Arkoa, the Deathless

Introduction:

Arkoa is a Goliath Barbarian on the path of the Berzerker. He was/is one of the original party members. He was recruited as part of the Carnival as a pit fighter with and is famous among patrons of the carnival for easily defeating five men at once in non-lethal combat.

Physical Description:

Arkoa is a 7'8" Goliath with pale skin that has a slight grey tinge to it and he his eyes are the green of early spring leaves. He keeps his head, and the rest of his body for that matter, shaved clean so he can show his many scars. He has been described as being "a mountain of muscles with enough scars to shame a legion. (S1)" Arkoa wears very little in the way of clothing, both to unencumber his movements and vison, and because it became habit after growing up fighting for sport. Though he regularly won his fights, his losses earned him new scars, which he cherished as life lessons on moments to duck or parry, or when to not hesitate. What he does wear is a battle skirt made of studdrd leather strips, a pair of boots, and

Life before the adventure:

Arkoa was sold by his parents to a gladiator slaver by the name of Mirtelus and was raised into the greatest fighter that was owned by Mirtelus.
Among the pit fighters that Mirtelus owned was one named Grimlow, another Goliath who was bought as a baby. The two became fast friends, as they were the only ones who could give the other a decent challenge in training. Mirtelus never allowed them to fight each other in in the actual arena since they were his best two slaves, despite the threats to his life the other gladiator masters delivered to him. By the time Arkoa and Grimlow had fully grown and were defeating multiple enemies in combat, Mirtelus had had multiple bones broken as well as his nose several times, but still he refused to force them to fight each other, which would end his monopoly in the arenas.
Arkoa's last fight in an arena as a slave was one that Grimlow had arranged for a handsome cut of the gambling profits. The two were set agaimst each other, and the fight was absolutely brutal. Arkoa had managed to gouge one of Grimlow's eyes with his hand, but Grimlow struck the fatal blow, and Arkoa had been killed by the closest friend he ever had.
He awoke in the corpse pit of the arena, with his chest torn open and a hooded figure standing over him. This was all he could see before he passed out again. When he woke the second time, the figure was gone, his chest was healed, and there was a piece of parchment laid next to him. Since he had never learned to read, he took the note with him and escaped the city. In the haze of being brought back from the dead and the excitememt of being freed from the arenas, he didn't keep track of how he escaped, but he managed to catch up with the roaming carnival that had been in the city over the previous week's end.

Current life:
When he convinced Bartoma to let him be an attraction in the fighting rings of the carnival, he was given some weapons of choice: a battle axe, two hand axes, and a great axe, all of which had been upscaled to his proportions.
He then traveled in the rear of the caravan alongside Durn, Arturu, Dularay Sharshot, and Enoch 'Samuel' Wallscaler. On the fateful night that Durn was taken, Arkoa had charged after the poor musician, and led the party when they decided to chase after him. Since then, his relationship with the three other party members has grown into something of comradery in arms. Never before had he had allies to fight with, much less others who chose to be at his side and face down death with him. His normally cold exterior has changed into a more welcoming one. He has shared many things about his past with his new comrades, and feels their friendship growing stronger whenever he does. When he compares the relationship between the party and Grimlow, he acknowledges that he and Grimlow had become friend from mutual need for self-improvement and for someone else to share the pains of battle with, though they were never allowed to fight alongside each other. Theirs was distant but trusting in a way that only the two warrior spirits could trust. The trust he has with Enoch, Dularay, and Arturu is much deeper. Not only do they share their scrapes and scars of battle, but their emotional well-being. Arkoa realizes that that small key difference is what allows him to charge into battle without checking over his shoulder for his allies shooting into his back.
Arkoa has since saved his allies from death many times, as they have saved his. One such battle was against the two Abominable Yeti that the party had stumbled upon while searching for Durn after Brom Strongwind had possessed him. Arkoa charged one of the beasts, and his friends took the other. Just as the Yeti were about to defeat them all, Arkoa overcame the pain of that very long day, and pushed himself too far by beheading one Yeti and then the other on the movement of the follow-through of his swing. After the beasts were dead, he collapsed and didnt wake until long into the next morning. Arkoa was greeted when he woke by Enoch, having taken the shape of a Rhinoceros, nuzzling him and then shifting back to show the concern on his face. Arkoa's first thought was for the safety of his friends, forgoeing the need to brag about how he had killed the two previous inhabitants of the cave the party had rested in.
In the battle of Twin Mills, Arkoa was severely injured in the blast caused by a cultist of Ramaenuous calling upon the power of his god to destroy himself and his enemies. Arkoa (with the aid of saint Cornelius the 32nd) was able to barely escape the blast while carrying Enoch.
He was unfortunately mortally wounded by a piece of shrapnel from the cultists' weapons that had been blessed with the Power proper of Ramaenuous. Arturu removed the shrapnel with his bare hands, earning him a similar injury. When healing attempts were made, the wound only expanded and grew much worse as soon as the healing magic was released. Laridas, in his wisdom, was able to use leather and scales from the undead Naxhyrryan to counteract the power of the enemy Elder dragon directly.
Arkoa now must wear the scale and harness over his chest always or else be taken by Ramaenuous's burning Power again. The only way to end this misery is to defeat Ramaenuous and destroy his Power.

Relationships:

Arturu
Dularay Sharshot
Enoch Wallscaler
Bartoma

Wargear: