Dirk Freeborn - Tiefling

[Diablo_68]

Bio

Chaotic Good
Rogue/Wizard

The fat man had the crowd in awe, they hung on his every word and for this moment in time he was a god to them. His expensive tunic had gold buttons and revealed a gold necklace with a green emerald on it. He was standing in front of the local church in the centre of the steps with the crowd below him, there were two priests standing to the side of the steps waiting for the man to stop talking. He finally pulled a piece of paper from his pocket and started to read out his speech.
  ‘I have always tried to do so much for this community, and now it gives me great pleasure to share some of my wealth with the church.’ He continued on for some time and a few people in the crowd were in stark contrast to the rest. Dirk was sitting on the other side of the street observing just like he normally did, when you beg for money you have a lot of time to watch people living their lives and most them don’t even notice you exist, especially with his heritage which was becoming fast known.

Dirk thought about the people who were not quite so ecstatic in the crowd, he had observed many underhand deals going on in the fat mans shop and had realised he had an underground money lending business in operation, desperate people were finding them selves in extreme debt. Often Dirk would see these people some of who were in the crowd, they would enter the shop with expensive objects and leave with very little to show for it, at first he thought some of the guards were being paid off but he was wrong it was just the fat mans scheme was working very well.

The crowd clapped and the two priests walked over towards the man and bowed slightly, they waited for the fat man to pass over the large bag, he did so but extremely slowly making sure everyone in the crowd saw him pass it over, once it had finally exchanged hands the crowd clapped again and the fat man took a bowl the fat around his chin dropped as he did, and the emerald necklace drooped showing it’s beauty, it was a symbol of his wealth and many people noticed it. After a few minutes of holding up his hands and accepting the good wishes he started to descend down the steps into the crowd.

Dirk rose from the floor and moved very quickly into the crowd, he had seen the next few seconds in his head a hundred times, but he still could not shake the memory of what happened to his father. His father’s demonic blood had manifested it self in the form of horns on his forehead, because of this everyone was suspicious of him and his family, Dirk and his parents travelled to keep from upsetting anyone too much. But it was a situation very similar to what Dirk was doing now that caused so much pain and anguish and yet Dirk was falling into the same pattern.  

 He moved through the crowd deftly and quickly the fat man was surrounded and trying to make his way out from the crowd and this was when Dirk struck. With all the bodies so close nobody noticed him fall into the crowd and with the slightest flick of his wrist he had the necklace in his pocket, the person he had to slightly shove out of the way then pushed Dirk to the floor and was annoyed that his clothes had been messed up this beggar.

Dirk moved quickly from the crowd his heart racing at what he had just done he ducked down some streets and headed towards the less then reputable jewellers in the less then reputable part of town. On the walk he thought about what he had just done he realised he had no remorse, he had taken something from someone who did not own what he had taken, Dirk was not convinced that made it right or even if it made sense but he repressed the thought and instead remembered the time he had asked the fat man for a job, the laugh that had mocked him so badly and he flipped a gold coin onto his lap. Even worse when he had tried to spend it he had got in trouble because the coin had been clipped, he had tried to explain where he had got the coin from and that the fat man must be clipping all the coins he gets but he saw the same look his parents always got and he knew he was not going to win, they disbelieved his charity case, and with puberty there were more and more signs of Dirks demonic blood.  

The door seemed huge compared to Dirk the weight of the situation seemed to transfer it self to the wooden door, he forced it open and entered the shop, the quizzical look from the owner made Dirk stop, he put his hand in his pocket and revealed the emerald necklace, he was instantly waved forward. The sale was easy both parties knew the deal and Dirk accepted less then half what the necklace was worth even with this he had more money then he had ever seen, he found a dark corner and just looked at it for a while. His father had done the same, they had no money and so he went out to provide, the town had caught him and the horns were judge and jury. Dirk slipped to the floor holding the bag of money and was nauseated by what had happened to his father. He had slipped away from his mother and wanted to see what would happen to his father, the local priests had come out and said they had experience dealing with these of the cursed blood and his father was set alight. He took a long time to finally die in the flames and even the townsfolk were leaving quickly, sickened by what they had condoned.

