Durak, Son of Arlak

Durak was born in the dwarven city of Karak Kadrin. His father, Arlak, son of Oldren, is a priest of Grimnir the Fearless and was always a controlling force in Durak’s life. Durak never distinguished himself well either in his military or religious studies, and when he reached maturity, Arlak arranged for his son to work as a ceremonial guard at the temple of Grimnir.

This was a job of intense tedium for Durak. He had to endure days on end of the same sermon being given by his father. On the other hand, it was also pathetically easy – all he had to do was stand there.

After a few years of this, Durak decided he wanted to try his hand at something more challenging. He applied for the dwarven shieldbreakers, but out of practice with a weapon (and having never been that good anyway) he was rejected. After more years of boredom and depression on guard outside the temple, Durak left and found work in a tavern. At this point, his father threw him out of the family home.

More years went by with Durak moving from on hostelry to another, serving as barman, porter or crowd control. Eventually, having worked at just about every establishment in Karak Kadrin, Durak tried once more to join the shieldbreakers. This time – either because he had toughened up or because the incursions of Chaos had been taking their toll – he was accepted.

Unfortunately, he immediately felt out of place. He was significantly older than all the other recruits and didn’t make many friends. After a year of training, he was posted to the tunnels beneath the city to protect the mines from greenskin attacks.

Over the years of his service the were many such attacks, most repelled easily by the more experienced fighters. Once, Durak’s entire post was killed by orcs and goblins, and it looked like Durak would be, too, but reinforcements showed up just in time. Durak moved from post to post, always a mediocre fighter. In his many years of service, he notched many goblin kills, but never felled an orc – something his comrades never let him forget.

Eventually, disenchanted with life in the shieldbreakers, and even with the entire dwarven way of life, Durak left Karak Kadrin for the human empire to the west. Humans were reknowned among dwarves for their lack of martial skills, so with even his average battle prowess Durak believed he might do well.

He wandered south and west, taking on various guard jobs. Eventually, he reached a small province called Schweinhofen and enlisted as an armsman to Lord Kultzmann.