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* Pike: Male human Ranger 5/Rogue 3; CR 8; Medium humanoid (human); HD 5D8+5 plus 3D6+3; hp 42; Init +1; Spd 30 ft; Space 5 ft; Reach 5 ft; AC 18 (touch 14, flat-footed 14); Atk +9/3 melee (1D12+2, +1 necrotic focus greatsword) or +12/7 ranged (1D8+1, +1 longbow); SA combat style (archery), favoured enemy (Thaneeri +2, undead +4), sneak attack +2D6; SQ evasion, trapfinding, trap sense +1, wild empathy (+4); AL N; SV Fort +6, Ref +11, Will +4; Str 12, Dex 18, Con 12, Int 12, Wis 12, Cha 9. Height 5 ft 9 in.

Skills and Feats: Balance +6, Craft (trapmaking) +8, Disable Device +5, Escape Artist +5, Handle Animal +4, Hide +17, Jump +3, Knowledge (nature) +8, Listen +14, Move Silently +15, Open Lock +8, Ride +8, Search +9, Spot +14, Survival +9, Tumble +9; Alertness, Dodge, Endurance, Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot, Track.

Possessions: +1 necrotic focus greatsword, +1 longbow, mithral chain shirt, cloak of hiding (+2 to Hide checks), boots of the snow (walk on snow as normal terrain), orcish charm (+1 resistance bonus to Will saves), charm of bones (continuous stone bones and bone spikes at 3rd level on any undead created by wearer), +1 arrows (9), arrows of flame (5) (+1D6 fire damage), wand of cure light wounds at 1st level with 3 charges, wand of cure moderate wounds at 3rd level with 27 charges, potion of cure light wounds at 1st level, potion of pass without trace at 1st level, potion of invisibility at 3rd level, arrows (15), belt pouch, spell component pouch, 360 pp, 209 gp, 110 sp, 130 cp.

Spells Prepared (1; DC 12 + spell level): 1 - entangle.

Languages: Common, Orcish.

Animal Companion:

* Light Warhorse: CR 1; Large animal; 3D8+9; 22 hp; Init +1; Spd 60 ft (40 ft w/ Pike); AC 20 (touch 10, flat-footed 19); Atk +4 melee (1D4+3, hooves [x2]) and -1 melee (1D3+1, bite); SQ link, low-light vision, scent, share spells; AL N; SV Fort +6, Ref +4, Will +2; Str 16, Dex 13, Con 17, Int 2, Wis 13, Cha 6; Length 6 ft.

Skills and Feats: Listen +4, Spot +4; Endurance, Run.

Tricks: attack, come, defend, down, guard, heel, work.

Pike was born to a small tribe of rootless Thaneeri who scratched out a meagre existence on the verges of the northern Aynayjor Mountains. While still a young child, his camp was raided by marauding orcs, who slew or captured all of his tribe. Those who were captured were tortured and slain, but Pike was spared when an orcish woman who recently lost her children claimed him as her own. So it was that Pike was raised as a member of the Crippled Claw clan. His human origins resulted in him being more clever and brighter than most of his fellow orcs, and because he could not compete with them in sheer strength, he developed his agility to compensate and took to the bow and arrow.

One day, now a strapping lad of 18 summers, Pike and his fellow orcs raided a human settlement on the border of Jaggarth. While the raid was a success, retribution came in the form of human warriors in steel armour and mounted on tall horses. The knights rode into the orc camp and Pike, who was afield hunting, saw smoke rise from the orc lair and hurried back to his home. There he saw orcs of his clan slain or dying and many of the females, including his adopted mother, being herded into pens. As he watched, crouched in the bushes, he only just whirled around in time to catch the armoured warrior coming upon him from behind. Pike drew his dagger and slashed open the man's face and fled into the brush.

Pike wandered for a time, aimless and confused, until he came upon a druid's grove. The two druids who dwelt there took pity upon Pike and took him in, seeing in him a conflicted soul and a being with a natural affinity to the wild. They taught him the ways of nature and sought to rid him of the worst of his orcish upbringing. Pike might have become a druid and dwelt in that place forever, if not for the arrival of the warrior he had slashed. This warrior, a foe hunter named Halavarn Ingerrion, came into the grove with his men and drove Pike fleeing into the wilderness once again. This time it was in the dead of winter, and although he escaped Halavarn once again, he would have died from exposure if not for the kindness of a merchant named Verridus, who found him along the trade road and nursed him back to health. Verridus brought Pike to Dwillingir and introduced him into the service of House Riverine.

With Riverine, Pike served for several years as a scout. He never really became comfortable with the ways of civilized humans and would often roam the forests of the Far Coast, restless and ill at ease.

Pike played an instrumental part in the resolution of the orcish uprising against the dwarves of Nirzumbil, and it was during this conflict that Pike once again met Halavarn. This time Pike was a fully grown man and trained Ranger and had his Riverine companions with him. Unfortunately, Halavarn had companions with him. Halavarn accused Pike of having fomented the orc uprising and of being a spy for the orcs. The two sides came to blows, but Pike and his companions prevailed. A defeated Halavarn swore to leave the Far Coast, but still vowed to slay Pike. Meanwhile, a paladin companion of Halavarn's named Sir Yistamnir, who now saw that Pike was not the evil man that Halavarn had protrayed, began to preach to the Ranger of the ways of conscience and morality and goodness. Yistamnir's words affected Pike greatly, and while he remained with Riverine for another year or so, he finally left the service of the House in order to seek out Yistamnir and learn more about the ways of humankind and of goodness.