After a few minutes he got up from the ground and decided he would not make the same mistakes as his father. He went to all the houses of the people who were in debt to the fat man and dropped some gold coins for them. It was his fathers greed that had got him caught he had started spending money in large amounts and it did not take much to raise suspicion he quickly found himself in a situation he could not control and with nobody to help him. When Dirk had slipped into the abandoned house they were staying in his mother was in a state of shock, she sat in a chair completely still. There was no time to think they had to leave the city and quickly otherwise they would share the same fate.

Dirk spent some of the left over gold to clean him self up and brought some new clothes, he went to multiple shops buying just a little from each to not give people the opportunity to work anything out, he knew the shop keeper he had sold the necklace to would keep a low profile and sell it on somewhere else. Once he was nicely dressed and clean Dirk was a new man, standing tall and civilised. As he walked out of the town he realised how often he was leaving places and venturing to knew ones, his life was always on the road and this was the first time he had some idea of what he was doing and money to back it up. A new city was on the horizon a chance to put the horrors of his past behind him a chance for new opportunities, his past had been a shattered dream after shattered dream and now he was going to do something in his life. His mother had always tried to get Dirk to use his brain and do something good with his life. Unfortunately Dirk spent more time with his father who was a bad influence, between them they put food on the table but would never explain how they acquired it.

The old man looked at him like he was some kind of god-awful demon, which Dirk knew was not completely inaccurate but it still made him feel uncomfortable he came here trying to get away from his past but his heritage reminded him of it all the time. He thought about the story his father had told him, that centuries ago in their blood line that an-
  ‘Why did you come here?’ The old man finally spoke after what had seemed like an hour. Dirk was flustered by the question even though it was an obvious one that he had prepared for. He thought about the question, what could I say? My parents are dead, I have been forced out of every place I have ever been to, done things I am not proud of and squandered all the good opportunities I have ever had.
  ‘I wish to do something with my life, and want to dedicate my self to this.’
  ‘Wanting something is one thing but you need to work very hard here and it will be difficult for you.’ Dirk understood what he was saying all to well, the other students would not make things easy on him, but he looked into the old mans eyes and knew he was intrigued by Dirk and wanted this cursed blood victim in his arcane school. He would have some protection from this man and others.
  ‘I have been through things and done things I don’t want to do, I want something better and my past is all the drive I need to excel here.’ He thought about how proud his mother would be to see him here although she would not have been proud how he got the money to pay for it. He missed her and part of him still hated what had happened, his parents had always confused him emotionally. Although he was sickened by what had happened to his father he could understand why it had happened. He did not respect the decision but could recognise the fear of the unknown he had seen in the townsfolk that day and his father had broken the law.
  ‘You are accepted, we will arrange for your own room.’ He carried on speaking for what seemed like an age about what was required of Dirk and how the school worked. But Dirk was in a daze just wondering if this was the first step to a better life.

As he walked to his room a crowd of students came close, some to welcome the new student some just wanting to test the waters of this new entity into their club. Dirk had many worked out in the first few minutes the ones who did not know what he was the ones who did know but did not mind and the others who he would have battles with, part of him relished the idea of that. In here he would need to show no weakness and defend himself against any kind of attack verbal or physical from those who would not accept him. His thinking went back to the story his father had told him and his father used it often to scare people, the demon of fire who shared his blood with his line and would come back and strike his foes down. His father had invented it as a con and in one town many people were paying to keep the evil demon away, it had worked fine until the story had got out of proportion and a group of paladins arrived. But it had made Dirk realise that nobody really knew what really happened and would probably never know. His mother had given him a more accurate account to explain for their blood. She had been told from a young age that millions of years ago demons had come down in force and tried to destroy everything, they were stopped and disappeared, but they came back with a new plan instead of a war they tried a more covert tactic, trying not to arise suspicion they polluted the town her ancestors had come from and tried to take over this way. She would always end the story with a chuckle and said it was the one she chose and stuck with and everyday you have to do something good so that the demon side is kept quiet. His mother made him smile and his anguish came to back to him, she had never done anything bad in her life accept maybe being with my father and showing a blind eye every now and then to what he and I did, but that did not save her Dirk remembered the small town it was nice and the smell of flowers was sometimes overwhelming, the land was extremely fertile, it was within six months of arriving that the crop failed it was the first time in nine seasons. His mother had been carted of as a witch and the last thing she had told Dirk to do was to do something with his life and not share the same fate as her and his father, he left the town and ran as fast he could, he wanted to go back but he knew there was nothing he could do his pain built up within him and nearly consumed him.

