Lord Sando Torland
NOTE: This article is set in the year 8172. As of 8170, Torland was a young bard who was just beginning his rebellion.
Lord Sando Torland is tall, with dark skin and long, straight, black hair. He was born in the year 8135 F.R. He was the second son of Lord Junus and Lady Liana Torland. Sando's brother Junus was given the name of his father, a name that had been in their family since before the Dark Conquest. As a noble family, the Torlands were used as a shill by the Lord of Envy. The latter allowed them to reside on Ancho Island, the northernmost island of Orland City. As most human Lords in Orland, the family was kept relatively poor, with only their ancient manor, which was growing more dilapidated by the day, and a parcel of land that was steadily being depleted as the Lord of Sin seized more of it year by year. The Torlands and other human nobility were only permitted to keep their titles so that the Lord of Envy could use them to justify his authoritarian rule, pointing to them as having accepted the rightness of his governance.
In the course of those tyrannical times, the Torlands had kept their pride, and each generation taught their children of their heritage and ancestry. These teachings included a common theme of hatred towards the Lords of Sin, but particularly for the Lord of Envy. Sando and Junus, with only a year difference in age and without any other human children with which to amuse themselves, became the best of friends. Thus they grew up despising Envy, creating for themselves a world of peace and happiness within the walls of their run-down manor. Lord Junus taught his sons to be strong and to stand up for themselves but to be careful, as their lives meant nothing to the evil creatures who occupied the city.
After Lady Liana's mother passed in 8141 F.R., her father, Quento Tebella, came to live with the Torlands. Sando and Junus, admiring their grandfather, spent most of their time listening to his stories and learning his powers. The men of the Tebella family had traditionally grown to become orators, and with Lord Junus' permission, Quento taught the boys the basics of rhetoric and diplomacy to make them stronger men; in fact, he showed them how to weave magic with their very speeches. This inspired them both to dream of rebellion and sometimes to plan it. Quento passed away after living with the Torlands for five years, but his presence would inspire their actions for years to come.
In 8151 F.R., when Sando and Junus were in their teens, tragedy struck the Torland family. One day, when traveling through the market on the northern island, Junus and Sando were confronted by three Orcs looking to have some fun with the human boys. They stole the money the lads were given to buy food and assaulted them physically, all the while deriding their noble ancestry. The proud Sando, enraged at this treatment, began to resist the orcs. Knowing that the unarmed Sando had no chance against these beasts (it was illegal for humans to possess weapons without a permit), Junus stepped in to protect his younger brother. The orcs, however, were under no such constraint, and the largest one drew a wicked black dagger and plunged it into Junus' chest. The beasts laughed as Sando cradled his brother in his arms, but eventually lost interest, and, after dealing the stricken youth several kicks, left the scene. Sando swept up Junus and carried him home, weeping all the way. Junus struggled to survive, but his injury was critical and he died later that evening. After this incident, Sando's hatred for the Lord of Envy grew until it knew no bounds, and he pledged that Orland in his lifetime would see freedom from darkness. He spent the next twenty years planning and studying so that when the opportunity came he would be ready.
After hearing of the liberation of Kale, Kelerak, and Daven, Sando believed his time had come. He traveled the countryside in secret, using his rhetoric to raise a huge peasant army. Upon learning of this, the Lord of Envy seized his remaining land and property. Sando took no notice of this, however, and led his army in an attempted rebellion in 8171, which was effective for some time, as the troops of Envy were engaged with Kelerak to the north. When the army returned south in defeat, Sando even succeeded in eliminating the remnants of it. He then personally killed Envy's best general, Angus Neebrok. Now seriously recognizing the threat posed by this rebellion, Envy himself marched out with the remainder of his forces and eventually defeated Sando's peasant army several months later. Sando escaped the battlefield. The Hounds, however, tracked him down and imprisoned him in the dungeon of Visandus manor. Knowing his popularity and fearing another peasant uprising, Envy delayed his execution. After many months of incarceration, he was freed by the Lords of the West.
