Gnash the Younger

[Sadok]

[Source: Adapted from Gnash's OotRB Wiki entry.]



Name: Gnash the Younger
Alias: The Son of Stronghand
Rank: Oathbound

Age: 25
Gender: Male
Race: Orc
Clan: Bleeding Hollow Clan
Class: Warlock
Alignment: Lawful Evil

Family: Gnash Stronghand (father), Hazra (mother)
Known Friends: Red Blade tribe, Mazguul Sharpeye
Known Enemies: Gargrom Blacktooth

Appearance:
Gnash is an orc of average height and posture. His gaunt features are pronounced by a bald head and a stubble beard. Apart from a faint red glow in his eyes that betrays the use of demonic energies, he does not yet show noticeable signs of physical corruption. The robes he dons are ornamented with thick blackened chains, otherworldly glowing orbs and the skulls of fallen adversaries. Some of these skulls are even impaled on the massive spikes of his shoulder armor.

At times he is accompanied by his demonic serf, the imp Jakmat. A foul-mouthing and mischievous creature, Jakmat often acts as a shoulder devil -- trying to persuade Gnash to perform evil acts. In return for his help, Gnash rewards Jakmat by beating him up and setting him on fire.

Personality:
In social settings Gnash is often described as whimsical, leaning to borderline. One moment he can be quite amicable and the next red hot with anger. Naturally, this is due to the fact that fel magic warps the mind and Gnash has not yet found a way to cope with this process. He therefore usually keeps to himself to avoid confrontation.

As a shunned figure in the tribe, Gnash tries hard to prove he is trustworthy and capable. He often cloaks his pride in selflessness, but in reality has little empathy for the weak and unfit. When confronted with the fact that he is a warlock, he makes himself out to be a martyr: it's a dirty job, but somebody has to do it.

History:
Gnash the Younger is the son of the infamous Rrosh-tul Gnash Stronghand. He held little love for his deceased father, who abandoned him and his mother at a young age, but has accepted his post-death invitation to join the Orcs of the Red Blade nonetheless. Once a brash youth, due to his dabbling in dark magic he now starts to show signs of this abuse of power. He was a secretive and lonesome figure, and most definitely controversial, among the members of the Red Blade Tribe.

Gnash was born in an interment camp in the Arathi Highlands in the aftermath of the Second War. After the liberation, his mother Hazra brought him along to Kalimdor. He spent his childhood secluded on a farm in Durotar -- hunting small critters in the sands, wrestling the boys of the Durotar outback and taking care of the farm's scrawny boars. Often he asked about his father and Hazra would try her hardest to ignore his questions.

Once he would see his father. One day he simply stood in the doorway, bellowing at his startled son. It was an awkward reconciliation, especially because it was accompanied by strikes of Hazra's broom against Gnash Stronghand's head and excessive cursing of his genitals. Thankfully those particular details are lost in the sands of time! He pressed a carved wooden figurine of a wolf into Gnash's hands, gave him a gentle pat on the head and whisked a bottle of liquor off the shelf and was on his way again.

As time passed, Gnash became eager to diligently serve his Warchief. Life on the farm had been slow and familiar but young Gnash longed for adventure. So he traveled to Orgrimmar and enlisted in the service of the Horde. He spent the next three years being trained and grinded by renowned driller Logruk Stonewall and his ogre right-hand Chum Dwarfmauler.

During his martial training he grew closer to a rugged blademaster called Gargrom Blacktooth. Blacktooth, who trained the grunts in handling weapons, fitted himself into the role of mentor. He enjoyed Gnash's company and gave him worldly advise from time to time. One day a skirmish broke out with night elves in Azshara. There, it was Blacktooth who saved Gnash's life by fending off a mortal strike from a sentinel. From that day forward, Gnash had but one father figure.

When finally Gnash completed his training, he was assigned to the outpost of Stonard in the Swamp of Sorrows. Here he saw the Alliance slowly amassing its army. A clash of was unavoidable. It was here that he first encountered the orcs of the Red Blade. Apparently their presence in the Swamp of Sorrows had been twofold. The Red Blades did not only want to repel the Alliance, they had been searching for Gnash as well. It was Morgeth Feralheart who brought him the news of his father's death and his last wish: for his son to join the Red Blade tribe.

