### Overview **Bakorda** was a spirited and sharp-tongued half-orc girl who traveled the southern roads of [[Karudasos]] as a musician and camphand among a nomadic gypsy troupe. For a brief yet formative part of his life, she was the best friend—and perhaps the soul-anchor—of **[[Grom]]**, a young minotaur trying to outrun the warlike legacy of his people. Fierce, funny, and never shy about her opinions, Bakorda lived a free life with calloused fingers, songs in her throat, and rebellion in her heart. Three years before her death, Bakorda’s presence marked one of the few periods of peace and joy in [[Grom]]’s life. She was the co-creator of the _Song of Grass and Stars_, a piece that continues to haunt [[Grom]]’s memories. --- ## Appearance - **Race:** Half-Orc - **Gender:** Female - **Age at Time of Memory:** ~19 - **Build:** Lanky and strong with broad shoulders and wiry limbs - **Hair:** Thick, braided black hair often tied back or hidden under a kerchief - **Eyes:** Olive green with a perpetually amused expression - **Style:** Canvas breeches, leather boots, white linen shirt—gypsy-standard wear - **Instrument:** A weatherworn lyre carved with wildflowers and constellations --- ## Personality - **Traits:** Witty, skeptical, loyal, fiercely independent - **Habits:** Chewed on wild grass stalks, spit casually, laughed loudly at her own jokes - **Beliefs:** Freedom above honor, joy above glory, and songs above swords Bakorda believed that music was resistance—and laughter a kind of rebellion. Though she came from an uncertain past, she never dwelled on it, choosing instead to live fully in the present. --- ## Background Bakorda was born in the traveling roads of southern [[Karudasos]], likely the child of a brief union between a wandering minstrel and a mercenary. She had no memory of her parents and no desire to find them. Raised among caravans and traveling shows, she became a skilled performer, storyteller, and occasional trickster. Her bond with [[Grom]] formed quickly as they traveled together through the borderlands and lowlands of the Valley of Ketaca. She respected him not for his strength, but for his honesty. When he confessed his desire to leave behind the legacy of war, she was the first to laugh—but also the first to agree. > “You’re the first minotaur I’ve met who wants to play songs instead of split skulls. Let’s run with that.” --- ## Relationship with [[Grom]] - **Role:** Closest companion, musical partner, emotional grounding point - **Shared Memory:** One starry night lying outside the circle of wagons, where they vowed to never join the madness of war. It was the night they wrote the _Song of Grass and Stars._ - **Legacy:** Her laughter and voice echo in [[Grom]]’s music, her absence a wound deeper than most battle scars --- ## Final Fate ### Later That Night… Bakorda and [[Grom]] stole a bottle of strong gypsy liquor and wandered from camp, laughing and singing through dusk. But as night deepened, **riders emerged from the dark**—a band of rough orcs, goblins, and bugbears, led by a sneering warlord. [[Grom]] tried to bribe them with gold, but it wasn’t enough. With a cruel nod, the bugbear cleaved off Bakorda’s head mid-laugh. Her death was sudden, brutal, and senseless—her body left to rot while the bandits mocked [[Grom]] and galloped away. [[Grom]] drank the rest of the bottle beside her corpse, grieving in stunned silence. It was that night he swore a new oath: > "The only god is gold. And god is good." He left her body untouched, broken by the horror and unable to bury her. Instead, he walked north—toward the orc southlands, and the rise of his empire-to-be. Bakorda’s death became the defining moment of his life, the catalyst that buried the minstrel in him and birthed the merchant-king. --- ## Quotes > “These orcs in the south try to be civilized. The ones up north? Ha. They think _being_ orc means being a lunatic.” > “We’ll just take their gold, get them drunk, and leave them singing our songs.” > “Play that sad one again. I’ve got a riff for it.” --- ## Legacy - **Song of Grass and Stars:** Co-written with [[Grom]], a lament and lullaby for a world they wished to believe in - **[[Grom]]’s Compass:** Even in death, she remains the embodiment of the life he yearns to reclaim - **Oral Myth:** Among those few who remember the troupe, Bakorda is recalled as the half-orc who could tame beasts with her lyre and disarm soldiers with a grin --- ## Final Notes Bakorda lived as she played—free, defiant, and full of music. Her legacy lingers not in fame or monuments, but in the soul of a minotaur who once believed that a song could silence war. > “Under the grass. Beneath the stars. That’s where we’re free.”