Orc by shade of nekura [http://cdn.obsidianportal.com/assets/214995/orc_by_Shade_of_Nekura.jpg]
https://adarl.obsidianportal.com/wikis/orc
Note to Readers: Something I should have mentioned to you earlier is that you gain 10 XP no matter whether you are successful or not in any action.
As you decide it’s time to find this, Commander Karon, you are approached by ten heavily armed guards, led by a robust orc warrior with broad shoulders, deep sea-green eyes, and a thick bushy eyebrow that overshadows a burnt visage. The orc leader gesturing with his recently sharpened battleax to the east side of town while his warriors move in to surround you with drawn weapons. “The Commander would like to have a word with you.”
Sensing this was no mere invitation but a threat, you take the hint with a wry smile, and keep your hands down. The greenskins who had seen enough of magic to make them nervous watching you with keen flame-orange eyes.
Locked into a crisp square formation around you. Each of the hulking warriors tenses up with battle-axes half raised, and body odor bringing with it the thick heavy stench of fear.
It was as though you were a wolf being herded by the sheep, an amusing thought that almost causes you to smile.
Advancing at a brisk trot, the orcs guide you into the city streets packed to the brim with crowds of orcs in drab brown clothing who pause to watch you pass by, a few them spitting into the dust at your feet.
Awakened by the act, Yazrul roars angrily to life, but you quiet the voice down. The demon urging you to rip out their tongues and devour them in a meaty stew. However your sole focus still remains Karon who would have the information you seek, and with that knowledge you would be one step closer to discovering the Stone’s location, assuming, of course, that Shade was after the artifact as well, and that the Stone was the artifact the Magelords sought.
Head tilted back to stare up into puffy white clouds, you cannot help but feel a tinge of sadness at seeing the flaming balls of light sink lower in the sky. Memories of the eternal darkness from whence you were born, a ghostly comparison to these roaring beauty that ruled over the skies. The light, as much a comfort to you as it was a hindrance.
Eyes filled with unshed tears, you hurriedly scrub your cheeks and see the great stone fortification rise up like a tide to the top of the hill. The leader of the entourage staring at you in curiosity, before you are led up a dirt path towards a set of rusted metal gates.
Thrust open at your approach, you cannot help but note the dozens of armored guards in the courtyard preparing their borels for battle. Their steadfast mounts, huge immense creatures that plodded on four heavy legs with thick leathery green hides, pale round eyes that seemed to see nothing, and snouts full of razor-sharp teeth.
Escorted into the stronghold, the orcs immediately come to a grinding halt, and a messenger is sent out with news of their arrival. The warriors in the yard, for the most part, ignoring your appearance and continuing to armor their borels with steel plates which they swung around their shoulders making them into portable battering rams that could break through a charge or protect their owners from attack. Another bit of tasty knowledge imparted to you from your Master Yazrul, who seemed to know everything, and yet took great delight in withholding things until you needed them.
Ears twitching irritably at the sound of sharpening axes, you see a huge pot-bellied orc, storm out of the gatehouse, and tromp down the stone steps. His haggard expression, twisted into one of cruel delight as he catches sight of you.
“Glad to see you’re alive, Dalmar. I had feared the Dark Ones had sapped you of your nerve.”
Dalmar, his face twisted into a grimace, bowed his head in reply. “I brought the mage as you asked, father. We found him skulking in town. It may be working with the Other One.”
Lips pursed into a smile at the mention of Other One, you ask, “You mean, Shade?”
Veins throbbing on his forehead, the commander winces at the name, before leaping down the stone steps, his face pressing in close to yours. “I’d watch your words, demon-spawn. That is no name to speak aloud, even for a mage. The darkness I saw in that one, could burn out the suns. So tell me, little worm. Why shouldn’t I have you killed? No one would miss you, and I’d have one less mage to deal with. The Lightbearer knows there have been far too many traveling through our lands.”
Able to smell his fear, you take a step backward and smile, your eyes wandering along the ramparts to see armed men with crossbows pointed towards your chest. But these weren’t orcs like the rest of them, but humans from the Red Lands, warriors who carried the insignia of the Black Hand imprinted into their grey robes. Fierce fighters from the deserts who carried the battle to their most hated enemies the ghouls, shapeshifters, and deceivers, able to take on the form of those they had consumed.
