In the last days before the fall of Hoth Achaar (26.01), there was an orc who had no name, a slave owned by the King of the Mountains (42.00). When the Disciples of Othonoi brought madness within the fortress walls, the King suspected that orcs were to blame, but could find no proof that would allow him to move against Ram Roskinder and his zealous followers (26.01.02). Instead, the King would beat and torture his nameless slave, and once even doused her in burning oil. At last, riven by paranoia, he commanded that she should be forced to enter the cave from whence the earth line issued (26.01.01), now known as the Eye of Gruumsch. No other had ever survived going into that place.
Yet, after the earthquake tore the walls of Hoth Achaar in two, and the orcs and dwarves did battle in the streets, the Nameless emerged from the cave miraculously unscathed. Without a word she took up a sword and slaughtered a dozen dwarves to reach her former master, whom she beheaded, thus ending the monarchy of dwarfkind to this day.
After the battle, even the Disciples of Othonoi feared the strange knowledge and power that the Nameless had acquired. She later taught that while inside the Eye of Gruumsh she had received a vision from the lords of the underworld, who warned her that orcs must suffer pain in order to grow strong. They told the Nameless that far in the future, a time of great trial would come for the orcs, and only by gathering great strength would they survive it.
Though the orcs still practice the pain-rituals that the Nameless imparted to them, she was always an outcast on the fringes of their society. Much of her deeper teachings were incomprehensible. In her final years, she led an expedition east to the Withered Moors, and there passed out of record. It is unknown what she was looking for in that bleak place, and whether she found it, but it is known that after she died her followers built a tomb for her which is guarded by the strength of orcish trapcraft (42.02).
Hooks
- What’s inside the Eye of Gruumsh? Did the Nameless really receive a vision from the lords of the underworld?
- What was the Nameless searching for in the Withered Moors?
- What is the terrible trial that the lords of the underworld predicted to befall the orcs? Is it coming soon?