Sadok Sharptongue

[Sadok]

Name: Sadok Sharptongue
Alias: Slitherblade
Rank: True Blood

Age: Deceased (34 at time of death)
Gender: Male
Race: Orc
Clan: Laughing Skull Clan
Class: Mage
Alignment: Chaotic Neutral

Family: Wrakks (father), Iswer (mother), Croash (brother), Rhonya Steelheart (mate), Kyrazha Throatrender (former mate), Vashnarz Talonslayer (former mate), Igurg & Iswer (daughters), Altan & Zoran (sons).
Known Friends: Red Blade Tribe, Horde Arcane Conclave, Arcane Enclave of Orgrimmar Sukeenah.
Known Enemies: Luk Vileclaw, Nahuna, Drustai, the Strongbrews.

Appearance:
Sadok was an orc of rigid, formal posture. His pockmarked face, punctuated by a patchy unkempt beard, bore a hostile stare and menacing snarl. His voice, raspy and firm, speaks in a peculiar heavily-stilted fashion.

Sharptongue's maroon robes, lined with dull purple pelts, were reinforced with metal plating, particularly on his bracers and pauldrons. Five ochre fangs adorned his belt, along with a capacious satchel and a weathered spellbook. He wielded an oversized cobalt spellblade with a tigerseye focus and a rusted ornamental scepter.

Personality:
Sadok exuded an abrasive obnoxiousness, drowning out conversation with cringeworthy puns, salacious double entendres and banal, esoteric observations. When under perceived threat, he often turned hostile, quick to insult and tease whilst narcissistically proclaiming himself ‘an honest orc’, superior in both intellect and morality to all others. This harsh obloquy often mellowed whenever in the company of senior figures within the tribe, replaced with coy sycophancy.

Those that have come to know the mage on more than a superficial basis might find that his vain ego-driven solipsism was partly a disguise for his own neurotic self-doubts - one might posit that he had adopted a superiority complex to hide his inferiority complex.

History:
Born in Lordamere Internment Camp, a young Sadok saw the lethargy take hold on the adults in the camp, including his father. Stories of past glories stirred his imagination, but they were impossible to reconcile with the withered warriors telling them, long ago defeated in body and mind.

When the camp was sacked by the New Horde several years later, Sadok experienced freedom for the first time. In time, the orc would accompany the Horde across the sea, but his scrawniness and impatience would see him consigned to menial work, assisting grunts in the Founding of Durotar. Around the campfire one night in Durotar, he would become captivated by a story of the mystical 'shaman', long-lost spiritualists whose power derived not from physical strength but through strength of will. Eventually tracking down one of these reclusive figures, he was deemed unworthy to train as shaman due to his impatience and burgeoning delusions of grandeur.

With the path of shaman closed to him, and deeply frustrated with his former duties, the petulant orc chose to barter passage back across the Great Sea. Returning to the ruins of Lordamere Internment Camp, the only true home he had known, he felt a lack of belonging or of purpose - until he was dazzled by a spectacular sight. The blazing beacon of Dalaran's protective dome was impregnable to him, but he felt compelled to find answers as to what it was - first to the Frostwolf, who knew little; and finally to the Forsaken, newly-allied to the Horde.

Finding a Forsaken mage, the orc begged for understanding. This supplication amused the undead, who ran experiments as to whether a 'crude beast' like an orc could be capable of harnessing the eldritch arts. In time, Sadok was begrudgingly permitted amongst the acrid fumes and dizzying scents of the Magic Quarter - he was ignored by many of the Forsaken, but he craved not social attention but the knowledge within the arcane texts. In time, he had learned to read these tomes; many months later he would begin to apply their techniques.

After five years within the Magic Quarter's libraries, Sadok had become an arcanist of limited talent but grand ambition; dressing in shadow-weave robes and peppering his speech with nonsensical vernacular found within some of the texts he had read, he was indeed somewhat changed. He would return to Kalimdor after hearing news of the Arcane Enclave's foundation within the Cleft of Shadow - continuing his studies there, he would begin to immerse himself amongst his people once more.

Repulsed by the seedy Orgrimmar taverns, brothels and gambling-houses, the initial thrill of rejoining his people was short-lived. The ambitious orc's mind turned to the political, as he sought to extend his influence and carve a legacy for himself. In time, he sought out the Red Blade tribe, a small but well-regarded pack. His ambitions were thwarted time and time again by his own breaches of decorum and by his morose mentor.

