I was born Marcus Destos Aurelias. Son to Mathias Aurelias, chief of the Wolf clan. I am the 5th generation in line of leading the Wolf clan. We are fighters. Even in this world where wizards number in the many, we devote ourselves to the sword. We live and die by the sword. For years our people have gone against the ways of the world. Where wizardry prevails. It is considered weak to resort to such methods. We believe in the strength of arms and the skills of battle. We look down upon those that resort to such “cowardly” methods. That is why my clan, my village has not and will never open up to the world. The other towns with their wizard rulers. They are viewed as beneath us. We are a proud race.
That is until me. I was born with the most dangerous quality a human of my village in this world can be born with. Curiosity. I was curious to the ways of magic. I read a lot about it growing up. Although my people only wrote of how magic was for the weak, i wanted to know why. Why was it bad? Why was it shunned by my people? So i learned and read as much as i could growing up. I could not learn much, but what i did learn told me that there was a vast energy in our world that wizards had learned to untap and use to their will. I wanted to learn to do that.
My dreams to learn magic were quashed. As soon as i reached the age of 13, my training began. My training to be a fighter. A fighter and the future leader of our people. I did not have time to learn more about magic. There my dream ended. I lived the next few years as a fighter. Nothing more and nothing less. Day after day i was trained. Perfecting my skills with a sword. Time moved fast in those years. My strength grew each day, my skills with the sword were considerable. This was my life until i reached the age of 16. That was when things changed.
We were attacked by Orcs. This was a surprise as they were never so bold to attack us in the wild, much less in our own village. We were able to hold them off at first. Orcs were never a threat. They were weak. We held of wave after wave. But they just kept coming… and coming… and coming… For everyone Orc that fell 5 more replaced it. Soon we were overwhelmed. We started evacuating as fast as we could. The men, veterans in battle, held of the Orcs as best they could. But it was clear that they would not be able to hold the enemy for long. My village was doomed.
I ran with the others. As i was still young i was charged with protecting the elderly, women and children, as were others my age. We were to lead them to a cave where the men could fall back and hold the entrance from attacks. It was a big cave and able to hold all the people of my village. There was only one entrance so it was a perfect defensible spot. We had stored supplies there if our village ever fell. Which was happening now. I led the others to the cave. The last i saw of the battle was my father rallying the men of the clan to him. That was the last i ever saw of him.
We made it to the cave within the hour and started setting up a defensible position so that we could better hold of the attack that we knew was going to come and also for the wounded that would arrive. As soon as everything was ready, we got into position with ranged weapons and waited. But the attack never came. Soon it was night and our hopes grew as we thought that the men of our clan had triumphed as the enemy did appear. We waited.
As Dawn approached, none of the men came. Neither did the enemy. But no survivors either. I left the cave to scout out the situation in our village. Maybe the men were still holding the enemy at bay. I prayed to Kord that was the truth. When i arrived at the village, I fell to my knees. All dead. They were all dead. Not a single man alive. There were many more dead Orcs but they had killed all the men, all the brave men of the Wolf clan. It looked as though that was all they wanted to do. Kill the men. They did not ravage the buildings nor did they loot the village. They did not come after the women and children either. The Orcs killed all the men.
I went back to the cave, weak in the knees. I told the others about the situation. It was… strange. Why? Till this day I do not know why the Orcs attacked or what their intentions were. But we were able to rebuild what was left. We buried all the brave men and sang praises of their names to Kord. They had all died a heroes death. Some months passed and we were able to carry on as best we could. I was made the chief by right of my family.
I fear that they may return again. The foul Orcs may return to ravage my village again. But this time, we might not be able to stop them. We need to be stronger. I need to be stronger. I know that we cannot rely on strength of arms alone. We need a new power. We need magic. Knowing this, i have left my village in hopes to learn as much as i can about the arcane arts. I have left in charge of the village my trusted friend Maximus. Until the day i return, he is in charge.
We are more vigilant now. We constantly survey our surroundings. We have scouts everywhere. If ever the orcs come again, we will have sufficient notice. I just hope that i will be able to have enough power by then to defend my village. My home. I have joined up with a dwarf that runs a caravan for hire. I am to be a guard. It is a small job but it is a good place to start. We would travel a lot and i need to learn as much as i can. I just hope that i will be in time to save my village this time.
I know that our people looks down upon magic. But if i am able to stop the coming Orcs with the power of the arcane, maybe they will be more open to accept it. Maybe there is a way to combine the two to create a fighter that also has the power to wield the arcane. This would be able to make my people better, stronger. But for now i can only hope. I have even learned Orcish so that i may be able to question them when i see them. So that i may curse at them in their own tongues as i kill them.
I will not let my people perish. I will protect them. As their chief. As their leader. But until then, i will have to be stronger. I will…
