Gûndza

✿ She/her

✿ Orc

✿ Fighter; Champion

✿ D&D NPC

        She was always independent. She always knew what she wanted. While other orcs of her clan were followers, she was not. The clan she was born to was overpowered by a neighboring clan in a territorial dispute; the survivors of the skirmishes absorbed into the lowest rung of the new social hierarchy. She knew she was seen as the bottom of the barrel and that if she complied with this role then it would be true. The social role itself did not matter to her but she would not abide by being disrespected. She resisted authority, questioned when she maybe shouldn't have, fought those challenged her ideas. She shouldn't have survived so long with how her unbreakable pride got her into trouble, the raised nail gets hammered down and all that, but somehow she was always able to back up her backtalk with strength and intelligence. Eventually her unflinching personality and terrifying prowess earned her recognition among her clansfolk. As she grew up into one of the finest warriors of the clan, her fate seemed set. She was on a path to become the next clan leader.
      That is to say, if she lived to see the day. It was amidst chaos that Gûndza first encountered the eccentric wood elf, Ambris. Her orc scouting party already fallen before the enemy, she was facing off against a great monstrosity in the deep woods alone. When it looked like this would be her last battle, and she wasn't going down easy, a strange elf made himself known on the scene to assist her against felling the creature. Adrenaline subsiding, Gûndza began to succumb to her mortal wounds before she could wonder too deeply why a stranger, an elf of all beings, had helped her. Her next memory was waking up in an improvised shelter, her wounds dressed and the smell of that strange elf about the litter. He returned, injured himself, to help her recover and, as she healed, the two regarded each other with a subtle curiosity as they navigated this strange relationship. Elves and orcs are very much mortal enemies in this world but there was a silent truce between them. He seemed curious about her... interested… almost like... admiration?
        Before the two of them finished healing, they were discovered by another orc scouting party from her clan that smelled vile elf on Gûndza and once again the pair found themselves cornered and having to protect each other in combat. Sometime after this adrenaline-fueled violence... sudden passions took hold of the pair... and... welll... Oops. Gûndza always took what she wanted and she wasn't feeling so picky about him being an elf that hot afternoon. She had previously assumed she'd just kill the elf in a fair combat after they both healed and then return to her clan with the glory of her kill but she surprised both of them when she firmly decided to continue traveling with him instead. It wasn't too long before their first child, Gorelei, was born and they realized whatever this relationship between them was they wanted it to continue. Knowing neither elves nor orcs would accept the family they were beginning to build, Ambris and Gûndza committed to loving each other with nature alone as their witness.

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      Gûndza, a large bluish-green orc built out of layers of dense bone, muscle and fat, is Gorelei's imposing mother. Her iris are a warm brown and her sclera are a brown so dark they look black. Her hair, once totally black, has suddenly started growing grey to the effect of a distinct and sharp ombre. She tends to tie it back, out of her face, in the form of a bun, ponytail or braid. Her large tusks are carved into serrated blades, jutting out from a maw full of pointed, crooked teeth. She has a small, piggish nose and porcine ears. Depending on the day, she may layer with simple linen tunics, fur hand-skinned from large animals and leather armor. Wrinkles, stretch-marks, tattoos and scars detail her body and tell a story of a long, complicated life.
      Well, a long life for an orc... and she's near the end of hers. She's bore and raised seven half-orc, half-elf children with Ambris. She presents a stern, pragmatic parenting style but she knows she's gone soft. Before she had her half-elven children, she only ever looked out for herself. Now she has a family she loves deeply and will do anything to see that they survive.