Between a Rock and a Hard Place

Between a Rock and a Hard Place is a quest in Second Orc Book.

## Background

Rangul commanded Zairmak to regroup all surviving Orcs and rally them to safety of Rangul's base. He and the Ravaging Fire Clan have the charge of finding them all.

## Opening

Zairmak arrived in an Orc base under Ravaging Fire Clan, finding Grofzag among them, the warlock asked Ephrog's son to ready to fall back, and saw many Golems on his base. Grofzag replied that he used Earth spells to create them, as they are losing Orcs to waves of attack. He created it to support them. Zairmak advises him to use his powers moderately, and tells him to prepare for evacuation, through the Pearl of Lor, as other option is to cut through the large bulk of Imperials.

Logan the Skirmisher went and reported that they found an orc camp nearby, and Royal Army requests reinforcements against Demon Legion attacks, and still questions why they are not fighting Demons, instead, fighting Orc pillagers, and he wants more reinforcements, as Bull Regiment cannot do it further. Cassius the Red accepted his request and sends Phoenix Regiment to reinforce them. after Logan tells him the reason why his hatred for Demons was intense: his family was killed by Demons, and both Orcs and Humans have their common enemy in Demons.

## Quest

### Main Quest:

* Destroy the base of the Dragon Regiment (Purple).

Description: The Imperial Army has surrounded the Orcs. Their massive armies are led by a group of veteran mercenaries who seem to be waiting for more reinforcements to destroy the Orcs. Meanwhile, the Demons sre swarming the area from the east. Grofzag and Zairmak have no choice but to escape to the south-west, into the corrupted forest.

### Side Quest:

* Destroy the base of the Royal Army (Blue).

Description: On the other side of the river lies a base of the Royal Army who are desperately trying to keep the Demons at bay for as long as possible. With the Orcs blocking their only means to escape, the soldiers know that their days are numbered. However, they only have access to a rich Gold Mine, their base holds some of the riches from the fallen Kingdom of Lor. Maybe those would be safer in the hands of the Orcs? After all, it's either them or the Demons taking those.

* Destroy the base of the Phoenix Regiment (Red).
* Destroy the base of the Bull Regiment (Teal).

Description: The mercenary commanders in charge of the Imperial Army have sent two regiments to support the Royal Army against the Demons. While the Demons being held back is something the Orcs benefit from them as well, they could use the resources stored in the bases of the Imperials. Also, the Demons would then surely attack the other bases of the Imperials, the ones that actively threaten the Orcs.

## The Battle

Zairmak and Grofzag built up multiple fortified defenses on the main base, also reinforcing the Deathbreeze Clan stragglers, and also built up a strong force. Then, the duo then focused to destroy the Dragon Regiment. They not only have to contend with that, but also have to contend with the Royals, Daric's Mercenaries and Imperial Regiments attack waves.

Then, building a strong force, they pushed and destroyed the Dragon Regiment, with the option of looting both Bull Regiment and Phoenix Regiment and the Royal Army camp, but it will cause the Demon Legion attacking the base the duo have, and also they have to rebuild any losses they suffer when raiding the bases.

## Aftermath

The Orcs have fallen back, towards the Pearl of Lor. The Humans never chased them. Logan and Cassius talks about them. Cassius have sent scouts to track them down, and Daric called them to a safe place.

## Note

Destroying both Imperial and Royal bases adds a negativity point for Vanessa. Also, stay away from Daric's Mercenaries base on the west, as they are too powerful, with lots of Elites on standby. And there are Deathbreeze Clan remnants holding the west, but reinforcing the area would be delaying the inevitable.

## True Story

* A new sidequest was added, requiring Grofzag to find 4 Monoliths, giving him 1 Intelligence for every Monolith found. Completing this quest will give Grofzag +1 to all stats, the ability to train Crystal Golems as well as new lore about him.
* A Goblin Laboratory was also added with only the ability to reveal areas.
* Bull Regiment's Paladin and Phoenix Regiment's Firemage are named Tersen Goldhammer and Forius the Incinerator, respectively.
* Sir Edmund of Dragon Regiment is eager to avenge Ramerius Prideblade for being killed by Grofzag.
* Imperial Army in the northwest was replaced by Falcon Regiment, led by Elaine the Beasttamer.
* Completing Riches of Lor and Playing with the Devil sidequest now only affects this chapter's epilogue and no longer gives Negativity Points.
* Ravaging FIre Clan now has its own units.
* Two new Leadership Boni named Ancient Powers (extra damage and health regeneration for Rock and Crystal Golems) and Wisdom of the Old (more health and armor for spellcasters) for Grofzag and Zairmak were added respectively,