Yagyu

Yagyu Swobu'gol

Race: Orc

Class: Warrior

Professions: Mining, Blacksmithing, First Aid, Cooking.

Current Home: N/A -- Deceased

Age: 35

Brief Physical Description

Pale green skin. Long topknot with a scraggly short beard. Beady red eyes and dripping fangs.

Brief Personality Description

A typical orcish warrior, Yagyu is equally comfortable drop-kicking grots or frying up some fish with his clanmates. He prides himself on continually learning the profession of arms and as he gets older is becoming more interested in creating his own arms and armor. Often when he is troubled or pensive he calms himself by polishing his axe with oiled rags made from the soft skin under the armpit of NightElves; he is fond of saying that it is the best way to preserve the integrity of the steel. Most importantly, is Yagyu’s sense of loyalty; he would rather die than dishonor his Chieftain or his clan. The Grin is his reason for being and he cannot imagine a life outside of the clan.

Goals and Motivaters : Yagyu’s goal is to be of service to his people. He sees his membership in the Grin as the means to achieve that goal. His upbringing as an orphaned orc in Durotar has led to his constant search for a surrogate family. When he found the Grin they immediately embraced him and he repays that debt daily with his undying loyalty. His last name translates to "as you command my axe" or roughly "the loyal axe".

EARLY YEARS

Unlike some Orcs, Yagyu is originally from Durotar. Whether he was born in the Den or dropped off there as an infant is unknown (nor was any Orc really paying attention anyway).
He grew up there idolizing heroes of the Horde like Thrall but more especially, Grom Hellscream. He knew the stories and vowed that he should one day make the pilgrimage to Grom’s tomb and deposit a jug bourbon there. In like manner, he grew up with no more ambition than to be a soldier for the glory of the Horde and Thrall; little did he know the path his life would take.
Always an avid explorer but with no real direction in life, Yagyu often journeyed to distant and dangerous points of Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms. Sometimes he found gold, sometimes acquaintances but never a purpose. Though he knew he wanted to serve some greater purpose, he could never seem to find a way to do it.
One day while running through Ashenvale and dodging Nelf patrols, Yagyu stumbled tired and weary into Splintertree Post. There he saw a multitude of Warriors arming themselves for a raid on Astrannar. His natural curiosity got the better of him and before he knew it, he was marching into Astrannar with a group of Horde raiders known as the Grunts. His thrill at the sight of a mob of Horde warriors taking on an Night Elf town so filled him with pride that he soon found himself searching for more raiding parties to join.
Now, up until this time, Yagyu had not yet considered the possibility of joining a formal guild. He had heard of such groups from others but he had yet to be convinced that they held anything for him that he could not get as a citizen of Ogrimmar. So he went his solitary way until the day he happened to meet an undead thief in the hills near Ratchet named Ozarr. They seemed to cross paths often in his travels and as he had spent so much time alone, he enjoyed the company. One day Ozarr told him about a clan known as the Blacktooth Grin. They were more like a family he said. Yes, they earned their keep and yes they raided Nelf towns but there was more to them than just wearing a tabard. Yagyu was intrigued by this description and thought that perhaps he had finally found the group he had been looking for. On the day he joined, he was not disappointed. He still remembers the day that Stokes gave him the Talk and the words rang in his hears and swelled his chest with a desire to achieve something. He finally had a goal. To become a grunt of the Blacktooth Grin was now his highest aspiration and in time he achieved that goal.

THE GRIN

He relished his time as a grot, enthusiastically following Gorfrunch and the Officers to battles in Hillsbrad and Lakeshire. He learned how the Clan fought, always following orders in battle and as he began to learn the ways of the warrior through long hours of grueling training with Orthunk, he relished every minute of his newfound brotherhood. Finally he was made a Grunt of the Clan, and as he watched the Chief thread his tooth on that famous necklace it was the proudest moment of his life. He fought with the Grin ferociously (sometimes recklessly) and slowly he rose through the ranks, finally becoming an Officer himself.
To this day, he fondly remembers his early days as a Grot, standing near Zinda, holding the line at Tarren Mill against an advancing regiment of Allied troops. In his dreams he hears the ring of steel on steel and the shouts of Gorfrunch to “Hold the Line”. He smiles in his sleep and anyone nearby can almost hear him murmur “Fear the Grin”.

