Suda, the Half-Orc Sorcerer
Misfit D&D Characters #2
Suda stepped out of the circle of onlookers and toward the screaming figure and immediately felt foolish. What was he going to do? The only thing he knew about medicine was how to use a red hot knife to close a wound, and even if that was useful in this situation, he doubted the stranger would thank him for it. And that was the other problem. Why was he calling attention to himself? In most cities, it was wiser for half-orcs like him to avoid trouble by keeping a low profile. But here he was, thrusting himself into the center of a crowd.
The foolishness of this choice was confirmed when the injured stranger, a grey-bearded dwarf went wide-eyed at the sight of Suda approaching him. Even with his leg shattered from where the cart ran it over, the dwarf began trying to drag himself away, his screams of pain now tinged with anger and panic as well. “This is a bad idea.” Suda thought yet again. But he didn’t turn away. In fact as he moved closer, Suda felt a buzzing anticipation in his blood, strangely similar to the way he used to feel drawing his axe before a fight. “It’s alright,” he said, not sure he believed it himself, and knelt beside the dwarf.
For the first time, he got a close look at the dwarf’s leg. It was a mess, a mangled, twisted bloody knot that resembled a smashed sausage more than a leg. The dwarf trying to claw across the ground away from Suda and obviously causing himself more pain. “Stop moving,” he growled at the dwarf, and with a large, rough hand, pinned his chest to the ground. A few bystanders, one dwarf among them with his hand on a weapon at his belt, jumped forward at this seemingly violent behavior, but Suda looked up and glared at them. “It’s alright,” he bellowed. They all stopped in their tracks. Suda’s voice had rung out far louder than he expected and seemed to resonate off of the stone and timbers of the surrounding buildings. All the nearby onlookers went silent and still.
Surrounded by this sudden calm, Suda was a storm of emotion. Something had surged within him when he spoke. The only feeling he could compare it to was the surge of adrenaline in battle, and he might have panicked more if it weren’t for the strange certainty that grew within him as his own words echoed around him. He could do this. He still didn’t know how, but he could do it. With a one hand still on the chest of the red-faced, agonized dwarf, Suda reached his other hand to the mangled leg. In a voice that was barely more than a whisper, he said. “It’s going to be alright.”
He touched the shattered leg.
Light. Heat. Power.
Once before, Suda had felt this kind of energy flow into him. Now, he felt it rise up within his belly like a storm, and he somehow knew how to channel and conduct it into the agonized figure in front of him. There was a shimmering glow around Suda hands, and the dwarf suddenly grew calm. His breathing slowed, and most remarkably of all, his leg began to straighten. Suda felt bone solidify beneath his touch and in a moment, only the blood stains and torn clothes gave any indication that an accident had fallen.
“What… what did you do to me?” the dwarf asked, eyes now wide in amazement instead of fear.
Suda didn’t know what he had done. He didn’t know how he could be in possession of that kind of power. But he knew that it felt right. He knew that he had done a good thing, had done what was right. Then he looked up. Confused, shocked faces looked down at him. Faces of humans, gnomes, elves, dwarves, halflings, but no one who looked like him. He rose slowly. There was a commotion up the street. “This way!” a voice called. “Here! I’ve brought a cleric.” A ruddy dwarf burst into the circle, followed by a serene looking woman in ornate robes. They were amazed to discover that the victim they had come to save was now climbing to his feet with a goofy grin on his face. “What happened here?”
“I’m healed!” the older dwarf exclaimed, shuffling in a clumsy little dance. “That big fella’ - the orcish one, he healed me!”
Suda was trying desperately to disappear into the crowd, but it was impossible. “Miracle!” the second dwarf cried. “It’s a miracle! Thank you, sir. Thank you!” And Suda felt his large hand seized by a rough smaller one in a vigorous and grateful handshake.
“Indeed,” the cleric said, “most wondrous. Tell me, stranger, to what god’s favor do we owe this miracle?”
“God?”
“Of course. Such healing is assuredly the work of divine powers. Though… I see no holy emblem upon your person…”
“I don’t… I’m not…” What did they think he was? A cleric too? The thought was preposterous. But then, what was he? As Suda’s thoughts swirled in confusion, the cleric’s eyes narrowed. “I think perhaps you should come with me to the temple,” she said. “You are clearly a traveler. Come rest, and we can discuss what really transpired here today.”
Suda knew a threat when he heard one. “I need to go,” he said and began pushing through the crowd.
“I insist!” she called. Suddenly two figures Suda hadn’t noticed before, dressed in similar colors to the cleric but equipped with weapons and armor, pushed forward toward Suda.
Panic. It churned inside Suda and began to awaken whatever power it was that resided inside him. “Leave me alone!” Suda roared, and once more his voice rose supernaturally loud. Everyone around him, including the approaching soldiers drew back in shock. Seizing the opening, Suda turned and fled through the sudden gap in the crowd. He was briefly aware of shouting, but he didn’t look back. He ran and ran and ran and didn’t look back.