As the campaign against the Alliance continued, Gnash became infatuated by this mysterious tribe. They seemed to know an awful lot about his father. They could be able answer the questions he had. He fought side by side these orcs until the Alliance was forced to take its losses. Finally, on the day that they would leave, Gnash decided to come with them to Kalimdor.
Gnash found a mentor in Mazguul Sharpeye, the tribe's most revered shaman. Mazguul saw talent in Gnash, who could hear the faint whispers of the elementals, and started to train him in the ways of the shaman. He undertook a pilgrimage across Kalimdor to try and harness the four elements one by one. Sadly, this pilgrimage was ended abruptly by the return of Blacktooth. The blademaster had been keeping tabs on Gnash since his return to Kalimdor and 'accidentally' bumped in to him at the Barrens' Crossroads inn. Gnash told him of his plight and Blacktooth offered him a strange amulet that would supposedly protect him on his travels. Gnash accepted.

The next day Gnash continued his journey and was ambushed along the road side by a group of bandits. Vastly outnumbered and surrounded, Gnash clenched Blacktooth's gift and uttered a curse in the face of eminent demise. To his surprise, one of the bandits collapsed and started to gasp for air. After mere seconds the life had been sucked out of him. The other bandits understood that they mistook a warlock for a pilgrim and quickly fled into wilds. From that moment, the whispers of the elements faded.

Angered by Blacktooth's betrayal, and desperate to find a way to restore his elemental bond, Gnash sought the help of the secretive denizens of the Cleft of Shadows. Sadly, after deliberation he had to acknowledge that this bond was not mended easily and instead he decided to harness the dark magics to hunt the orc that inflicted this curse upon him. The amulet proved a helpful tool in that process, as it focused Gnash's spell-weaving with great efficiency.

The details of the process remain a secret however, as Gnash is reluctant to talk about his training in the Cleft. He remains vague of where he studied and with whom, but the Ragefire Chasm -- as the bastion of fel magic within Orgrimmar -- would be an accurate guess. As warlocks are shunned by orcish society, speaking of their training methods and rituals in detail can have dire consequences for whoever chooses to speak of them in public...

As Gnash learned more about his father's place in the tribe, he discovered that despite his many flaws he was lauded for his many battle scars and valor. He wanted to walk in his father's footsteps -- to for the first time be close to him in spirit. As the Alliance invaded the Southern Barrens, Gnash was given the perfect opportunity to demonstrate his determination and cunning. He called for a war summit with the allies of the Red Blade in Orgrimmar and convinced them of the necessity of retaliation. Calling upon his bloodline and martial heritage, he was appointed as commander and strategist of the campaign.

Over the course of several months, Gnash marched on the Path of Conquest. With great momentum the Horde achieved one victory after the other. The Alliance was driven out of the Southern Barrens and even pushed back to Theramore. As the battle moved to the Stonetalon Mountains, a crippling blow was dealt to the night elves at Battlescar Valley. Finally, the campaign was halted in Ashenvale. The Alliance had managed to recover from the surprisingly swift advance and brough reinforcements from overseas. The conquest ended at Kargathia Keep, where the Horde was pushed into Azshara by the newly invigorated Alliance army.

Gnash would be seen increasingly sparingly in the months after this campaign. He would resurface briefly during the tribe's journeys in Pandaria, then would fall off the radar again.

Things you may know about this character:
Gnash recorded the details of the Path of Conquest campaign in the Conqueror's Journal.

Things you may not know about this character:
Gnash the Younger used to call renegade Blademaster Gargrom Blacktooth a friend and mentor, until Blacktooth tricked him into resorting to fel magic by means of a mysterious amulet. Now, Gnash scours the length and breadth of Kalimdor for a sign of Blacktooth to exert his revenge.

Memorable Quotes:
"Har-har!"

Other Information:
N/A