Gorklez

Gorklez is a member of the party.

## Backstory

From the land of Llab’Tekasb Yeknod, comes a green orc that aspires to be a great cook of his own recipes. This orc’s name is Gorklez; though he often refers to himself as Gorklez The Orclez. Gorklez comes from the Th’Guoht tribe from the Ryhpez Fields. The Ryhpez Fields is located in the middle of the Forest of Lacismihw.

Within the Ryhpez Fields lie many orc camps, but three main tribes. The red orcs of the Th’Gin, the brown orcs of the Alapmi, and the green orcs of the Th’Guoht. These tribes don’t always see eye to eye. Not only do they have different ideals, but they are also very territorial when they hunt.

The clan of Th’Guoht spend most of their day hunting and gathering food and materials from the Forest of Lacismihw. When the sun goes down, they light a fire, and the sound of tribal drums fills the camp. With the fire, comes light and the smell of food. With the drums, comes the socializing, partying, and brawl pits.

During the day, Gorklez helps hunt within the forest. At night, Gorklez is most commonly found cooking food with two other orcs: Gorb and Flagk. The three of them use the animal scraps (such as toes, tongues, and tails) to make sides for the main meal. These sides can also be used as snacks and hunting rations during the day. This is to ensure that all parts of the animal are used. You will also see Gorklez use the ears of goblins as jerky, or even fry them in boiling animal grease to give them a crisp crunch.

One day, Gorklez had started to get curious about the types of creatures beyond the forest, and the food that could possibly be made. When he brought this up to Gorb and Flagk, he got mixed answers. Gorb doesn’t think that there is anything past the forest, and Flagk thinks that the creatures past the forest must be very dangerous because “Orcs don’t go that far, and orcs are strongest there is. So creatures must be big bads.”

Armed with this information, on the following day, Gorklez grabs extra hunting rations, and nervously, decides not to go back to camp that night. Instead, he continues trekking Southward through the forest, where his main source of resistance was the wildlife. After a grueling week, for what seemed like an eternity, Gorklez breaks the treeline, and encounters the base of the Rednow Mountains, where he chooses to set up camp for the night.

The following day, Gorklez wakes up to three perplexed dwarves staring at him, as they have never seen a green orc before. They offer to show him the way to their mining village, and he agrees. The dwarves take him through the tunnels, which cuts the travel time in half. Four days in, they come across a Drider and two giant spiders, which the four of them take care of. After grabbing what legs he can, they continue the trip, which takes an additional three days.

Upon entering Tac Village, not only is Gorklez a strange sight to the dwarves, but the dwarves are also a strange sight to Gorklez. Gorklez had never seen a “bearded goblin” before, let alone so many. Likewise, the dwarves had never seen a green orc before, and most orcs they’ve encountered have been hostile. So to see one that’s green and “docile” is weird for them. Though, because he helped defeat the drider and spiders, along with preparing meals for the dwarves, the leader of the village, Grabthar Bunderklang, wearily allowed Gorklez to stay for a few days.

Within those three days, a travelling High Elf musician named Stanberry Bush stopped by, and performed for a night. The lyrics to his songs resonated within Gorklez, and filled him with the inspiration and passion to follow his goals. After Stanberry’s performance, Gorklez went up to him and thanked him for the inspiration. In response, Stanberry signed and handed Gorklez a lyric book and told him, “Whenever you start doubting yourself, or start doubting your journey, just give this a look, and hopefully it’ll fill you with the determination to keep going.” Confused by the significance of the leather-bound object, Gorklez bags it, proud that he has something to remind him of his newfound idol.

The following day, before his departure, Gorklez had gotten stopped by Grabthar, and was gifted a potted Turmeric plant. After Grabthar explained what it was, it’s uses, and how to care for it, Gorklez thanked him, and decided to name it Spicy Yellow.

The trip down to the town of Suotipidneres was quite uneventful, and lasted about a week and a half. Upon entering the town of Suotipidneres, Gorklez was met with a bustling marketplace with many different races. Many people of different heights, sizes, and skin tones. Though the fact that there were many “off red” humanoids of different sizes (dwarf, elf, human, gnome) struck him as odd. But not as much as seeing other green orcs of a darker hue than his clan. All of this seemed to overwhelm Gorklez, as he stood there looking lost, his jaw dropped to the floor. But a bird man, a kenku named Makhaayad, helped him gather his bearings, and learn the town. Makhaayad owns the Losyl tavern chain spread across the map. After a couple days Gorklez had gotten a job cooking for Makhaayad’s tavern. Gorklez had also asked the darker green orcs about where they were from, and they had told him that they were from the land of K’cattawerks, and they got here on the ship Tnemhsinup.

The thought of oceanic travel had never crossed Gorklez’s mind. But now that it has, it has intrigued him. The following night, Gorklez went down to the Dedniw G’Nol port where five ships were docked. The Tnemhsinup, The Tauqmuk, The Delbasid, The Yltcaxe, and The Suomehpsalb. Not being able to read, Gorklez had gotten on The Suomehpsalb instead of The Tnemhsinup, and the ship had set sail before he had realized.

The Suomehpsalb is an elven trade ship originating from Clandenbury. It takes resources to the islands South of Clandenbury, and will occasionally deliver to the Kamaal Islands. As Gorklez wasn't on their roster when they set off, they let him ride until their next stop, which happened to be Briham.