Freeman Nezor of Clan Formarch, ethnically a Hill-Lander and racially a Hill Giant, was raised on the hillside of a glen somewhere between the great Granfor Forest and the North-eastern tip of the Central Mountains just inside the southern border of the Hill-Lands north of the Westlands. Here his family, a prominent portion of Clan Formarch, own a small farm of about 13 acres used mostly as a graze for their sizeable herd of goats. The family, as is the clan, a devoutly Hyvalian Theocratic Lowlander family.

Nezor’s and his only brother’s mother is long dead whom died from a fever shortly after Nezor’s birth. Not long after, his father remarried a barren and bitter half-giant woman who despised both him and his older brother. Nezor himself has a bad rep among his fellows as a violent drunk whom is dangerous because he can appear warm and friendly when he’s not keeping to himself but can explode for no particular reason into a drunken rage earning him the nickname ‘Beer-Knuckle’.

It was inevitable that someone dubbed ‘Beer-Knuckle’ would fall into trouble that would necessitate some sort of exile. He had left in a huff cursing both his brother and his father on his way out the door. He had a habit of cursing his step-mother whenever he had the chance so on the day he left he didn’t give her the satisfaction of uttering a word to or about her. He left home with little coin and the only possession of his that he truly valued.

His club that he had carved from a single large log of oak with the head fashioned to memorialize the myth of the Hill of Skulls and bearing the images of the Old Satyrs dancing and cavorting over the stock. The haft wrapped in yellow haired dog-hide strips and the pommel fashioned of interlocked hearts wreathed in flames representing the Heart of Boahng (the Buddha-Christ-like figure of the Hyvalian Theocracy) providing a firm and comfortable grip. Naturally he constantly used it to show off when drunk.

The crime he had committed began harmlessly enough. He used to “protect” the family herds when it was his duty to shepherd by killing the wild dogs that were so prevalent there. Occasionally he would take it upon himself to seek out ‘worthy foes’, wild bulls that would wander up from the south and revel in the ability to literally break them in half with his mighty club which he had already dubbed “Dog-Smasher”. Of course, he wanted to append “Bull-Breaker” to the title but his friends and a much more clever acquaintance of theirs gave him a drunken challenge leading him to break the back of a certain black bull one fateful night.

It was the dying beast’s pathetic mewling which had brought its owner just as Nezor brought down the killing stroke. Needless to say the man wasn’t pleased, Nezor’s father had to pay the man for his steer but the damage had been done the prize beast had been killed before it had been bred and only recently acquired at a greater price than Nezor’s father had been able to fully pay.

The bull’s owner was a member of a less successful Highlander clan that in the past had been in competition with the Formarch clan and whose multiple heirs populated the upper ranks of the local Fua band. It wasn’t long till the band ambushed Nezor but as most were of the human extraction with some faun blood in their veins they proved themselves no challenge. Needless to say almost all were killed, some as they cowered in the shadow of the enraged giant. The results would have been understandable and probably tolerated under normal circumstances but it was one of the heirs of the farmer that had limped bloody and broken into town claiming that Nezor had attacked them due to the situation with the black bull as they were just passing by. Unfortunately the one-sidedness of the battle lent credence to this lie.

Not long after the Formarch Clan disowned and expelled Nezor to avoid a feud. The offended Highlander Clan thirsts for his blood to this very day. So, he took his club “Dog-Smasher the Bull-Breaker” (hey to him it sounds AWESOME) and headed south along the coast eventually finding himself in the southland city of Xuun.

The city of Xuun lies in the Marshes of Gorloc on the banks of the Xin-Vador River with trade roads skirting the north and south and connecting it with another city, Chizan, on the shores of Gorloc Lake which is rather more like a murky freshwater sea, all surrounded by patches of swamp, coastal marsh, and blots of wet-forest. Here he figured he could make a living as a strong-arm or paid-thug if need be.

He soon took up a sort of residence in one of the few buildings that could accommodate his 12-foot height with its 20 ft. high vaulted ceilings, the tavern known as the ‘Whiskey Troll’ the central dominating figure being a massive wood barrel larger than a hogshead with a carved troll-face above the tap. The entrance had had a large double-door but which had long since been destroyed, fragments still cling to the old hinges leaving only the portcullis to secure the building should the need arise. The place was a smoke-choked den of thieves, criminals, and low-lifers with partially transformed troll-wives for barmaids.

It was in this place he met his current companions, a male human Southlander named Phenox, a Grim Warrior by class (played by Gil), and a female human named Cantra, a Deathgrin by trade (played by Jenn). Despite his companions, which anyone but Nezor can see are definitely not good-people, Nezor sees himself as a larval hero needing only to gain the riches and reputation deserved by him to become the hero he knows he already is in the eyes of the general public. He values truth & trustworthiness but tends to be somewhat irresponsible. He is a prototypical Hill-lander in most ways however, enjoying drink and food to excess and reveling in challenges of strength.

Freeman Nezor is of the Chaotic Evil Principled alignment and his personality is “impulsive, acts/speaks without thinking; emotional”. His CON and STR are his highest attributes being +12 and +30 respectively and both are supernatural due to his being a Hill Giant. His M.E. is at +2 with the rest of his base attributes being at or below zero. His flaws are Noisy and Shy. His class is Thug and his inborn traits are Bruiser and Kamikaze. His most notable abilities are of course his STR and CON not to mention his great height. Besides his great club he is equipped with a cowhide jerkin, a steel skullcap with a simple engraved border design, bronze greaves and bracers also with a simple border engraving, a curved dagger suited to his size, and a single cross-harness.

It wasn’t long after finding his friends, and after some ‘harmless’ shenanigans, that Nezor found himself with his new found pals facing off with a gang of black-hooded criminals, the local thieves’ guild, on the cold stone floor of the Whiskey Troll Tavern.

To Be Continued…

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