| abstract | - Born to Dam'rik and Rah'Mal of the Bleeding Hollow Clan some 27 years before the Dark Portal opened, Roh'rik SplinterTree was forced to grow up quickly. Like other young orcs during this time, he was magically aged by warlocks to the fighting age of 13. Enlisted into the effort to exterminate the draenei, Roh'rik, fueled by the bloodlust common to his people at the time, exalted in the thrill of slaughter. He proudly fought to bring honor to his clan, his chieftain, his family and himself - bought with the blood of the draenei people. As the campaigns against the draenei wound down, Roh'rik spent more time in his homeland. There he met and married a clan member, a woman by the name Tam'mok. Soon, she made him a father, giving him a son, Kah'rik. Two years later, Tam'mok became pregnant again. Before the child was born though, clan chieftain Kilrogg Deadeye called on his warriors to follow him through the Portal to invade Azeroth. Roh'rik heeded the call, eager for a new world to conquer and new enemies to slay. Leaving his family behind, Roh'rik marched through the Portal, the Bleeding Hollow Clan and the Twilight's Hammer Clan. The opponents they faced, though, were not villagers but soldiers. Kilrogg and Cho'gall, the chieftain of the Twilight's Hammer Clan, feuded and sniped at each other - and the result was a humiliating defeat. It was a hint of what was to come for Roh'rik. The orcs rallied under Warchief Blackhand the Destroyer in what is now called the First War. Roh'rik fought in the Battle of Moonbrook and the Goldshire Massacre, before the final taking and sacking of Stormwind Keep. By this time, Roh'rik had earned a reputation as a capable and ruthless fighter, but showed no aptitude for leadership. Roh'rik helped with the 'cleaning up' of area around Stormwind after its fall, as the army made a shift from invading force to occupying force. The 'rest', though, was short-lived. Soon, the orcs were looking northward. With his clan, Roh'rik joined the land assault towards Khaz Modan. Despite the tenacity of dwarves and the cleverness of gnomes, the army knifed northward, slaughtering any opposition they faced in the Wetlands, quickly taking Dun Algaz, Dun Modr, and Grim Batol. Only at Thandol Span did the offensive stall. Roh'rik saw many of his clanmates killed here in the bloody and exhausting fight for the great bridge - with the cold comfort that as many Alliance lives were lost. The balance finally tipped, when Alliance ships from Tol Borad finally joined the battle, raining death down upon the orc defenses. Alliance land troops pressed their advantage, retaking the bridge despite fierce resistance from the orcs. A squad from the Bleeding Hollow Clan, which included Roh'rik, was one of the last to stand their ground at the bridge. Proud, fierce and bloodthirsty, the small squad killed thrice their number before finally breaking. What was left of the squad retreated into the Wetlands. In the swampy terrain, they split up, intending to regroup. Many members of the Bleeding Hollow Clan eventually made it back to Blackrock Spire and ultimately (at least those that survived) Draenor through the Portal. Roh'rik, however, was not among them. An orc either triumphs in battle or dies trying. Roh'rik was not so lucky. He was, instead, captured by a cavalry unit out of Stromgarde under strict instructions to bring prisoners back alive for questioning. Captured and tortured, Roh'rik was a man without a clan. As the Second War wound down, prisoners like Roh'rik were transferred to the internment camp in Durnholde Keep, where, like the other prisoners, his fighting spirit was broken. Lost without the drive to fight and skilled only in war, Roh'rik abandoned all that had gone before: clan, family and the Horde. He instead became a ditch digger, digging the ditches for the internment camps springing up to hold the influx of new prisoners. Some twelve years later, Thrall freed the orcs from the camps. Many joined Thrall, but Roh'rik had had his fill of serving the Horde, old or new. Instead, he headed north, into the Alterac Mountains, where he found a temporary home with the Frostwolf Clan. There he picked up his sword again, earning his keep by defending the Frostwolf home. Restless after a number of years, and hearing rumors of work in Undercity, Roh'rik packed up his few belongings and headed to the ruins of Lordaeron. There, the city and surrounding towns were eager for sellswords, one way to restore order after the chaos of the plague. With the opening of Silvermoon to outsiders, Roh'rik opted to see what opportunities this new city held, both because of some bad blood generated during his time in Undercity and the gold flowing out of the elven city. It was there, as a bodyguard for two twin aristocrats, that Roh'rik met Krelle and was introduced to the Tong.
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