Kyuss Morbikus II
Description: Kyuss is about of average height for his race, standing a mere four feet, two inches in height. Kyuss is a rugged dwarf, however, weighing in at around one hundred and sixty-eight pounds. Kyuss is a rather mangy looking dwarf upon first appearance, as he is usually seen while in his natural habitat, the forest or any other wooded area. While in his terrain of choice, the color of his skin will be masked by the presence of dirt, covering every last inch of his face and arms. The surface area of his skin is littered with dozens of scars covering his body, the result of him working his way into the deep forests that he calls home. He sometimes covers his body with grease to repel the insects, which makes him harder to hold onto. He has dyed his hair and beard, which reaches nearly to his belt, a mottled combination of greens and brown, to help him better mask himself in the wooded areas from poachers or any other inhabitant that he may not wish to be there. He regularly wears his hair and beard loosely, although sometimes he cakes them both with mud and other such things to help disguise his presence. The one part of his body that he cannot disguise, however, are his deep brown eyes, which seem to be fiercely open at all times, as if he could see more by doing so. Kyuss is finely tuned muscularly, as his frequent romps through the woods give him plenty of exercise. He wears the strange ornamentation of having pierced each of his eyebrows with a shard of bone, a strange sight indeed to most. Kyuss is marked by the large nose that is common to dwarves, as well as having a strong chin and a reinforced forehead. Kyuss can normally be found wearing leather armor upon his breast and legs, although he usually does not wear it on his arms, except for times of war. He will be found wearing leather bracers, however, as well as having tied to bands of cord around the tops of his biceps. All of these are usually deeply tanned, covered in mud, leaves, and twigs, which he has accumulated through the years and not bothered to remove. He frequently wears no shoes on his feet, and as such has developed a callused sole to his feet, as well as receiving a number of scars. His voice is very gruff, and fades off when forced to speak for long periods of time, due to the fact that he has had little contact with others that can speak for a long period of time.
History: Kyuss history extends to that of his father, who was one of the great knights of the great dwarven nation of Faalinhorth. Kyuss Morbikus the first was among the highest ranking of all the knights, one of the king's personal guard. He began as a crafter of weaponry in the halls of Grelkor, so named for the famed warrior of times past, the original king of Faalinhorth. Kyuss I was escalated to the rank of knight after his prowess with the axe was proven in the battles that the clan fought in order to keep the Siege of Shadows from infiltrating their home (672SR).
Kyuss served loyally for the king as a knight for many years when he was asked to become of the king's elite, a job that would allow him little freedom and time for himself, but was among the most honorable positions known to the dwarves of Faalinhorth (697SR). Kyuss I eventually rose to be the commander of the king's forces as well. This would allow him to command the armed forces of the dwarves in any future battles. Kyuss took these positions with pride, and considered them a great honor. And such they were. Many of the dwarves envied his quick rise to ascendancy, feeling that he grew in rank far too quickly for their tastes. Some of the dwarves openly despised Kyuss I, which he did not particularly care for, but took it with grace as a member of the knight hood.
Kyuss I met Belura Hodurg in the year 729SR. They had a relationship, or what one could call a relationship with someone that was married to his military rank, first and foremost. Their relationship lasted long enough for him to father a child, and for her to see that he was too absorbed in his knighthood to stay around and father the child. Although she was still loyal to him, and their relationship never truly ended, they did not see very much of each other after Kyuss II was born (733SR).
It was not long after Kyuss II was born that Kyuss on duty when he walked by a hallway and heard some voices. The voices sounded suspiciously hushed and muted, as if they did not want to be heard. Kyuss I decided to eavesdrop on the conversation, and he overheard threats on the king's life. Kyuss decided he must know who it was that spoke such blasphemy, and thus walked into the room. What he found upon entering were two of the other elite knights. This thought disturbed him, and heart began racing. He attempted to act as though he had heard nothing, and continued to walk down the hall, intent on waiting until he could gather enough evidence to convict the two fallen knights of treason. The other knights, however, suspected that Kyuss had heard their intended plans, and decided that they would put the blame of the king's death in his hands.
