Born in the very capitol of the Etherien Republic, the grand city of Drasier, Norin was alone from the moment he was born. His mother, part of a high-ranking noble family known as the Estrannes family, had an affair with a half-orc - something absolutely not allowed within any noble family. When her child was born, she was horrified to find it wasn't her husband's, but instead the half-orc's - she bribed the doctors into telling the world she had miscarried, and got rid of the baby by selling him into slavery. The only thing she ever gave him was a name - Norin.
 
Norin was brought up north slowly, and grew up receiving none of the things a child needs. He stayed with a troupe of chimney-cleaners and slave boys called The Shackled Hands and worked hard for every meal, using his orcish blood to fight through things that weaker children wouldn't be able to survive. He stayed for a few years in Amphys, the Waterfall City, where he became an adult - he learnt how to survive on the streets, how to thrive. Here he heard about who his mother was, although the slavers never told him her first name. He got his tattoos here as well.
 
At one point, in the fourteenth year of his life, he was sold to work on the estate of a noble called Davis Lytton, where he was hired as a guard/heavy worker. Lord Lytton treated him worse than anyone else ever had, handing out lashes freely whenever any of his slaves did something wrong. At one point, Norin had had enough - when the lord came to watch them while they worked, he took a dagger and stabbed him in the gut before running into the woods. Norin escaped to the nearby city of Fynderth.
 
He stayed there for about six months. During this time, he scraped money together by robbing folk and doing small jobs. He remained hidden, scared of Lord Lytton's men finding him. Eventually, he found an orphanage that was being exploited by a rich merchant called Balabar Smenk. He found out Balabar's house, broke in, and stole as much as he could before running away. However, he soon came to regret that decision - Smenk had a large amount of connections within the city, and Norin was sought after dearly. In the end, he bribed some guards to let him escape the city. Unfortunately, to match the price on his head, he had to pay almost all the money on his person, and he found himself back where he started, now outside of Fynderth. He decided to lie low for at least a month or two, until Smenk had calmed down or forgotten about him, so he made his way to a small town where he would be safe.
 
Norin made his way to Oar's Rest, a tiny settlement by the southern border of the Folkmar mountains. He has now been staying there for about a month, going by the name Dench so he wouldn't be found out. The inn he stays at is called The Fox and the Lady, and he has made sure not to talk too much to the locals in the village, so he can truly lay low. The barkeep, Timbro, has been equally antisocial, and has supplied Dench with plenty of booze.
 
Last night was the first snowfall of the year. This morning, Dench comes down to have breakfast, but is interrupted when he hears a sound outside that may change his life for good...