The Awakening
Madds grew up in one of the nomadic sailing clans of the Shatterpoint Isles. Their warlike people travel the great northeastern archipelago in small sailing ships living off the land and in harmony with the sea. Their religion centers around worship of nature, and the protection of particular totem spirits that differ from clan to clan. Madds hails from Bear Clan.
When Madds was 13 he was faced with The Long Night, a ceremonial right of passage in their culture. Boys are left on an island all on their own for a 36 hours, and given only a knife. Madd's family dropped him on a small wooded island with a large rocky outcropping at one end. Young Madds set to work and crafted a lean-to in a rocky hollow for shelter. By nightfall he had built a roaring fire.
A stiff wind began to blow out of the north, and the hair bristled on the back of Madds's neck. He sensed that something might be watching him from the forest, just outside the firelight. The muffled sound of thunder began to approach, and Madd's fear began to grow, knowing he was in for a sleepless night with an unexpected gale. Rain began to fall, growing steadier by the minute, white lightning streaking across the sky. Soon the fire was nearly extinguished, leaving little illumination for the petrified Madds clinging to his knife. Amid a flash of lightning and snapping branches, a wild kodiak bear rushed from the forrest. With snorting breath it eyed the young boy hungrily. Madds's blood ran cold with fear.
Madds snatched up the last burning stick, waiving it wildly, with the knife in his other hand. The bear advanced, growling, as Madds backed out onto the rocking outcropping. The wind howled, thunder crashed, and Madds saw his short life flashing before his eyes. He found himself backed up to the edge of a cliff. With waves smashing below on jagged rocks, there was no escape.
Madds swing the flaming stick near the bear in an act of desperation. As the bear reared with a roar, Madds felt all fear drain from his body, replaced only by adrenaline. With a piercing battle cry Madds launched himself amid the rain, knife drawn to stab.
In that moment, the very air was torn with an earsplitting thunderclap. Arcing down from the heavens ripped a bolt of red lightning, piercing the bear where it stood through the heart. The bolt hit the rain slick rocks at Madds feet below, and with a blast of energy, it shattered the shale and knocked Madds on his back unconscious.
Madds awoke in a daze at first light, blood red sky stretching out to the horizon. The carcass of the dead bear lay few feet from him. As he gathered himself, and rose to his feet he began to sense something was different. It felt like something had awoken inside of him. Is this what it feels like to be a man? Or was it something more?
Madds took a walk down to the shoreline to collect himself. With blood-pink sky reflecting off the lapping waves, Madds rounded a small bend. Madds began to come across washed up barrels, and other wooden wreckage. And then he saw them... Further down the strand, bloated corpses were washed up on the sand. One after another, bodies in intervals of 100 yards or so. One by one, Madds saw he knew them all too well. He fell to his knees in agony when he found his mother, now knowing his clan had all perished in a shipwreck on the island's jagged rocks, caught off guard by the unexpected gale. Why did the great spirit bear not protect his family? What had the clan done to anger it?
Rising to his feet Madds raced back to the bear carcass now, with tears in his eyes. He dove at the dead beast in anger. Grasping the thick fur, Madds felt a strange sensation as if he was back in the heat of battle again, fearless in the face of certain death. His adrenaline surged for a moment, as he clenched his fists. Madds spent some moments in reflection and then carefully skinned the bear to keep the pelt as a memento to remember this day and to honor his clan. He prepped it to dry on the rocks and sat and stared out at the sea.
Alone on the Kingsroad
Wracked with sorrow, Madds spent several weeks scavenging the island, piecing together a makeshift boat using what wreckage he could salvage. Over the course of several months he managed to make his way from island to island, southwest to the mainland’s east coast in search of a new start.
As a former nomadic tribe member, Madds was a bit new to the concept of towns and built-up civilization, but adapted to it quickly. The coastal towns were quite welcoming. Traveling the High Road, strapping young Madds made his keep doing hired labor from town to town and hunting the forests. Madds continued his journey south, hearing tales of the great cities and fortresses.
Then one day while traveling alone through a wooded stretch, Madds was ambushed. Immediately overwhelmed by a band of 8 goblins, Madds was taken captive and chained. A taller more fearsome hobgoblin with spiked armor plating eyed him closely. Gnugner the Slaver, knew he had captured a valuable new asset. With a toothy smirk, Gnugner barked at his minions, and they packed Madds into a large waggon with several other chained individuals, mainly female. The group traveled by night stopping to hide the cart by daylight, headed south to the lizardlands. For weeks Madds and the other prisoners were given limited food and water, and beaten into silence. Gnugnar seemed to relish his work, gleefully raiding small villages along their way for their women. Madds witnessed many terrible things in those months and would always harbor hatred in his heart towards Gnugnar.
