The General

“The General”

(Real name unknown — or deliberately kept secret.)

Race: Orc

Sex: Male

Age: Mid-40s (appearance and manner suggest older)

Height: 6’7"

Build: Broad and powerfully built, with a slightly stooped posture that speaks of old wounds and fatigue

Eyes: Grey-green, dull but intense, as if always studying something distant

Skin: Ashen green with scattered scars; one deep across the temple and down to his cheek

Hair: Black and streaked with grey, worn long and often tied back; his beard is coarse, patchy, and unkempt

Voice: Deep, gravelly, deliberate. Rarely raises it. When he does, it’s commanding and cold.

Markings: Jagged scar along the right side of his head, the result of the injury that took much of his memory. Occasionally, the skin there twitches — an echo of the old pain.

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Personality

Temperament: Cold and focused, slow to anger but frightening when it comes.

Speech: Uses few words. When he does speak, they are weighted.

Inner Nature: Haunted, introspective, and quietly guilt-ridden.

Social Behavior: Keeps distance; doesn’t trust easily, doesn’t explain himself.

Humor: Almost none — dry at best. Sometimes talks to the dog’s ghost under his breath.

Core Drive: To atone for something he cannot fully remember, but feels deeply responsible for.

Fear: Forgetting everything — losing the last threads of what he was.

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Combat & Skills

Weapon of Choice: An antique human sword — chipped and blackened by age, likely from a bygone human war. He sharpens it obsessively.

Armor: Piecemeal — scavenged metal plates and leather, repaired repeatedly.

Fighting Style: Efficient brutality; no wasted motion. He fights like a soldier, but one taught by experience, not formal training.

Skills:

Field tactics and ambush strategy

Tracking

Survivalist instincts

Blade maintenance

Stoic endurance — can fight through pain that would cripple others

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Backstory (Fragmented Memory)

Once commanded others — or so he’s told. The title “The General” stuck, though he cannot recall who gave it to him.

The only clear memory: a great battle, fire, screams — and his dog, loyal and brave. Something happened that forced him to kill it with his own hands. The reason, lost to fog. The guilt, not.

Since then, the dog’s spirit has followed him — not maliciously, just there. Sometimes it watches him sleep. Sometimes it leads him toward danger or safety — he cannot tell which. No one other than him can see the dog.

He wakes at times to blood on his hands, with no memory of how it got there.

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The Dog (Ethereal Companion)

Name: Unknown — the General refuses to say it.

Form: A faintly glowing outline of a large hound, always near him but only he can see it.

Nature: Neither ghost nor illusion — a manifestation of guilt and memory. However, no one other than him can see it or hear it.

Behavior: Silent, loyal, and unnervingly attentive. Sometimes growls when someone lies to the General, though only he percieves this. Sometimes vanishes for days.

Symbolism: Represents the one thing that ever loved him and he loved — and the one he destroyed.

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Belongings

The antique saber sword — old human steel, carried with religious devotion.

A weathered satchel with oil, whetstones, and cloth for his weapon.

A leather dog collar, tarnished and kept in the satchel.

Occasionally wears a tattered cloak that hides his face and build in towns.

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Behavioral Traits

Sharpens his sword when anxious or thinking.

Talks quietly to the unseen dog at night.

Avoids mirrors — doesn’t like seeing his reflection.

Sleeps lightly; wakes fast.

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Voice Example (Tone)

“Names... don’t matter. Steel does. And loyalty. The rest—” he taps his temple with a thick finger “—the rest fades.”

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Rumors About Him

Some say he used to lead an army.

Others claim he’s just a mad sellsword who talks to ghosts.

A few whisper his true name is something pathetic — a child’s name, or a slave’s name — which is why he hides it.