed weighed down and spent a lot of time alone. One night he came to him in his bed, and told him to gather up his little brother and sister they were leaving. They were on their wolves and heading south before dawn. Rip'dar tried to pry out why they were leaving but all he got was that it was for the best for the family and it was best for the clan. His father led them to a cave in the Feralas forest where he said they would be safe. Eventually, his father left again, but not before telling him that the fire spirits were tormenting him and something was very wrong. He then told him to take care of his mother and siblings and he would know when it was safe to return to the clan.

They stayed still for the first time in his life since the internment camps and Rip'dar hated every minute of it. However, he did what he promised and they etched themselves out a life in Feralas. It was a little after the earthquakes, floods and sundering that Rip'dar woke in the middle of the night and knew something was wrong. Telling his mother that he had to go, he mounted Longpaw and head out to find his father. He was deep into the barrens and was amazed to find all the changes and destruction. It was then he saw the smoke rising from Camp Taurjo. Longpaw sprinted to the camp but by the time they had got there the carnage and fighting was long over. Scanning the area a reddish-orange gleam caught his eye. Moving towards it he saw his father's waraxe buried deep in an alliance footmen. With another glance he found the other still gripped in the hand of a very bloody and broken orc. It still took a few more moments until he put all the pieces together. Perhaps it took so long because it was just something he could not accept. The dead and broken orc was his father. He had a warriors death taking many foes with him in the end. He gathered his father up on his wolf and headed back to Feralas. Rip'dar and his family gave him a proper warriors funeral allowing his spirit to be freed into the afterlife. After his morning period was over Rip'dar knew it was time, and took up his father's axes. He told his mother he needed to rejoin the clan. His mother was tired of moving around, so decided to keep his younger siblings in Feralas with her. Though, both his brother and sister made promises to join him when they were old enough. Rip'dar left the forest on his wolf, to find whatever the spirits had in store for him.