Gorn

"Gorn. Mercenary of the mages."

Gorn greets the Hero as a new face and introduces himself as a mercenary working for the mages, explaining that his company protects the diggers in the New Mine and the ore pile belonging to the Water Mages. He credits their commander, a former general named Lee, with pulling together the Colony's best fighters to start a mercenary crew. He tells the Hero that joining the mercs takes real skill with steel and a working knowledge of the Colony, bluntly saying there's no chance Lee would sign him up as of now, and suggests trying Lares' gang first. He also points the Hero toward Cronos, the Keeper of Ore, warning the man is a bit arrogant and needs convincing, and toward Saturas, who is more or less the leader of the Water Mages, whose guards will not let outsiders through without help.

As a favor, Gorn tells the Hero about the huts: all the mercs' quarters are taken, but a bandit named Shrike has squatted in one that belongs to them near the edge of the cavern. He asks the Hero to teach Shrike a lesson to reclaim it, and afterward credits the Hero with beating Torlof to the punch, since Torlof had planned to give Shrike a beating himself.

Gorn also accompanies the Hero into a ruined monastery, clearing out snappers denning in the ravine and pushing through a heavily barred gate he doubts they can force open without a battering ram. Inside, the pair are caught off guard by an unexpectedly dangerous creature, with Gorn remarking they were lucky it was just a cub, and he has the Hero search the old supply room for a focus stone. He also hands the Hero a key that opens the gatehouse in front of the mine, brushing off questions about the Hero's own business there involving a demon summoner with, "I don't even wanna know. I'm just glad we're doing this together."

When the New Mine is raided, Gorn recounts arriving from the monastery to find everyone at Okyl's already dead and the attackers, known as the Reds, withdrawing into the mine after slipping in through the mountain pass. He calls the aftermath a mess. The mercs fall back to regroup since they lost a lot of men and need time to plan, setting up a defensive line further down the mountain path while Gorn sends the Hero to speak with Saturas. Once ready, Gorn leads a small strike force of just four fighters to retake the mine, explaining a frontal assault would fail because the defenders would hear it coming from a mile away. He credits the Hero's growing reputation for a spot on the team, noting that even a battle hardened Water Mage vouches for him as the best man for the job. Later, relaying word from Lester of the Swamp Camp that the Hero really left his mark there, Gorn admits "for a green blood, you've become quite the name already." After the mine is retaken, he warns the win is temporary, since without a steady supply of ore Gomez won't be running the Old Camp much longer, and reveals the next step is sealing off the mountain pass Gomez's men used to break in.