Moorgash

Moorgash by Sean Loco O' Donnell at DeviantArt

## Personality

Started out as the usual, ferocious orc with leadership ability. Brutal and uncompromising. Daring, fearless, lethal. Can have a murderous temper.
However, even when still young, he also showed some unusual traits. Some claim that he only started to change after he captured Falco Adler and was exposed to his influence.

But this is not entirely true. Even when he was still a boy, participating in Bjorgolf ’s invasion in Midgard, he was known for wandering in fascination through the ruins of the outer ring of Heimdall, secretly admiring the stonework. His decision not to kill the dwarf renegade Arvik , but to use him for crafting and designing Utgard, also predates Falco’s enslavement.

However, it is true that his attitude towards slaves and human slaves and children in particular started to change after he captured Falco. The more he used Falco for all kinds of dangerous and hard jobs, the more he started to like him until he really was even more than just a beloved pet. It is suspected that his ultimate aim was even to make the boy a member of the tribe, but that never happened as Falco eventually escaped the city.

Together with his attitude towards Falco, also his attitude to slaves in general changed. He made sure they received enough food and shelter to give them at least a chance to survive. That doesn’t sound like much, but for an orc, it’s a big deal.
He is also very innovative, making use of every technique and specialist he can lay his hands on, such as the surviving dwarfs of the former colony and Arvik the traitor.

But even despite these more humane and innovative traits, Moorgash remains a very dangerous, aggressive orc with one clear goal: uniting Jotunheim and conquering Midgard and the rest of the world. This makes him all the more dangerous, as he is also a very cunning strategist. His surprise attack on the Tarquinian Colonies is just one example of this.

## Short Personal History

* 1264 AoR : February 2nd. Born out of the union between Ashrock and Burla in the wandering tribe of the “Fangs of Fenrir ”, somewhere far in the south of Jotunheim, close to realm of the Amazons.
* 1272 AoR : Ashrock seizes power in his tribe by killing the current warlord. Ashrock starts raiding both the Amazon and Solagi territory.
* 1275 AoR : Ashrock joins up with the growing Horde of Bjorgolf the Disembowler.
* 1276 AoR : Bjorgolf’s Horde pillages and destroys a province of the Amazons.
* 1277 AoR : The Horde moves north, through Jotunheim towards Vinland and Midgard. It attracts or conquers ever more tribes and clans of orcs and goblins. Ashrock becomes one of Bjorgolf’s most important captains. His young son tries to stay close to his father to learn every trick there is.
* 1278 AoR : The Horde ransacks settlements in Vinland, but the main force soon sets off for Bifrost Pass.
* 1279 AoR : The Horde invades Midgard. Heimdall is besieged and the outer walls broken through. The second defensive wall holds however. Moorgash joins the fighting. He is the only one who dares to enter a temple dedicated to warding off the powers of Loki and his children. He kills the priests and steals the treasures. Among them, a silver buckle in the shape of Jormungand, the seadragon. This feat gains him a reputation of courage and bold recklessness with his fellow orcs. Bjorgolf splits his horde, leaving a part behind to continue the siege, while leading the largest force deeper into Midgard and the realm of Hendeby. Several settlements and smaller cities are destroyed. His grand invasion comes to an abrupt halt when the Horde meets the combined, huge army of the High King of Midgard: Olaf II Garadson . In a ferocious battle in South Hendeby the Horde is destroyed and Bjorgolf killed. The remnants of the army, among which the “Fangs of Fenrir”, fall back. Some return to Heimdall, hoping to reunite with the troops still besieging the inner city. Ashrock however, after having seen the size of Olaf’s army and the utter defeat of the Horde, no longer believes that the invasion has any chance of success. He leads his own tribe and many others back over Bifrost Pass into Jotunheim. His judgment turns out to be correct. The remaining forces of the orcs and goblins are crushed between Olaf’s army and the walls of Heimdal.
* 1280-1282 AoR : Ashrock leads his men all over Jotunheim. Eventually he returns to the south and resumes his attacks on the Amazon realms. However, this time the Amazons are prepared and determined not to allow another province to be destroyed. Ashrock suffers a terrible defeat and is killed. Moorgash becomes warlord of the remaining Fangs of Fenrir.
* 1283-1286 AoR : Together with a second warband, lead by Barvok the Flayer, Moorgash wanders Jotunheim, waging war on other tribes, pillaging caravans and raiding human settlements on the borders of Vinland.
* 1287 AoR : Moorgash starts to look for a place to settle permanently. Barvok doesn’t agree with this, but instead of battling each other to the death for leadership of the combined warband, they simply split up again.
* 1288-1292 AoR : Moorgash continues wandering Jotunheim. Sometimes he settles for a while in one place, but he’s never content with the location and always moves on again. His reputation in Jotunheim as a ferocious, fearless and brutal warlord grows. Sometime during these years, he meets Moreno Cavallero and sets up a trade agreement, supplying the mercenary with human slaves and captured loot in exchange for weapons and gold. He also encounters the goblin warlord Ranto, who is both feared and despised by his neighbours because of his ‘ungoblin like’ behavior. They battle each other, but to his surprise, Ranto is far from a coward and a very dangerous opponent. In the end, Moorgash offers Ranto a choice. Join him with his clan of be utterly wiped out. Ranto decides to join and is allowed to maintain his unorthodox life style.
* 1293 AoR : Moorgash captures Arvik, a renegade dwarf. He doesn’t kill him, but instead makes a deal with him. With his help he overruns the defenses of the small dwarf colony of Redstone in the east, built against the Fire Mountains, and renames it to Utgard. Moorgash has finally found the place he wants to settle permanently.
* 1293-1298 AoR : With Arvik’s help, Moorgash begins to transform the camp of tents and huts into the first real stone city of Jotunheim. He exploits the mine, builds a quarry and brickworks and much more. He even starts to build a wall around the city and a palace for himself. He also continues to attack and conquer the tribes and lands surrounding his city.
* 1299 AoR : Moorgash is contacted by Moreno for a very delicate job within Midgard. The capture and delivery of a whole group of noble children. Although not very interested at the start, the idea of returning to Midgard and the surprising amount of gold, weapons and goods that are promised, win him over. The ambush in Midgard succeeds and, unknown to Moorgash, he also enslaves Falco Adler, second son of the jarl of Vestfjor. The other noble children are delivered to his employers, who sacrifice them all. The events described in “book 1-Leaving Midgard” take place
* 1300-1302 AoR : The events described in “book2-Utgard” take place.
* 1302 AoR : The events described in “book 4-Going Home” take place