Dorn Graybrook

Dorn Graybrook was a human half–iron golem adventurer who became involved in the events of the Rage of Dragons of Year of Rogue Dragons, 1373 DR.

Description
Dorn was a big person, but most of his left side was made up of metal plates and parts grafted on by the wizard who owned him when he was a boy, and this only contributed to his fearsome look. His iron limbs were thicker than his human ones; his metal arm had clawed talons and knuckle spikes. He had a single shock of black hair, and an iron half-mask. .

Personality
Since he was nine, Dorn had come to delight in the killing of dragons. He had largely been shaped by violence, cruelty, and sorrow. He had few pleasures or enthusiasms as of, being lonely, bitter, morose and offputting, showing no soft spot and forming no attachments so that he wasn't hurt again. He was not averse to picking fights, however. .

Grinning or laughing made him feel self-conscious. . He was quick to take offense at imagined slights, though he had enough self-control and mindfulness to take responsibility for that. . He was uncomfortable with participating in events of too big an epic scope.

As a child, Dorn loved to swim. Dorn had not sang since the day his parents died.

Relationships
He eventually romanced Karasendrieth. He had become Kara's lover by Eleint 12.

He prayed to Malar, the Beastlord, who was foremost in his mind.

Abilities
Unlike other half-golems, Dorn had no ability to breathe deadly gases, but he was much more limber than others, being perfectly capable of running. He was also a very keen specialist, knowing the weaknesses of dragons well enough to exploit them in a fight.

He claimed to understand Draconic. .

Possessions
Dorn's usual equipment included a powerful enchanted bastard sword and studded leather armor, an enchanted composite longbow, and a full complement of enchanted arrows. He also bore two arrows of superior enchantment, which were the bane of dragons. Finally, he carried a few potions of healing, and of protection against acid and fire. His metal claws also bore a powerful enchantment.

As of 1373 DR, one of his arrows was enchanted to slay wyrms outright; he had acquired it in 1368 DR.

History
Dorn was born to the indentured servants of a wizard of Hillsfar. His father was a clerk, and his mother was known to have some talent at singing.

On Flamerule 12 of, when Dorn was nine, he and his parents were part of a merchant caravan traveling in the Moonsea region as part of an errand for their master that took them outside of the city, to Yulash. While they were south of the Moonsea, heading for the dragonspine Mountains, the party was attacked by a red dragon emerged from a flight of dragons out of the mountains. The wyrm killed everyone else in the caravan, and tore off his left limbs (and much of the surrounding flesh) before leaving him to die.

The wizard who owned him and his parents had known of the danger, but chose to keep himself out of danger rather than risk encountering the dragon. After it left, he teleported to the site a few moments later to retrieve Dorn, who had inherited his parents' indenturement. Upon finding Dorn, he saved his life, and created the golem parts that made up his left side to better recoup the investment. He was then sent to a school for gladiators. These parts had to be replaced multiple times as Dorn aged and outgrew them, which was an agonizing process.RAGE-64_65-4

Dorn dreamed of his time of the arena once in Eleint 11 of the ; in that dream, an ogre battered him down as a boy.

Though the wizard made much money betting on Dorn's gladiatorial fights, the two never grew close, with Dorn hating the mage for not having saved his parents, for grafting him with grotesque prosthetics, and for exploiting him. Eventually, Dorn seized an opportunity to kill him, though he had grown to manhood by then. He then fled Hillsfar. Dorn quickly styled himself a dragonslayer, though his ability to slay dragons was of limited use, as he could not necessarily find them.

He eventually joined forces with Raryn Snowstealer, a dwarven ranger, after the two of them journeyed to Pilver's Creek for a bounty that Stevvin Hightower placed on a stray white dragon that was attacking people in the community. After they slew the actual monster, Stevvin betrayed and captured the pair, deciding to keep the reward for himself and turn both to the authorities: Dorn was considered a fugitive indentured servant still, and stood accused of murder. Working together, the dwarf and the half-golem managed to escape and take Stevvin hostage before fleeing by boat and deciding to travel together afterwards. .

The two of them were later joined in their band by Will Turnstone and Pavel Shemov, forming a more well-rounded team. Their party was in turn a patron of the wizards of Thentia, including Firefingers and Rilitar Shadow-water, who supported them with magic in exchange for a share of their profits. RAGE-64_65-4

By the Year of Rogue Dragons, 1373 DR, he was a successful hunter who had worked with Zhents once or twice after Will's joining. .

