(OOPS. meant to put this in Salty Dog Tavern. Sorry) Promises were made. Ulmozt tyme, thought the old orc. The demon had promised them much. Many orcs had fallen to help him achieve his goals. They were fewer now but numbers would rise again, especially once they ruled over the humans. Vishakt snapped back from his thoughts as Muguk and Gna'rekk joined him at the base camp they'd set up in Paws. The Bloodclan orc Muguk had prepared them well. Vishakt decided that it was time for another patrol of Paws. They had been keeping tabs on comings and goings. Rarely attacking...no need to raise alarms. They overheard much. The Gray Wizard was leading the skahun light bringers on a spirit quest. Muguk ingeniously disquised himself as Mike the Humie and set off while final battle plans were made. That is a story for another tale and will be left as such. Vishakt set out again. The humans had gathered around the Shrine. Baerron Jael was monologuing. Vish was sure that would turn out well. When has that ever not worked? The humans had gathered an impressive force! The old orc watched and prepared to signal the others. This battle would be a hit and run affair. Going toe to toe would not be advisable. And suddenly..it began. Vishakt began to salivate. The carnage was impressive. He just sat there watching it for a while...before realizing he wasn't supposed to be doing that. Vishakt signaled the other orcs by <trade secret redacted> and then rushed into the fray! Believe it or not I chased Bryiglos around the whole shrine and though he was poisoned I think he might have survived. More surprising was that I did and I returned to the same area I'd attacked him. It seemed like a good spot. Then I saw it. The master of Baerron Jael. He favored Belok some...but I thought he'd be taller. No matter, the thing seemed to be doing what he promised. Human corpses littered Paws. The air smelt wonderful. Suddenly there were less humans. Just the orcs and the Undead seemed left. We began to discuss our roles in the new world order. But just then...we could hear it. The damned light bringers were still at it to the north. Still dumping meat into the grinder. Not giving up. The orcs looked at each other and perhaps their eyes revealed their first moment of doubt since Jael approached them months ago. Sure enough they were up there...and Baerron Jael's master was up there too. The monster had wandered away from his support for a time and looked in bad shape. And then suddenly, as Gna'rekk and Vishakt were engaged in battle with the gray wizard and a few of his lackeys...it was over. We had lost. Promises were broken. Vishakt would need to.... wait what's that?? SHINIES!!!! FRUM DA SKAHUN GROWND!!!! The orcs forgot whatever insignificant things were occurring and started gathering the shinies. Picking up the last visible stack Vishakt found himself quite pleased, although there was this lingering feeling of.... He was surrounded by humans. They looked displeased. It wasn't a long battle. The humans celebrated their victory. Baerron Jael's corpse lay between the shrine and the great Paws tower. ..... .... But the night was not over. Baerron Jael was gone. The orcs remained. We needed to send a message. (Full credit to the three humans we battled for a while afterwards...even though the Yewite lost her appetite for it when we finally got the tamer. Here are some shots of that) At this point we brought in a little mojo support...which was what the doctor ordered. ..... .... But the night was not over. Paws was overheard running a caravan to Skara Brae with funds needed for an orphanage or some other waste of shinies. We hit it. Although our first ambush spot was flawed...luckily we were alerted by Guruug of Bloodclan that they were headed past the hedge maze or we'd have just sat there picking our noses. ..... .... A big orc thanks to the People of Britannia, as they provided us with most of our information for these battles. ..... .... And before you get too happy....too snug in your skahun humie beds...while you were off celebrating with the sky gawd on the Paws tower roof... important things were retrieved. The body of Baerron Jael. His clothes. We've seen the power of the bodies of the pure...perhaps we can do something with these in the future...time will tell. ..... .... GREAT JOB TO EVERYONE INVOLVED! IT WAS A FANTASTIC EVENT, CAPPING A FANTASTIC SERIES OF EVENTS!!!!! A BIG THANKS TO PEGBYTER AND TREASUREMAN. OUR PAWS BASE LOOKS SWEET!! Clomp you later.
With the birds returning to Paws so quickly after the calamitous fall of Baerron Jael, Jupiter thought it prudent to collect on some employment contracts they had fulfilled for Skara Brae. He also thought it prudent to hire some mercenaries before departing, however, the mercenaries proved very little challenge for the now battled hardened orcs who survived despite the fall of their allegiant dark servant. In the end, the contracts were not fulfilled, and the soup rations may have to be stretched out between now and the next contract...
Great tale! Good idea to preserve Baerron Jael's body parts etc, I'm looking forward to what might come!
For a more traditional Yewish funeral, the litany should have been: Arbors of the the Holy Forest of Yew, I beseech thee, Until the day their spirit is called forth once again, Please give this homeward bound soul a peaceful rest. But I couldn't remember the exact wording at the time and we were not in the Deep Forest so I made up the doggerel "Here they Lie, As the Must - Once were Men, Now are Dust" Perhaps it can become part of Paws' funerary rites? ((BTW - Am I the only one who had the theme music for "Duck Tales" running through their head upon reading the title of this thread?))
