I think the problem I've been having with these questions is that, while my story is probably going to have a major battle close to the end, that antagonist isn't working against $as_yet_unnamed_protagonist all along; her problem is that she's half-orcish, half-human, so orcs think she's weak, humans think she's dangerous, gnomes think she's untrustworthy, and she doesn't know who or what she is at all.
(Viewed in that light, I think I'm finally writing a character-exploration novel, after eight years of stories with interesting plots and bas-relief-at-best characters. Heh.)
So she's realized she's nearly the right age either to start having children... but she'd be expected to have children with someone who's all-orcish, and none of them are interested in her because she's half-human, and the only other half-orcs in her band are her siblings. Or to start fighting for the band with its other warriors... but she doesn't actually want to go out raiding and pillaging. Or to have already been apprenticed to learn a trade, though it's not too late to start... but she's not interested in learning how to make or repair weapons, boats, wagons, or really anything. She doesn't have any craft skills that would make her noteworthy for them, either, so if she's not making more raiders, being a raider, or supporting the raiders, she has no place there - and no orcish band will take in a half-orc who isn't trying to be more orcish than the orcs.
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Date: 2011-10-18 04:48 pm (UTC)(Viewed in that light, I think I'm finally writing a character-exploration novel, after eight years of stories with interesting plots and bas-relief-at-best characters. Heh.)
So she's realized she's nearly the right age either to start having children... but she'd be expected to have children with someone who's all-orcish, and none of them are interested in her because she's half-human, and the only other half-orcs in her band are her siblings.
Or to start fighting for the band with its other warriors... but she doesn't actually want to go out raiding and pillaging.
Or to have already been apprenticed to learn a trade, though it's not too late to start... but she's not interested in learning how to make or repair weapons, boats, wagons, or really anything.
She doesn't have any craft skills that would make her noteworthy for them, either, so if she's not making more raiders, being a raider, or supporting the raiders, she has no place there - and no orcish band will take in a half-orc who isn't trying to be more orcish than the orcs.