#having money for tutoring obviously helps considerably but also just having a parent or adults in ur area who have done an undergrad

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Michal Introduces her Characters: Marcus Reynard

Name: Marcus Reynard Race: Half-Orc Class: Sorcerer (Storm) Gender: Male Alignment: Neutral Good

Bio: It all started with a small tribe of orcs and half-orcs. One day, as a female half-orc in the tribe began to give birth, a sudden freak thunderstorm appeared out of nowhere. The strength of the storm seemed to surge as her labor pains did, and as the baby was finally born, the storm suddenly climaxed in its fury and sent a single bolt of lightning crashing down outside of the cave where the birth was occurring before fading away just as suddenly as it began. The elders and shamans of the tribe grew worried, viewing the storm as a dark omen and the child as a harbinger of destruction. They took the newborn and descended from their mountainous home to find a pile of stones sacred to their people. There they left the baby as an offering to the spirits, hoping that by sacrificing the boy that the tribe could appease them.

Luckily for the newborn, the pile of rocks just happened to be next to a caravan road. While the road wasn't often used due to how close it ran to orc territory, the storm had blocked off the main road when it knocked over some trees. So it just so happened that a caravan was passing by shortly after the baby had been abandoned. At the head of the caravan was a carriage being ridden by the head merchant of the group and his wife, a slightly older human couple named Thaddeus and Gertrude Reynard. The Reynards had been together for many years and were trying very hard to start a family to no avail. So when the newborn let out a cry and the caravan halted to investigate, the Reynards knew exactly what to do when they found the baby boy. Who were they to pass up an obvious blessing from the gods? Why did it matter that the child was a half-orc? They immediately adopted the baby.

The child was named Marcus and the Reynards raised him with all the love and attention they could, truly treating him as though he was their flesh and blood. He was given all the best things their considerable money could buy, including a top notch education. Marcus grew up into a cheerful, personable child with an inquisitive mind and a selfless attitude. Sure, rumors were thrown around about the origins of the strange half-orc child that the Reynards were raising. Many whispered that Gertrude had an affair with an orc, or that they had been cursed by a witch to have a hideous child. Yet no matter what people said, the Reynards ignored it. They were a happy family. Thaddeus was even grooming Marcus to someday take over as the head of his mercantile empire.

Then one day on Marcus's thirteenth birthday something strange happened. The Reynards threw a lavish party, inviting many other mercantile families and even minor nobles to attend. Everything seemed to be going well when a fight broke out among the children. Aside from his tusks and his green skin, the one other thing Marcus seemed to have inherited from his orcish side was a slight temper. One of the other boys had been teasing Marcus. While Marcus could easily brush off insults to himself, when the boy made a rude comment about his mother Marcus became furious. As the adults rushed to break the fight up, Marcus threw a punch that smacked the other boy in the stomach. The moment the punch connected, a surge of lightning flowed from Marcus's fist into the boy and a sudden gust of wind threw the bully across the room. The crowd stood mystified as Marcus stood there with electricity dancing across his skin. Luckily, one of the merchants that had been invited was also a wizard who had been an adventurer before retiring to start a potion shop. He preformed some basic divination spells and determined that Marcus carried the touch of innate power that marked his as a sorcerer. He told the the Reynards that he had seen a similar display of magic once before in his adventuring days, and that while he couldn't really do much to teach young Marcus he could help them find someone who could.

The Reynards quickly jumped on the chance to help their son and spent quite a bit of money to track down a teacher for Marcus. Eventually they found a halfling storm sorcerer, a woman by the name of Cordealia Skygazer. She somewhat reluctantly took on the task of teaching Marcus, thinking that she would be stuck teaching a spoiled rich kid. However, Marcus quickly won her over with his sincere and respectful attitude. As she trained him to control the storm within him, Cordealia would tell Marcus stories of her own adventures, fighting monsters and saving villages. Marcus grew enamored with the idea. He began to believe that he must possess his powers for a reason, and that his magic would be wasted if he remained a mere merchant.

Eventually, years passed and Cordealia managed to shape Marcus into a promising sorcerer with all the basics of control. On his twentieth birthday, she informed Marcus and his parents that she was leaving. She explained that every sorcerer was unique, and that while she could mentor Marcus on the basics of control and start him on the path, it was up to him to find out how to truly master his powers. There simply was nothing more she could teach him. Hearing this, Marcus knew what he had to do. He told his parents that he felt that the only way to find himself and learn to control his powers was to go on a journey of discovery. He wanted to wander the land and try to use his powers to help people. Never the type to get between their son and his happiness, his parents gave him their blessing and an not inconsiderable amount of gold and sent him on his way.

Personality: Marcus is an idealistic young man, full of conviction that he can make the world a better place with his magic. He's also a bit naive, having grown up slightly sheltered in the luxurious mansion he called home. However, despite his wealthy upbringing, Marcus is very selfless and generous.  

Marcus is also incredibly inquisitive. He was taught by the finest tutors money could buy in his home city, and this upbringing encouraged his desire to learn. He's also incredibly social as a result. He very much enjoys conversing with others.

Because of his appearance Marcus tends to surprise most people in one of two ways. People who see his orcish heritage before anything else are often surprised by how eloquent and well read he is. As for the people who see past his race and notice his fine clothing and obvious wealthy upbringing, they often are surprised at how genuine his concern for others and desire to help is.

Marcus's temper is something kind of interesting. He's surprisingly hard to provoke if you insult him, whether you make fun of his orcish blood or his wealthy upbringing or anything else about him. Insults to his family however, or towards others he cares about get a quick reaction. If you're lucky, you'll get a warning to stop. Otherwise, it's a Shocking Grasp to the face. He also has a tendency to get worked up and enter a kind of righteous fury when he sees things he perceives as unjust or  wrong. Often, this can lead him to sticking his nose in others' business and occasionally lands him in trouble.

Appearance: Marcus's appearance is certainly something that tends to stand out in a crowd. His green skin and slightly small tusks make the orcish half of his heritage obvious, although his face seems to favor his human side. He keeps his somewhat coarse black hair trimmed short so it won't blow in his face when controlling the wind. His eyes are a pale sky blue that turn storm cloud grey as he channels his magic. He stands at 6'4" and has a rather athletic build that causes many to mistake him for some kind of warrior rather than a spellcaster, although he's definitely "scrawny" by orc standards. He has a tendency to wear very fine clothing in town that makes his wealthy upbringing obvious, with a preference for dark blues. When adventuring in the wilderness he switches to what he thinks are more practical clothes but are still obviously much better quality than what most other adventurers can afford.

Notes: Marcus is another character inspired by me looking for odd race/class combinations. I came up with him during college for 4E, liking the idea of a half-orc spellcaster but feeling that a sorcerer was more interesting than a wizard. I mostly chose storm sorcerery because I like lightning. I never actually got to build him for 4E, but the character stuck around my head for years until I finally got a chance to play him, in both Pathfinder and 5E.

@cromoris-compendium @actualborossoldier