User:Grihm Bloodtusk/Samuel Dodson

Samuel Dodson was a Human survivalist who fancied himself a minor archaeologist. His fate was destined to be irreparably intertwined with that of the small, secluded Caer Tyuid.

A Man Alone
Samuel was never one for the company of others. He was born to a couple in Grand Hamlet, and was too young to serve the Kingdom of Stormwind during the First War, though his parents supported the war. The horrors of the war came to greet Samuel directly, however, and his mother, siblings and extended family were all slain when the Orcish Horde razed the town. His father was able to get to Samuel in time and the two fled into the surrounding forests. In an attempt to get far enough away from the invading Orcs, the two eventually ended up in the jungles of Stranglethorn Vale. The two never returned to living amongst civilization, and began to live off the lands here - luckily, Samuel's father was an accomplished hunter and the two successfully made the transition into survivalists.

Samuel would experience further tragedy on his 15th birthday; returning to his home camp from a day of fishing, he discovered that his father had been attacked and mauled severely by a small pack of Raptors. His father barely had enough life left in him to wish his son a happy birthday before dying, and from that day forward Samuel lived his life in complete seclusion. Even so, he had always found fossils fascinating, and living amongst the Troll ruins, he grew to enjoy archaeology. This became his only real hobby, as the rest of his time was spent living off the land.

Sam never had a problem with other people, and so when a small band of adventurers came across him and inquired for his assistance, he eventually agreed, though it took some prodding on the band's behalf as he would have preferred to remain alone. Even so he felt himself being attracted to Camomile, being the only female he had seen since hitting puberty, and this helped his decision in one way or another.

The Invasion At Caer Tyuid
The band eventually grew exhausted on their journey and decided to lodge at the local tavern in Caer Tyuid while awaiting daybreak before heading out again. It was just their misfortune that that exact night also ended up being the one in which a band of rogue Orcs, still operating under the banner of the Blackrock Clan, chose to see the small town as little more than a razing opportunity. Only 20 members strong, they were led by the fierce general, Gorax Headcrusher. The fierce warriors attacked during the darkest hours and soon the small band in the tavern awoke to the sounds of screaming and pillaging. Confused at first, it was not long before Samuel realized what was going on, and within the few seconds it took him to gather up his gun and axe. He began waking up his roommates, the half-elf Robert Quertass and George Vardus from Alterac by the time he could hear rapid scuffling downstairs. The sound of steps slowed as they came up the stairs, and the three men prepared themselves for a potential confrontation. Within moments an Orc Grunt burst into their room, his stench wafting into the room and almost gagging Robert and giving away the three's positions. The sight at slept-in beds but no inhabitants set the Orc off-guard, and it stepped cautiously into the room, only to be quickly leaped upon by the trio. It took a minute to bring the monstrosity down but it finally fell to the floor. Samuel knew better than to trust it being dead and so made absolutely certain it was by putting a bullet through its brain. Their friends, Camomile Brooks and Guer'fran likewise escaped the razing of the inn. In the light of the burning inn, the five stood, prepared for a fight.

Guer'fran certainly did much of the killing that day, spilling twice as much Horde blood as the other four combined. With his ninth Grunt slaughtered, he turned to face Gorax himself, who had set his sights on the hero. After a drawn-out one-on-one battle, Guer'fran gained the upper hand, and brought Gorax to a knee. Bringing his sword down for the finishing blow, one of Gorax's men cleaved the hero's back from behind, stunning him long enough for Gorax to stand back up and deal the finishing blow. Seeing their guide and recent friend fall, the other four redoubled their efforts. Samuel did well during this fight, dodging and weaving his way between attacks by Gorax and the surviving Horde soldiers, mortally wounding one in the neck with his axe though it got lodged in its body and Samuel didn't have the opportunity to pull it out when he noticed a Troll Axethrower preparing to throw a barrage of throwing axes into the back of Camomile. He could not abide by this, and he flashed to the death of his mother at the hands of the Horde so many years earlier. He raised his blunderbuss to his hip and shot, blasting a chunk out of the Troll. He breathed a sigh of relief, and lowered his gun barrel and turned around to begin working on removing his axe from his other victim. Within moments he felt a stabbing warmth pierce through his backside and he let out a quiet groan of pain. He turned around slowly to see the Troll he had just brought down standing, a ghost on two feet. He lifted his gun back to his eye as the two panted heavily from their mortal wounds, but the axe in his backside prevented him from being able to fire; his eyesight had gone blurry. He felt his legs give out and he fell to one knee. The last thing he saw was another throwing axe coming his way, which hit him square in the chest. At this point he fell face first into the dirt below him and begun to bleed out. He did not see that the Troll had exerted the last of its strength and fell immediately after he.

In the end, only Robert and Camomile made it out of Caer Tyuid alive of both groups, although a solitary surviving native of the town was found amongst the wreckage as well. The group failed to save the small town from being razed, and to this day it has fallen into obscurity.

Equipment
For the curious, this is the set of items which Samuel Dodson is seen wearing:
 * Head: Crochet Hat
 * Shirt: Rustic Workman's Shirt
 * Gloves: Crochet Gloves
 * Legs: Crochet Pants
 * Waist: Crochet Belt
 * Boots: 68 Test Green Cloth Boots
 * Left Hand: Boreal Woodchopper
 * Right Hand: Deadly Blunderbuss

Trivia

 * Samuel Dodson was a minor character mentioned in a poorly-written, very short story Gorax's Revenge, which I wrote while playing Warcraft II, around the age of 12.
 * Curiously, Sam's eyes are never supposed to be seen under the brim of his hat.