Horgle Ironstrike is a Trollkin warlock and a smith of the Trollbloods with close ties to both the United Kriels of the south and the Northkin of the north. Horgle joined the United Kriels after the tragic death of his mother and the destruction of kriels and has now found a new purpose in forging weapons for the Trollbloods and defending kriels from the enemies of their race.[1][2]
History[]
Horgle was born to a northern kriel in the southeastern Shard Spires but his mother Lagertha was an outsider from the Wyrmwall. Horgle was uninterested in the traditional activities of his kriel and instead excelled in the ancestral smithing rites passed down to him by his mother Lagertha, a skilled blacksmith and gifted warlock. Lagertha made use of trolls brought from her hereditary lands in the Wyrmwall Mountains which were used to aid her work with the scorching heat of pyre trolls being used in tempering steel and etching runes with the searing acid of the slags. Horgle learned these techniques, eventually employing them to craft superior weapons and armor.[1]
But one day a large force of dragonspawn and blighted Nyss attacked his kriel. He fought alongside Lagertha, who rallied the kriel’s defenses and inflicted a heavy toll on the enemy before she was finally struck down. Her tragic death induced Horgle’s sorcerous awakening and he took control of the remaining trolls and launched them at the enemy. Despite his efforts the kriel was lost, and Horgle was forced to retreat with a few other survivors. Feeling no real kinship with these trollkin and seeing them only as a reminder of his loss, he soon left them behind as well.[1]
Joining the United Kriels[]
Horgle moved south, carrying only his mother’s smithing hammer and a fiery sword shaped by his own hand. After wandering sometime he found kriels affiliated with the United Kriels. There his smithing prowess and promise as a warlock caught the attention of Grissel Bloodsong who saw great potential in the young trollkin, both as a warlock and skilled weapon smith.[1]
While Horgle preferred to live in solitude, his desire to exact vengeance on those who destroyed his former life drove him to fight alongside his kin in battle, his affinity with pyre and slag trolls being specially useful both on and off the battlefield. [1]
The Anvil[]
When Horgle reached the Bloodstone Marches to visit the newly established settlement founded in the shadow of Mount Shyleth Breen by the old Thornwood kriels he found they were assailed on all sides by ravaging gatormen and farrow. Horgle truly came into his own as he put aside all hesitations to stand among the kin in defense of their home and he was convinced that only unflinching resolve and the ability to make hard choices would see the kriels endure.[1]
When most of the United Kriels departed for new lands Horgle chose to remain behind. He has made tentative contact and friendship with several of the greatest lore-masters of the United Kriels, like Hoarluk Doomshaper and Ragnor Skysplitter, who have tasked him with restoring the great weapons of the kriels as well as the northern alliance of kriels known as the Northkin, befreinding has befriended the Lourdag kriel’s fire-eaters, who admire his mastery over flame.[1][2]
Even as he provides his assistance, he strives to preserve his autonomy, refusing to put down roots and always requiring compensation for his labor which has led to some conisder Horgle as a grim mercenary, but the warlock’s actions are rooted in what he believes is best for the kriels. When not laboring at the forge, Horgle fights with sword and hammer to protect the flickering, guttering flame that is the trollkin race.[1]