Hragran Beastcaller

Hragran Beastcaller is one of the most well-known individuals in orc history, and his feat of uniting the orcs and the wampus cats and driving the human invasion out of the Burning Steppes is legendary. Many young orclings are told the story during their childhood, and are told if they work hard and serve their tribe, they might one day become just as strong as Hragran.

Legend
Hragran was born into the Bladefury Tribe during the period that the orcs now call the Human Wars. He was the youngest of five brothers, and quickly learned that he had to fight for his place. And fought he did. Before his fifteenth birthday he had already defeated many of the tribe’s best warriors in hand-to-hand combat, and the elderly Chieftain Thultash had taken him under his wings.

But the humans were becoming more and more ferocious, and by the time Thultash had passed away in battle, and Hragran had taken his place, the Bladefury Tribe had been pushed to the very edge of the Burning Steppes. With their resources pushed to their limits, and seeing no other way, Hragran set out on a journey to find the fabled Sword of Bloodlust.

The trek was long, and with no orc to spare Hragran had to travel it himself. With nothing but hope that the Sword was real, and an undeniable conviction to save his tribe, he travelled with haste. After a fortnight he arrived at the base of the mountains, and decided to set up camp beneath the cover of some trees.

The moon was at its height, and the embers of his fire mere sparks, when Hragran woke with a jolt. He could see shapes in the shadows, green eyes glimmering in the moonlight, and he could hear growling. Realising that he was surrounded, Hragran did something very uncharacteristic for an orc—he laid down his battleaxe and held up his hands in greeting.

A large Wampus Cat, the leader known as Ishbi, stepped into the clearing and asked Hragran what he was doing there and if he had any last wishes before her pride ravished him. Hragran, speaking clearly and slowly, explained what he had come for, and how his people were hunted by the humans. Ishbi, who knew of the human’s selfishness and ruthlessness first-hand, ordered her pack to stand down and joined Hragran by the fire to listen to his story.

With so much conviction was Hragran telling the story of his people thay by sunrise he was sat upon Ishbi’s back and the whole wampus pride were running back to aid the Bladefury Tribe. The humans, having almost broken through the tribe’s defences, had become so drunk on their own power that they were taken by surprise when Hragran and the wampus came riding over the hill.

The defeat was swift, as the humans didn’t have weapons to fight the combined forces of the orcs' axes and the cats’ claws, and they were soon sent running. The victory was the first in a campaign that helped the orcs take back the Burning Steppes. Ishbi called for other prides, and soon every orc warrior of the Ferocious Five tribes were riding upon wampus, whom they considered equals.

Hragran earned the name of Beastcaller, and since then there has been an unbreakable bond between crcs and wampus cats. To this day the battleaxe of Hragran hangs over the throne in the City of Kharzug, and a necklace of Ishbi’s fangs is handed down from the Chieftains as a token of their power.