Dirk looked around the small room that was now his home, he needed to make things work and needed to do well, the words of his mother still with him about doing a good thing each day and he would try his best to abide by this but there was always that itch he could not scratch but when he was doing jobs with his father it disappeared.

[Diablo_68]

When arriving in Hlint Dirk had told himself again what he had already said hundreds of times before, this time it would be different and it would be a new start. Everyone seemed to welcome him in this new town perhaps not with open arms but at least not so cruelly as was so often the case. He felt happy and decided leaving the arcane school was a good idea after all, so many battles with so many people, the pupils about his race and past but also the teachers because of his ability to sneak out into town and get into trouble, as much as he tried to learn he always had the nagging need to do something and that something was normally not good.

Dirk, Kargoth and a huge band of people prepared to delve into the ogre cave and save Castle Haven, he looked over his shoulder at the eight brave souls standing behind him, all ready to charge and eradicate the ogres, it made him think about the first time he met Kargoth. On the road Dirk met many people some who would join him on his quest then depart as quickly as they had come, he did not blame them he understood what they felt and just like the villagers who had killed his parents they did not fully understand. The first person to actually take a liking to Dirk was somebody in the same situation that was Kargoth.

  ‘Yes I need something acquired it is deep in the crypts of Hlint.’ The undertaker spoke slowly and gingerly pointed his finger to the mass of graves.
Quick to prove himself and with his limited wizard powers to guide his rapier into battle Dirk had no hesitation about clearing these crypts to help the town and of course help the undertaker. Dirk looked him up and down but decided he would leave final judgment to when he returned.

Just before entering the ogre cave Dirk asked if everyone was ready, everyone had weapons drawn and as he was about to order everyone in Zug the half giant charged into the cave shouting at the top of his lungs, Dirk knew it was going to be hard to lead such a large party into the caves and still keep the surprise factor but the half giant had simplified the situation. Charging deep into the cave Dirk’s darkvision let him move faster then most, his rapier ready to strike, when he finally found Zug there were two dead ogres at his feet, two more half giants ran past Dirk and took positions at the front, one was Gruwlz using his giant blood to wield a huge sword and shield, the other was Kargoth druid of the forest.

The crypt was like most other crypts, small dark damp and also infested with zombies, ghouls and skeletons. The going was tough but in one on one combat Dirk was superb at parrying his attackers swings and letting his trusted familiar strike his opponents down. It was near the end of the crypt that trouble started, the undertakers quarry was ready and charged, in one swipe Aerna dropped to the floor and then the minion of darkness shot his eyes towards Dirk, without thinking in a sense of self preservation Dirk started to parry the blows and was forced into the corner desperately trying to hang on, the sweat poured off his head and started to get into his eyes and then like an apparition Kargoth ran into the room.

The three half giants were standing upfront and without even needing to speak the three dwarves moved to support them, the mighty Kergin Greldern a stout dwarf wielding his axe like it was an extension of his body, Turor Sunderstone another dwarf full of heart and Zuga Deepstone a female dwarf who took no nonsense from anyone. Instantly Dirk put his rapier away the s...e as it was sheathed bounced off the walls, Takerdy and Hasur joined him bows ready. The formation was set and no ogre would leave this cave alive. Kargoth was at the front, his quartestaff striking with great force, his robe had great spider looking arms protruding from the shoulders and with the magical bark armour on he looked like a moving tree. It was the same scary look that had rushed in and saved his life. After that day they had travelled together to many towns, both outcasts but both finding solidarity in each other.  

