Drums in the South

Drums in the South is a part of Tales of Arkain.

## Synopsis

This story starts at the former Kingdom of Salria, now homeland of the Tribal Dominion. Amari was bored of the tradition she needed to show, up until a Human caught her attention.

## Story

A blow, a parry, a counter attack, a thrust and an angry grunting noise. Rinse and repeat. It had probably been not even a full hour yet, but for Amari it felt as if she had watched this fight from her throne for several hours. She sat in the arena of her capital, a place built for any kind of larger event - but mostly used for these ritual fights that she had no interest in. There were many things she would rather do than sit here and watch but as leader of her people, she had to stay and feign interest since the two fighters were champions of the chieftains of two different Orc clans fighting for the honor of their chieftains. Despite her many reforms, she had not managed to completely put an end to the ritual fights that the Orcs used to prove and entertain themselves. She snorted. Entertainment! Sure, her friend Okri who had taken her place as leader of the Cliffhunter Clan after Amari had become Empress of the Tribal Dominion, loved these encounters, just like she enjoyed battle itself, but Amari found no pleasure in watching two of her own kind fight against each other - Orc fighting Orc was something that had almost led their race to ruin several years ago. At least Amari had been able to slowly but steadily decrease the number of Orcs who viewed this as their standard form of entertainment. And she could not deny that these battles served her people to increase their strength. In ancient times, ritual fights had ended only when one of the parties had died. To Amari's relief, this requirement had been dropped very long ago, long before her father and even his father had been born. Finally the battle concluded. Amari did not care to pay more attention to it than was absolutely necessary and stood up. She congratulated the winner but didn't bother to remember who actually won. She cared for her people, not for the traditions of her people. The battle had not even been important. As she was about to leave, however, she saw a figure entering the arena, wearing an armor that seemed to be human design but Amari could not remember ever seeing any armor like that before. The helmet of the figure hid its face behind the visor. The steps of the unknown visitor were heavy. In his hand, he carried a two handed sword. Amari stopped, like everyone else in the arena who had just wanted to leave.

Whoever it was, the guards of the arena stepped forward. Whoever it was, must have come here uninvited as they readied their weapons. The figure reached the center of the arena, all eyes laid on it as it raised its voice, the voice of a male human. "People of the Tribal Dominion! I am Boranel Aspurex, former champion of the Empire! I have travelled far and wide after the war, searching for a new place to call home as my comrades and the people I called family were victims of the evil that plagued these lands!" he shouted. His voice sounded calm and yet everyone in the arena could hear him. Yet there was something about the man that made Amari suspicious. She could feel a hint of magic in his aura. He did not use the magic right now but she could feel that this man was more than just a heavily armored fighter. The fighter looked around as he continued. "I haven't just come to this place, your capital, your arena, to join your ranks, no, I have come here to prove my strength to all of you - and to your empress!" he said and Amari could feel his gaze on her. She met it. Then he pointed at her. Amari wondered what he really wanted. It was unusual for a human who wasn't from Salria to join them - but it was even more unusual that he did it in such a way. In fact, this was the first time ever Amari had a situation like this. Did he crave for attention or did he have sinister motives? He could be a spy - or worse. "Empress Amari! These two champions who have fought in this arena have shown that they are powerful warriors! Let me show you, you personally, not your recruiters, that I could be of value for your forces. Let me show my own strength by defeating them both in honorable ritual combat" He let his weapon fall on the ground "unarmed." The audience began to murmur even louder than before, some laughs could be heard. Amari inspected the man closely. He was clearly capable of using magic but she did not expect him to use it. He had some ulterior motive, he wasn't just here to have a big show for himself. But he certainly was sure of himself, wanting to challenge two powerful warriors unarmed. She nodded and sat back down. The audience went quiet. "Very well then, Boranel Aspurex. Show your strength, but be aware that you will be watched very closely." she said. The human nodded and now faced the two champions. The first one of them charged at him immediately - a dangerous mistake. As his axe aimed for the head of Boranel, the human simply caught the hand of his opponent mid-air and turned it around, breaking it. The champion roared in pain. Boranel grabbed him, spinned in a circle and then threw the first champion away from him. The poor warrior landed in the arena wall and lost consciousness. The second warrior did not charge at Boranel, instead he waited for him to come to him, after having seen what happened to his former enemy and now partner. Boranel then slowly walked toward him, yet the warrior did not move, not willing to fall into any trap. As Boranel was within striking distance, the warrior tried to fool him with a fake hit, but it simply did not matter. Boranel simply punched him in the face before the warrior could try to land his strike. Dazed, the warrior stumbled backwards only to be grabbed by his neck by Boranel and punched a few more times straight in the face. Then Boranel simply let him go and the warrior fell to the ground, also having lost consciousness. Nobody cheered, nobody in the audience made a single noise. They were still shocked at what they had just witnessed. Two powerful champions of two clans just defeated within such a short time with so little effort - and with bare hands too. Amari waited a moment before she stood up. He had not used any of his magic, that had all been his physical strength only. As she stood up, Boranel immediately kneeled in the center of the arena in her direction on the tribune. "Boranel Aspurex. You have proven your strength. Though it is uncommon for a singular person to ask about joining us in such a... special fashion, I am willing to hear you out. You will be given a place to sleep this night and meet with one of my trusted officers tomorrow morning." Amari explained. Boranel nodded and stood up. He took up his weapon and left the arena. Nobody moved to stop him this time. Then, after this rather curious encounter, things went normally again. Amari was interested to learn what really led this strange man to her. It was possible that she was being paranoid, but it seemed weird to her that an Imperial would come to join the Tribal Dominion. Then again, of course, it was possible that this man, being an Imperial according to his own words, had enemies in the human realms and therefore had no other choice. Time would tell, now Amari had other things to deal with. This human could wait.

