Kreela Witch-Arm

Kreela Witch-Arm was born in a small village in the Lost Isles, under the stars her clan believed signified sorrow and ancestry. The first star proved true all too soon, for Kreela’s mother died in childbirth. The second star marked her as one with ‘Hallowsight’: a connection and ability to commune with the Orc realm of spirits. Soon after Kreela’s birth, a Shaman called Tellok arrived in their village demanding the girl be handed over to her, so that she may be properly trained in the spiritual practices the Orcs of her home islands had observed for generations. Facing losing both his wife and daughter in a matter of days, Kreela’s father refused. Furious, the Shaman cursed the child, and vibrant fuchsia, mauve, and lilac flames erupted from Kreela’s left arm, forever marking her as one who refused the call of the ancestors. Fearful of provoking Tellok any further, the village elders banished Kreela and her father. Kreela’s father sought shelter for them among other Orc clans. They roamed from village to village, isle to isle, and the response was always the same: a firm refusal to welcome the child with the witch-arm. Realizing that she would never be accepted, Kreela’s father accepted life as an outcast, and did his best to raise his daughter with love and optimism for a better life to come. Though their existence was harsh, Kreela grew into a happy, headstrong, and fearsome young Orc, skilled with any weapon, and adept at hunting, fishing, and surviving in the wilderness. When she was old enough to understand, Kreela’s father told her of Shaman Tellok, and how, despite the curse, they would build a better life together. However, a time came when the star of sorrow proved prophetic once more. As Kreela was on the cusp of adolescence, a terrible sickness claimed her father’s life. She wailed and howled for hours until exhaustion overcame her. Kreela collapsed beside her father’s body, and fell into a deep and mournful sleep. After opening her eyes, it was clear to Kreela that she was no longer in the cave in which she was raised. The landscape before her seemed to shift, images appearing then disappearing in mists as if drawn and erased by some spectral illustrator. It was unlike anything she had ever experienced, and though she may only have been dreaming, Kreela thought that somehow she had passed over into the ancestral plane. Unsure of what to do, or what was expected of her, she stood up and inspected this dreamlike place. As she explored, the landscape continued to blur and change, until she saw two Orcish figures, holding hands and walking toward the horizon. She chased quickly, eager to speak, but as she ran the figures seemed to become further away. Then, just as they were almost out of sight, the pair turned. Kreela’s heart almost jumped out of her chest as she saw they were her father and an Orc that looked just like her, except older and without the cursed arm. The stranger gave her a tender smile and Kreela knew she was seeing her mother for the first time. At that very moment, Kreela sat bolt upright, now back in the cave. Filled with immense grief, yet fizzing with a newfound purpose, she knew that she had to find Shaman Tellok and learn from her, so that she may again visit the ancestral plane and speak with her parents. Though it pained her to go to the one who cursed her, the one whom her father had lost everything to keep her away from, Kreela knew that she had to forge her own path, and accept the fate that the stars had laid out for her at her birth. When she found Tellok in a remote hut on an otherwise unpopulated island, the Shaman wasn’t surprised to see the adolescent Orc standing there, for the spirits had told her of Kreela’s coming moons prior. They began training immediately, Tellok keen to make up for lost time, and Kreela eager to learn. Years passed, and Kreela honed her craft and widened her understanding of the rituals, spells, and practices passed down from Shaman to Shaman. Over time Kreela’s power outstripped Tellok’s, yet despite countless attempts, she could not reach that dreamlike place where she had seen her parents. With the old Shaman unable to teach her any more, Kreela set out on her own, desperate to find any clue or magic that might allow her to once again find her family. Lost and alone, she uses her gifts to seek something she may never find, her travels most recently taking her to the pirate port of Bleakhaven. Perhaps one day Kreela will snap out of her introspection, and she will find a new purpose looking outward to the future, instead of inward to the past.