After they entered the planet of Ba'Ruq, Eric and Agent Parks waited for the two soldiers to pick their classes. Captain King said “I picked Warleader, what did you take Guidry?”
The Sergeant replied “Scout. I was tempted by sharpshou-tear but I figure I already am one of dose.” He winked. Eric figured it would take him a bit to get used to the man's Cajun accent.
Eric asked, “Did that give you tracking?”
“But of course.” he answered. “But here, dere is nothing to track, no?”
Eric didn't want to just start walking, but realized he had just gotten a new spell. The description of 'Find Ally' said it would help find someone who wanted to help with a given goal. Eric thought hard about Agent Parks needing to find an orc who could work with her for legal issues, and cast the spell. To his surprise, a big green transparent arrow appeared in the air, pointing northeast (his best guess from the location of the sun). “This way,” he said, and started to walk. He cast long-stride on the group and they found they could walk much faster.
While the ground was sandy, there were hardy, yellow green plants scattered about, most hugged the ground, but a few looked like short, sandy bushes. There were hills all around the rift and the arrow seemed to be pointing towards a dry riverbed. It took Eric a bit to realize he was the only one who could see the giant arrow, which he was happy about as otherwise it would definitely give away their location. Then again, was there any fear of being found? He was a friend to the orcs.
“Wait” Guidry said, “These tracks, dey are mountain lions, but why would so many be walking together? Deep too.” Having them pointed out, Eric was able to see the tracks Guidry had found, and it did look like a group of them.
“Are you sure they aren't wolves? The orcs ride wolves as mounts.”
“Yes yes, if they were wolf tracks you would see the claws, and they would be more pointed forward. These point out, you see?” As the group stopped to look, they saw dust from the direction the tracks pointed.
“Well dere be da mountain lions, but what is on dere backs?” Guidry asked. Seeing the others looked confused, he added “Scout class de has skill farsight, lets me see a ways.”
Soon afterwards the rest of them could see what was approaching, 5 mountain lions with three small green humanoids on their backs. While they were mounted, they would probably be only four feet tall when standing, and had long, catlike ears with a shock of black (or in one case red) hair sticking straight up from their heads. Their green skin was covered in what looked like boils or tumors, and when they did dismount, they had bandy legs. They were dressed in identical outfits that looked like a cross between a military uniform and a blue collar work outfit. Cloth that looked like linen or denim, dyed khaki, with buttons on the front and collars to hold a sort of wide tie in place, with small bits of metal on both shoulders. The creatures stopped about 50 feet away and hopped off the mountain lions, so Eric showed his orc-friend mark.
The creatures immediately pulled weapons-guns of some sort, and fired. Agent Parks got her defender's shield up, and two of the bullets hit it harmlessly, then a third struck and shattered it, but ricocheted off to the side. One of the last two shots narrowly missed Eric, and the last struck the Captain.
That may have been a mistake by the creatures, as Captain King and Sergeant Guidry shouldered their rifles and fired three shot bursts. The creature King shot at took two shots to the stomach and shoulder, dropping one of his two pistols, while the one creature with a long gun took two torso shots and a head shot from Guidry, going down. Eric moved to King and used his new lesser heal spell, watching in amazement as a roughly made revolver bullet was forced out of the wound by his healing magic patching up the flesh.
Parks used her pistol to fire twice at the mountain lions, who were charging at the group. One shot took one down but the other missed, and Eric realized the group would soon have 4 lions in their midst. He frantically scanned his status for some way to help, but didn't see anything. He used a Sun Bolt on the lead lion, hitting a leg and slowing the animal but not stopping it.
Three more gunshots sounded from the foes, and two hit, one hitting Eric's leg and the other hitting Parks in the stomach. King and Guidry returned fire, and both of the enemy gunmen dropped. But then the lions were on them. Parks managed to hit the lion on her with her pistol, dropping it, and the lion Eric had hit was still a few feet away, but the other two lions slammed into King and Guidry, the latter falling backwards to the attack, and getting slashed badly by the cat's claws. King's lion had latched onto his arm with it's teeth, and King was having trouble getting his gun where he could fire it.
