To your surprise, Gruzub hesitates, before taking up fighting stance again, allowing you to gain a defensive position to defend your open throat and stop your demise. Your energy waning, you decide to take one final effort to defeat Gruzub. He swings his sword at your legs, attempting to floor you, but you block the shot and head butt him. He falls backwards, and you swing your blade, smacking into his head. His helmet flies into the air, leaving his head and neck unguarded. You know you don't have enough energy to continue fighting.

You let him regain his fighting stance

He quickly regains his fighting stance, raising his weapon. The fight only lasts another minute, with you barely blocking the next few of his attacks. Eventually, he sweeps your legs and he falls to the ground. Gruzub raises his sword and swings it, smashing into your chest. You attempt to rise to Gruzub's surprise, so he quickly kicks you in the head, and you fall into unconsciousness...

You awaken

You awaken in the Shaman's hut. You wounds are bandaged and you're covered in various ointments, creams and bandages meant to speed up healing. You groan, and get out of the bed. The Shaman walks over to you, checking your temperature.


"You shouldn't be walking around." The Shaman says.


"Fuck you." You grunt.e way."


"I couldn't kill you. You deserve a much longer, slower death at the hand of someone not as strong and good-lucking as me."


"Fuck you, Gruzub." You laugh.


You grab the softest woolen tunic you can find and put it on. You walk outside, and wince at the bright son. You spot Gruzub, wearing freshly acquired beads and necklaces to indicate that he is the new chief. He grins when he sees you.


"Mazkil!" He rushes over to you, and hugs you. 


You wince as his hug tightens, but manage to show no pain.


"How's your new promotion?" You ask.


"It's boring. Papa always made being a Chieftain out to be fighting, fucking, eating and drinking. I've just been given the job of organizing crop rotations."


You laugh, and pat him on the back.


"Sorry to hear. Thanks for not killing me, by th


"Seriously, you should've won that fight."


"Maybe." You shrug. "Tell me somebody at least shot that goddamn eagle."


"It left before anyone could. And I was talking about when I lost my helmet."


"I considered it, but decided that I'd prefer to let you organize the... what did you call it? Crop rotations?"


"Yeah."


You stand in silence for a few minutes, staring at the rising sun.


"What do you plan to do, Mazkil? Will you stay here and help the tribe?"


"No, the tribe is your place. I want to travel. The Kingdom of Man are desperate for new soldiers to help them fight the Elves."


"Hmmm... When are you leaving?"


"Soon. Very soon. I don't want to have to go through the whole goodbye deal with the tribe."


"I understand."


Once again, you brother pulls you in for a hug.


"I'll miss you."

Three Days Later...

You walk on the road, the village behind you. Your sword is one your back with a bag of some food, water and goods.


The Kingdom of Man is recruiting soldiers for the Royal Army. They're planning to attack the Elves again, and want as many men as they can. You could receive good pay, free weapons and equipment and possibly make a name for yourself there. You've always hated the Elves, anyway.


Time to become a Soldier.

You join the Royal Army

The Path of the Soldier


It takes three days to find the nearest Royal Army Fort, a large stone castle surrounded by a village and a large series of tents where the men stationed here are staying. When you arrive and say you wish to join up, you're given a new steel sword, a large shield, some polished plate armor with the symbol of the king on the chest plate and a small starter's wage. You're told as an orc, they assume you've already trained in warfare; a racist, yet accurate assumption, so you'll need no new training. You're given a bed in Beast Regiment, which you're told is the only regiment that can afford to take extra men.  You quickly realize this is bullshit, as Beast Regiment is the only regiment to hold Orcs.  You recognize Black Horn, Gold Tusk, Dead Eye, Iron Flame, God Killer, Hardclaw and Bearfoot Orcs all there,sitting around a hearth in a small stone barracks. One of the larger orcs, who wears a shiny helm with the Gold Dragon, the symbol of the King, on it.


"Greetings, recruit. I am Captain Darruk. Name and tribe."


"Mazkil Boarsbane, Red Blade."


"Ah, the Red Blades are still alive, are they? Had a Red Blade a couple years back, who managed to behead a dragon. He just ran up, jabbed it in the eye a few times and took a swing. Darkin Dragaonskull. Hell of a sooldier. Perhaps you'll be as good if you do what I say and don't cause any fights, but make sure to end any we get in."


"Sure thing, sir." You struggle with the sir part, but you assume it'll get easy over time.


"Sir? Ha, you're already using sir. I think you'll impress me, Mazkil."


You notice a massive Orc that towers over the rest of you, his armor covered with what you assume are kill notches. You make sure to keep an eye on him. You find your bed, and collapse on it. It only takes a few minutes before you're allowed to fall into a dull, dreamless sleep.

Two Weeks Later...

You march through Elf territory with a little over 50 other Orcs, marching through a hilly area with some trees. You've been sent with Karn Deathreaper, the massive orc with the notched armor, to investigate a small Elf War Party. You've yet to experience any real combat, with your previous time here simply being maneuvering into flanking positions to force the enemy to retreat and moving forward. Still, the sun is particularly red, so you there'll be a battle today with Gorgok watching.


"Orcs! Halt!" Karn screams, and you stop moving.


Karn Deathreaper truly earned his name. The amount of enemies he's slain is among the hundreds if not thousands. He's a fearsome creature, and you can't wait to see him do battle.


"The sun wishes us good luck. We'll do well in the battle." One of the Orcs near you says happily.


"Cease your superstitions, Nagrak. We might not even fight today." Another replies.


"One can hope." Nagrak eagerly replies.


In the blink of an eye, a dozen Orcs are dead. You see six Elves standing on top of the hills, light golden armor and long blond hair holding bows.

You raise your shield in defense

You raise your shield, and three arrows thuds into it.


"Orcs! Regroup, and keep those shields up!" Karn screams.


You huddle together, and as a group begin rushing uphill rapidly towards the Elves. The Elves fire a few more arrows at you both, but quickly turn heel and run. You reach the summit of the hill and watch as the Elves disappear into a small woods down the hill.


"Come on, Orcs! We follow them and make sure the worms can feast on Elf Flesh tonight!" Karn yells.

You follow Karn into the woods

Karn lets out a war cry and breaks into a full sprint towards the woods. You follow, your shield covering your chest and your sword raised. As you burst through the trees and run through the undergrowth, you hear a yell.


"Fire!"


Arrows fire down from the trees. After ten seconds which you spend huddled together with your allies, arrows thudding into your shield, half of your group is dead. Then, Elves Warriors with short swords heavier armor than the archers, though still a lot lighter than yours, coming to wipe out the unprepared, cowering Orcs that remain.

You act defensively to protect yourself

You bring up your shield and raise your sword. The warriors quickly take advantage of the situation, attacking the unprepared Orcs attempting to take shelter from the arrows. One of them goes towards you, and swings. You block his sword with your shield and repeatedly jab him through the stomach, the third stab penetrating his armor and going through his stomach, which after a few more stabs kill him.By the time the Orcs manage to fend off the Elven Warriors, they're barely a dozen men, including Khan. The Elves outnumber you, but only slightly, and they clearly either don't like their odds, or figure they've killed enough of your allies today. The warriors quickly turn and go sprinting off into the woods.

You follow the Warriors

You quickly follow the warriors, breaking into a sprint. You refuse to let them escape. After a few minutes, the warriors pause and turn. You realize none of the other Orcs have followed and you're on your own. You raise your sword to fight, but the warriors charge. You swing your sword and manage to decapitate one, before receiving over a dozen stabs to the chest.