Owner of the Goblin’s Head Tavern
Half-orc male ftr 2/war 2: CR 3; Medium humanoid (half-orc); Hit Dice 2d10 plus 2d8; 20 hp; Init +0; Spd 30 ft. (6 squares); AC 13 (10 touch, 13 flat-footed); BAB/Grapple +4/+5; Atk +7 melee (1d6+2/18-20, +1 cold iron scimitar) or +5 melee (1d6+1 nonlethal, sap); Full atk +7 melee (1d6+2/18-20, +1 cold iron scimitar), or +5 melee (1d6+1 nonlethal, sap); SQ darkvision 60ft., orc blood; AL CN; SV Fort +6, Ref +0, Will +0; Str 13, Dex 11, Con 11, Int 14, Wis 10, Cha 15; Weight 235 lbs., Height 6 ft., 3 in.
Skills and Feats: Climb +5, Bluff +4, Diplomacy +7, Intimidate +10, Jump +5, Profession (bartending) +2, Speak Language (Common, Giant, Goblin, Orc), Sense Motive +2, Swim +3, Use Rope +1; Negotiator, Persuasive, Power Attack, Weapon Focus (scimitar).
Possessions: +1 cold iron scimitar , sap, studded leather armor.
Born to a prostitute in Keriel’s Turn, Hursk is the result of a business encounter between his mother and an itinerant orc mercenary, one of several employed by a merchant making a trading run from Hursk’s home village to the gnome settlement of Emerald Hollow, and thence eastward across the mountains and through the great deserts of the east.
Growing up, Hursk was forced to develop a thick skin in order to endure the disapproval and prejudice which accompanied both the manner of his birth and his status as a half-breed. But the young half-orc proved surprisingly charismatic despite his disadvantages, and soon garnered a reputation as a hard worker with an enviably sharp head on his shoulders, as well as a touching amount of affection for his mother. His time among the rough men and women of the Turn’s river workers gave him plenty of chances to develop a reputation as a nasty piece of work in a fight, but Hursk was never the type to start a brawl himself, and he left his village with the grudging respect of many of his peers.
He returned a little over a year later, having spent the intervening time as an adventurer, and used the profits of his ventures to purchase a bit of land, build the Goblin’s Head, and set up his adored mother in a snug little cottage for retirement. An early life spent in poverty has led him to engage in sharp business practices, and sometimes his dealings skirt the edges of the law; he has proved amenable to a mutually profitable live-and-let-live arrangement with the Velvet Purse, garnering a few modest bribes in exchange for failing to look too hard for an explanation when people disappear. Hursk also lends money at interest, to the tune of 13 percent, compounded daily, and is fearsome to those who don’t pay up on time.
Despite these shortcomings, Hursk is also fairly popular in his rough waterfront town, and is known for keeping his word as well as for a commendable lack of curiosity about other people’s business. Since even the most benevolent of the Turn’s citizens value their privacy, these are very congenial traits for them to find in their mayor.