A principal character from the Ring of Steel, a Dungeons & Dragons Forgotten Realms campaign set in and around Harrowdale. “Five days of walking and Dorn was almost home. He was tempted to stop in Velarsburg when he passed it shortly after highsun, but the thought of being home for dinner, after six long years, had driven him on. Trudging on through the gap between the Cormanthor and the Velarwood, he couldn’t help but think about the last time he pass this way, heading in the opposite direction, to the Abby of the Just Hammer. He had just come of age then, and had to follow the call he had heard since his childhood. The call of faith. The call to serve. But it was who had called him that he mistook. Through the years at the Abby, while he studied the sacred text, Dorn had felt that something was wrong. No matter how hard he tried, the teachings of Tyr did fulfill him. It was not until a passing cleric of Torm stopped to tend the shrine and spoke to the novices that Dorn realized the truth. It was not Tyr that called him… it was Torm! Though disappointed to lose a potent warrior from his flock, the Abbot recognized the passion that had suddenly come alive in Dorn, and allowed him to remain at the Abby, studying on his own until he was ready to take his vowels. The revelation was like a rebirth for Dorn. He threw himself into studies and training like a man possessed. Mastering not only the teachings of the “loyal fury”, but the skill at arms to serve and protect as his faith demanded. Leaving the Abby was hard. But, Dorn knew that once he swore himself to Torm there would be no place there for him. As he climbed a small hill, he brought him thoughts back to the present. He would be able see his family’s farm from here and his heart rose just thinking about that sight. But as he crested the hill he froze, and his heart sank like a rock… The farm was gone! The neatly tended fields were overrun, the barn had burned to the ground, even the stout stone walls of the cottage had collapsed, and everything was overgrown from years of neglect. With tears pouring down his face, Dorn rushed down the hill, unable to believe his eyes. But the truth could not be denied as he staggered about the ruins of his childhood home. Then he found what he feared the most, four graves. Simple, but respectfully made, and marked with carved stones… His father, mother and sisters. Collapsing to his knees, Dorn wailed in heart-broken agony. “Why have you forsaken me like this,” he screamed to the heaven. “Wasn’t it enough that I pledge my life to you!?!” “The gods did not do this,” Dorn had not heard the grey cloaked, mounted figure approach. “Orcs did!”” A common man of uncommon courage, Dorn was raised on a small farmstead in the extreme north of Harrowdale, beyond Velarsburg, and heard the call of faith in his childhood. Leaving home to study at the Abby of the Just Hammer in Tasseldale when he came of age, he discovered that it was Torm, not Tyr, who called to him, and left to serve the “loyal fury” as a wandering cleric and paladin. Stumbling into the Ring of Steel as it formed, Dorn often serves as their moral anchor. Sworn to a code of justice and righteousness, he is often too unyielding for the more chaotic members of the group, and always seems to find himself measuring short against his own, nearly impossible, standards. The sixth image from my second pass through the Ring of Steel characters. Thanks for looking... Hope you enjoy! Comments and suggestions always welcome and appriciated! Credits: Michael 3.0 by DAZ at 108% scale with mats from Nurah and Sayo 2 Texture Pack by Ilona & lluque, Wedge Cut 2.0, Michael 3 Millennium Beard & boots & tunic from M3 Tunic by DAZ with mats from King arthur for M3 by DAZ & Raw Art, chainmail mat from The Guardian by motif, Earth Reaver from RDNA Blades Vol 1 by Traveler, pose from DM’s Fantasy Realms by Danie, marforno & Abraham, and Mystic Hollow by DAZ & Laurie S.