She left to return to the palace, accompanied by her personal guard. Grofzag also accompanied her. He had taken the place as chieftain of the Deathbreeze Clan and had been chosen by all other Orc chieftains to be the representative of the Orc Clans. He and some other advisors were going to discuss several topics back in the palace when this stupid ritual fight had been over. Amari did actually not know how Grofzag felt about these battles. She did not recall seeing him ever fight in one himself and she wasn't sure how to read his face during them. He appeared neither interested nor annoyed by them. Then again, that was nothing that she should care about. She was happy enough that the ritual fights became less without her having to do too much about it. The other races and their traditions showed many alternatives for the Orc race.
Amari took a look around. The new capital had grown to be a massive city for the Tribal Dominion. Everywhere in Salria, cities built by the different races of the Dominion had been finished or were still being constructed. It was an immense progress that seemed to never end. At the same time, the different races all brought their different technology together, creating new things that no race alone would have created. Pechan and his engineers had the time of their lives. Amari smiled. She was really glad that Pechan was such a great support. His abilities as a tinker and his unique way handling things made him the perfect person to deal with all technological affairs. "There had been another suitor earlier today. Ironthunder Clan. I took the liberty of sending him home. I hope you don't mind." Grofzag whispered, returning Amari's thoughts to the here and now as they entered the palace. "Yes, of course, thank you, Grofzag." Amari replied and rolled her eyes. "It begins to annoy me. Their number seems to have increased lately." she said and sighed. She was still the single empress of the nation and, since she was also beautiful by Orc standards, there were some who had tried to get closer to her - without any luck so far. "They will stop eventually, I am sure. They don't mean you any harm and from what I have heard, mostly don't protest when told to leave. They'll soon learn that this doesn't lead anywhere. But enough of this." Grofzag said. Amari nodded as they entered the meeting room. "Welcome. You are late. Did the fight take so long or did you have any other plans today before this meeting that I did not know about?" Zairmak said. The old (or ancient, Amari still was not sure how old he actually was) warlock sat in a chair on the other side of the table. He had been studying the map of the continent which laid on the table. It was a strategic map with all known locations and their strategic meaning. This place was used by Amari and her advisors to discuss all important matters. "It took very long. Wasn't very engaging. There was also a surprise battle afterwards, but that was very short and nothing we need to bother with now." Amari replied. Zairmak only shook his head. He wasn't the only one who had been waiting here. Grella and Oneeye were also there. While Grella greeted the newcomers warmly, Oneeye simply nodded. The others were occupied otherwise and therefore could not attend this meeting. "I thought King Gorehowl would send someone to represent him." Amari said. One-Eye shook his head. "We have received word that his ambassador could not make it. Too many things to deal with in the embassy, apparently." he explained. Amari nodded and took her seat along with the others. "So, what news do you have for me?" she asked. "The scouts report that the Dwarves have further strengthened their defenses. Pechan says that they keep developing and adding new equipment to do that. The good news is that their defenses only defend their own territory, they do not actively stop us from going further north - if you ever changed your mind about attacking the large nation of the Humans." One-Eye reported. "I still do not consider attacking Zyainor. They have left us alone all the time, I do not intend to give them a reason to change their attitude. I know that you expect them to strike us if we don't strike them first, but trust me on this, One-Eye. The Tribal Dominion will NOT be the nation that starts the next war. We will be prepared for it, but we won't start it." Amari explained. "I agree with this. For the first time, your race has found peace. I think it would be a mistake to just throw that away." Grella added. One-Eye nodded.
"I don't disagree with that. I still warn you to remain cautious. From what the Salrian history has taught us, it is not unlikely that the people Zyainor will attack us sooner or later to retake these lands. We must make sure that we can strike back. They have massive numbers of black dragons and large armies from what I hear." he explained. The door opened and Vanessa entered the room. Closing the door behind her, she took her seat. "I apologize for being late, my talk with the other human leaders took longer than expected." she said. "Welcome, Vanessa. Now, what else is there to talk about?" Amari asked. The rest of the discussion was filled mostly with minor political issues. At the end, Vanessa raised her voice. "According to our contacts at the Blackthorn, the people in Zyainor, both commoners and nobles, think it is only a matter of time until all human realms have rallied under the leadership of Zyainor and its ruler. We will sooner or later have to decide how to deal with that situation." she said. "I have already told Oneeye that the Tribal Dominion will not get involved in this conflict, that was before you arrived. I am aware of the dangers, but I do not see a reason to start a war." Amari explained. "Oh, I did not want to ask about getting involved, I wanted to suggest that we maybe should try to get into contact with the Humans when this conflict is over. The Humans have not accepted us as a nation, but their new nation Zyainor is very different from the Kingdoms. We could at the very least try to set up some diplomatic connection." Vanessa suggested. Grella nodded. "I like the idea. A peaceful coexistence with Humans is possible, we also live peacefully with the Salrians now after all. We could at the very least try it." she said. Zairmak looked unconvinced, Grofzag seemed to think about it. "The people of Zyainor were the masters of the Gnolls once. I am not sure how they'd feel about this. I would prefer hearing the opinion of King Gorehowl before we consider this." Amari explained. Everyone agreed with that and their meeting ended with discussing the strategic layout. It was late in the night when Amari finally reached her bedroom.

