Well, what can I say. I was born in a hoodrat sprawl in Boston , UCAS aka the Hub. Parents never around cause someone has to work to afford luxuries like food and electricity. Was your average schmuck in high school until I decided enough was enough and dropped out when I was 16 and decided it was time for a change.

Begby Boulderbuster always knew he was different. He could tell at the grocer when he and his mother went through the line as a toddler, the hidden line of distaste and the smell of fear from the checkout girl.

His first day at school was a day to remember, he was head and shoulders taller than anyone in his class, and they had to get him a larger desk. He’d sit alone during recess, watching the other children play; they wouldn’t really even talk to him, much less play with him. The name calling and mean-spirited kids took their toll on his self esteem. He grew to have little respect for authority. The adult humans did nothing to protect him from the children’s jeers and provocations; they seemed to delight in it, some teachers at times would even laugh with the children. No matter what he raised his hand for, he was seldom called upon to answer anything.

Begby received his Ork traits from a virus he’d been told, but he couldn’t believe he was sick: he didn’t feel sick, in fact as he became a teenager and his ears and teeth got larger, the muscles in his arms becoming grotesquely overdeveloped, he didn’t even work out much: he realized he was stronger than those humans that hated him, and one day he would put this to use.

He joined the football team in high school. He lead the team in quarterback sacks, he’d move through the offensive line like an unstoppable laser beam and crush the quarterback, till the other team’s bleachers would cry, “Take the monster out, he’s unfair! Is he your only player? You cheaters!” The chants still rung in his head, even as the coach called him out of the game to sit on the bench.

He had a friend in High School, Amanda Burke. In the tenth grade Amanda had a locker next to his; he spent most of the time between classes trying to hide himself with its door. One day, Amanda tapped him on the shoulder and said, “Hi, I uh... bought this candy bar and I... can’t finish it, it’s too much chocolate, would you like the rest?” Begby turned to her, scanning her face for insult, wondering if it was just on the floor, or she had picked it out of a garbage can. He looked around to see if there were any girls masking giggles, watching the scene play out. There were none, and Amanda’s face had an... honesty that he hadn’t seen before in any human. He reached out for the candy bar and took a bite, saying, “Uh, thanks, that’s my favorite...,” not even knowing what kind it was, but he was hungry. He was always hungry. She smiled, turned and walked away, looked over her shoulder at him and smiled again. The following day she did the same, and the day after, and for weeks she would eat half a candy bar and share the other half with Begby. Very little was said until one day she admonished, “How can you stand those jerks treating you like that?” She nodded down the hall as some of the football team was standing around with their fingers up against their lower lips, making pretend protruding tusks like his. They danced about cross-eyed and walked around stomping the ground. He shrugged, there was so much of that, he hardly noticed anymore. After that they talked about everything, and walked home from school together, she was fascinated by him, and often remarked he was fun to be with because he wasn’t like everyone else.

As the year passed and summer came, Amanda helped him get a job at the Trideo store her dad owned. Amanda’s father Jim was always good to him, and was glad for his strength to move boxes and shelving and also paid him quite well, took him to lunch and became his friend and mentor over the summer. Jim seemed to respect him, and talked to him like he was just any normal guy. Begby realized that it wasn’t possible to hate humans as a whole, there were still good ones out there.

Fall came quickly and during his junior year, he and Amanda were inseparable. He started to make more friends, soon he was well known on the football team as “Big Green”. He had a signature move of stripping the ball from the opposing quarterback and making a touchdown on the same play. He learned he could move among the human kids as if they were standing still.

Amanda was incredibly popular and well liked at school, her father was pretty successful so she always had money, and she had a car, a really nice one but she didn’t flaunt it and was never stuck on herself, she had a real soul. Amanda had a crush on a boy named Todd, one of the most popular guys in school. Begby knew by the way she’d stop and stare at him, sometimes in mid-sentence. It didn’t bother Begby, although he didn’t really know Todd, he seemed OK. Amanda was too good a friend to risk anything of a romantic nature with, but deep down, he wished she could be his girlfriend. Every time he thought of this, he wondered what he would do with his lower tusks if they ever kissed, and then he’d shake the idea from his mind in embarrassment.

