Learning about the brothers

Over the next few hours, Dukash fills you in on their life story. The man is a conversational machine, barely stopping to take a breath, but he is interesting and sweet so you listen. Apparently, his father was a legendary orc warrior. He met their mother on one of his adventures, who was just a simple farm girl. He was smitten by her beauty and entranced by her kindness, giving up his questing lifestyle to be with her. However, when Thror was seven and Dukash was only four, their orc uncles arrived at the farmhouse claiming their father had dishonored their family line. You find out that all orcs are born male and must breed with the other races to propagate. The stronger the woman, the more orc the offspring would be. Since their mother had been "weak," Thror and Dukash had been born half-orcs, dirtying their lineage. The bastards killed their father for this perceived betrayal, leaving the kids and their mother to grieve. Five years later a plague swept the village, claiming their mother's life as well.

Since then the brothers have been on their own. They worked odd jobs and drifted from place to place throughout their teenage years, earning enough money for cheap weapons and gear. Now that they were twenty-two and nineteen respectively, they wanted to become adventurers, just like you. You find yourself touched by their sad story, strengthening your resolve to join them.

With the sun well below the horizon, Thror informs you both that there is not enough money for dinner, promising breakfast instead. While your stomach is aching for food, you do not complain. A free breakfast is kindness enough. With nothing else to do, you all decide to turn in for the night. Dukash offers you the other half of his bed. With the other option being the hard wooden floor, you graciously accept. Part of you fears he will try something in the darkness but those fears prove to be baseless. He is a gentleman, turning his back to you while he sleeps. Settling into the cheap mattress, you try your best to get comfortable. As you do, you notice Dukash's back. The half-orc sleeps shirtless, his well-toned back open to you. However, what draws your eyes is not his figure but his scars. Ten long, vertical scars mark his back, seemingly left by a whip. Dukash had not mentioned them in his story, though from the look of them they had happened a while ago.

Turning around and facing the wall, you try your best to fall asleep. It takes a while but eventually your consciousness slips away.