Guidry said something like “Kass Twa,” and suddenly his lion fell to the side, a knife driven deep into its chest. Eric used a wind slash on the cat he hit before, and it went down, then Parks carefully aimed her gun at the cat now dangling from King and fired, causing the cat to release the Captain's arm and fall to the ground.
“Sorry, I don't know who they were or why they attacked,” Eric apologized as he used his healing spell on the other three, he couldn't do anything about his own gunshot yet as he had run out of mana, but it had only hit his leg and Guidry had put a temporary bandage over it until he could regain enough mana. Mostly healed, the group followed Eric's giant glowing green arrow.
The town they arrived at probably held 150-250 orcs, including children and a few old orcs with worn down tusks. It was sheltered between two mesas, and most of the dwellings were caves in the steep cliffs overlooking the town from both sides. The buildings in between were made of cut stone, and roofed with some sort of dried mud tiles. The streets, well, there weren't really streets, rather there was ground that didn't have buildings, and that ground had been beaten smooth by foot and animal traffic.
Most of those buildings were only one story, but two of them were taller. Near where the group approached was a tall building with a boar holding a mug and sitting on a bed, along with some writing using curved lines, Eric thought it almost looked Klingon.
The arrow pointed to the other tall building, which looked like a town hall of some sort. Orcs pointed at the party and were clearly talking, but each time a group saw Eric's mark they relaxed. Entering the building in the center of town, Eric and his companions saw a female orc in a pretty blue dress, with blue hair and wire rimmed glasses. The arrow was pointing behind her, but she was clearly some sort of secretary or other gatekeeper.
She spoke in a guttural language, then seeing the lack of comprehension on the faces of the humans, spoke in English, “Welcome orc-companion, and...others, how can we assist you?”
Eric pointed at Agent Parks, “This is Agent Kendra Parks, er, Agent is a title, showing she is a respected guardian of the innocent and keeper of laws in our land. There is now a rift connecting our world to yours, and we wanted to make contact with one of your law-keepers to make sure that if criminals from either side escape through the rift, the law-keepers on the other side would be informed. Also, well, it might be good for humans who visit to know how Orcish law is different from Human law.”
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The orc smiled, light gleaming off her tusks, “Ah, you will want to speak with Law-chief Mok, go through the door to my left and you will find his band, ask them to show you his desk, he should be in.”
The group followed her directions and saw something that looked much like a police office on Earth, four desks with a center aisle, a blackboard with what Eric suspected was patrol assignments and outstanding cases, and an office in the back with a window on the door. The arrow was pointing to the office, so Eric gave the two orcs at their desks a friendly wave, showing his mark, and knocked on the door.
Not knowing Orcish, Eric interpreted the word he heard in response as 'enter' and opened the door. The orc behind the desk was tall, thinner than many orcs Eric had seen, and older, with long white hair. His skin was darker, still green but almost like dense forest green. He wore a vest, trousers, and a hat that Eric would think of as Texan except that the sides didn't curve up as much. He also had a bow and spear near his desk, in range to grab quickly.
Eric spoke first, knowing otherwise the orc would probably use his own language. “Law-Chief Mok?”
The orc grunted assent, “Orc-companion, what are you called?”
“Sorry, my name is Eric Brown, I'm, well, I'm an employee of a human government who makes sure plants and animals are protected, I guard the wilds. With me are Agent Kendra Parks, a law-keeper of that human government, and two soldiers that government sent to defend us, Captain King and Sergeant Guidry. We wanted to set up some sort of liaison between our law-keepers and find out how orc-law is different from human-law. After all, if there are going to be travelers between our lands, it is best to warn those travelers what not to do. Plus, criminals from one side may flee to the other.”
Mok Grunted, “That is a very good idea,” he said in a surprisingly crisp voice, “I had considered doing something similar, however I lacked the orcpower to send anyone, at least, to send a group large enough to make contact. It is good you sent a large group, there was another group of goblin raiders today, we drove them off but at least three escaped.”
“Three...were they short, with green skin, riding mountain lions?” Eric asked.
“Yes, why, did they attack you? If so I'm sorry, our two peoples have been at war for some time now, and your mark may have, well, marked you as a foe to them.”
Eric pulled out one of the crude revolvers they had taken from the dead creatures they now knew were goblins. Making sure not to point it at Tok, he set it on the desk, “The goblin raiders are dead. Thanks to the people with me.”
