Gomlok Skyhide

When Gomlok Skyhide was seemingly abandoned on the borders of the Gulraz clan's domain in the arid Dusk Hills, it was not as a squalling babe or helpless infant, but as a lean, solemn-faced youth. He greeted the chief shaman of the clan, Skalrag, and claimed that his parents, whom he called the 'Skymother and Skyfather' had left him to Skalrag's care. The shaman was, apparently, to raise Gomlok and teach him what sorcerous knowledge he did not yet know. Such a bold claim would likely have been met with derision, were it not for two factors. Gomlok proved his magical talent by draining a nearby tree of life and restoring it. Secondly, his pallid blue skin, a match for the heavens above, was taken by some within the clan as proof that his incredible story was true. The Gulraz were an especially superstitious Orc clan, and had long worshiped Lumaya in a form as a light-giving sky deity. To some of them, Gomlok's mysterious appearance truly was a sign from the Goddess. Accepting this, Skalrag agreed to train and raise Gomlok. He found he had little to teach the young Orc, whose talents were formidable, and it was not long before Skyhide took his place among the clan's shamanistic magic-wielders. While he would admit it to no others, he had little memory of a time before he had awoken on the edge of Gulraz territory, but his beliefs about his origins were sincere. One day, he claimed, he would return to the great azure, and assume his place among his divine kin. While some believed this, some thought it mere trickery, for Gomlok often showed a particular grasp for deception in his magic. When a rampaging gang of Ogryn looked set to fall on the Gulraz, Gomlok threw up an illusion that made the brutes think there was a grand feast waiting for them just over the next ridge line in the opposite direction, a trick that continued to exert its influence over them from one eminence to another, until they were far from Gulraz territory. On another occasion, he cast a glamor over many of the clan's pots and pans, making them appear to be priceless treasures. When a powerful Orc warlord named Skornthax passed through and demanded tribute, the clan surrendered their cookware to him. To this day, Skornthax believes the battered metal implements to be among his most prized possessions, with those few who can see through the spell too afraid to tell the infamously murderous brute the truth. Gomlok's abilities saw him acting as an advisor for a succession of the Gulraz's elected chiefs, and a strategist on the rare occasions when the clan found itself with no choice other than to go to war. Privately he pushed the limits of his own abilities over time, and tampered with darker magics, hoping that they might unlock the key to his past and presage his return to the heavenly realms. During one arcane ceremony, the arcane energies got out of control and knocked down huts, burned food stocks, and freed livestock from their pens that then fled the devastation. By some miracle, no one was killed, but for the first time in his life, Gomlok had experienced a check on his abilities. His confidence shaken, he became concerned about what other damage he could cause to his adoptive people. He exiled himself before the aging Skalrag and the council of shamans could pronounce a judgment against him. For years, Gomlok wandered among other clans, selling his services as a warrior-shaman to the highest-paying warband. While he never again delved as deeply into dark magics as he had before his self-imposed exile, he steadily branched out into them once more, mastering deadlier forms of combat arcanistry. Still, he swiftly grew bored with the mercenary lifestyle, believing he was destined for greater things. He felt something more calling to him, something from above. Believing that his Skymother and Skyfather were seeking his return, Gomlok set out alone on a quest of self-discovery. He believed that there was some arcane knowledge, some fragment of power that he needed to acquire before he would be taken back to the heavens, to a divine existence that he believed he had been separated from in his younger years. To that end, Skyhide ventured into the burning heat of the Krokhan Desert, where he hoped he might commune with a high power and perhaps, when the time is right, ascend to a higher plane.