#graun

If the rumors were true, perhaps he wouldn’t have had to deal with anti-orc law enforcement. It was a little disheartening not being able to set foot into the last town he tried to settle in, but on the bright side, he was pretty sure that that marked the longest stretch of time without being barred entry into a township based on his existence as a half-orc.

He could have spent time worrying about what ogrush had done in the area before he set foot in it. He could have ignored the guards and fought his way through. Sometimes, especially at the last town, he was tempted to revert back to his old military ways, going around proving that his sheer might justified his existence in this world. Any time that happened, though, he remembered his mom’s arms barely reaching above his waist when he would come back home from school, the both of them thinking that despite his...unique genetic makeup, things would be okay.

It was nighttime when he entered the next township. As usual, he scanned the area for the nearest tavern, thinking it would be business as usual. However, he heard a lot of hubbub from the town square and figured he’d investigate.

There was a stage set up for performers to entertain passersby, and upon closer inspection, the half-orc found out that it was a sort of open stage night. People just seemed to walk up on stage, talk to the master of ceremonies, and performed anything from juggling to reciting poems. He clutched what looked like a curved bronze baton from his rucksack, watching from the back of the crowd for an opportunity to head up to the stage.

When he found one, he confidently strutted towards the stage’s staircase, his large frame causing footsteps that could likely be heard throughout the entire town square. He stood at seven feet tall, with broad, muscular shoulders, arms, and legs, and a greatly toned torso. His hair was black and messy as was his beard, wrapping all around his jaw. He wore a tan loose linen tunic with visible stitches at the shoulder hems as well as black leather pants and brown boots. He had on a black leather cap with a yellow feather attached to it. Between his back and his rucksack were two shortswords that he kept on him while he was walking on stage. He figured getting his instrument out before even heading to the stage would have been better than reaching for it in his rucksack, around the same area as his weapons.

He flashed the announcer a toothy grin, revealing the tusks on his bottom jaw. Even that smile was a landmark in the half-orc’s life; it was only somewhat recently when he started to love every quality of himself, the humanlike eyes and nose and the ogrush ears, tusks, and green skin. The smile of his radiated confidence in both his looks and his performing abilities.