Lore:Marghak

She was an orphan, brought up by a coven of witches somewhere in High Rock. Obviously her mother had been an Orc, but her father could have been any race. Uzgash suspected Dwemer, as all her siblings had a tendency to tinker with mechanical things. She'd left the witches' coven some time in her late teens, presumably when she got to the rebellious age, and they couldn't handle her. Orcs aren't blessed with much inate personality, which would only have made things worse.

She'd lived the adventurer's life for a while, relying on the spells she'd learned from the witches. She didn't have the Bretons' capacity for magic, and needed to supplement that with weapon skills she hadn't learned as a child. So she'd gone into town, and traded her favors for lessons with blades and blunt weapons. That brought her to the attention of the local Guild of Prostitutes, who insisted on her joining up, and paying her dues.

The Guild gave her speechcraft training, as a matter of necessity. She worked in the brothels as often as a bouncer as in any other capacity, but she was learning from everything she saw. And the Orc customers naturally preferred one of their own, so she made a reasonable income, and she settled into that trade for a while.

Later that year, 3E399, Gortwog fought his duel with Lord Bowyn and secured the land of Orsinium. He chose to celebrate his victory in the very brothel where Marghak was working, perhaps because it was one of the few that employed an Orc, and the two met for the first time. Not having been brought up in Orcish society, she had no idea who he was, and just treated him like any other customer. It appeared that they each made a good first impression.

Marghak was pleased to find an Orc who actually used his brain, and not just his muscles. Gortwog liked her because she was different, too. She knew spells, she'd had training in speechcraft. Her upbringing in the witches' coven had made her open to new ideas, as was clear from her current choice of career. Most Orcs assumed they'd become mercenaries, or something similar. And he'd never seen an Orc woman dance like she did. That was another thing she 'd learned from the witches, who spent most of their time dancing naked in worship of the gods.

He'd taken her back with him to his camp in the foothills of the Wrothgarians, where he intended to build the city of Nova Orsinium. She listened to his grand plans for a fortress with walls of iron, and other military emplacements to make it impregnable. Then she pointed out that he hadn't planned any of the infrastructure to support it. Where would everyone live? Where would the food come from? Where was the tavern, the shops, the brothel?

Gortwog believed that if he provided a safe refuge, then all that would grow up on its own. But he listened to her argument that it all required as much planning as the fortress. The people living in the city outside the fortress would need easy routes to retreat into its walls, but that could also make it accessible to enemies. The houses could be barriers to an invading army, or they could provide them cover. Too little urban planning could make the city weak, and too much could put people off from moving there. It needed balance, and Marghak seemed to be the right advisor to help him keep it.

"Uzgash is making it sound like her mother just moved in and took over," laughed Taminwe. "It wasn't that easy in reality, and she got a lot of resistance from Gortwog's existing retinue at first. But that training she got from the Prostitutes' Guild made her a much better persuader than most of them had ever met. Once she was generally accepted, it was time to seal her position with an heir."

Uzgash explained further. "My mother told me that she'd discussed that with Gortwog very early on. She saw that an heir might dash the hopes of several nobles who might otherwise inherit his position. She didn't want to make any extra enemies that way. It's probably why they didn't marry then, although they still didn't later when they could have done so. She always told me that it left Gortwog free for a strategic alliance, if he ever needed it. It could also have kept that inheritance issue open, for those who thought it important."

Marghak had been visibly pregnant when she founded the Orsinium Guild of Prostitutes. She had a number of reasons for that timing. She needed more women to handle the men of the court, especially while her own activities were limited. The "den mother" image would be particularly useful to her, and becoming a real mother made it more convincing. It was also good for her to take a position of her own, independent of Gortwog, at a time when they were obviously close. And the Breton Guildhall in Camlorn was trying to assert jurisdiction over the area, and Gortwog wanted that to stop. Orsinium needed its own guild. Now!

Gortwog made the most of the situation, and issued a proclamation setting up Orsinium's own guilds in all the trades. That conveniently gave him a number of Guildmaster positions to bestow where they would be useful, as well as establishing Marghak's parity among those so chosen.