It was at a dance during their junior year that his life was changed forever. Begby went to the dance by himself, dressed in a suit that was really expensive, custom tailored to fit his huge frame, but he looked good, even for an Ork. He glanced around the dance to see if Amanda and Todd were having fun, he was going to go get a dance with her; she made him promise he would. He caught sight of them leaving out a side door and decided he’d say goodbye if they were leaving, and apologize for not getting that dance in like he said he would.

He followed a dark school hallway, rounded the corner and heard grunting and muffled struggling noises in an empty classroom, he walked up to the door and found Todd with his hands up under Amanda’s skirt, trying to tear her underclothes off, he had his pants around his ankles and she was pushing at his chest and hitting him, telling him to stop, he was laughing, telling her how much she wanted this.

Something flashed deep inside Begby, an ancient power; it was the nexus of his life essence coming into being. His was an old and powerful race, he felt touched by ancestors that protected their villages, he saw Orks from millennia past bearing bloody weapons of war, it was his reason for being, he was warrior. This will not stand. It could not. He was a protector of his tribe from eons past, and now he had only one member of his tribe. Amanda. If he could not protect her, his life was useless, it was his purpose. He exploded with a rage he never knew, all the pent-up frustrations of his whole childhood got released in two seconds.

With almost sickening agility, Begby sprinted to Todd, grabbed him by the throat, lifted him easily three feet off the ground and squeezed his throat and held while connecting with his right fist directly in the nose, making a sickening wet crushing sound, covering him with warm sticky red spray. Most of Todd’s throat stayed in Begby’s hand, but his body flew like a rag doll across the room and splattered messily against a corner table. Looking at the flesh pile that was Todd’s throat in his hand, he realized he had killed him with one blow; it was so easy, so fast. He looked down at his blood-soaked newly-tailored suit and stammered, “But, I... “Amanda screamed and ran out of the room. “...Amanda...”

She must’ve called Lone Star, because they were there quickly, taking him into custody and downtown for interrogation.

In the months that followed, he was jailed, interrogated, jailed, brought into and out of courts, jailed again, interrogated more; the whole thing seemed like a dream. When asked if he was sorry for what he’d done, he could only say it was an accident. It really was an accident in his mind, he had no intention of killing Todd, and he just was too strong for his own good.

His mother would visit him every week, and would often say, “What have I done to deserve this, how could you do this, Begby?” She cried a lot, and Begby wished if only for her sake that he could go back in time and change what he had done.

It was Jim, Amanda’s father, which kept him from life in prison or even execution. His lawyers did great things, and Amanda testified that she would’ve been raped had Begby not stepped in. But he was still in pretty big trouble, he was commissioned to UCAS Military Boarding school , and when he was finished there, forced enlistment. He never finished High School. Throughout his court case, Amanda would occasionally come in for testimony or be in the audience, but he didn’t have the heart to look up at her and lock eyes, but his eyes would always follow her out of the courtroom as she left, even though it made going back to his cell that much harder.

Begby became a skilled military mechanic. He worked on assault hovercrafts, and even upgraded some of the systems of machines he had charge of. He was released after two years of boarding school and 9 years of military service, and with a loan from Jim Burke, operates a hovercraft repair shop today. His parents have disowned him. Recently Jim sent Begby’s parents a big screen Trideo, with a note from Begby, saying, “Thanks so much for everything you did when I was growing up.” They didn’t respond, but they didn’t return the Trideo either, so that made Begby smile. “Someday we’ll be friends again...” it is his deepest wish.

Begby still at the core of everything blames humans for what he did: they wanted this, they provoked a sleeping tiger and although his demons are held at bay, they still exist. He has not contacted Amanda; shame for his outburst still hangs around his head. Jim and Begby don’t talk about Amanda, Jim understands not to cross that boundary, there’s too much of an emotional rift there, but he also believes that time heals all wounds.