Your reply almost flippant you ask, “Before I answer your question, tell me why the Black Hand is here?”
Eyes flashing with rage, the Commander’s lips curl up into a snarl when a human dressed in lavish golden robes makes his way down from the ramparts to join them, his blue eyes studying you from a face weathered brown by the desert. “Perhaps, I could answer that question for you, mage. I am Torman Fireheart, Captain of the Black Hand. Pleased to be at your service,” he said with a flourishing bow,” his sea-blue eyes sparkling with a degree of curiosity as he continued on, “By order of our, Master, we’ve been sent here to track down a certain ghoul.”
Eyebrows flickering upwards in surprise, you immediately wonder if the mercenary was lying to you? Even as you ask in disbelief, “You tracked a single ghoul here, all the way from the deserts?”
Torman smiled and shrugged his shoulders in reply. “It may be hard to believe, but this is no ordinary ghoul. It has already dispatched more than a few of my men and poses a threat to the whole of Coroleya. I also believe it has allied itself with this, Shade friend of yours. An outcast from the Island of Blootides if I’m not mistaken,” he half asked with raised eyebrows as though hoping you would know more. “If so, it must be found and dealt with. It cannot be allowed to return to the Red Lands.”
Karon growled, and touched the hilt of his axe, “That name is not to be spoken here, Torman. I will not warn you again.”
Head half bowed with a sardonic grin, Torman winked his left eye mischievously. “My apologies, Commander, I hadn’t meant to give offence. Not after you so generously offered us shelter here, but now that we have answered your question, young one, will you not tell us, why you are here?”
Yazrul, rarely one to keep his opinion silent, cackled madly at the back of your mind. “This one is born of strength, he would make a worthy adversary.”
The same thought occurs to you as well as you watch the hard-faced human stare down the bull-necked orc who was almost twice his size. To think, such a weak thing of flesh and blood could come all this way from the wasteland, made you curious, and a little hungry to see what else the mercenary was capable of. But they were thoughts best left for another time.
With a sideways glance towards Karon, you reply back, “The mage has something I need. I would help hunt him down if that is your desire.”
Eyes widened in shock, Karon sputtered angrily, “What makes you think--”
The orc’s words cut short as Torman held up a gloved fist. The mercenary's easy-going manner replaced by a more sinister demeanor, each of his words carefully chosen. “We would gladly welcome your aid, Dark One, but know this. If you think of betraying us, you will not see the next sunrise. My men have met your like before, and they will not hesitate to kill one such as you.”
An amusing thought that has you almost laughing in glee to think these blind fools understood the true nature of your power. Even in the little time, you had spent on the Island, you had known that you were different. While the others whiled away their time speaking and playing their silly games, you had plotted and planned, you had poured through every single text you could find, mastered the basics of magic, and with the help of Yazrul you had linked your mind to the dark energies that swirled beneath your feet, it’s power coursing like a roaring river, inviting you in with its warm caress.
But of course, you could not speak of such things, boasting was for fools. So instead you chose silence, your head bowed in agreement. “Very well.”
~*~
Given a bed for the night, you sleep un-easily for the first time. The fear you had seen in the eyes of the orcs while amusing at first to watch had begun to play upon your mind. Even more so that you had never heard of this, Shade. Even in distant lands like this, you had never known anyone not to regale themselves with tales, rumors, legends, and myths, and yet none dared to speak of this exiled mage that had come through their town. A thought alone that perplexed the mind, and kept you wondering what else you may have missed as were being hurried out from the towers and away from the island.
Perhaps if you had stayed longer, you could have learned more of him, but as it were, you knew nothing of this mage that had attained such a reputation. Even in the archaic memories of Yazrul, orcs had never been known for their cowardice, and yet everywhere you looked you could see a miasma of fear hang over the fort. The only one who seemed un-afraid had been Dalmar, each of his glances almost smoldering with a white-hot rage that was barely concealed.
