It has been six months since you left to unite the tribes.  It has not been easy, but it has been largely successful.  There were a few that gave you trouble, refusing to join in the fight.  Even then, some of their members disobeyed and walked right out with you.  The rest will come around eventually.


Lately, the Council has sent several couriers with messages urging you to hold off in the fight against the Empire.  You always send them back with a "no."


It appears that the humans have really been pushing within the last month, and Galik seems to have taken charge over things since you have left.  Maybe he has finally matured and is ready to take over for you. 


You wouldn't mind not having to worry about all of this; except for the fighting really.  It would be just like the war with the Wister Elves, someone points and you attack, broken up with random bursts of initiative and leadership.


At the same time, your axe itches to go into the fray.  That spark Gigalak ignited into all orcs has not gone out yet.  You begin to wonder where this course of action will take you when it begins to rain.


"It's raining again."


As you make your way back to your camp, you see that it has grown tremendously.  Many orcs shout and greet you as you enter.  While you have been pretty well liked by most of them, you didn't expect such an enthusiastic welcome.


"The chieftain has returned!"


"Hail Nolazir!"


"Our leader returns to us!"


You smirk a bit, it will be a letdown for some if they find out you're thinking of resigning over to Galik.


As you enter the main area of the camp where many of the orcish leaders live, you notice something is different.  Several posts have been erected, with orcs tied to them, while their comrades grimly whip them.


As you turn, looking between your old tent and some of the others, there upon the ground are three slain orcs.  Above them stands Galik, a fiery rage in his eyes.  Near them, stands Grolik, severely beaten and held back by three orcs.


"Galik!" you cry.


Galik breathes heavily and looks up from the corpses to meet your eye.


"Nolazir," he says prowling forward, "stand down!"


"What is going on?"


"These fools disobeyed me.  They were here to sabotage our efforts."


"What in Grikalia are you talking about?"


"These traitors spent weeks scheming and planning," Galik said, "but it was not that alone that caused this? Do you want to know what it was?"


You glare at him, lowering your chin a bit.  Your hands curl at your side as you prepare for anything.


"There are some in the Council who think we should give the humans quarter," Galik says, "parley with them, make an agreement.  These fools pushed this idea, even saying we should compromise with them."


Galik furiously spits on one of the corpses.


"This one thought that we should concede some land to be annexed with the Empire.  Fools."


While you can see the logic in his anger, something seems off. 


"And the rest?" you ask.


"Not so keen on the idea of conceding land yet," Galik says, "but it was only a matter of time before the traitor would get them to turn over.  I know this."


"That's only one of three," you say, "and you think you can justify their executions with assumptions?"


"Nolazir, they were traitors.  I could see it!  It would not have been too long!"


"And what say you for Grolik?" you ask.  "What has he done?"


Grolik slowly looks up at the two of you, a dark look in his eyes.


"When I was… purging these traitors, he tried to intervene," Galik says, "using much the same words as you have.  Actually, he is lucky I haven't gutted him yet, seeing as he has been a pain these last couple of months."


Galik twirls his sword a bit before pointing it at the whipping post.


"I thought a nice whipping would get him to change his mind," he says, "but he sure is stubborn.  I have only spared his life because he spoke against these traitors, but then he ridiculed me for sending them to Grikalia early."


"So what do you intend to do?" you ask.


"I'm going to kill him," Galik says with a smirk.


"Or more like…" he grins, "you're going to kill him.  Prove your loyalty to your new chief, Nolazir"


Galik takes a few steps back, gesturing you to step forward.  As you do, the other three orcs raise Grolik. 


As you stand in front of him, one of the orcs hands you a shortsword.  As you grip the simple weapon, the texture of the leather grip feels odd to you right now.


Grolik looks at you, shaking his head a bit.


"Don't do it Nolazir," he says.  "I think we know who the real traitor is."


You look at the blade, surely Galik has seen madness, but could you really kill the child of your dear friend Greusim?  The young orc who had often sat on your lap when you went to visit your now dead friend… all those years ago.


Who is Grolik?  You've known him for a few years, but he is just a lawless orc.  Still, he has shown great promise, and hasn't let you down yet.  Other than your first altercation, he has been a true friend. 


Grolik looks into your eyes, there is no fear.  There is a quiet rage, and even a hint of sadness in his eyes.

You kill Grolik

You level the sword, the placing the tip on Grolik's chest.  Sometimes sacrifices have to be made for the greater good, Galik may be wild but you should be able to keep him in check. 


"Really Nolazir?" Grolik says, "is this really what you're doing?"


Grolik's stare pierces you, his glare hard enough to cut steel and his voice unwavering.


"If this is really what you're doing," Grolik says, "Gigalak help me you better make sure I'm dead because if I make it out of this I'm coming for you bo-"


You grab his shoulder as hard as you can, thrusting the sword into his chest and through his heart.  Grolik's face scrunches up in pain, but only for a moment.  His eyes roll into the back of his head and he falls to the side.


Holding the sword, you stare at the bloody blade.  The weight of what you have done not quite hitting you, and this weapon of death seeming foreign for a moment.


As you lower the sword to your side, a hand slams into your shoulder.


"Hahaha!" Galik says, "good job Nolazir!  Guess he wasn't so tough after all, let's see him come back to get us from this one!"