His skills as a mechanic and pilot, along with his UCAS knowledge and weapons training make him perfect to run in the Shadows, and the money is too good to pass up. He’s killed before, he’s not afraid to again.

Artwork by Tim Keller

Beginnings

Chop… Chop… Chop… The reverberations of the axe echoed distantly away from the woods where the child was born. Deep in the Brazilian Amazon near the river, the year, 2014, deep in the Amazon Rainforest, a screaming mother’s eyes feast apon a newborn treasure. She firmly believes she held this one much longer than her last two, but in this land time is very hard to measure, there is only night and day. “He is very thin…” says his father, “and why are his ears like that?” he was different indeed.

Chop… Chop… Chop… “What is that noise?” his mother asks. “It is a beat he shall follow, that will be his name, Toq,” the noise grew closer throughout the night and even closer in the day. Some of the hunters went to explore it, they never returned. That following night nearly his entire tribe was slain in a dispute by illegal lumber harvesters, only he and the village elder survived.

His following nine years were spent learning of the ways of the wood, listening, observing, and sensing the nature around him, and following the guidance of his beloved guardian. It was at nine when his mentor’s failing health became apparent. Within a month he passed on. Alone now, deep within the hostile jungle, alone… Toq was helpless, at that moment he realized he would not be able to survive. All the child wanted to do was cry, and he did.

The First Hunt

“Why do you cry cub?” said a quiet voice from behind him, and from the brush steps out a panther. Terrified, Toq freezes, knowing full and well that panthers were bad news, and his survivability at this moment was reduced to zero.

“Fear me not cub, long I have watched you.”

“You aren’t going to eat me?”

“No.”

“Who are you?”

“I am Nema, the Watcher, long have I awaited your coming, The Cat welcomes you”

“Cat?”

“Yes, the ultimate hunter, their spirits run through your blood, you have special rite of destiny, your fate is to serve, and in return, I shall grant you two blessings.”

“Blessings?”

“Yes, Blessings, your first blessing shall be to live, and the next is the power to be a great hunter.” The great cat then bowed its head, then turned as a gesture to follow, and follow Toq did.

Deeper and Deeper into the jungle, away from the river, away from any feeling of familiarity the cat guided him through the unimaginable foliage silently, so silently that Toq’s footsteps seemed like the crashing of a wild boar.

“Shh!” Nema hissed “if you want to be prey, then continue to walk like prey, but if you want to be a hunter, then your steps must match mine,” after a moment Toq’s feet became softer, Nema nodded in approval.

“Are you hungry cub?”

Toq nods, he hadn’t really had anything substantial to eat in days.

“Then you must hunt for food, your hands, although useful, lack a weapon, but no worries, I have this for you” the big cat walks to a nearby rock and bats it, hard. Under it laid a blade, of some kind of shiny material, it looked very sharp.

“Use this to get something to eat, further up is prey, he is strong enough to prove your own worth,” and with that said, the Great Cat, Nema vansished.

Up ahead was a ravine, carved out by a now dried stream. Slightly down the way was a cave, partially concealed by brush. The squeals of young boars echoed quietly. Excited to have found such a gift Toq slid down into the ravine and ran towards the cave. He drew his knife, awaiting the feast he was going to have. As he drew closer to the cave the squeals grew loud, but he heard something behind him.

Quickly the boy turned to see a boar much larger than he charging him, razor-like tusks bearing down at him. Screaming Toq looks around to find an escape from this beast, the only way to go is the cave, for that’s where the stream cut. He turns and runs towards the cave only, to his horror, to find another large boar charging him from the other direction. Nowhere to run, trapped in the ravine, Toq knew this was the end, his fear whelming inside him.