Unable to sleep, you leave the room, your footsteps light and quiet as you walk out into the darkened hallway, the candles that hung on the wall lighting your path as you move across the cold, hard, stone. The chill in the air, almost causing your hackles to rise up.
Hand touching the rough stonework, you turn the next corner, and take the stairs down. Your ears picking up the sound of stalkers prowling the night skies. The borels that slumbered in the courtyard, half rising to their forelegs to grunt worriedly as you appear in the doorway. The carrion birds almost hungrily watching them with envious red eyes that glowed in the dark.
With most of the guards asleep, you see only a few of Karon’s warriors moving along the ramparts. The orcs strolling about in pairs with torches lit to mark them out easily. Fools that did not understand the true beauty of darkness.
It is also then that you see Torman alone, the redling warrior, ghosting past the guards like they were statues then disappearing out through the gates.
Curious to learn where he was going, you decide to try to follow him from the shadows. The guards sticking so close to their braziers that they cannot see you flit from cover to cover. The darkness welcoming you home as a companion as you pause at the steel gates. The guards on watch, silent and still as statues as they stare at the road with their backs turned towards you.
It would be simple enough to kill both of them and leave their corpses behind, however that could draw unwanted attention. The better option would be to create a distraction, but it would need to be urgent enough to draw them away from here without causing any undue alarm.
Either way, you would need to hurry, before Torman gets too far ahead of you. (Fail to get through the gates more than twice, and you will have no choice but to go back and select the second option.)
(1. Click here to use a distraction.)
a.) Summon one of your minions?
(Summoning Skills Check, 3 Required. Success)
Calling upon the formless dark, you give birth to a fire imp, the creature whisking this way and that before you send it towards the guards who bellow out in alarm, then angrily give chase leaving the gateway unguarded.
(Summoning Skills Check, 3 Required. Failure)
Calling upon the formless dark, you try to give birth to a fire imp when your magic fails you and the imp vanishes away with a smug smirk. (Looks like you’ll need to try another way to get through.)
b.) Set the stable on fire?
(Death Skills Check, 2 Required. Success)
Hands formed to build a small ball of fire, you send it shooting towards the stables, the borels crying out in alarm as the guards rush toward it. The distraction as you had hoped leaving the gates unguarded, unfortunately the smoke and flames has brought too much attention to the courtyard with dozens of guards pouring out from all directions.
Unless you are adept at sneaking around, you think it best to probably investigate Torman’s quarters instead. (The only option left to you now is stealth.)
(Death Skills Check, 2 Required. Failure)
Hands formed to build a small ball of fire, you try to send it shooting towards the stables when it sputters and dies away. (Looks like you’ll need to try another way to get through.)
c.) Use a rock? No Check Required
While not exactly the first choice you had in mind, you pick up a rock from the ground and toss it past the gateway to clatter against the stone walls, the noise causing the two guards to look at each other in confusion before shaking their heads and going back to watching the road. (Looks like you’ll need to find another way through. Go to stealth option.)
(2. Click here to sneak past them.)
(Shadows Skills Check, 5 Required. Success)
Body tingling with magical energy, you open your mind to the possibility of nothingness, of becoming a part of everything around you, and feel the whole world warp itself, blending you into its surroundings.
After that, it was simply a matter of making no noise as you slip past and away from them.
(Shadows Skills Check, 5 Required. Failure)
Body tingling with magical energy, you open your mind to the possibility of nothingness, of becoming a part of everything around you, however, the magic refuses to flow, and to make matters worse the orcs catch sight of you. (You will now have to kill them. Go to kill option.)
(3. Click here to kill the guards.)
a.) Club them over the head with a rock?
(Resistance Skills Check, 3. Success)
Picking up a rock, you carefully sneak up from behind them, and club the nearest orc on the head, the guard stumbling forward in shocked surprise, when the second lunges at you with a battle axe. However with a flick of your wrist, you deflect the weapon aside, grab the axe with a twist, and turn it against him, the axehead sinking into his chest with a spurt of blood.
The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Spinning, you then leap on the dazed orc, and hit the orc again and again until he collapses into the dust. The pair of them slumping to the ground in pools of drying blood.
