Details

Personality

Aesthetic

Lore

Backstory

Oryx, through no fault of his own, was an accidental birth to a couple with an already tragic marriage. His father, a rough-around-the-edges half-elf weaponsmith named Renne, and his mother, a quiet and wistful firbolg bar maiden named Iyana, had quickly learned that running away to marry as teenagers wasn’t all that it was cracked up to be. Amongst the constant arguments and spats, Iyana had sought out an affair with a roguish tiefling who had been frequenting the bar she worked at in an attempt to pursue her. One night of their tryst resulted in Iyana falling pregnant, and, fearing the worst, Iyana made sure to bed her husband so that when the pregnancy started to show, Renne would have no doubt in his mind that the child was his. For a while, Iyana thought all would be well - Renne seemed intent to give a decent life to their unborn child, slowly turning over a new leaf, and Iyana was hopeful that their history of trouble might be over and they would face less hardships with a child to raise. That might have been true, if it wasn’t for the child being born a tiefling. Tiefling blood is a funny thing, for it’s nearly impossible for a child with a tiefling parent to not carry any physical traits of the species. Given that neither Renne nor Iyana had tiefling ancestry, Renne knew instantly that the child was not his. Anything that might’ve been salvaged of their marriage was shattered in that instant, with Renne immediately packing up to leave and Iyana, distraught and unable to bear raising the product of her shame for more than a few years, sent Oryx to be raised by her only living relative, her older brother Vyrne. Oryx, at this point, was a toddler who only knew the shadow of affection from his mother, and Vyrne was a retired woodworker in a small village who agreed to raise the child out of kindness, but had no experience in the matter, so their relationship was a difficult one at first. Vyrne did what he could, and Oryx was grateful, though he still struggled to quell the blossom of unrest that came from feeling like his parents hated him. This grew into a healthy dose of teenage angst, with Oryx lashing out in bursts of anger that came with adolescence, as well as his troubled upbringing, with a healthy dose of gender troubles to top it all off. Vyrne, taking note of all this, decided to set Oryx up with a mentorship, hopeful that giving the youngster an outlet would help him sort the troubles in his head. Under the tutelage of a gruff human ranger named Arnama, Vyrne had been right. Oryx learned to apply himself to a few various battle and hunting skills, while having someone to talk to helped him feel a little less alone. He had also managed to befriend and train a barn owl hatchling who he named Ghost, who served as a hunting companion as well as a friend. It was also during this time that Oryx met Venin, a lizardfolk child who was undergoing a similar tutelage, and it didn’t take long for the two of them to form a tight bond. Oryx and Venin grew into their teens together, being taught well by their respective mentors, and causing various mischief when not. It wasn’t long before the duo was drafted into a sort of coming-of-age test, a tradition of the town of Kessen in which they were both raised. After a set amount of training, they were to embark on a journey to a nearby crypt to retrieve an artifact called the Ancient Flame, and return to the village alive and with the fire intact. What had initially been a well-meaning test of strength issued by the leaders of the village had taken a turn for the worst, though, when the crypt had been taken over by a curse, several of the Kessen villagers slain by the undead lord who had come to life, Oryx and Venin having to face much worse than a few booby traps to accomplish their goal. Despite all this, the duo was victorious, and upon their return to the village, the two were drafted by masked strangers who had heard of their success and offered them enrollment in a prestigious school for young adventurers. With nothing to lose, Oryx and Venin accepted, taking the first small step into the larger world of their many escapades and their promising, yet unknown future.

Personality

Oryx, while a bit rebellious and standoffish at first, has a good heart deep down and strives to do the right thing most of the time. Due to not being told much about his family and only having vague memories of his mother only barely paying attention to him, Oryx has a lot of misguided notions about where he came from. His uncle only ever told him that he was the product of an affair, making Oryx think his parents didn’t care about him and is the source of a lot of his angst. A part of him longs to meet one of his parents someday, possibly even his biological father if he can find out more about him, but another part of him is fearful of how he might react if he ever does. A good chunk of his strive to do good deeds stems from this - he wants to be a self-made man who earns respect despite his parents thinking him not worth their time. Though it would take a lot for him to admit it, more than that he just wants to be someone his parents might be proud of. Oryx is often more reckless than not, action first and plans later, because he believes that’s how “heroes” achieve their success. That being said, he will usually listen to his trusted companions if they have things to chip in - he knows their company and advice are invaluable, and probably more reliable. He is also fiercely loyal, figuring that anyone who can see past his bravado and accept him for who he truly is are worthy of respect and are worth defending at any cost.