The orc examined the pistol, nodded, and handed it back. “Are they also friends of the orcs then?”
Captain King looked troubled. “I am a soldier, my loyalty is to the Constitution and the chain of command. I hope our people become friends, but I can't wear a symbol of allegiance to another group while in uniform.” Guidry just nodded.
Agent Parks said “I would like to be a friend to the orcs, but for the same reason as the soldiers, I will have to decline. For now at least, I will ask my superiors about it.”
Mok said “Well, your liaison to us would be much better received if she or he agreed to being an orc-friend, but for now just keep Eric with you and you should be fine. I have a bandmate who I would like to send back to the human world to work with your law-keepers It will leave me short-handed, but I can recruit another, and the high law-chief will replace her soon enough.” He raised his voice, “Tilly, get in here.”
An orc wearing a similar hat, vest, and slacks who had been sitting at the desk when the group had walked past entered the room. She was short, thick, and looked solid to Eric. Which was why her high pitched voice surprised him. “Hey chief, what's up?”
“Tilly, please show some respect, at least in front of our guests.”
“Sorry dad, er chief, how may I serve you and the tribe?”
Eric was surprised, the law-chief was sending his own daughter? “Is this the person you wanted to send to Earth as liaison?”
“Yes, despite her rough edges, my daughter is a skilled law-keeper, well versed in our laws and level 5. She also has my trust that she will,” He stopped to put extra emphasis on his words, “Represent the orcs well to another race.”
Tilly blushes a bit at the praise, “Yes, I will do my best to show proper respect and decorum to the law-chief of the humans.”
Agent Parks then excitedly added, “Hey, my quest just completed, and I reached second level!”
“Congratulations, may there be many more,” Law-chief Mok said formally, the others congratulated her as well.
“Law-chief,” Eric asked, “I would also like to start the process of arranging a treaty between the orcs and my nation, and perhaps trade, who could I talk to about those goals?”
Mok stopped to think. “For a treaty, you would need to go to the capital, speak to the High Chief or one of his wives. For trade, I imagine there is a merchant or two at the inn, if you have something to trade.”
Eric realized he didn't have a trade good, though he had ideas for them. Foods, sauces, spices. Still, the next step for both of those quests was back home. He needed someone from state to even think about a treaty, and actual trade goods for trade. Still. “It couldn't hurt to at least check out the inn. Was that the large building with the boar?”
Mok laughed, “The Drunken Pig, yes.”
Eric and his group, with the addition of Tilly, went to the inn. Upon entry, there was a sort of bar on the left side, with a kitchen behind it, looking like an old style diner except that the furniture was hewn stone. There were also stone tables, with wooden chairs. Towards the back was a staircase up to the second floor. It was mid-day, so there were not many people present. A male orc behind the counter, wearing a light tan apron over pants but with no shirt. One table had a family sitting around it, father, mother, and two orc children. Another had an orc wearing pants and a button down shirt with a wide tie. It looked a bit like what the goblin raiders had worn, but Eric realized it would be bad to say as much.
Still, he was most likely the merchant if anyone was. Eric moved towards him. “Hello, my name is Eric.”
“Greetings Eric, my name is Frob, what can I do for you?” The orc had a wide smile, and Eric noticed his teeth were whiter than most he had seen. Skin the color of an olive, with brick red hair.
Eric said “I set the rift between our worlds, at least the one near here, to encourage trade. Now I want to figure out how to get trade between our worlds moving, to reduce the chance of conflicts. Which means finding traders and figuring out what you can offer humans and what we can offer you. I had an adventuring party of orcs visit my house and they enjoyed the condiments I had.”
“What are condom mints?”
Eric had to suppress a laugh. “Condiments are sauces designed to go on food. From salad dressings for vegetables, to steak sauce for meat, to ketchup that we put on...well lots of things.”
The orc thought, “I would have to try these condiments before I could even try to sell them, and it sounds like I would have to give free samples to drive trade. I'm sorry, I'm not sure how well I could sell those. But tell me, where did your friends get their goblin stonethrowers?” It took Eric a moment to realize the orc was pointing at the guns his friends carried.