Year of Rogue Dragons
On Hammer 23, after hunting an ooze drake that broke his sword, Dorn Graybrook and his party learned of a flight of dragons rising to attack Ylraphon. . By early Hammer 24, the town had been razed, and his band agreed to accompany Kara to Lyrabar in a ship. Along the way, they spotted signs of another flight of dragons, and began suspecting a full-blown Rage of dragons. Further evidence mounted as they spotted more destroyed coastal settlements; during the trip, they were approached by a flight of silver dragons, the first ones Dorn's band had ever seen. The two dragons, Moonwing and Azhaq, were looking for Kara, who they explained, was actually a song dragon named Karasendrieth, whom they intended to take back with them. Dorn struck at the dragons rather than yield Karasendrieth; though the ensuing fight led to two casualties amongst the crew, Dorn's team ultimately prevailed. Kara afterwards explained that a Rage was underway, and the gold dragon king Lareth expected it to be one of the worst; the party, against Graybrook's instincts, chose to aid Kara in finding Helder Gorstag in Lyrabar.

In Lyrabar, Will and Pavel consulted Gorstag Helder's landlady, Mureene, about him. After bribing and threatening her, they learned that his room was ransacked by the Cult of the Dragon and then by Mureene herself; Pavel determined, and Mureene confirmed, that Gorstag was taking instruction as a swordsman.

The whole party met with Brimstone at his lair, learning he was a smoke drake. After a brief battle with Brimstone, who was possessed by Sammaster's notes while trying to read them, the vampiric wyrm bade them to attack the Cult of the Dragon and find clues; over Dorn's opposition, the party agreed. . On the evening of Ches 14, the party protected Taegan Nightwind, who set himself out as bait for the Cult by pretending to be drowning his sorrows in too much alcohol. They afterwards interrogated one of the cultists that they captured, learning that the cult hid in a dungeon beneath a tannery. After a fight, they captured the Wearer of Purple Cylla Morieth and managed to learn of Sammaster's plans for the Rage.

Taegan Nightwind agreed to petition Queen Sambryl to send warriors to fight the Cult of the Dragon close to Lyrabar, to which she ultimately agreed. Dorn, Kara, and the others instead left for Elmwood, which they found to be under Zhentarim occupation. After the fight, they joined Thoyanna Jorgadaul and other authorities from town in a small grove to which a small bird led them. There, after learning of the Zhentarim activities through the area, they decided to break their control over the town, blaming dragons for any damage. During their following raid, Dorn managed to secure a craft. They took the craft to Thentia, and then to Northkeep, where they were joined by Chatulio. After a battle against Sammaster's guardians, Dorn pleaded with the ghosts to allow his company to search the ruins. Surprisingly, he was heard out. After days of searching, they finally located a number of reliefs that showed the origins of the Rage.

The Cult of the Dragon ambushed Rangrim, however, and employed magic to strike the Queen's Bronzes mad with the Rage of Dragons. Though Rangrim and Taegan managed to slay the metallic dragons in their midst, the wyrms caused enough damage to rout the entire expedition. . He remained in flight from the cult's forces through 13 Tarsakh, when Jivex saved him; on the small fairy dragon's advice, Taegan rested in a circle of trees, that were also guardians of the forest, elves from yore. After they healed him, Taegan reasoned he should rally the Warswords; the faerie dragons, through Jivex, volunteered to gather the forces, while the trees volunteered that a guardian dragon remained, which Taegan might be able to rouse. He roused the guardian Vorasaegha successfully, albeit with some difficulty. However, during the siege of the Cult hideout, her strength ran out while fighting a dracolich. Taegan and Jivex managed to slay the wyrm, however narrowly. Taegan looted some of the wealth of the enclave, returning to Lyrabar with Jivex for Greengrass.

On 19 Mirtul, Kara, Dorn, Chatulio and Raryn came across the retinue of Josef Darag, from Springhill, who were retreating from the front after learning of King Gareth Dragonsbane's fall. They also learned that there was a village under attack by bandits, to which they went afterwards. . He managed to calm down Kara with some attempts at song after her blood was too inflamed from fighting during a Rage. Dorn's group found the Monastery of the Yellow Rose on Mirtul 25, but it was already besieged by a score dragons. Noticing they were not in a Rage, they judged that Sammaster sent those dragons to cover his tracks, thus marking the location as one of great import.

On Mirtul 27, dorn Graybrook and Karasendrieth's team managed to make it through the tunnels beneath the Monastery of the Yellow Rose, slaying the dragons beneath the monastery in the process. Arriving at the monastery, they were able to explain the situation to Cantoule and request he heal Karasendrieth, who was injured in the crossing. The Monastery of the Yellow Rose changed tactics against the wyrms under Dorn's guidance on Kythorn 2, where they retreated into the halls and set up a trap, which killed at least one of Malazan's flight. Dorn was attacked by Kara when her resolve waned against the rage, but forgiving her, he managed to harden her resolve.

Dorn Graybrook accompanied Kara to the Galenas on 5 Flamerule, soon after her discovery of the process to block the Rage. They found the hidden sanctuary in the Galenas on 8 Flamerule; though Tamarand was able to convince Lareth to listen, Lareth was indifferent to her tale and wanted to kill her, prompting Tamarand to challenge him for the throne of King of Justice. After Tamarand slew Lareth, he decided a number of fast fliers would be sent to break the siege at the Monastery of the Yellow Rose.

