[Characters] Nogger Stonewall

[McMouse]

Character Name: Nogger Stonewall, Nogg or Wall for short.

Description of Character: Nogg is a squat, densly built goblin who's face bears the scars of many a fight. What little hair remains on his leathery head has started graying, with a thick stubble across his jaw and lower face. His entire body is usually protected by heavy layers of rusted and combat-worn plated armor, shoulders topped with jagged spikes. Once painted a dark black, years of use have peeled it off, revealing the tarnished steel beneath. To his right he holds massive shield, easily larger than him, equally battered and dotted with signs of arrow fire. His left hand wears a gauntlet, the chains of which are affixed firmly to the handle of a trident. As one of the older Boys, Nogg's attitude is that of an over protective father toward his Blackblood Boys. Never having raised a child of his own, he sees the younger boys as prime targets for scolding, correcting, and keeping from harm.

Link to Character Sheet: http://www.rpgcrossing.com/profiler/...=1942Character

Character Sketch: http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/9708/noggsketche.jpg

Backstory: The equipment is a carryover from Nogg's previous work as one of Stonehome's defenders. The mountain refuge is a maze of tunnels and interconnected rooms, and threats to the city would often come from multiple points of entry at the same time. Each narrow tunnel entrance was guarded by a single goblin, encased in metal with a shield, referred to as "Wallers." These defensive fighters were tasked with holding off a tunnel as they awaited reinforcements. Wallers rarely survived more than a handful of attacks, and the armor was passed down on as quickly as a weekly basis. As Gutripper's band of Hotbloods grew into a formidible force of berzerkers and warriors without regard for self-preservation, the few remaining Wallers were phased out.

At the ripe age of 35 and having survived a few years work as a Waller, Nogg is already a rarity. After leaving the tunnels, Nogg refused to let his relatively advanced age get in the way of his thirst for combat. He bounced from on raiding party to another, finding them naive and riddled with cowardice. Recently, he's joined up with the Blackblood Boys, a new group of skilled raiders each unsatisfied with previous arrangements. They seem to have a more tactical approach to raids, take caution in their missions and quickly have formed what Nogg has come to consider as his family. Nogg's time as a soldier has trained him to take orders. Happy to follow sound tactics or plans, he occasionally interjects something along the lines of "when I was back in the tunnels we _____."

Veera: Nogg is often accompanied by an aging wolf, named Veera. The story of how he aqcuired her is not unknown, and he gladly recants it if asked. Although the specifics seem to be more fluid than fact, and the amount of dwarves he had to fight increases each time; the one truth apparent is that he got her as a cub for protecting a wolver's home during an attack. The goblin breeder was so gracious, as Nogg tells it, that he offered him the pick of the litter. Not having an eye for wolves, the waller picked the only pup that cowered back quietly, much like his defensive stance, rather than yelping and nipping at his feet when cornered. Despite her lack of aggression at youth, Nogg would often be seen riding her into the thick of combat; spear and claw making a destructive pair against dwarven raiding parties. Now, seasons later, he rarely takes her into battle, instead choosing to treat her more like an oversized pet rather than the riding wolf she was raised to be. Veera seems not to mind much, and is enjoying her retirement of fireside naps, abundant snacks, and bouts of being scratched behind her ears.

[Exile]

An unfortunate game of Tz'rak - account from Ren'jin, legitimate gambling goblin.

"Now I's been drinkin' dirtgrog fer at least three candles by now, and all of 'em otherses were too. The Stonehome Brewroom were brimmin' with them that night, goblins of all sorts - was a night for celebrating I 'member it bein'. In a corner, the musiks wer' playin' on drums; gobs dancin' in the middle floor, all with them good spirits. I were playing the Tz'rak*, winnin' as usuals, all goin' as usuals, then comes some new blood. A Waller he were, blood cross his face, arrows stickin ferm his shield - a biggin shield it were too, twice the size of Ren'jin it was. He seats himself across from me, opening up his bag and placin' at least fifty gold circles on my tables.

‘Mind if we raise 'em stakes?’ he says. ‘A good night I've had so far, lookin' to improve it.’ he says. Akz kaar nrek jur, ** I thinks, so a'corse I raised ‘em! Took him for all fifty and another hunnred over them next candle. He gettin' madder now, calls me a cheat and liar. 'Me? Cheat?' I says, and next I know he's atop me. Me boys pull him off, an' them crowds callin 'arena! arena!' so we goes.

Now I been in the 'rena many a time, no goblin can take Ren'jin, none has - I still here! But still we go there, they takes his armor and shield; gives us both swords and little graskas***. I steps up - he steps up, elders say 'go!' and we starts. I's good with a blade, has to been since killin be my trade, but I couldn't get any of him with it. He musta been tricks, as I thinks on it, 'cause I be best in arenas. But he was tricks, and knocked me over with his graska. He steps on me arm, I drops the sword, he turns around, thinking he's winner. Ren'jin is clever, I has tricks too. My trick is a dagger in my boots, I get him in the back, twisting it sideways, and he's not winner any more.

I said Ren'jin's been to the arenas many times, and Ren'jin never the looser. Other goblin, that waller, he looser. He get drags away, takens to goblin dead pile outta Stonehome. Never seens him since; I hear after that he called Nogg. But hes not dead, and leaves from the dead pile; musta had helps with more tricks. Been five snow seasons now, and I heard hes running with them Blackblood Boys, raiders they is. Them boys has tricks too, so I figure hes gonna fit right in. An' hes musta been trick’sin’ - that arena five snows ago an’ not getting stabbed. But Ren’jin has better tricks, tricks I using with Tz’rak that night and tricks I using in my arena too. I's still the bests, anyone says I not can fight arena with me. At the end if they still breathing, they better than me; but my moneyses on Ren'jin."



*Tz'rak: a traditional goblin game of chance, involving a pair of six sided dice and usually a carved piece of wood. However, in Stonehome the game has been altered to use a hollowed out dwarven skull in place of the wood. The rules of Tz'rak are always quite fuzzy and variable over the course of the night, and it is never clear what they actually are until usually you have lost a few games.

**Akz kaar nrek jur!: a common goblinic swear unfit for repeating, loosely translated to "What a self-assured individual, I surely hope untoward things occur to his genitals."

***Graska: a small piece of wood painted with an identifying color (usually red or blue) and affixed to piece of goat leather, it is used as a buckler in Stonehome arena matches to denote sides for terms of betting.