[quote=@AtomicNut]
 "Say, is this where you lost your original arm? I couldn't help but notice it. You see, people have ticks, and certain movements they do... but your left arm and your right arms faint movements are slightly...off." The old man grinned.
[/quote]

Gillian glared at Rinaldo long and hard while Ian did his level best to entertain the young princess. He'd always favored his left hand after the accident, though he was dominate on the right. Even learned to write with his off hand, though noticeably messier than his strong hand. He'd never imagine someone could figure him out just by his gestures. "haha. Well aren't you perceptive for an old pervert?" He asks, his polite tone belying his annoyance. "I suppose I can tell you. I wanted to speak the court mage when I had a chance and this seems as good a any."

He turns back to the princess and the hundi, whose head was currently resting in her lap. He wasn't sure he was more jealous of. "You'll have to pardon him your highness. Hundi groom socially, so he's just trying to be friendly. That said, if you wont pet him I shall!" He teases as he stands up, gently unbuttoning his shirt. 

"I was born in the now defunct township of La Reine on the lands of the...venerable Lord Amaury." he says, barely containing his urge to spit the name. The lord in question was anything but venerable. He was well known for his love of wine, wealth and girls who were not yet women. Sadly, he'd only the final vice held in high supply. Knights were all well and good,but in the border lands near Thaln they could only do so much. Men of great virtue can be forged in such a place, but all too often can the lesser qualities of themselves be tempered. 
"Orc attacks were infrequent and unorganized. Local tribes were small and fairly equally matched. Meaning no one dominated over the other. That and the township was sat comfortably against a dense forest, providing favorable terrain and lumbar for fortifications. We traded what root vegetables would grow in the area, but it was largely a furring town. At its peak, it was home to a hundred and twenty residents, though in my time there it held a maximum of thirty able bodied men and about twenty elders and children."
"That changed when I turned fifteen. A orc leader by the name of Nash Skulldrinker, a clever name for an orc to be sure, began to terrorize he way through the region. Orc raids were rarer, but they were hitting bigger towns and becoming more organized. News like that travels slow in the country side though, and La Reine was a long way away from anything you or her highness would consider a reasonably sized town. So we knew little besides to avoid the mainroads and post a watch at night." 
"A group from the order were sent out to scout the area, possibly cull the tribes were it possible. Among them was my mentor, Sir Seigward Parnella, who lead them. Fall had set in, a low time in trade and farming but high times for furrers. It also meant we could expect fewer attacks, the tribes needing to sort out their own food supplies for the coming winter. Despite the expected lull, none had come for the better part of three months, abnormally quiet." He continues as he finishes unbutton, taut with muscle and now his own nervousness. he did not like telling this story, but now was as good a time. 
"hm..don't remember that scare." He says, examining the small faded tear in his gut. "Always learn something new when you look in a mirror. Anyway, I'm getting off track. As Parnella came into the town, there was little we could tell him. Most ignored him as an outsider who knew no better than to question good luck, not knowing an attack larger than we could have thought was on the horizon. He fortified the town to the best of his ability, and much to the peoples displeasure. It was the hunting season after all, and game of foxes, deer, and even mink were afoot.”
He sighs as he begins to take off his gloves. “When they came, they numbered one hundred and twenty strong. It was no longer a band, it was a small army of orcs. With twenty nine villagers and twenty trained knights at his disposal, Parnella did well. He managed to keep the ranks in line and repelled the attackers, killing two to one. And after Nash was felled the orcs were demoralized and retreated quickly. All in all, La Reine lost twenty men and women and only seven knights. Considering the odds, acceptable losses. Fantastic even.”
“Of course, as I said, there were thirty to start. I...I was young.” He says, stopping his disrobing for a moment as he calms himself. “Even with the knights there I was still a boy. Barely even one summer romance to my name. “ He heads with a cheap chuckle. If the joke was meant to be funny, he certainly didn't find it so. “More accustomed to hunting than combat out right, I fled into the forest as the orcs charged through the early lines of defense. Senses abandoned for fear. But I knew of an abandoned shack, where I thought to find out. But one of the band followed me on boar back. Perhaps to punish my cowardice, perhaps for sport of a fleeing target. I cant say.”
He stares off into the distance for a moment, trying to recollect his thoughts. “...I don't remember much of what happened. Its a blur of branches, grunts and wild flails of my spear. Somehow though, I'd manage to best the rider and trample him under his own boar. But not before I lost my right arm. Were it his ax or the tusk of the creature he rode that wrenched my arm from its home, I don't know.”
He finishes taking off his gloves, placing them on the nightstand. His right hand gleamed black in the candle light, the chitinous appendage at odds with the pale man. “ Bleeding, confused and still fearful, I limped to the shack. As I began to sub come to death a woman stepped from behind a tree, offering me aid in exchange to return the favor. I agreed before I even knew what that would have entailed. As darkness ate away at my vision, I'd only time enough to see some great horned figure skulk from the brush and examine me. By the time I awoke I had...this” He says, taking off his shirt. The full arm matched much the had, a hard black shell over a softly glowing blue membrane. 
“I learned that village had repelled the attack as I limped back home, though my family was among those killed. The village...turned on me. I cant say I blame them. Though I don't know if the woman had a hand in the attack, I cant say for certain she did not. And by that point...the people needed something to blame. I just happened to be the excuse. Parnella took me in, to keep me safe from their wrath and maybe help undo this...thing. But in my time with him, we've found no mage, witch, scholar or priest who knew how to undo it, were that even possible.” 

“And...thats the story. I guess of how I ended up in the knights and of how I lost my arm. If any of you...” He says, nodding to the court mage, “have some insight as to its origin, I'd appericate the lead. Eight years of not having answers can be a bit of a downer. Mind, its not all bad. It does have a few...interesting tricks. Like so. Larmes!” He says, hand glowing with blue light as he points it at Rinaldo. A small sigil that resembles a wounded deer enclosed in circle forms on the mans breast pocket, slowly oozing a glowing orange liquid. A small spot of harmless revenge for the older man coaxing the story from him.