Adrenaline still pumping, you then quickly drag their bodies off into a bush then rush off after Torman.
(Resistance Skills Check, 3. Failure)
Picking up a rock, you carefully sneak up behind them, and club the nearest orc on the head, the guard stumbling forward in shocked surprise, when the second orc lunges at you with his battle axe. The weapon shearing through your shoulder and arm, and causing you to scream when the first orc slashes open your throat.
-100 Hp
b.) Incinerate their bodies to ash?
(Death Skills Check, 5. Success)
Fire roaring through your veins, you smile, and release a stream of bright hot orange flames that sear through their bodies, their screams of agony piercing the night sky as you are forced to flee through the open gates.
(Death Skills Check, 5. Failure)
Fire roaring through your veins, you smile, and try to release a stream of bright hot orange flames only for the spell to fail. (Looks like you’ll need to find another way through.)
Once through the gates, you quickly scan the area and think you see Torman in the distance entering a grove of trees.
With little time to waste, you rush after him, then slow down at the edge of the woods, your senses awakened by your familiar surroundings.
There you slow down even further, your breath misting in the night air when you hear two voices whispering to each other.
Teeth clenched together tight, you move in closer and see two figures cloaked in shadow standing next to each other. One tall and masculine which had to be Torman, and the other a well-built figure with broad shoulders and piercing yellow eyes, it’s words harsh and guttural.
“-you should have killed the tower’s rat the moment it arrived!”
Half groveling before it, Torman stammered out, “Apologies, master. I had thought it may be of use to us.”
“It cannot be trusted, fool! It must die!” Each word emphasized with an angry guttural hiss.
Head shaking up and down, Torman prostrated himself before the creature. “Of course, master, I will do as you ask.”
Head cocked to the side, the creature suddenly lets out a loud hiss. “We are being watched,” it’s nose sniffing the air.
The thought that it could detect your presence sending a thrill of pleasure coursing through your veins. It has been so long since you have felt the thrill of the hunt, even if you were the prey this time. Still, running now would be a risk and could draw their attention.
(1. Click here if you wish to use stealth?)
(Shadow Skills Check, 6 Required. Success)
Mouth tight with hunger, you cloak yourself in shadow, drawing the darkness around you, and watch as Torman approaches with sword drawn.
Almost catlike in his movements, he searches the forest, his eyes scanning the area, his blade flickering outward in a slash that meets nothing.
The creature cursing Torman’s incompetence turns and leaves, followed by the Captain who stays there a little while longer, before leaving as well.
With nothing else to learn, you return back to the stronghold and clamber up over the walls, something you should have done much earlier if you’d had the time and patience.
(Shadow Skills Check, 6 Required. Failure)
Mouth tight with hunger, you cloak yourself in shadow, drawing the darkness around you, and watch as Torman approaches with sword drawn.
Almost catlike in his movements, he searches the forest, his eyes scanning the area, before his blade abruptly flickers out to pierce your side.
Growling in pain, you throw yourself backward, and race away as warm blood trickles down your side, Torman cursing angrily chasing after you.
After many miles you manage to elude him and return back to the stronghold and clamber up over the walls, something you should have done much earlier if you’d had the time and patience.
-3 Hp
(2. Click here if you wish to run?)
(Resistance Skills Check, 4 Required. Success)
Uncertain of pitting your skills against one such as this, you turn and sprint through the forest when balls of fire scorch through the air. The sizzling crackle of flames, slamming against your defensive shields when you finally break free of the woods.
With nothing else to learn, you return back to the stronghold and clamber up over the walls, something you should have done much earlier if you’d had the time and patience to climb.
(Resistance Skills Check, 4 Required. Failure)
Uncertain of pitting your skills against one such as this, you turn and sprint through the forest when balls of fire scorch through the air. The sizzling crackle of flames cutting through your robes to eat at your flesh forcing you to run much faster.
With nothing else to learn, you return back to the stronghold and clamber up over the walls, something you should have done much earlier if you’d had the time and patience to climb.