As the months went by, and plans were made, and evidence gained, the dwarves felt that they were ready to make the attempt on the king's life. They setup an occurrence in which the only dwarves that would be in attendance, this would be when they would strike at the king. The encounter was setup successfully. The dwarves were indeed alone with the king and Kyuss. Kyuss, ever suspicious of the dwarves, was watching them almost as much as he was the king. He saw one of the dwarves draw a knife. This was enough for Kyuss. He drew his axe from his baldric and rushed the dwarves. The king let out a start, and attempted to subdue the apparently mad dwarf, but Kyuss was in too much of a rage. His axe sunk deeply into the skull of the first dwarf, but found that he could not remove it from the skull once imbedded. Kyuss was now defenseless, but that would not hinder him in the protection of his king. The remaining traitor, the one who had drawn the dagger, plunged in into Kyuss' left eye, and carved a hideous gash into his face, stretching from the top of Kyuss' hairline to just above the chin. Kyuss let out a bellow of anguish, and was easily subdued by the king and the remaining dwarf after that. Kyuss was sentenced to banishment by the king for his assault on his life and the life of the two knights of Faalinhorth. Kyuss was to be banished, as were all who shared his name. As Kyuss' father was long deceased, and he had no siblings to speak of, that meant that only he and his son were to be banished, along with the mother of the child (756SR).
They were cast out of the Sartanon Mountains, never to return. Kyuss sent his son's mother to another dwarven city to live, reasoning that her fate should not be one with his. It was not her fault of the current events, and as such, she should not be made to suffer. By now the boy was 23 winters of age, still a whelp by all accounts, but sensible nonetheless. By now he would be able to tell his son of his father's accomplishments, and his curse. Kyuss could by now tell his son the ways of the world, at least the world that he was familiar with. He and his son roamed the lands just outside of the Sartanon Mountains, until the day that he felt that his son could learn no more from his father. At the next night of resting, Kyuss decided that he would leave his son, and return to his lost kingdom, and present the evidence that he had built up against the two dwarves (779SR). He left a note for his son, who was now nearing his 46th year of birth, saying that he would return if things went well, and that if he did not, he was probably deceased. He went on to say that he should not be mourned, just to keep his name on his young son's heart.
Kyuss II has since been staking his own claim to the woods surrounding the Sartanon Mountains, the Ysgael Forest, and has made quite a home of them. It took quite some time for Kyuss II to acclimate himself to the natives of the forest, and he has gained many scars to prove it. The thing that endeared him most to the creatures of the forest was his part in the cleansing of a section of the forest from the poachers that had been harassing the creatures of the forest, as well as tribes of Curr, orcs, and sylvan elves, that had been taking from the land without any thought of returning anything to it. Indeed the humanoids and sylvan elves seemed to hunt animals only for sport, and just leaving the carcass of the animal to rot where it lay, a thing that Kyuss did not appreciate in the least. He began to learn the ways of the woods, and how to hide in the forest to gain the best possible advantage that he could against the elves. He used this knowledge of the forests to hunt the foul elves of the forest, and to help the woodland creatures drive them from the deepest part of the Ysgael Forest. Instrumental in this was the great grey bear that inhabited the forest, a rare and majestic beast, one that Kyuss had not yet built up the courage to present himself to. The bear does not seem to mind Kyuss' presence in the forest, as it done nothing to indicate otherwise, but the dwarf is fearful of him nonetheless. The reasons for this are that he wishes the bear to accept him into the forest, as the dwarf would have nowhere else to go if refuted, and that in the back of his mind Kyuss knows that he could not defeat the bear if it came down to that, the bear would rip him to shreds, as it had many of the goblin-kin.
