Keth Thurgol

Keth is a Half-Orc Barbarian and is a member of The Promise Crew. He is a half-orc barbarian using the Path of the Ancestral Guardian as his barbarian subclass, out of Xanathar's Guide to Everything.

Ancestry & Magic
Keth comes from The Blind Whisper Orc Tribe, however his mother was human. This did not adversely affect him or his status growing up. However, Keth grew up enjoying stories his mother told him about an ancestor of his known as Lucas. Lucas, a member of The Mancers, participated in many great adventures. Keth fell in love with this ancestor and while his tribe's tradition is to honor many ancestors, when Keth came of age to begin acquiring tattoos he only desired to preserve the memory of Lucas.

Keth's Ancestral Guardian magic relies on finding physical relics that contain the memories of Lucas's life. While each relic or memory has its own difficulties in finding them, memorializing them as tattoos is even more difficult. There are very few people outside of his tribe who know how to properly apply the magic he acquired, so every time that Keth needs a new tattoo, he must track down one of the artists/mages who have also left the tribe who have this skill. Keth knows of only one, who is located deep within a mountain range.

Early Life
Keth is one of few half orcs in his tribe, but this isn’t of much note, he is still treated as a fully fledged member of the tribe. His father was the chieftain of the tribe as he was growing up. Keth was fully expected to take the role of leader from his father when he came of age.

Keth was eventually given chieftainship even earlier than expected because Keth's father relinquished it to him. Normally this title is transferred when the old chieftain dies.

The Attack of Gnolls
Shortly after Keth was given chieftainship of The Blind Whisper Tribe he was confronted with a decision. As had been true for some time, gnolls attacked the tribe relentlessly in search of the Ancestral Guardian magic that the tribe had mastered.

In one particularly daring attack from the gnolls, Keth was faced with a decision. The decision carried a heavy weight with it, regardless of what he was to choose. Ultimately Keth's inability to make a decision proved to be far worse than either of the two options that were presented to him.

As a result, the gnoll tribe was able to make off with some of the tribe's artifacts. While the artifacts themselves are not usable by the gnolls, they may gain some insight into how the magic functions, which would put the Blind Whisper Tribe into danger.

One death that resulted from this failure that has weighed heavily on Keth was a man named Gell, which is a name that Keth uses as an alias from time to time.

Keth's Exile
Keth's failure went over poorly with the tribe, as one could imagine. Keth's father took back the role of chieftain and Keth was exiled. Many (including Keth) expected for Keth to be put to death for his mistakes. Due to his father's position he was spared this. Instead, Keth was exiled from the tribe and his memory was not to be preserved. This is, in some people's opinion, worse than death. Once he dies, Keth's soul will be destroyed (or so are the beliefs of the tribe). However, for now he continues to live.

Mercenary Life
After being banished from his tribe, Keth began to search the world for a new home. As a way to earn money and continue travelling around the world in search of this new home, Keth took up being a mercenary. Keth knows a few people in most major cities because of this, but he doesn't have extensive ties to any settlement aside from his tribe.

If you were to ask Keth what his goal was, he would respond with "to find a new home." Unfortunately, no potential home that Keth would have found during this period of his life would have been good enough. "Too many people", "Not enough people", "Just not quite right" were things that Keth would say about a town. If Keth were to never have run into The Promise Crew, he would have continued like that for the rest of his life.

As a "side mission" during this part of his life, and even continuing until today, Keth uses the time he can to search for relics that relate to Lucas.

The mercenary portion of Keth's life ended when he was taking a trip to the area near Ordogan Village to find a relic, when he stumbled into The Promise Crew.

Life With The Promise Crew
WIP

Keth's Axe
Keth's greataxe is incredibly important to him, and while he has other weapons that can be more powerful, the sentimental value and familiarity that his axe carries outweighs that of many other weapons. Following his tribes beliefs, Keth believes that his axe is his key to the afterlife. As memories are tied to important artifacts in a person's life, Keth believes that his axe (undoubtedly the most important artifact in his life) would be a powerful source for the essence of his memory.

During an encounter with Hensa, Keth attempted to sunder a corrupted Oathsworn weapon. This fractured one of the heads on his axe. Keth then spent some time cutting off the damaged head of the axe, leaving it a single sided axe for the time being.

Endrega Queen Armor
This armor was crafted from the chitin of the Endrega Queen that the group killed in Xiao Fen. It bears a resistance to acid and prevents Keth from becoming poisoned while he is wearing it.

Cassian's Pike
Also acquired while the group was in Xiao Fen, this pike has the ability to use lightning magic along with the piercing damage it can provide. It has 3 charges per day, each of which can be expended individually to great effect in melee, or all three can be expended for a ranged attack.

Wand of Magic Missile
Keth carries this wand as a simple way to engage in combat while he is not in rage. It has a significantly larger range than his javelins and has come in handy many times.

The Fanny Pack
Keth's junk is so long that it cannot just be stored in his pants, but has to be stored in its own pouch in a fanny pack. It has a tape measure-like mechanism inside that allows for retraction at will (although it is quite painful).

Torc of the Bloodsworth Clan
This torc was acquired when the group robbed the Shona Clan's casino. It grants Keth some abilities upon entering rage and getting kills while in rage. Keth was hesitant to wear it at first, but after learning that it is likely not cursed, he attuned to it and went on his merry way.

Gaps in the Story
This section is devoted to denoting gaps in Keth's backstory, so that they are not forgotten
 * What is Keth's failure?
 * What became of Keth's mother and father?