-4 Hp
Back at the stronghold, you believe it’s time to see what else this Captain is hiding from you. Body cloaked in the shadow, you make your way down the stairs of the rampart and back into the courtyard pausing momentarily to allow a patrol to pass you by before scurrying across the yard into the barracks where Torman’s men were quartered.
Once there you trace a path along a wide corridor lit by lamps and past rooms filled with dozens of sleeping warriors. It is then that you hear approaching footsteps.
(1. Click here to duck into a nearby chamber.)
With little time to act, you duck into the nearest chamber and let out a heavy sigh of relief as you realize you were in the storage room, the footsteps fading away.
(Check the storage room for supplies?)
Perusing through the stores of provisions the Commander had acquired for this trip, you discover a small chest hidden away with gold pieces inside, a bottle of heart-knocker, and a pair of arm guards that could come in very handy.
Item Collected -
Armguards: Armguards will permanently increase your Hp by 2.
Bottle of Heart-Knocker: Drinking heart-knocker will temporarily boost your connection to the demonic realm and cause your skills check to be reduced by 1. E.g. Shadow Skills Check, 6 - 1 = would become 5.
Gold Pieces: 15 Stones added to your inventory.
(2. Click here to put out the lamps with magic.)
(Death Skills Check, 1 Required. Success.)
Drawing the flames into your body, the lamps abruptly wink out of existence causing the guard to cuss aloud as he stumbles into something.
Using the temporary distraction, you slip past.
(Death Skills Check, 1 Required. Failure.)
Spell on your tongue, you try to draw the flames into you, but nothing happens. It is then that you see the guard round the next corner and stare at you in shocked surprise before you pounce forward like a cat to wrestle him to the ground, your hands wrapped tight around his throat as you squeeze and squeeze. The guard’s arms clawing at your face before he lies still with bulging eyes.
-2 Hp
(3. Click here to draw the darkness towards you.)
(Shadow Skills Check, 4 Required. Success.)
Veins burning with raw energy, you weave your fingers through the air and drag the darkness around you. It’s warmth shielding you from prying eyes as the guard rounds the corner and passes you by without so much as a glance.
(Shadow Skills Check, 4 Required. Failure.)
Veins burning with raw energy, you try to draw the darkness around you, but nothing happens. It is then that you see the guard round the next corner and stare at you in shocked surprise before you pounce forward like a cat to wrestle him to the ground, your hands wrapped tight around his throat as you squeeze and squeeze. The guard’s arms clawing at your face before he lies still with bulging eyes.
-2 Hp
Heart beating a little faster, you continue along the empty corridor hearing the voices of the mercs. The stillness of the night, broken by the hard stomp of their booted feet, the rasp of swords being sharpened, and the occasional bark of laughter as these seasoned warriors prepared for the night. However, even with all the noises, they were making you knew you still had to watch your step.
Lips dry with anticipation as you continue along, you see two of Torman’s grey-robed fighters guarding a doorway ahead and immediately think that this has to be the Captain’s quarters, which means there could be answers waiting for you inside. However with so many mercenaries around, the slightest noise could bring an avalanche of steel, and yet the thought that Torman would have his room guarded in the middle of an orcish stronghold makes you even more hungry to see what was inside. There was still so much you did not know.
Eyes flickering, you notice cracks in the foundation of the stone walls, large enough that you could slip through easily using smoke form, a tricky piece of magic that if it worked could get you through to the other side. There was also the option of using a decoy, but that would require sacrificing one of your new pawns. That or killing both guards with a new spell you had been tinkering with that could turn things to stone.
(1. Click here to use smoke form.)
(Shadows Skills Check, 8 Required. Success)
Listening to Yazrul’s guidance, you tap your finger to your forehead and bite down on your lips to draw blood when you feel a surge of power flow through you, the river currents sweeping all semblance of you aside as you feel yourself become lighter and lighter until you are flying in the air. The smokeless form you’d become shooting towards the opening and reforming on the other side with a whispered groan of disappointment as the magic leaves you.
(Shadows Skills Check, 8 Required. Failure.)
Listening to Yazrul’s guidance, you tap your finger to your forehead and bite down on your lips to draw blood when you feel an agonizing pain cut through your veins, the river currents crashing against in waves of agony that shred all sense of time away from you until you are floating in the endless dark. It is only through sheer will and the help of Yazrul that you are returned to your body and find yourself in Torman’s study.
