Joric Ironfist

Joric Ironfist
"'I need to axe you a question!'"

Summary
Joric Ironfist is a Dwarven Warrior and member of the Champions Guild. He is, without question, the greatest warrior in all of Engelain(citation needed). He is very friendly, enthusiastic, and has a strong sense of dwarven honour. He frequently uses jokes and puns to liven up stressful situations, or to taunt his foes on the battlefield. On the battlefield itself, he is fearless, clad in heavy armor as he fights with shield and axe, and sometimes a sword.

Background
Joric's hometown was an underground dwarven mining town, located somewhere in western Engelain. It had been founded by dwarves who came to Engelain to build a community which the Dwarves of Engelain could call home, mimicking the construction techniques of their homeland. Although the village grew in size and became rather large, it never became the roaring city its founders had wanted it to be. It had also converted to the Engelite Church, and many of its citizens who still worshiped the dwarven religion had left in disgust.

Joric was born into a family of blacksmiths, and was expected to follow in his father's footsteps. Despite this, he had always held a fascination with the surface, as well as various tales about heroes of old. He would take flawed weapons that his father had discarded and practice with them, training himself in the ways of combat. But he also loved his family and his town, and was torn between the desire to stay and the desire to travel the surface.

Then, on one tragic day, a massive cavern destroyed most of the settlement. Joric only survived because he had been sent on an errand to the other side of town - his parents, all of his friends, and pretty much everyone he knew, were not so lucky.

Having lost everything, he ventured up into the surface. As the years went on, he would travel the land, honing his skills, slaying bandits and monsters. Although he was far from legendary, he had made a good name for himself in many of the areas he had saved. After one incident, in which he killed a necromancer that threatened a town, he was formally invited into the Champions Guild. He eagerly accepted.

Thorek's Big Adventure
Joric briefly encountered the famous warriors Thorek II and Br'nard Even'Star when he helped defend a dwarven city from a goblin attack.

The Champions Guild
Joric was present during the Fall of Copperdale, and the Slaying of Azul. He had been in town when the Guild first received word of the demon's return, and was sent along with Zedicus Spectre and Horatio to investigate the summoning site. Upon arriving at the site, they were attacked by a Greater Demon named Thazgar. Although Horatio was killed, Zed was able to blind the beast while Joric delivered the killing blow. He took the demon's ashes as a victory trophy, and then returned to Copperdale to report his success.

Upon returning to the Guild, he found that it was being attacked by Azul. He rode out to fight, but the demon merely drained his enchanted shield, and left. Joric then recieved word that the Necromancer he had killed earlier had an apprentice who was hiding just outside Copperdale, so he left to deal with it, intending to return afterwards.

After dealing with the convenient excuse for his absence, Joric encountered another guild member named Cirion. Joric told Cirion of the events in Copperdale, and the two immediately made their way back to the village.

They returned to find the village under attack. Joric had been forced to endure friendly fire from Annie Wells as he battled the demons Azul had summoned. After Azul was finally slain, Joric saw Siera Nilifen run off. He and Aztar ran to investigate, and the trio stumbled across an army from Hamstead that was about to attack the village.

Joric and Aztar charged the army, killing many of the soldiers. Eventually the army was forced into a retreat after the knight commanding it was slain. Joric deeply regretted his actions - realizing that many of the 'soldiers' were actually everyday citizens who had been conscripted and believed they were doing the right thing. Rip in peace nameless militia. You will be missed.

Into the Fire
Joric arrived in Porkstead. Upon meeting Monsieur Frederico and many of his fellow guildmembers at the Inn, he immediately signed on with Etheldredda's quest to slay the Hag Coven. They then journeyed to Hamstead, where Joric was forced to keep a low profile due to his actions during the Battle of Copperdale.

While he and Rovaan were waiting in the Bed and Breakfast for the others to return, Tempora Sage broke in. Although their meeting was tense at first, Tempora showed Joric a coin which identified him as a member of the Champions Guild, and Joric believed him. Tempora then warned him not to trust Etheldredda, and also informed him that he had been saying Monsieur Frederico's name wrong the entire time.

That night, Joric had ventured downstairs to locate a midnight snack, and instead stumbled across Judy's ritual to re-summon Azul, who had been lying dormant within Kuro - another party member. Joric immediately woke the rest of the group up, and charged in to engage him. He was among the three who delivered the killing blow, trapping Azul within Kuro once more.

Quotes

 * "I need to axe you a question!" - Joric's most famous battlecry.
 * "A demon, eh? It'll be one hell of a fight!" - When he first found out about Azul's existence.
 * "He's only half the man he used to be." - Referring to Horatio, who had been cut in half.

Trivia

 * He has a relative named Veliaf Ironfist - a half dwarf, half elf. How they are actually related is unknown.
 * He has an enchanted shield that can block almost any spell, which he has grown quite fond of. He had the enchantment restored between Champions Guild and Into the Fire.
 * The writer of this page is ashamed that he did not force in any puns outside of the quote section.