Travellers • Orland Wood Strider • History (Public Access: RW Owner:Orland)
Orland Wood Strider was born Orland Lumber, the son of a lumberer. His father taught him all about the woods and the creatures in it; he also learned how to hunt. Orland fell in love with the hunt and would spend much of his time tracking game. He became skilled in the longbow he inherited from his soldier uncle Larandar.
Orland grew strong helping his father chop down and process trees. He most enjoyed the heft and weight of the woodsmen axe. It is a large double-headed axe that can cleave logs and necks alike. When he was around the age of 13 a birthmark on his shoulder started to change shape. Once a brownish splotch, his birthmark changed to resemble a leaf and had a greenish color. As Orland grew his father realized it was the Wizard Mark. Fearing for his son the lumberer sent him to be trained with his new powers. Orland went reluctantly, but never forgot where he came from or lost his love for the hunt.
He spent the next 9 years training in the ways of magic and even used his woodsmen axe as his focus for his spells. He continued to practice his skills in bow and axe even during his training and dreamed of the day he would be free to roam the land.
His father was killed in a goblin raid while he was away training; Orland was 16. He vowed to take vengeance upon the diminutive beasts. He spent the next two years learning their language and training his skills, and then he went and hunted down the monsters that killed his father. He encountered the goblins and shot them with arrows, and then chopped them with his axe. After he killed 4 they ran away, but Orland was too injured to chase after them. His master found him close to death, but did not scold him for sneaking out. Orland’s heart was free and he studied the craft of magic with a focus he never had before.
To this day he still hates goblins and though he has heard stories of some goblin tribes joining with civilized people, he discounts them as fairy tales and swears to cleanse the world of all goblins he meets. His hatred does not cloud his judgment and as time went on he became more and more capable as a Wizard. He still favors combat in the old, honorable, ways, but is beginning to have a deeper and more profound appreciation for his magical gifts; the same gifts he once considered nothing more than a curse. Now at the age of 22, he seeks new adventures and new prey to hunt!