-4 Hp
(2. Click here to use a decoy, Requires Gro’bal or Za’kar or Shadan.)
(a. Use Gro’bal.)
With a whispered word of summoning, you drop the fingerbone of Gro’bal the orc smith who materializes by your side with a puzzled expression when you point towards the guards. “Get rid of them.”
Armed with his hammer, the orc stands up and looks back at you with a fearful expression before charging towards the startled guards, the men unslinging their crossblades in a single smooth motion to fire off two bolts that throw Gro’bal back.
Staggering as he gets back up, the damn coward then turns and flees, the hammer clattering from his hands as the two guards shout at him to stop.
Using this distraction, you slip by and enter Torman’s study.
(b. Use Za’kar.)
With a whispered word of summoning, you drop the fingerbone of Za’kar the orc shaman who materializes by your side with a hungry expression when you point towards the guards. “Get rid of them.”
Armed with a staff, he smiles with pointed yellow teeth before he twirls the staff in hand and releases magical bolts of energy that kill one guard instantly and seriously wound the other. The man dragging himself off around the corner when you rush into the study and hear the sounds of battle before it suddenly drops off into deep silence.
(c. Use Shadan.)
With a whispered word of summoning, you drop the fingerbone of Shadan the orc warrior who materializes by your side, his grim demeanor broken by many scars as you point toward the guards. “Get rid of them.”
Battleaxe sweeping upwards, the orc bellows loudly and charges at them like a bull with their attention entirely on him. Distracted, you slip by and into the room.
(3. Click here to kill them.)
This spell requires you to be within close proximity to your enemies. If you no longer wish to use it, you may go back and select another option.
(Death Skills Check, 5 Required. Success.)
With only one shot to successfully utilize this spell, you begin the incantation before leaping up to your feet, rush in close to get within range, and fire off a strange white flame that instantly turns them each into stone, their bodies frozen like statues before they even have a chance to scream. The task done, you enter Torman’s quarters with your enemies none the wiser.
(Death Skills Check, 5 Required. Failure.)
With only one shot to successfully utilize this spell, you begin the incantation before leaping up to your feet, rush in close to get within range, and try to release a burst of magical energy when nothing happens.
Startled, the two guards then whip out their crossblades and hit you with two bolts that pierce your lung and shoulder, the pain alone staggering you to your knees before you are knocked by a heavy blow to the head…
Awakening hours later, you find yourself locked in a small squalid cell that smells of rancid meat and shit, see yourself face to face with Torman sitting on a wooden stool, while you lay on the cold hard stone.
Head throbbing with pain, you see the Red Lander smile as you awaken and lean forward in his seat. “I’m so glad you could join me, Dark One, but alas I cannot stay here long. The cogs of battle have been set into motion and the war to reclaim our world will soon begin. Something I had thought your kind would appreciate, but what will be will be it seems. We shall see who comes out the victor in the end. Come after me if you dare, but I half expect you will die here. Farewell, mage.”
Blade speeding into your chest, you have only a moment to cry out, before you slump to the floor.
-12 Hp
(If you’ve managed to survive, you can continue reading below.)
Blood sheeting down your chest, you crawl on all fours towards the doorway, the voice of Yazrul urging you to move as footsteps fast approach the cell.
Feigning death, you hear several guards come in to roll over your body when with a flood of uncontrollable energy you blast them all back. The power that soars through you, ripping apart the steel cage as rage fills your lungs.
(Click here if you’ve successfully made it into Torman’s Quarters.)
The room as you had come to expect of someone like Torman was gaudy with golden silk sheets on a heavy oaken bed, expensive tapestries that displayed the battle between ghouls and humans, and portraits of himself. There were also several chests just sitting there in the corner of the room.
(You have time to investigate 3 choices only.)
What do you do?
Choice 1. Do you go through Torman’s desk?
Choice 2. Do you check his bed?
Choice 3. Do you take a closer look at the tapestries?
Choice 4. Do you examine the chests?
Choice 5. Do you take a look behind his portraits?