The forests of the grey bear are not entirely peaceful, and the animals of the forest and Kyuss himself are constantly fighting battles against the invading humanoid tribesmen who wish to hunt there. In the year 812SR, or four years ago, a tribe of sylvan elves made a rampageous romp through the woods, infuriating Kyuss. They seemed to be there for no other reason than to hunt for sport, the defenseless animals that inhabited the forest were falling to the murderous wood elves for no real reason, the elves were not even eating most of their victims. Kyuss took it upon himself to cleanse the forest of the murderous beasts, and return his forest back to the peace and quiet that he had grown accustomed to. He began to hunt the wood elves, using the shadows of the trees to follow the barbarian elves until they were singled out, at which time he would strike at them. This he did hoping to diminish their numbers enough so that when they realized what had happened, they would be too few to a real threat to the forest. As he hunted the sylvan elves, slowly but surely, he began to notice that the animals were helping him in his quest. On one particular hunt, he had singled out one elf and as he went to attack him, the elf surprised Kyuss by turning around, and throwing a spear that would surely have downed him for all eternity. Fortunately a deer that sat aside watching jumped into Kyuss, knocking him out of the way of the spear, narrowly avoiding its path of destruction. The deer went running off without a word, of course, and did not give Kyuss enough time to thank it. The very next time out, when Kyuss was watching a group of six sylvan elves, waiting for a moment when one would separate himself from the party, he was heard rustling in the underbrush. The elves rushed to investigate the noise, and Kyuss stood and threw his crude spear, having no fear of the murderous wood elves. Kyuss was hopelessly outnumbered, and would surely have perished once again, when a deep growl was heard from behind the advancing elves. It was the guttural cry of none other than the great grey bear, a truly awe- inspiring vision of animal. With renewed hope, Kyuss charged the elves, as the grey bear descended upon their ranks as well. The sylvan elves were hopelessly outmatched by the might of the grey bear, and fell easily. When the battle was over, the grey looked at Kyuss, and then turned to walk back into the darkness of the forest.
Current Sketch: Kyuss has built a small home for himself, in the empty cave of a bear long deceased, and has made it comfortable considering what he has access to. Kyuss had not left the area, because he feared missing his father, should he return. Kyuss has recently, however, decided that he would do what he could to clear his father's name amongst the dwarves, at any cost. He hoped beyond hope that they were not the cause of his father's disappearance, else all racial pride would surely have fled the dwarf by now. He searches for his lost father wherever he travels, hoping to find some clue as to his disappearance. He is also in wonder of his mother's whereabouts, as he has not seen her for more than fifty winters. Kyuss more or less venerates the great grey bear, and holds it in the highest of respects as the true king of the forest. His respect for the bear is only equaled by what he feels for his father. Kyuss can normally be found in his portion of the Ysgael Forest, although he cannot be found easily, as he does wish to be found. Kyuss holds a natural hatred for the sylvan elves because of their carelessness in his forests, but has also come to know that there are many sylvan elves out there, not all of which act as the elves of Ysgael Forest do. As such, Kyuss is extremely cautious regarding elves of sylvan bent, but his reactions towards them are subconsciously altered toward that of being more hostile than normal.
Statistics:
Kyuss Morbikus II Mountain Dwarf Ranger Mountain Man (forest)
Age 86 Sex M AL Chaotic Good Lvl1
Ht 4'2" Wt 168 HP 13 AC 8
Hair Brown Eyes Brown
ST 14, DX 10, CN 17, IQ 10, WS 10, CH 9
Equipment: Two Handed Battle-Axe, Spear, Throwing Axe, Leather Armor, Flint and Steel, Axe Hanger (x2), Belt, Belt Pouch (Small, x2), Dried Meat For Ten Meals, Dry Rations (3 Weeks), Backpack, Fishing Net,
Proficiencies: Weapon Proficiencies: Two-Handed Battle-Axe (S), Spear (P), Two-Hander Style (S)
Non-Weapon Proficiencies: Leather Working*, Nature Lore*, Survival Forest*, Tracking*, Weaponsmithing (Crude)*, Animal Lore, Fire Building, Foraging, Herbalism, Hunting, [* denotes free proficiency]
Special Abilities: HS 10%, MS15%, Primary Terrain Forest (Specialization), Animal Empathy, +5 to saves versus poisons and spells, Infravision 60 feet, Giant sized creatures suffer a minus four to hit, Will to Live (+2 Save versus Death, if brought below 0 hit points a successful CN check will restore him to 1 hp), fights till -10hp, Species Enemy - Sylvan Elves
Languages: Dwarven, Common
