"Dao, the city of a hundred races and a thousand cultures. Also known as the city of indulgence as its markets are the place to be for getting amazing and sometimes illegal goods."
- Landrach the World Walker on the markets of Dao.
"That little runt just robbed my store!" yelled a red faced merchant waving his arms about like a headless chicken. "Oi you, you're a gurdsman, catch the bastard. He just stole some of my best spices"
Harak chuckled under his breath as he watched the scene in front of him take place, he had been living in the city of Dao for nigh on 3 years now and the naivety of the cities merchants still managed to amaze him. You'd think living in a city with one of the highest population densities and gaps between rich and poor would make them more wary of bandits. But they seemed to think their city guardsman grown fat from years of bribes could protect them. And in all sincerity Harak had to observe that the guards here where some of the best trained in the free cities, but no matter of training could prepare them to run after a speeding, panicked goblin.
When Harak had first arrived in the city he was 14 summers old. One of the few ork survivers of the massacre of Blackhold 13 years earlier , he was from the new brood was smuggled away with the rest of the children and those not fit to fight. They stumbled throught the desert for days. Orks turning on each other like animals, fighting to survive. They were saved on the 12th day when they came across the ork border tribe of Dulgaresh.
It's called the ork border tribe but many different greenskin races resided there, it being the last well before the great grey wastes and all. Things were good for a time, Harak lived in peace and played and learned with the other orks, goblins and kobolds, races once warring now brought together under a common disaster.
But his one favourite memory was of the return of the survivers of Blackhold, of the thousands of ork soldiers defending a pitiful 5 made it back to the village, Harak didnt wait until they had finished desperately gulping down fresh water before launching an unrelenting barrage of questions at them.
He asked for news of the family he had never know, he had heard stories of his father and brother who had stayed behind, most ended in tears as the women remebered lost loved ones, the survivers told him they did not know of his father but that his brother had valiently defended the gatehouse till the end, even bringing down one of the revered human paladins.
After assuring him his brother would be remebered in song and revenge would be bought in the blood of a hundred human dogs, they left the young broodling to his grief.
Harak had always known in his heart of hearts that his family was dead, but the boy in him still held out hope that one day his father would return alive and well, with his brother in tow. He fell to his knees and wept.
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Harak now seventeen watched the sprinting goblin deftly weave his way throught the pact crowd of humans and silently mused to himself, Tog is getting quite good at this, i will have to assign him more theft duties.
Harak, now assured in the fact that his subordinate could handle it himself, walked back to the arranged muster point for his "gang". Harak and the other members had taken to calling themselves "Green Fury" by popular vote, allthough "Head Stompers" was still thrown around by Thorik, the only half ork member of their group quite often, but it was the masters of the free cities who had given them the name they were most know by they called them "The Delinquents", they were but one of the many street gangs founded after the great crusade. Most run by the refugees and orphans of that war and as such the vast majority of them were populated by goblins kobolds and orks.
Harak's group consisted of himself, Tog, or Tog the Tog the Marvelous as he insisted on calling himself, Thorik their half ork member, it was rare to see a half ork engaged in a group with any but their own kind, poor things were shunned by both the world of man and ork, so it was quite a surprise to the rest of the group when Harak recruited their newest member. Meev, the kobold of the group was one of the best lookouts Harak had ever known, sadly though she was little better than useless in a straight up fight, The final member of their group was Ratcham one of the runtier goblins Harak had met but the boy knew his way around a knife and had a dexterity even Harak had to envy.
He walked up to the courtyard and even before he could see his gang he could hear them.
"Where in the nine hells are Tog and Harak!" exclaimed Meev in her shrill voice.
"Bet Tog got himself caught and Harak well, you know how he is, the bastard probably walked in front of a mirror and got caught up in a battle for supremacy against this new intruder." Replied Ratcham in a voice as heavily laden in sarcasm as the small goblin could manage.
That little bastard, it only happened once and that was when he was new to the city, how was he supposed to know humans had magical devices for seeing yourself.
"You shouldn'd be so hard on them they are probably on their way back here as we speak" no matter how many times Harak talked to Thorik he would never get over how nice the mountain of half ork muscle was it was well, weird to say the least.
"Your too nice Thorik, Harak is a great fighter ill give him that, and he has a head for strategy none of us could match, but he has a head thicker than a trolls..." Ratcham sentence was cut short as Harak's hand landed forcefully on the goblins shoulder.
"Thicker than a trolls what Ratcham, choose your next words carefully cause i may just show you what i would have done to that other ork."
"You heard that then huh?"
"Every word."
An awkward silence followed with all members of the group looking more than a little worried that Tog was so late.
"And your glorious leader has returned!" Triumphantly exclaimed Tog, at least Harak thought, he couldnt quite make the goblin out under the mountain of gold jewlery he was no covered in.
"We will have a talk about showing you who the real leader is later. but now, please tell me you didnt were all that jewlery here you glow the the fucking sun god!" Angrily spoke Harak as he rubbed his temples, and they called him stupid.
"Of course I didnt who do you think I am, Ratcham?"
"You cheeky bastard!" said a now redfaced Ratcham, "Ill get you for that mark my..." He was interupted again this time not by Harak but by a squad of city gurdsman burstin in on their little meeting.
"Stop! Feinds, In the name of High Consul Mazahigh, you are all under arrest!"