The City of the Pit
Traveling now through hot and arid country, Gnugner’s slave wagon arrived at the lizardlands capital city of Drakka. The ancient citadel is made of clay mud walls, reinforced with bamboo. 40ft walls are studded in every square inch with sun-bleached skulls. Inside, rows of two story mud buildings, interspersed with open plaza areas comprise a huge city. In each plaza are stalls selling all manor of meats and bodily parts. Each plaza also features a sunken amphitheater, overlooking a fighting pit where sparing and wagered battles can be witnessed at nearly all times of day. At the far back of the citadel is a monolithic spire of natural eroded sandstone built into the great wall itself. At a diagonal orientation are two great sandstone pyramids, with tiered horizontal sections. A steep staircase adorns only one side of each, and an ornate structure sits at the top with comfortable seating overlooking the city. The pyramids are built into a colossal amphitheater which is dug deep into the ground below. Cut out of solid sandstone, it appears that the amphitheater was also the source of the pyramid’s building blocks. At the center is a great sandy fighting pit, with 10 ft flat stone walls stretching up to the seating area. Hewn into the walls are the stone carvings of lizardfolk with fearsome weaponry. The simple stone amphitheater seats are interspersed with stairs and tunnel entrances. There is seating for 200,000, enough for the entire city’s population, plus as many as 50,000 visitors.
Drakka’s entire economy, society, and power structure revolves around the fighting pit battles. Lizardfolk are a violent and simple race, where strength is rewarded above all else. Each district of the city features its own pit, and each has its own training barracks. The most powerful combattants earn a comfortable living as professional fighters and soldiers for the empire. Fighters become famous for their victories and are welcomed into the court of the Emperor as advisors. Despite its fearsome appearance and the rather gruff hospitality of the lizardfolk, Humans, orcs, and other races are welcome to live in Rakka under the empires law. Many operate as merchants, innkeepers, blacksmiths, and other trades that continue to diversify the economy. Particularly prominent are the slave and meat trade, as well as more comfortable hospitality for visitors to come from far and wide to watch and bet on the grand fighting pit battles.
Every two weeks the Emperor Graoxxogrox holds Vargach, the grand ceremonial battle. The Emperor’s obsession with orchestrating the most epic battles is well known through the land. Everyone in the city except key guards are required to attend, and all are required to place a bet on one of the days fights. The payments function like a tax to pay the Emperor and his army for their oversight of the bustling city, but citizens have the chance to win big payouts on their bets too. The whole spectacle has an electric energy with everyone invested in the outcome, and the excitement of winning gold keeps everyone coming back. Traveling visitors from lands far and wide come to watch the fights and add an infusion of outside gold that keeps the whole economic system chugging along strongly.
However, Vargach is an ancient and bloody tradition, and the Emperor has a key role to play. From the top of the pyramid, Graoxxogrox delivers a chanting, guttural prayer as he descends the stairs down to the ametheater and crowd below. With each step, drums begin to join in, and finally the audience joining in stomping their feet in unison. With a leap, the Gaoxxogrox vaults down to into the pit, and a final unified roar is bellowed by all. Graoxxogrox welcomes his citizens and introduces the battles for the day. But of course, the first fight is always reserved for him. Even at his age, Gaoxxogrox is a powerful fighter due to his enormous size and his signature bladed tail. The tail features two sharpened bony blades protruding from its end section. Typically, Graxxogrox faces down a captured enemy of war or rebel leader. Defeating them in bloody fashion, he tears out their still beating heart, holding it up for the crowd to see before feasting upon it. As is tradition, the body is then thrown out into the crowd where it is ripped apart and eaten.
The Slave Fighter
Gnugnar the Slaver pulled his waggon into the city and made his way to one of the largest markets in Drakka. There he was welcomed by lizardfolk and human merchants and the goblins unloaded the captives. Chained together, they were marched toward to an important looking platform near the center of the plaza. There a massive lizardfolk merchant was shouting out prices for an ongoing slave auction. Weakened from the long journey Madds was not his full self. However, he saw an opportunity, and threw his elbow into the back of Gnugnar’s head when passing by him, knocking him to the ground. The crowd jeered and Gnugnar leapt up angrily and struck Madds in the face with his iron gauntlt, which knocked Madds and several of the slaves to the ground. “You little shit” he growled. The now watching crowd jeered and laughed.