THE BHURKAS

The bonds with his clan were forged in blood through countless battles with the Grin and more. Following the destruction of their first hideout in Dustwallow Swamp, Yagyu followed Faquarl and a few others into the Eastern Kingdoms to find a new home. The small group fought their way to the Burning Steepes where they took control of a cave in the mountains and named it Taugrek’s Stand. That group, led by Faquarl, would soon come to be known as the Bhurkas. There he cemented his friendships with Faquarl, Felora, and Yalim. They were the vanguard of the Blacktooth Grin in countless battles until they were finally disbanded.

HIS OWN COMMAND

It was during the Shadows Over Khaz Modan campaign, that Yagyu was made a Warlord in his own right and given a unit of his own to command. He named them the Kagh’roks (orcish for Roof Runners) after their epic battle on the roof of Menethil Keep. For some time during the final days of the campaign, the battle-cry of "Kagh'rok Ogar" could be heard throughout the dwarflands.

SEPARATION

It wasn’t until that fateful battle at Ironforge that Yagyu finally learned the true meaning of the word ‘pain’. As he stood his ground with the tattered remnants of his clan, surrounded by dwarven guards and Alliance warriors and a few treacherous Horde, he prayed the Spirits would grant him a glorious death. But it was not to be. His worst fears were realized when he found himself alone, his arm shattered, his clanmates dead and his Warchief missing. Everything that had given his life meaning had disappeared in an instant and he was left alone in an empty world.
It was soon after that he paid a goblin smuggler ship to sail him from Tanaris to a remote island inhabited by Trolls. There he would live out the rest of his days in depression until the day a young troll washed up on the shore of his island.

HOMECOMING

After discovering from the troll Zaa'nu that the Grin survived, Yagyu returned to Azeroth to reunite with his clan. Dodging Allied patrols, the two traveled from Tanaris to Ratchet and crossed the sea to Booty Bay. There they were accosted by Forsaken spies sent by Bellmont to bring him home. Sending the Blightcaller to retrieve Yagyu, Bellmont unwittingly caused the death of the young troll. The Blightcaller captured Yagyu but when they were attacked by Scourge over the Plaugelands, Yag was reunited with Bellmont as his Forsaken forces came to their rescue. After returning to take up his place at Stonard, Yagyu was unsure of his place in the new Grin. In many ways it was not the same clan he remembered.

ASHENROCK

Returing from his self-imposed exile, Yag found the Grin led by a tauren. Untrusting at first he soon grew to respect the druid and his leadership. Despite attempts by the warlock Bok'theg to split Yagyu from the new Warchief, he remained loyal and fought for Ashenrock as he had for Gorfrunch. But the tauren was not without his own personal demons....demons that would come to haunt him.

THE NEW WARCHIEF

Strife within Ashenrock's family and the stresses of leading the Grin led Ashenrock to take a leave of the clan. Taking Felora with him, he left the strung-tooth necklace in the hands of the oldest orc warrior left in the Grin. Holding the necklace in his hands, Yagyu was stunned to find himself the Chieftain of the clan he once joined as a grot. With the shaman Grimnir as his Warlord, Yag vowed to continue the wars Gorfrunch began. Leading the Grin to near defeat in Desolace, Yag rallied the DreadHorde to salvage a victory in the Barrens and earn the thanks of Ogrimmar. But the return of Gorfrunch would lead to a new difficulty. Challenged for control of the clan by the crafty old leader, Yagyu was forced to resort to the black magic of Bok'theg to contain Gorfrunch's power. Unbeknownst to the orc, the warlock was sapping Yag's very life-force in order to increase his own power. After laying seige to the Keep of Stromgarde, Yagyu was betrayed in battle by Gorfrunch. In front of the gates of Menethil, Yagyu was killed by Stonemug the Dwarf. Ashen took the soulgem with the remains of Yag's spirit to rest forever at the Shrine of the Fallen Warrior in the heart of the Barrens.