Fenn

Personality: Fenn has had a lot of responsibility conferred to her since she was young. It has always been known that she would one day lead her people, which makes her somewhat arrogant. She is more intelligent than the orcs she grew up with, which has led to a split response where some find her pretentious and others are in awe of her. Though she can be stuck up, she also knows when it is time to lead, and she will always be the first to run into a fray or stand in front of someone weaker than herself to protect them. Her plan is to lead from the front lines, always taking on as much or more danger as those she directs. She feels like she doesn’t have time for friends, and hasn’t had many individuals like her to form bonds within her life.

History: Fenn’s mother Murbol the Mighty is the current leader of the Dune Bear Tribe, a group of orcs who live in the sandstorm torn deserts of Dorvair. They pride themselves on their resiliency in such conditions and are a nomadic group who have spent their whole lives in easily deconstructed tent camps. They have great knowledge of oases and other gathering spots where they can hunt game to feed their tribe. The tribe members are devoted followers of Gruumsh and will always choose to fight in his glory if the situation presents itself. Their leaders have been blessed through generations with whisperings of Gruumsh in their dreams once they take power, which often feature their symbol, a mythical sand bear for which they named their tribe.

As the firstborn child of the previous leader, Varbuk Slasher (and his warrior bride Bula), Murbol went on a quest to learn the ways of the people of Dorvair and become a stronger leader, knowing that more trying battles were ahead. In her time away she joined bands of mercenaries to fight in the many civil wars of Dorvair. Her time learning and fighting came to an end after a tryst with a fellow mercenary elf from which she fell pregnant. She did not inform him of her pregnancy or reveal his identity but bragged of her conquest to other orcs.

Some did not believe her until her child was born, but Fenn clearly has a more elf-like build than many half-orcs and everyone was convinced as she grew older, overall praising her for her intelligence that would benefit the tribe. Some are jealous or distrusting of a half-orc as the future leader, and it will be up to Fenn to prove herself to them.

Her tribe taught her everything they knew, which was mostly fighting, and bequeathed her a battleaxe with which to destroy her enemies, which they named Claw. She learned drumming from her cousin Yatur, who was her closest companion throughout her childhood, and has a natural talent for rhythmic stomp dancing which helps her build her thirst for battle. Though there weren’t many animals around that were not food, Fenn felt a strong connection to them from childhood, especially reptiles including lizards and snakes that made their home in the desert.

She follows Gruumsh, though she is less devoted than the orcs. However, she believes unequivocally in the sand bear, as she claims to have seen it in the dunes. She wants to one day meet and battle the bear to first blood so she can prove her strength to her people. Her mother taught her to speak Draconic, which she had learned in her travels as a mercenary. Fenn is not incredibly proficient at the language, but is a quick learner and is confident that she will easily improve her vocabulary once she has more people to speak to.

It was decided that Fenn would go on an adventuring quest much like her mother, but that she would stay away for longer to learn more and bring even more glory to their tribe. They informed her that she should find a mate, but not get with child at least until she was ready to return. They hope that she will find another half-orc or even a human who would accept life with the tribe.

With the guidance of her mother, who had met many adventurers, Fenn chose to become a Barbarian so she could be strong on the field of battle. Her people were always slightly worried about her for being smaller and slighter than them, so they wanted her to be as powerful as possible. She began her training with her tribe, and planned to pledge herself to the path of the Berserker because that was all Murbol knew of being a Barbarian.

A half-orc leader named Duram Fleet (named for his Elk totem) from an orc tribe allied with the Dune Bear visited them after hearing of Fenn and informed her of the way of the Totem Barbarian. When she had trained enough to choose her path, she of course chose the bear as her first totem. Her people made her a bear claw adornment to wear to go along with the tribal tattoos she had been steadily receiving from the age of 10. The bottoms of her feet became thick like a bear’s, so she does not need to wear shoes. She does not yet have any battle scars, but her people hope that the tattoos will allow her to look fierce until she has some healed wounds to show.

Once she committed to the bear totem and reached the age of maturity for half-orcs, she insisted on striking out on her own. All she knows of other races comes from the stories her mother has told her, but she feels confident that she will be able to make a name for herself. She doesn’t care much for friends, but knows the value of working together with groups of people. She is law-abiding to what she believes is right and the way she was raised, but the political situation is much more nuanced than she has been led to believe, so she has a lot of learning to do. She hopes to be granted a title surname like her mother and grandfather.

Skills and Proficiencies:

Darkvision
Half-orc skills: intimidation | Barbarian skills: animal handling, perception | Background skills: athletics, survival | Saving Throws: strength, constitution
Relentless Endurance: once per long rest, choose to drop to 1 hit point instead of being knocked unconscious
Savage Attacks: add an extra die of damage to critical hits
Languages: Common, Orc, Draconic (from background), attempting to learn Elvish during campaign
Armor: light, medium, shields | Weapons: simple, martial | Tools: drums (from background)
Barbarian Rage: 3 per long rest (activate as a bonus action, lasts 1 min). Features: advantage on STR checks and saving throws; when making a STR based melee weapon attack, gain rage damage (+2); resistance to all damage except psychic (bear totem). Cannot cast or concentrate on spells while raging.
Unarmored Defense:  when you are not wearing armor your AC equals 10 + DEX mod + CON mod. Can be used with a shield.
Reckless Attack: when you attack you can do so with advantage (STR attacks), but all attacks against you have advantage until your next turn.
Danger Sense: advantage on DEX saving throws against effects you can see
Proficient Forager: can forage 2x as much food and water as usual when in wilderness (from background)

Can Cast the Following Spells:

Speak With Animals (1)
Casting Time: 10 min ritual | Range: Self | Components: V S | Duration: 10 minutes
You gain the ability to comprehend and verbally communicate with beasts for the duration. The knowledge and awareness of many beasts is limited by their intelligence, but at minimum, beasts can give you information about nearby locations and monsters, including whatever they can perceive or have perceived within the past day. You might be able to persuade a beast to perform a small favor for you, at the GM’s discretion.

Beast Sense (2)
Casting Time: 10 min ritual | Range: Touch | Components: S | Duration: Concentration, 1 hour
You touch a willing beast. For the duration of the spell, you can use your action to see through the beast’s eyes and hear what it hears, and continue to do so until you use your action to return to your normal senses.

Miscellaneous stuff:
Initial rolled stats: STR 16, DEX 15, CON 17, INT 13, WIS 11, CHA 13
HP rolls by level: 1-10, 2-10, 3-5
Initial money roll: 60 GP + 10 GP from background

Items:
Battleaxe - 10 GP
War Pick - 5 GP
Dagger - 2 GP
Shield - 10 GP
Explorer’s Pack - 10 GP
Tent - 2 GP
Book (Elvish Dictionary) - 25 GP
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64 GP spent
6 GP remaining