Gnugnar and the goblins led the slaves up onto the platform and the auction proceeded, going captive by captive. When it came to Madds, the bidding was competitive. A large lizardfolk from the crowd stepped forward and continued to bid higher and higher, against two other interested lizardfolk and an orc who made one of the opening bids. As the price rose the auction was down to only the orc and the larger lizard, eyeing each other fiercely. The orc made a final bid for $1,000 gold, and the lizard folk smashed a nearby pot and stomped off. Madds had been sold to Uhrtuk of Iron Will. The 6’4” 400lb orc was as dense and wide as they come, with thick tusks on either side of his enormous mouth. His dark green skin was adorned by black tattoos, sleeving up each massively muscular arm in tribal patterns. His sported a septum ring and a bald head except for the high ponytail traditional of orc warriors.
Uhrtuk is well known in the City as one of the few fight runners who isn’t a lizardfolk. A famous retired fighter himself, he now makes his living training and wagering on his fighters. Uhrtuk is known to purchase and train slaves, only to set them free once they have repaid him of what he paid at auction for their head. Uhrtuk also operates a foundry that is a source of much of the iron used in the weapons made in the city. Uhrtuk dragged Madds and several other young recruits through 2 years of brutal training. Frustrating to Madds, many of his training techniques involved grueling tasks around the foundry, like hauling heaping baskets of ore, operating the pedal bellows, and hammering out sheets of iron. Uhrtuk’s fighting philosophy is built on a foundation of brute strength, extreme stamina, and raw athleticism. Once a fighter has proven themselves worthy, he teaches his disciples the punishing techniques of the heavy axe and maul. While a bit gruff, Uhrtuk treats his slaves and fighters quite well. Their sleeping accommodations are comfortable and they are provided as much smoked meat as they can eat.
Madds immediately impressed Uhrtuk with natural strength and resiliency like he had never seen from a human. In one of his first fights, Madds erupted in bellowing rage and overpowering a lizardfolk with a reckless bullrush, finishing him with an axe strike to the thigh. With his enemy erupting in blood, Madds looked around the crowd screaming for more, eyes wild. Urtuk saw Madds’s rage transformation and knew the young man had special power. From that day Uhrtuk took extra time to mentor Madds, and the two built a deep trust with one another. Under Uhrtuk’s tutelage, Madds learned a great many things about the ways of fighting, and how to channel his rage into each brutal swing. In his 4th year Madds finally earned his freedom fighting in the smaller district pits, but he remained in Uhrtuk’s employment as his fighting career was just taking off.
Bear Man
In time, Uhrtuk got Madds into larger and larger fights, and he continued to win and make a name for himself as a surprisingly ferocious human combattant, and known for his bear pelt garb. Even the most brutal weaponry seemed to merely scratch him when he was in the heat of battle. Tales of Madds began to circulate and his reputation reached the lizardfolk nobility. Urtuk negotiated Madds to take part in an upcoming Vargach. With great fanfare Madds faced off against a favored guard captain. The battle went slash for slash, but Madds withstood a scimitar onslaught and stood dripping in his own blood over his beaten enemy, barely conscious. That night Madds and Uhrtuk celebrated their big payout with a whole barrel of imported ale.
A month later Madds was invited back to Vargach for a second time. This time against one of Emperor Gaoxxogrox’s lizardfolk champions, Raxl. In a battle that would go down in legend, Madds withstood what should have been fatal slashes to the abdomen, and then a massive bite to the shoulder as Raxl took Madds to the ground on his back. The fighters kicked up a cloud of sand in a desperate wrestling match, Raxl’s jaws still deep in Madd’s flesh. The crowd grew silent in anticipation. Soon the sand settled and up emerged Madds with the head of the Raxl still attached to his shoulder, decapitated. Removing the head, Madds gave a fearsome bellow and chucked it at the silent crowd as they erupted in applause. Bear Man, Bear Man they began to chant. The battle would go on to inspire a common teaching from parents to young lizardfolk children about making sure to let go of a bite when there is still danger near. “Don’t be like Raxl” they would say, or “Bear Man will get ya!”
So impressed was Emperor Gaoxxogrox, that he invited Madds and Uhrtuk to visit with him and his court. The Emperor knew he had an exciting new fighter to feature and loved how Madds had put on a show in the end of the battle. The Emperor went on to speak with Madds about his past, and his knowledge of the north. He let on that he was looking to fund a hunting expedition to capture and return a mythical beast from the northern reaches, north of the elven kingdom. The Emperor's 111th birthday was approaching the next year, and his grand vision was to pit the beast against a whole army of his best fighters. Hearing how well the mission would pay, and having some knowledge of the northern reaches, Madds discussed with Uhrtuk and accepted the mission. The next day Uhrtuck gave him parting words and Madds set out looking for some hunters for hire.