In time, his priorities began to change, however. He made steadfast friends, brothers and sisters amongst this tribe - orcs that would die for him without hesitation. He slowly began to view the tribe's continued strength as an extension of his own self-interest. In turn, this new perspective rewarded him with advancement within the tribe, as he was called forward to take his Oath of Blood, perform the rites of Gosh'kar, and in time become Thur'ruk and High Blade of the tribe.

Then everything would fall apart. Assassinated by the Kor'kron during the tribe's exile from Hellscream's Horde, Sadok briefly found peace in death, before the machinations of a scheming warlock-turned-peon called Luk would see his soul implanted within the corpse of his assassin. This undead Sadok quickly went mad as his tribe rejected him, and his mate Vashnarz chose to become one of Rargnasha's mates.

Eventually, Rhonya would lead a ritual to try and reverse Sadok's madness, and the ancestral spirits would offer Sharptongue life anew in return for penance, swearing oaths of servitude to serve the spirits. Though alive once more, Sadok would soon become increasingly frustrated under Rargnasha's command, only able to rely on the support of his new mate Kyrazha.

When Kozgugore was made Chieftain once more after the tribe traveled to an alternate Draenor, Sadok would officially reclaim the title of High Blade for the first time since his death. With his personal ambition supplanted by a ruthless desire to benefit his tribe no matter the cost, Sadok was both the same and much-changed -- yet this could not last.

With the strain of his arcane magicks and duties as High Blade Thur'ruk taking a progressively higher toll on the orc, Sadok was forced into taking a period of absence from the tribe to recuperate. During this time, he underwent his first Vision Quest, a trying pilgrimage that tormented him with visions of a life with his blood-sister Rhonya, an orc from whom he had always tried to hide his feelings for.

Returning to the tribe with his sanity barely intact, he would unhappily separate from Kyrazha in a bid to realise this fantasy. After much reluctance, Rhonya would finally accept his advances, and the pair would be mated after a short courtship. The strain of a particularly stressful Kosh'harg would precipitate another absence from the tribe, with Sadok predisposed to resignation from his duties upon his return.

Made True Blood of the tribe, he accepted that other orcs must now lead the next generation of the Red Blades. The challenge that awaited Sadok was finding new purpose in his 'retirement' from active service, and though he enjoyed the newfound leisure and family time he gained, he slowly became an awkward fringe figure around the tribe. His life would be cut short during the Legion's invasion of Azeroth, as he died defending his cubs' retreat through the Barrens. Crushed to death beneath the ruins of his hut, he was given a customary pyre once found by the tribe.

Things you may know about this character:
Sadok was a scheming politician who chairs the Horde Arcane Conclave and occupied a prominent position in the Red Blade tribe as its most senior spiritualist, despite what some would view as a lack of aptitude for either role.

Sadok was a rigid supporter of Garrosh Hellscream, though this quickly changed after the Kor'kron killed him. He believed in weaponising the arcane, but will often resort to traditional methods before employing magic.

Sadok really really really didn't like Vol'jin. He just didn't.

Things you may not know about this character:
Sadok had a longstanding shady relationship with Groshnakk Wyrmbreaker, wherein he would observe the crooked Varog'Gor sacrifice New Bloods and other innocents to empower her runeblade.

The exact nature of the oaths Sadok swore to the ancestors was unknown. He had confided in others that there are as many as five separate clauses, with one being absolute loyalty to the Chieftain, and another being to represent the ancestors' best interests over his own.

Memorable Quotes:

• "This delay is intolerable, tutor. According to my projections, I should be at least High Blade by now!" -- expressing frustration to Karak whilst New Blood, in a quote now funny in hindsight.
• "...by the Nether." -- a common utterance when at a loss for words
• "Y'wha'?" -- Sadok often says this when confused.

Other Information:
Sadok starred in his own comic series during a period of RP inactivity.

Spoiler: Gallery • show

^ Sadok's weaponry.


^ A young Sadok and his father Wrakks at Lordamere Internment Camp.


^ An adolescent Sadok studying the arcane within the Undercity's Magic Quarter.


^ Even as a New Blood, Sadok felt more comfortable in the company of the Forsaken, such as those frequenting the Blighted Dwarf tavern.


^ Sadok held captive in the Barrens, during the Path of Conquest campaign.

[Sadok]

Updated 3/1/16.

[Sadok]

Final update.