She took off her cloak but did not disrobe yet. She went into the back part of her room. There stood a pedestal with a black orb on it. She kneeled in front of the orb and the lights in the room immediately went off. She looked to the ground as she felt the presence of her master. He was not here himself but she could feel his presence - and then she heard his voice. "You called for me, searching for advice, Amari. Here I am. What is it you want to know?" Brian asked. "My master, my advisors are suggesting that we make OFFICIAL dealings with Zyainor if it wins its wars. I am not sure about this. I do not want this to possibly harm the secret deal with Gardon. At the same time, I need to know if I can continue to trust Gardon when he has every other nation under his control. I ask for your guidance." she said. Her master's voice sounded amused when he replied. "I do not control Gardon, Amari. However, I recall giving you advice on the matter in the past. You rejected my suggestion back then." he said. Amari looked up to the orb. "My apologies, master, I still think that a romantic relationship with him would only lead to problems - and I am not interested. Neither is he, I am sure. From what you have told me, he already has some elven lover in addition to his wife." she said. Brian let out a short laugh. "If I didn't know you better, Amari, I'd wonder if you were jealous. No, you need not reply on this, I know that you are not and you are not interested. I still think that you and Gardon would have benefitted from a closer relationship, romantic or not. Anyway, my advice is that you do what you think is right. I will not limit you by giving you a suggestion. You and Gardon need to shape your realms yourselves. I know that you will make the right decision." he said and disappeared. Amari continued to ponder on this for a few minutes before she disrobed and went to bed to get some sleep.

In another part of the palace, Vanessa had an uneasy sleep. She felt like there was something in her room, watching, observing her, but whenever she stood up and took a look around, there was nothing to be seen. It also felt like the room was darker than usual - somehow, however, she felt comfortable in this darkness...
Boranel sat on a chair inside the room of the inn he had chosen to spend the night in and looked out of the window. In the distance, he could see the palace. This was the place. The center of the new Salria, the heart of the Tribal Dominion. He had wanted to see it for himself and his mission had led him here. He could feel how the people here viewed him with suspicion, especially the empress. They did not trust him but after the display of his strength in the arena, nobody was trying to act up - on the contrary, already he had been asked by someone if he was looking for work as a mercenary instead of join the armies of the Dominion which he had of course declined politely. He did not like that he had had to show himself that openly, but there had been no other choice. The artifact he was looking for was out of his reach if he did not play his cards right. Especially since he could feel the shadows surrounding the palace. It was nothing visible, but he could just feel it in his bones. He knew that aura well. Too well. A bark came from the ground right next to his chair. Boranel smiled and moved his hand down to pet the animal there. The reply was a happy whimper from the direwolf. "Don't worry, girl. We will be leaving as soon as we can. First we have to finish our mission here."