Gorlock is a compact male gnome with wild copper hair, bright amber eyes, and an aggressively cheerful grin. He wears a patched red-and-black entertainer's coat that is slightly too large for him, cinched tightly with a belt carrying several handaxes. His boots are polished far beyond the quality of the rest of his clothing, and the constant scent of lamp oil, sweat, and cinnamon follows him wherever he goes. A tiny brass drum hangs at his hip, its surface covered in tally marks for battles, wagers, and particularly memorable explosions.

Gorlock is exuberant, fearless, and theatrically intense. He treats every conversation like a performance and every battle like the final act of a legendary epic. He is genuinely kind to ordinary people, especially children, performers, refugees, and anyone who has lost loved ones in war. His grief is immense, but he buries it beneath jokes, applause, and a nearly religious enthusiasm for glorious violence.

Gorlock was raised among the traveling performers of the Brassfire Company, a troupe of gnomish musicians, acrobats, puppeteers, and practical jokers. He was their drummer, stage brawler, and occasional pyrotechnics expert, famous for turning every finale into an event that required at least one bucket of water. Beneath the laughter, however, Gorlock trained relentlessly with the axe. He believed that a performer should know how to protect the audience when the show went wrong, and shows went wrong frequently around him. At the Battle of Boreville, the Brassfire Company volunteered to entertain and rally the town defenders. When the battle turned desperate, Gorlock and his comrades abandoned the stage and fought in the streets. The troupe held a collapsing gate long enough for hundreds to escape, but Gorlock was the only member of the company to survive. Since then, he has traveled as a wandering performer and furious little warrior, hunting the forces responsible for Boreville. He laughs loudly in battle because he refuses to let his fallen comrades become a solemn memory. Every enemy he defeats is another verse in the song he intends to perform at their vengeance feast.