How can one become the Second Government's most wanted individual in the entire Inneath?
Well, this is the story of an Orc that almost literally started from scratches and worked his way up to be one of the most feared gangsters in the whole world.
But let's start from the beginning.
"THE BLUE"
Urghor was born with blue skin. Generally, Orcs don't mind about color skin, after all their skins can be many different colors: from dark brown to yellow, from red to green, from white to black and all the intermediate hues you can imagine. However, Orcs society is known for being extremely superstitious and, according to one of the endless beliefs concerning good and bad luck, blue is not a lucky color: on the contrary! Orcs believe that bad luck is attracted to blue so, when Urghor's parents saw their newborn featuring pale blue skin, they immediately thought about a bad omen. So they abandoned their child in the nearest place available, which happened to be Granada: once a glorious and rich island of the Hispanic empire, but nowadays little more than a nest of thieves, pirates and rascals.
Nobody knows what Urghor thought when he saw his parents sail from Granada leaving him on the ground, but he quickly realized to be all alone in a cold, cruel world.
IN THE DARKEST NARROWS
Urghor grew up the same way as the many orphans of Granada: he had to learn how to fend for himself, how to protect himself from the perils of the darkest narrows and how to survive in a context where everybody would do anything to prevail over the others.
Despite the unfortunate circumstances that brought him to that place, Urghor was still an Orc, with all that it entails: he quickly grew up in size and strength, becoming soon a towering brute able to easily take what he needed from whoever he wanted.
"If you can beat him, join him!", it wasn't long before the stories of a blue-skin Orc wandered across the narrows of Granada: many people gathered around him, in search of protection, or just to make use of the Orc's strength. Those desperate outcasts have been the closest thing to a family, for Urghor. And that's how the "Jackals of Granada" were born, an ambitious and daring gang of criminals willing to take their revenge against the world that relegated them in the lowest and filthiest place of society. Lead by "The Blue", the Jackals quickly gained a fearsome reputation for their ruthlesness and ingenuity: they were not just like the other thieves, there was a kind of brutal ambition that burned into their souls.
THE MALAPICCAS
Urghor's fate sharply turned when he was 8 years old (which is approximately 20-25 in human years). At that time, the infamous free company known as "The Malapiccas" docked at the port of Granada, an event that changed Urghor's fate, and probably that of Inneath.
Lead by the legendary Tancredi Malapicca (hence the name of the company), known also as "the black helm", the Malapiccas had behind them a long and bloody career at the service of almost all the main nations of Inneath: "hit only once, and do it right!" is the company's motto and in fact their swift strikes were feared by everyone, in the battlefields of Inneath.
However, not all the stories manage to reach the deepest narrows of the society and, in the eyes of Urghor, those tents encamped in the sandy shores of Granada were nothing but a chance to earn easy doubloons and, with a bit of luck, a boat robust enough to leave that limbo and start his own saga.
With the fire of ambition that burned in his eyes, Urghor and his fellows decided then to try to take the big shot and rob, by night, the most dangerous and succesful free company in the whole Inneath.
A SECOND CHANCE
As you may expected, that time Urghor dared too much. The Jackals were easily overwhelmed by the Malapiccas: they simply had not a single chance to prevail against such a superior opponent. Normally, such insolence would be punished with a quick and scornful death, but Tancredi saw something special in Urghor's eyes and decided to offer him a deal: to join the Malapiccas and pay his debt directly on the battlefield.
More than a punishment, Malapicca's deal seemed like a dream come true.
Urghor had finally the chance to leave Granada and, finally, start the journey he has always dreamed.
Once aboard the Malapicca's galleon, the Triumphant Boar, Urghor took a last look at the city. He promised to return, someday, and buy the whole island.
Thus ends the first act of this story. In the next episode, Urghor discovers the world of Inneath, travelling and fighting with the Malapiccas, and realizes how, after all, the dark alleys of Granada were not so bad. Betrayal, death and desperation: in the next episode, Urghor mets the Second Government of Inneath!