#now hes dealinf with mindflayers and cults and gods and hags and stuff??? what the fuck?

[jacqcrisis]

Backstory for Alfonso "The Face-Breaker" Tombstone, the half-orc monk:

His dad is a human, was sort of a wandering type in his youth and spent some years close to a more neutral tribe of orcs where he fell in with an local lady. After she had Al, she wanted nothing to do with either of them due to a half-breed son being something that would make her a pariah within her community, so Al's dad took his son and they left to plant new roots. They eventually settled down in a mostly human/dwarven town where his dad found work as a simple laborer, married a human seamstress, and had two more kids. Despite the loving family, life was still hard for Al outside of that given he experienced quite a lot of ostracization from the townsfolk who had little love in their hearts for orcs.

Al never received a formal education and the fact that he can read or write at all is due to his adoptive mother being quite adamant about teaching all her children. While this makes him come across as simple, Al is a relatively curious soul, mostly interested in the people around him who will give him the time of day. By the time he was in his teens, he was well known around his town as a helpful, polite sort of creature who rarely got into trouble with the adults.

When he was old enough, Al started doing manual labor gigs to help his family out of some debt and eventually got into illegal boxing matches that paid more than even a months worth of construction work would as his natural capabilities from his heritage gave him an edge in a fight. After a few years of this, as he hit his early twenties, he was scouted for a more performative career. In the athletic theater of professional wrestling, he found a niche to fall into with ease, combining raw strength, showmanship, and athleticism to become something of a local 'evil' darling with the cruel and violent character that was Alfonso "The Face-Breaker" Tombstone which he played.

Local gigs turned into traveling to different cities for different circuits. He met a tag team partner. The crowds loved a big scary orc and his little evil halfling 'master' who he'd toss around the ring. His notoriety was gaining traction, but Al wanted more, wanted a change.

He didn't like being the stereotype he'd always been, constantly badgering his manager and company to let him change his character. To play the good guy, the big hero that was closer in personality to Al in reality, as he was well known in his circles for being a companionable, encouraging man who was always willing to help newbies and never brought drama outside of was mandated in a match. But The Face-Breaker made money and the crowd doesn't want an orc as the hero, so his requests for a heel-face turn were summarily denied.

Then his tag team partner died of a tragic accident. And his girlfriend breaks up with him for another more popular human wrestler. And then management decides they don't like how well regarded this half-orc is, so he's put on the fast track to his character getting shuffled out and forgotten.

It's all going to hell, but Al's keeping up the optimism even as he's traveling to Baldur's Gate to lose in a humiliating fashion. Thank the gods he gets kidnapped and wormed and crash landed into the middle of nowhere with a bunch of horny weirdos. Problem is, Al isn't an adventurer, he doesnt know much about the wider world other than what he's been exposed to, and all of this is going way over his head.

Thankfully, he's got a good head on his shoulders and he's a quick learner which is going to help become regarded as what he's always wanted to be in some shape or another: a goddamn hero.

Random extras:

Al's real name is Algrusk, not Alfonso. He adopted the new one when he started working outside of his hometown. He's always gone by Al ever since he was a kid.

His mother also taught him how to sew, garden, and cook. He made his own costumes when he first started wrestling and he's relatively handy in the kitchen, a boon when you're a mid-twenties bachelor.

Al has had several relationships with women that have never lasted more than a year or two. He's never had anything more than a one night stand or short term friends with benefits sort of situation with men despite the fact he tends to find himself infatuated with men more often. Part of this is that he's fallen into the expectation of giving his parents grandkids and that is just how he's always viewed finding a partner and his own life plan.

Al's a very down to earth kind of person who's main concerns until getting main characterizationed have been what's in front of him: living another day, his family, his work, paying his bills, etc etc etc. Because of his lack of education and low class upbringing, Al associates mostly with other performers, laborers, and the common folk, finding he has a hard time relating to the upper echelon of society. He also does not really worship any gods, and doesn't see them as much to think about as he is not someone important enough for them to think about as well.