Nordo Skullsplinter

[disappointment]

warning: purple prose ahead

First Name: Nordo
Last Name: Skullsplinter

Appearance:
The aging dwarf is well-groomed, even by the standards of a gold dwarf - and are there any other standards worth measuring by? His locks, black as soot, grow long and free, framing his face in a regal mane. At times his hair seems to have a mind its own, lashing this way and that in battle, standing on end and resembling a great and angry cloud of ill-will. His beard is elegant and intricately fashioned, its maintenance comprising the majority of time in his daily rituals. Fourteen braids decorate the beard at large, each dedicated to a member of the Morndinsamman and acting as an impromptu rosary during prayer towards its corresponding deity. Silk ribbons dyed gold decorate his beard, with gold rings inlaid with lapis lazuli hung from the end of each braid.
His is a kind countenance, with laugh lines carved deep into his cheeks and eyes shining bright as amber wrinkled into a perpetual grin. His features are rough and sturdy, resembling the very stone he seemed to have been cut from. His skin is tinged bronze, taut and decorated with scars and records of past glories.
A rather squat fellow, even for a gold dwarf. Broad of shoulder and barrel-chested, he makes a formidable obstacle for those who might attempt to get between him and his charge.

Race: Gold Dwarf
Age: 271
Height 4'
Weight: 220lbs
Eyes: Amber
Hair: Black
Facial Hair Style: Two hours of the early morning dedicated to grooming. Combing, brushing, and oiling, followed by fashioning it once more into his trademark style. The ribbons, ringlets, and miscellaneous baubles decorating his beard are also cleaned and polished daily.

Personality Profile:
A jolly dwarf who looks upon the lesser races of Toril in a paternal fashion, pitying them for their numerous follies and hoping to impart on them the boundless wisdom of the Deep Kingdom and her ways. His pride as a gold dwarf is fitting, and each day he gives his thanks to the Morndinsamman in prayer. So strong are his passions that they have lead him to unorthodox views, going so far as to leave his Clan in the Deep Kingdom in order to wander Faerûn in his quest to protect and uplift those in need.
His prayers are recited daily, his faith woven lovingly into each braid in his beard. His arms are maintained just the same, that the crack of his axe against bone and the clash of the enemy's blades upon his armor might sing praise to the Morndinsamman and emulate their glory.
The beardlings of Clan Skullsplinter shall be kept in good hands, for they have many and more elders than himself to impart in them their wisdom. The younger races of Toril do not have the Deep Kingdom's traditions to guide them, and so the dwarf, aging as he is, must take it upon himself to lend them aid.

General Health: Spry
Deity: Gorm Gulthyn
Initial Alignment: Lawful Good
Profession: Barakor, Knight Errant
Base Class & Proposed Development: Cleric (War, Protection)
Habits/Hobbies: Poetry, prayer, martial arts, and genealogy, to name a few.
Languages: Common, Dwarven
Weapon of Choice: Dwarven War-axe, stern words

Background:
Born to Clan Skullsplinter, Nordo had been considered an intrepid and quixotic dwarf from his youth. Though Skullsplinter had earned its namesake for its members' prowess in battle, and to which Nordo was no exception, it was in song and prayer the beardling excelled. His idealism coupled with uncharacteristic fascination for the lesser races of the surface led to a frustrating apprenticeship under an architect until his fateful introduction to a temple of Gorm Gulthyn. Here did the monks gladly live, toil, and die in service to the god and to their kind as a whole. The fire which long burned within his breast grew wild at the sight, and the dwarf knew he had found his place. Among their ranks he shed equally blood and sweat, sang the glories of the Stout Folk in battle, and witnessed his brothers-in-arms pay Gorm's greatest price. Victory or defeat, he cared little, and grew stronger for each in knowing he labored for the good of his kin.
And yet the fire burned brighter still over the years. How fortunate was he for having been born to the Deep Kingdom! How piteous were the children of the surface, who had not the Deep Kingdom's legacy to bolster their spirits! How unfortunate of them to lack the Bronze Mask's vigil - and if they did have any such god alike, how could it possibly compare to the Golden Guardian? And so did Nordo's spirit begin to falter, his manner become withdrawn and prone to brooding. Each year brought more glory, more honor, more scars, and yet more doubt. Until finally, at 261 years of age, Nordo realized something. The faces around him were new, unfamiliar. Battle-brothers though they were, undoubtedly fellow Barakor, not a one had he known for more than a decade.
And so Nordo had his answer. Though the temple would sorely have need of him, now the most experienced of its clerics, surely the surface-dwellers had an even more pressing need. With prayers in his heart and axe clutched tight in hand, he made his journey without farewells.

Goals:
-To protect Moradin's children regardless of culture or status.
-To combat any and all enemies of the Stout Folk wherever they may dwell.
-To lend the strength of the Deep Kingdom unto her backwater cousins in these northern lands and, with it, their salvation.
-The reclamation or founding of a dwarf fortress in order to act as a bulwark against the enemies of the Morndinsamman, where the Deep Kingdom's strength might be lended and her influence spread.
-To bring further glory to the Deep Kingdom and to Clan Skullsplinter, possibly founding a new Clan.
-To extend the Barakors' vigilance unto the lesser races, who, in their inferiority, will surely perish without the intervention of the Stout Folk.

Possible Plot-Hook Ideas and Misc Facts:
-Though well-versed in Dwarven history, he knows little of the surface world and its nuances. He's quite eager to learn more in order to better aid the lesser races' plight.
-Treats the lesser races as a patient grandfather would his beloved grandchildren. Though sometimes they must be disciplined, all he does is in the name of love for them.
-His sudden disappearance from the Deep Kingdom has caused a bit of a stir with Clan Skullsplinter and its associates, who see his elopement as abandoning his duties as a clan elder.
-The temple where he had served for the better part of two centuries had been a smaller place of worship. On the day of his departure, Nordo counted a total of nine other dwarves with whom he had lived. So zealous were his battle-brothers and so often did neophytes come and go that he had not known a one for more than a decade.
-A literate dwarf due in no small part to his love of poetry, he now keeps regular correspondence with a variety of folk he's encountered on his travels. At present, he tends to keep in a band with two others: a scholarly sun elf and a taciturn human woman of foreign accent.

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it's been a minute since i've done anything related to forgotten realms, i've appropriately forgotten a lot of the lore. come bully me.