Server:Moon Guard US/Dregtal

Appearance
Dregtal stands at approximately 6.5' tall. His long, braided hair is often dyed with the blood of his kill, no matter what that kill is, giving it a reddish brown colour. His chest is marked with an arc of scars from teeth that had penetrated him in a battle that nearly killed him, and his arms and legs show various burn marks long since healed.

Background
Dregtal was born on Azeroth toward the end of the second war. His first years were spent imprisoned in an internment camp until his mother decided that he would not survive in the environment. She then made arraingements with the miners and smelters to cover some of the gold bars they smelted with iron to discreetly pay goblin traders doing business with the guards to arrainge for someone to smuggle the young orc out and deliver him to extended family.

This brought him to the Dragonmaw Clan, headquartered within Black Rock Spire. One of the centurions, Sha'grath, identified the young orc through a medallion given to him by his mother before the trip and bestowed the name he uses today. In addition, Sha'grath also claimed that Dregtal was a grandson of Zuluhed the Whacked. Dregtal does not know this for absolute certainty and even doubts it from time to time seeing that years later, he had been informed of a plot being hatched by Sha'grath to take control of the Dragonmaw Clan by pitting Dregtal in mortal combat against Chieftain Nek'rosh Skullcrusher. If Nek'rosh wins, Sha'grath would have revealed this connection to Zuluhed to legitimize vengeance against the Chieftain and assume leadership himself. If Dregtal wins, he would have turned on Dregtal on behalf of the Chieftain to put down the young upstart.

This plan, however, never saw fruition. While Sha'grath led an excavation in the Wetlands (more precisely an attempt to retake Grim Batol) his group was ambushed in the middle of the night by a group of red dragons. Dregtal's life was actually spared by one of them, and it even game him direction where he could meet up with someone he could trust. This someone was one of Sha'grath's legionaires, Nagash, who instructed Dregtal to ally himself with the cook he had brought in shortly before the ambush. This cook, Grim Stoneheart, was the late Warchief in disguise, led to the Dragonmaw by Nagash with the promise that he would find allies among the camp. This promise only delivered one.

Doomhammer always felt that his time had been wasted on not just one orc, but a young one who hadn't yet passed the rites of adulthood. Dregtal's fascination with the nature of things led him to teach himself how to repair a broken catapult to functionality, bother Orgrim into teaching him to read, and then reading the corrospondences sent to the Warchief whenever he was away. Ultimately the Warchief decided that it would be better to pawn Dregtal off on the Warsong Clan while he dealt with more important matters, such as visiting an old shaman out in the Alterac Mountains.

When the Warchief returned, Dregtal had improved his combat skills as a warrior under the instruction of the Warsong, and had served the Horde in freeing the orcs in captivity. Months passed, internment camps had been razed, and Dregtal had lost both orcs who were a parent to him in one way or another. The Warchief had been killed at Hammerfall, and in the aftermath of that battle, Dregtal learned that his mother had been executed years earlier in his absence.

Years passed. Dregtal remained a grunt in service to the Horde up until the battle of Mt. Hyjal. While he survived the entire battle, the unending waves of scourge and demons put Dreg into a sort of catatonic shell shock. Orgrimmar was being built up around him and eventually one day he simply left to die in the desert. After days without water or food, he had a vision of Orgrim Doomhammer telling him to pull himself together and seek guidance from within Grommash Hold. The Shamans within took Dregtal in and put him on a path to find peace with himself at last.

Dregtal decided after this to become a Shaman himself, however he never found that peace promised him. His warrior's training, shamanistic teaching, and fractured mind all came together in a mental maelstrom leading many to believe that Dregtal is completely deranged. Much of what he does makes sense only to him at times, but there is a strain of deeper logic to his actions than outwardly appears.

With his reinstatement to the Horde army, he was assigned to the Dragonfire Brigade stationed in the Crossroads at the time. When his platoon's leader disappeared after an Alliance assault on the Crossroads, he became the new leader. One of his visions directed him to turn that brigade into a new Clan.

The Stormblade Clan
Dregtal filed all the necessary paperwork with the Horde Embassy to take charge of this new Clan, the Stormblade Clan, and was given special assignment by Thrall to learn what they can about the Dragons, discern the possible threats they may pose to the Horde, and seek to minimize such threats wherever possible. In addition, Dregtal took it upon himself to perform actions that strained the unstable non-aggression treaties with various Alliance cities and towns, including a brazen run into Ironforge to deliver a message stating exactly what he thought of the dwarven king. Witnesses were too shocked by this message to do anything about it until it was too late to stop the shaman from recalling back to Orgrimmar. Once word spread that the Chieftain used the dwarven throne as 'A throne' with Magni sitting on it at the time a battle broke out between the Stormblade Clan and the Alliance as a whole.

Thrall sought to distance himself from Dregtal's antics in order to preserve whatever peace there was, including sending members of the Blackrock Clan loyal to the New Horde (like Eitrigg, for example) up against the Stormblade Clan. There were even rumours at the time that Drek'thar blamed Dregtal for the ordeal they have been having with the Dwarves, however that rumour had all but disappeared entirely as Dregtal has become exalted with the Frostwolf Clan thanks to his service in battle to said Clan. In addition, the Stormblade Clan has also gained a reputation for being an asylum instead.

Soon after the Stormblade Clan ventured to Outland, the Chieftain encountered his supposed grandfather, Zuluhed the Whacked. Dregtal thought he noticed some resemblance, and believes that Zuluhed was perhaps thinking the same thing initially, however this encounter was not a social one, and Zuluhed eventually fell in battle during the constant barrage against the Dragonmaw Fortress. Dregtal never had the chance to ask the many questions he had, and due to this encounter just assumes that Sha'grath was telling the truth about his relation with no further supporting evidence. Others take Dregtal's insanity as further evidence, however Dregtal denies this aspect and believes himself to be quite sane, just misunderstood.

After the battle against the Dragonmaw, much of the Stormblade Clan returned to Azeroth to deliver the all of their collected information on dragons from Outland to the Warchief directly. Being given their reports, Thrall ordered the Stormblade Clan to determine whether Blood's Shadow was behind some of the events going on in distant places around them, and if so, disrupt those plans if possible.

The Stormblade Clan failed in this mission. While on the hunt for the wherabouts of Blood's Shadow, the hunters soon became the hunted, and the subject of their mission ambushed them, much as the red dragonflight had ambushed the Dragonmaw years earlier at Grim Batol. Both instances had paralells in that those who were present from both clans were almost all wiped out.

Dregtal never figured out how he had bodily survived, as he awoke from the battle nearly a year later. He claimed that he had been on the Elemental Plane during his slumber, and that there exists a threat to Azeroth that must be dealt with. Few paid heed, however he found an audience among the Earthen Ring. The remaining members of the Stormblade Clan had scattered to the wind since the battle, however a few senior members sought each other out and eventually reformed. More survivors have come out of the woodwork since then. Bigger, stronger, and in the words of the Chieftain, "Now with even more elemental power."

To date, Dregtal no longer actually rules the Stormblade Clan, as his perceived insanity and definite instability have been regarded as liabilities to the Horde, and leadership has been entrusted to his mate. The Clan continues to serve its original function on gathering information about dragons and suppressing draconic threats, and Dregtal continues to confuse those around him regarding this relationship he has with them: "You kill dragons, you help them. You enslave dragons, and yet you work for them. Make up your mind!" --Xulili, Den Mother of the Stormblade Clan.