“NO!” he yelled, both boars staring at him, locked on, seconds away from colliding into him from both sides full force with their mighty blades jutting from those disgusting mouths. He felt something, something inside of him. Almost like an understanding of something, within an instant Toq dives out of the way, but something was strange, it was their eyes. The boars both lost track of him, as if they lost sight of him. They charged past each other, and very closely by the petrified child. Confused, the boars ran back into the cave.

They still sensed his presence, they know he is there, but they could not see him. Toq looks at his hands and gasps, there was nothing! Quickly, he gets up and climbs out of the ravine, his hunger heavily outweighed by fear. He runs back to where he was given the knife. There, Nema stood.

“Foolish cub!” he roared. “You were almost killed! The Cat has been good to you today, they have granted you a second chance, and I see they have awakened your soul as well. Trust me when I say, they will not help you like this again”

“I could not see myself! How?!” Toq cried out.

After some silence, Nema laughed, “You are shaman now, you owe that to The Cat, you serve him now, he must think highly of you, either that or he pities you after watching that poor excuse of a hunt. As shaman you have the gift of The Cat’s blessing, through him you can grant yourself the ability of being unseen. The Cat is hard to sense, so YOU are hard to sense. But in order to use his blessings you need to focus, now, try it again”

Toq closes his eyes, takes a breath, and tries to remember the feeling, the understanding of nature, the fear, everything that he felt during his near death hunt, soon he realizes that he can see although his eyes are closed, he did it.

“Now go back and finish what you started” Nema said and vanishes again.

Knife drawn again, Toq slides back into the ravine, constantly checking to see if he is still unable to be seen. Slowly he approaches the cave, terrified, but much quieter this time. He sees both boars peeking out of the brush concealing the cave, fear growing deep inside him. If only he could distract one. His mind was a bit foggy from summoning his newly found power, but he was still sharp. Slowly he crept, quietly, all the way up to the brush that held his test, he is now almost within reach of them. They grunt, they know he is there, and are keeping an eye out, they smell him, they know, but at the same time, they don’t, Toq knows this.

Newly found confidence is within him, he looks at the closest boar’s leg and knows where to strike, In the blink of an eye, the boy slashes at the boar’s front tendon, and succeeds, dropping it helplessly to the ground. It squeals in pain and the second boar is absolutely confused, the boy jumps on the second boar head on. He clears its head, and latches on to its back, slashing at its flank. It takes off, squealing in pain, and fear. Holding on for dear life, the beast takes the boy for a ride, but only for a moment, soon the knife slides across its rear hamstring before it can shake him off.

The beast collapses, hind first forcing Toq to roll off. This breaks his concentration, he is visible, but its too late. As quickly as he fell off, he gets up, blade in hand, The hunter chases his crippled and now slow prey, pounces its back, and slashes its throat. “One down, now to finish the other off” he thinks to himself excitedly. He runs full pace back towards the cave, only to see a trail of blood leading deeper into the cave.

Toq always had sharp eyes in the darkness, and saw the cave went in about five feet and turned slightly right. There he could here the snorts of this once terrifying animal. He crept into the cave, and peered around the corner, only to feel heartbreak, there he saw piglets, feeding off of a wounded mother.

“I’ve taken more than I need, I shall leave you to rest” and from there, Toq left the cave to claim his spoils.

There was a boar alright, it was huge! So huge in fact that he didn’t know how to manage it.

“I underestimated you cub,” Toq jumped, from behind him Nema approached, and with him, was a pack of his kind. “The Cat is pleased! Now, share your abundance and we shall feast in your name!” and feast they did.

Artwork by Tim Keller

Here is a listing of the scanned (PC) character sheets. All characters were created using 450 build points.

Active Characters:
• Begby Boulderbuster - Orc Street Samurai/Rigger PDF
• Toq - Elf Tribal Shaman pg1, pg2
• Jambi Jury - Physical Adept pg1, pg2
• Keebo - Technomancer pg1, pg2

The Dead Pile:
• Just lots of NPCs, so far...

Illustration by Tim Keller