Shelka

Daughter of Krulak and leader of the Bloodfist, Shelka is a warrior born. Strong, fearless and vicious.

Biography
Shelka was born to Krulak and Umog of the Bloodfist tribe. At her birth, the tribal druid made a prophecy: "Many skulls will she cleave, and when the time will come when the trees would swim, she will marry a snake".

Ever since Shelka could walk, her mother taught her how to grapple and when her strength allowed her to hold a weapon, her father trained her to fight with an axe.

Shelka had a natural talent for weapons. They were more than simple objects to her, they were part of who she was. Such was her skill with the axe, that before she became a woman, she was allowed to join a hunting party in the hills of the Steepbluff. There she proved her worth to the tribe by throwing a spear with such great force that it passed through a wild Tarbh (Bison-like creature) whole, and came out the other side.

Coming of Age
When Shelka became of age, she had to take her coming of age trial. To the Bloodfist tribe, this consisted in smashing through a wall of stones with bare fists, pulverizing it, then immediately venturing into the wild and slaying an animal without any weapons but their bodies.

Shelka pulverized the stones with ease, due to her constant training with her father, and ran off beyond the hills, in search of an animal to kill, expecting a Tarbh or a Fiadt (Deer) that she could easily choke. However, her bloody knuckles attracted the attention of an Ar (Bear) who suddenly charged her from behind. Upon realizing what was happening, Shelka quickly dodged the beast's charge, got behind it and leaped on its back in attempt to choke it. However, even with her strong arms, the Ar's neck was too thick, causing Shelka to lose her balance and fall to the ground when the beast shook its head. Upon the orc's fall, the Ar turned to her, rushing its snout towards her throat. Panicked, Shelka kicked the Ar's nose and, taking advantage of the animals disorientation, quickly jumped to her feet, then, in an ironic twist of fate, leaped to the beast's throat, burying her teeth in its jugular and biting it open. After a few seconds of aimless running from the pain, the Ar finally collapsed. Triumphantly, she then dragged the beast to her village, where the animal's blood was used as ink to forever paint her fists red.

First Bath'Imbolik
Among the orcish tribes, it is tradition to gather four times every year, at the changing of the seasons and celebrate. The second of such festivals, when the snows melt, and the grass starts growing is called Imbolik. As part of the Imbolik festival, a great pit, taller than an orc, but not as tall as two and wide as three spears is dug. This is a fighting pit for the sparing contest known as Bath'Imbolik: Two orcs enter the pit, and fight without any weapons or armor until one of them loses their consciousness. The loser is taken out of the pit and another orc takes its place, while the winner remains in the pit until he/she loses a fight. The sparing lasts for a whole day, and the greatest dishonor one can bring is to kill their opponent in a Bath'Imbolik.

After completing her coming of age trial, and becoming a warrior, Shelka was eager to jump into the pit and fight during the next year's Imbolik. Upon her arrival at the pit, she could see two muscular orcs wrestling. From their markings she could identify one of them as being part of the snakehair tribe, with his long braided hair, reaching down to his bottom, and the other's pierced and decorated skin with fangs, claws and sharp bones gave away his position as tribe's member of the monsterbane tribe. The snakehair warrior seemed to have the upper hand, however, out of nowhere, the monsterbane orc landed a strong knee to his opponents ribs, followed by a solid elbow over the back of the head, leaving the snakehair unconscious.

As soon as the knocked out orc was dragged out of the pit, and before anyone else had time to react, Shelka jumped into the pit with a war cry, and her first Bath'Imbolik began. The orc before her had just won five battles, but he was tired, while Shelka was fresh and rested. With a terrifying shout, the orc charged at her, yet in a quick reaction, Shelka punched her opponent in the throat, causing him to be disoriented, and with a quick headbutt, the fight was over.

After the monsterbane was carried out by his fellow tribe members, another warrior jumped in the pit. This one, Shelka could identify as being part of the moonraven tribe, due to the fitheach he kissed right before joining the duel. The warrior charged, and Shelka smiled preparing to outsmart the brute in front of her, yet, when the orc got close to her, he immediately jumped to the left, ending on on Shelka's right side and punching her in the liver. With an angry roar from the pain, Shelka turned around only to find her opponent's elbow soaring towards her nose. With a quick reflex, the woman blocked the elbow with her hand and kicked the moonraven orc in the groin. The two fought for hours. Whenever one of them seemed to give ground, the other one quickly brought balance back to the situation. Finally, Shelka managed to bring her opponent down with a final knee in his jaw. However, before another orc entered the pit, she also collapsed from fatigue.