By Midsummer, Dorn's party had returned to Thentia, and Rilitar had died, but considerable progress had been made in decoding Sammaster's notes.

On Eleint 12, Taegan and Jivex had rejoined Dorn's party, and taken to exploring the steppes of ancient Narfell, following Sammaster's explorations. Despite carrying a token of Gareth Dragonsbane's favor, they were attacked by a Far Quey raiding party. Afrer a conversation with the Far Quey, they learned of the Hermit. The Hermit related upon Dorn's party that it had realized, during the first Rage, that the elves had built a citadel in Novularond, but knew little beyond that.

At the Novularonds, his party became guests of Raryn's tribe, in particular his brother Wurik, who poisoned them to deliver them upon Iyraclea; when the Queen's servants arrived, they slew Wurik for trying to hide his brother Raryn. On 27 Marpenoth, Dorn's party, pushed by Iyraclea, arrived at a citadel in Novularond. Later that night, Zethrindor arrived with Brimstone, and attacked Iyraclea, considering she had broken faith with Sammaster. After a fight in which Zethrindor's spell appeared to annihilate Karasendrieth, Dorn had to be talked out of a suicide attack against the dragon; instead, they escaped in the commotion.

In 8 Uktar, after nearly sneaking out in the morning, dorn noticed several people in white clothes attempt to ambush his comrades in their sleep. Those were warriors of Sossal; dorn stopped them long enough for Pavel to defuse the situation. dorn, after Kara's death, became so despondent he nearly deserted his companions. The lot of them joined Stival Chergoba's forces briefly. On Uktar 16, Zethrindor maneuvered his dragons to block Stival Chergoba's forces from joining Madislak Pemsk's, and pincer the latter's, after Stival Chergoba's group ran into his main force.

On Uktar 17, they made it to Madislak Pemsk's group ahead of Zethrindor's army. Once battle was joined, Will and dorn fought a tundra landwyrm; during the fighting, Will Turnstone had an idea, and with Jivex's help, he reached the enemy commanders under Zethrindor and informed them that Iyraclea had been killed by Zethrindor. Zethrindor, upon noticing, decided to confirm it. Zethrindor accepted a challenge from Will Turnstone to fight dorn's party and Madislak Pemsk, wagering that the losing party's army would surrender, advised that if he chose to forfeit the challenge, he would look weak. He accepted. Ultimately, albeit Zethrindor slew Madislak Pemsk, and may have slain dorn's group, the ice giants in his army struck at him, sensing weakness, and destroyed him; even the dragons in his army chose to flee after his death.

dorn and his party returned just in time for their meeting on the Feast of the Moon. The meeting was attended by a number of dragons, including Nexus, Tamarand, Azhaq, Moonwing, LLimark, Wardancer, Vingdavalac, and the Talons of Justice, amongst other dragons, and the wizards of Thentia, amongst them Firefingers, Scattercloak, darvin Kordeion, Sureene Aumratha, Baerimel, and Jannatha Goldenshield. With no other ideas, the metallic dragons and the wizards of Thentia attempted a Grand divination; the ritual failed, instead leading to the death of Moonwing. Pavel Shemov finally proposed attempting to use Brimstone's hoard near Lyrabar as a focus for contacting Brimstone's necklace and Brimstone himself, under the assumption the drake had made it through the gate.

Kara finally lost her battle to Sammaster's rage on 5 Nightal, when she attacked her companions for trying to stop her from suicidally striking at the tarterian wyrms in the valley, believing she'd kill them if she didn't kill herself. Brimstone decided to stop her, kill her, and slake his thirst by drinking her blood. They were stopped by the sudden arrival of the tarterians, and then by the metallic wyrms that had teleported themselves through Brimstone's hoard in Lyrabar. After defeating the tarterians, the dragons and mages there managed to break through Sammaster's ward. His friends had never seen dorn cry until 5 Nightal.

On 6 Uktar, Sammaster was at the same hidden redoubt as Ssalangan, where he broke off a battle between him and Chuth. He was notified by an enchantment when his twisted space spell was broken by Larendrammagar and others, and teleporting himself with his staff, he recognized many of the assailants at his fortress, including Brimstone, the wizards of Thentia, and some dragons. He called upon pacts with a number of wyrms from other planes to defend the dracorage mythal. Graybrook was critical to fighting the dragons, losing his metal limbs but managing to break one of Sammaster's spells,

Though dorn took the loss of his limbs heavily after the battle, Kara didn't let him dwell on that, and suggested that either Firefingers, Nexus, Sureene or the others would repair his body.

Appearances

 * Novels
 * The Year of Rogue Dragons (The Rage &bull; The Rite &bull; The Ruin)
 * Short Stories
 * Rivals