Thorn the Tribeless

Thorn was raised in a tribe of mixed orcs and half orcs up in the mountains but didn't generally fit in with his clan, being somewhat scrawny when compared with most orcs. He discovered an aptitude for archery and survival skills, and spent as little time amongst his tribe as he could. During a raid on a human town, Thorn saved a human from being killed by his chieftan, and was swiftly banished from his tribe. 

With no home and no connections, Thorn wandered the wilds for several months before stumbling across a human city to the South. Donning a heavy cloak to conceal his race and it's signature tusks and horns, he weaseled his way into the mercenary business and took jobs as a livelihood. On his various missions, he continued to build up his mercenary skillset, specializing in more stealthy and finesse based operations and trying to stay out of direct combat. He was rewarded on one job with a magical amulet which granted the wearer pyrokenesis, and he spent a great deal of time perfecting his fire manipulation.

On one particular job to clear ruins of a group of undead, Thorn ran across a builder scavenging for choice items in a crumbling tower named Ares. The two cleared the threat together and became fast friends, and the two continued to work together on mercenary work and live out of Ares's forge as a duo.

At the start of the adventure Thorn and Ares heard about a particularly lucrative job requested by nearby royalty to clear out one of the kingdom's mines of some group of creatures that had taken over. They set out on the several day's travel to the kingdom of Queen Kayla and met up with the other prospective adventurers. They were informed of their mission, to clear out the kingdom's gold mine of a tribe of orcs. Thorn stopped to consider, given the very real possibility that it would be his old tribe, but ultimately decided to go through with it anyways. The group was seperated into a few different teams. Thorn and Ares were paired up with seven others. 

The new team went back to where they were allowed to stay the night, and an elf among their group initiated introductions. first to speak up was Fern, an elvish ranger with a cloak sewn out of living moss, followed by Krylda, an ice fairy who could shapeshift into a snow leopard. Thirdly was Persephone, a half nymph-half elf healer. Of particular interest was a half elf named Hetecate, a psychic mage with a personal vendetta against orcs, a feature he noted warily. Ares introduced himself next, followed by a fairy named Weather who controlled exactly what her name implied. Next was an elf named Alyra, skilled in diplomacy and also knives. Second to last was Lee, an elvish vampire. Thorn introduced himself last as Ares's friend, having gotten the hint from Hetecate that he probably shouldn't reveal his true nature.

The group set out the following day to the mine, and Thorn's suspicions were confirmed of the tribe being his own. He revealed himself to the group, and his new friends barely managed to placate Hetecate long enough for her not to kill him on sight of his horns. They made their way into the mine, making quick work of the first few guards before stumbling into the main chamber of nearly two hundred orcs. Thorn challenged the chieftan, Kroll, to a duel for his place back in the tribe, and although he didn't exactly succeed or fail, the effort alone impressed Kroll and he agreed to at least talk to the party. They discovered that the Kroll's chieftess, Holga, had been captured by a kingdom neighboring Queen Kayla's led by Queen Elana. The two kingdoms had a fierce rivalry which was further increased when Kayla's kingdom discovered their gold mine and became more prosperous than Elana's, so Queen Elana forced Kroll's tribe to occupy the mine and halt gold production by holding Holga for ransom. The party agreed to free her under the condition that they would leave the mine immediately after her safe return, terms that the tribe agreed to.

The party set out from the mine to the neighboring kingdom. Along the way they were allowed to stay the night in a farm in trade for helping out around the property, and with a combination of physical repairs and magical assistance they ended up working well as a team to get the work done. They initiated a rescue mission once they'd reached the main capital of the kingdom, a few of the party members being arrested to get inside the prison. They successfully completed their rescue mission, accidentally starting a fight and destroying some of the castle along the way. They managed to bring Holga safely back to her tribe and Thorn was granted his place back in the tribe, which he refused, having really just wanted to prove that he was worthy to himself. The party returned to Queen Kayla and were rewarded for finishing their mission and discovering the plot against the kingdom from Queen Elana. Thorn settled down in the capital with the reward money.