[Diablo_68]

The war against the ogres started well fighting them in the door ways and switching fighters between half giants and dwarves was a solid plan, everybody was on a high as fight after fight was won but nobody knew just how long the journey to the ogre chief would take and the Lord of Castle Haven had played down the danger of the situation. As the party continued further down into the iron mines the amount of ogres increased and the closer to the chief the harder the ogres fought. As Dirk unloaded arrows into an ogre he could only think about how such a primitive and dimwitted creature could fight so bravely and with unrelenting strength and determination, it was a trait that was fast waning in his own group of men. Despite Kargoths best heals the fighters were starting to feel the brunt of this constant fighting, with little respite and constant threat of an ambush there were only two choices fight on or retreat. The half giants even with their battle wounds and the dwarves as well had no intention of retreating the mere suggestion made them even hungrier for blood. Dirk pushed them forward and kept the party moving only stopping for some healing, he knew he had to keep the pace going or soon the group would stop and not be able to continue.

The door seemed ordinary enough just like all the other doors in the ogre cave, Dirk pushed it with his hand the coldness of the door he felt even through the gauntlet he had on his right hand. A quick check of the room revealed no ogres and so the party filed in, Kargoth used the last of his heals and Dirk saw a great sight, Hasur the half Drow was sharing potions with the Dwarves, Takerdy the small halfing was applying some bandages to Zug’s ankle, in normal circumstances this would not have happened but with the single minded goal of destroying the ogres and saving Castle Haven all these races how ever different were working together and for the first time Dirk really felt accepted, a large bang and the sounds of feet pushed that thought out of his head and within seconds his rapier was drawn. The ogres had attacked at the worst time and also the ambush had them surrounded, the block formation was broken and suddenly everyone was fighting individual ogres or trying to run. As an ogre charged towards Dirk he readied himself to sidestep and strike down on his vital organs but a marvellous sight was beheld as in mid jump Kargoth transformed into a bear and knocked the ogre to the floor with a swift strike from the rapier the ogre was not going to be getting back up. Dirk surveyed the battle field and found Hasur and Takerdy fighting in the corner, the half giants and dwarves seemed to be able to handle them self’s and so he negotiated the fallen ogres and dropped weapons and struck the back of an ogre it lashed out in pain, as it span round his club smacked into Dirk and threw him across the room and knocked him out cold.  

When Dirk awoke Zuga the female Dwarf was forcing a potion down his neck and he could see the battle was won but at quite a cost, nobody had fallen but blood was racing off of Gruwlz’s head and potions were being passed round but everyone was running short and Dirk could see many people were starting save them for themselves, the amazing scene he had witnessed of sharing and compassion had turned into selfishness. After getting to his feet and wincing at the pain in his head Dirk finally suggested that they should retreat, the half giants roared in disagreement and Turor Sunderstone the stout dwarf pulled out some Dwarven ale and declared it was all the healing he needed. The party moved on and Dirk pulled out his short bow and followed. As they rounded the corner a large room had been formed, it must have been where the mining had stopped when the ogres took over, this was it, the end of the line for the chief.

In the constant fighting and exhaustion of no sleep the fight quickly turned into chaos with fighting everywhere it was hard to distinguish friend and foe, some of the ogres were spell casters, they were far more powerful with their magic then Dirk or anyone else down in the cave, great plumes of pure cold came from their hands and each time this happened screams echoed around the cave, the mages were indiscriminate using their magic, often ogres would take the full force of these spells. The chief was surrounded by the half giants and it was only a matter of time before he fell, everyone else was trying to stop the mages any way they could arrows hit into them axes sliced them, eventually the mages had used their last spell and tried to flee but with the chaos they had sown there no way anyone would let them live. The toll of the battle was great Kergin was knocked unconscious and after some shouting people finally handed over some potions to stabilize him, everyone was bleeding and tired they had all been pushed to the limits of endurance but in the end had won.

On the walk out Dirk thought about the people who had been involved in this quest, the personalities, races, genders and goals. It was amazing that on the battle field you did not mind who was guarding your back as long they were fighting well, yet when you meet these people in the towns you instantly think the worst of people and seek salvation in your own kind. Dirk knew because of his blood life would be difficult but since coming to Hlint he had realised that everyone in life was an outcast but that was not always a bad thing.