Forcing yourself to laugh, you walk off with Galik, who starts to talk about some strategies.

You conflict

In the following days, chaos has erupted throughout the camp.  The Red Handed and their allies dispersed themselves throughout the camp, then without warning began to butcher as many of your orcs as they could.


Trapped by a cliff behind you and the bulk of the late Grolik's forces ahead of you, the only viable cover is the rocks and wagons you hide behind.  They have a pretty good grip on the main camp area.  Once they finish fighting the rest of the camp, they will surely overwhelm you at any moment.


Arrow after arrow thuds into the wagon.  You fire an arrow back under one of the wheels, unsure of where the hell it landed.  In front of you the tents burn and the sounds of fighting ring throughout.  You didn't know there were so damn many of them until last night. 


The minor nicks, scratches, and bruises you've received from fighting your way out pulsate through your body.  Galik sits next to you, nursing a grievous injury in his side.


As you, Galik, and the rest of the orcs fought your way through, some orc chucked a javelin into Galik's side.  It went through pretty deeply and you are surprised that he is still alive, although he won't be if you do not get him treatment soon.  Even then his chances are probably slim.


You witnessed Hidius walking out of his tent to see the commotion, and immediately was stabbed in the chest before you could help.  Silak fought valiantly to defend his dying chief, but was ultimately overwhelmed.


Gro'tesk might be dead by now, you didn't see what became of him.  You're not too sure about Rolomag either for that matter.  You had not seen him since late yesterday, and as far as you know he wanted to speak with Gro'tesk.  So they're either standing together or already dead.


Gasping and panting, Galik stands up and directs some of the orcs around you. 


"You, crawl that way," he says, "and you, keep shooting damn it!"


He kneels and grips another orc by the shoulder.


"Finish this up, damn it!"


A team of orcs furiously work on a contraption similar to the siege breakers you constructed during the war with the Wister Elves.  Actually, you recognize a lot of the orcs around you from those days.


Galik slumps against the wagon, gritting his teeth. 


"Nolazir," he says, "we're going to try to break through.  We'll have archers at the sides covering you, follow us, and when we get close enough break out and rush them."


While the path you have to go is pretty narrow, you're sure this will only lead to your doom.  Well, so would sitting here eventually.

You follow Galik's Lead

"Yes Chief," you say, "bring one of these shields."


Luckily, one of the wagons happened to have a bunch of weapon and shield supplies in it.  Galik hands the shield back to you.


"Gigalak will shield me," he says, "besides, I don't know how much longer this dressing will hold without my hand."


"I'll see this through to the end with you," you say.


As the orcs finish up the siege breaker, you all get into position.  A few orcs begin the slow push, as Galik stands in the middle of it barking orders and taking cover.  Raising your shield you get into the column, a couple of arrows already hitting and bouncing off your shield.


You all make a sort of wall with the shields, but many orcs are still struck down.  Some of yours fire arrows over the shields and the siege breaker, a few even managing to kill or wound some of your foes.


As you get closer, you see the Red Handed preparing to charge.  You brace yourself for their attack.

You use your bow

You hand an orc your shield, as his is riddled with arrows.  Getting behind him, you notch an arrow to your bow.  Taking aim as the orcs ahead cry out and begin their charge.  Even as you aim, an arrow glances off your cheekbone, but it does not sway you.  You release your first arrow, the receiving orc stumbling and falling still.


The gleam of bloodlust in your eyes, you fire arrow after arrow.  Mostly killing and wounding offending orcs.  When your quiver runs out, you start ripping arrows out of the shield on the ground next to you, using the projectiles that haven't broken. 


The Red Handed push into your line, many of your orcs rushing forward to take them on.  They actually hold them off pretty well for a good while.  But as they exhaust and succumb to their injuries, you see there is no way you will win this.


You push forward with the orc in front of you as they start to surround Galik, making a desperate attempt to get to him.  The orc in front of you drops you his quiver and heroically dashes into the fray, almost immediately he is beat down and killed by your enemies. 


You move forward with the other archers, roaring as you make your way to your leader.  As the Red Handed flood around him, he has no choice but to climb atop the siege breaker.  Orc after orc is cut down trying to get to him.


You charge forward, deflecting a sword with your bow.  The orc's face crunches as you smash the bow into his face, the heavy wooden weapon turning his face into red mush.  You throw it at the next, which doesn't do much but give you an opportunity to axe him in the neck.


Before you can do anything, Galik takes a spear jab in the back.  Two orcs climb up and one grabs him, the other using his dagger to stab the shit out of him. 


You hook the axe shoulder behind the knee of one of those lawless scum, arcing it back around and slamming it into his face.  As the orc sputters and cries out, you try to pull the axe out, but it won't budge.  The bastard even grips the top part of the handle, pushing it deeper into his face.


You struggle with him until you feel a heavy pain in your chest. 


"Argh!"


Above you, a Red Handed quickly retracts his spear.  You roar as you charge up, but the dying orc below grabs your leg, causing you to fall.  The orc with the spear begins to stab you in the back, as other orcs stab you and beat you down with clubs. 


You cry out in pain and anger, but you are too weak to do anything else.  In moments you are left to die, broken, bloody, and bleeding out….