The Adventure of Gnomie the Orc

Gnomie is known as a simple Orc chief, cherishing the old ways, hating the newer tribes for changing rules around.

After being a chieftain for 23 years, I decided to go traveling. In a feeble attempt to find out why most orcs had begun abandoning the older ways, for new more forgiving ways. Upon the journey, I happened across a group of bandits, thinking nothing of them, I just decided to walk past, most men are to afraid to risk pissing off an Orc of such size. Sadly, I was mistaken here, They aimed a blowdart gun at me, so I simply waved as I passed. That's when I felt the slight pick in my neck. Damn pesky humans, using toxins and poison, they have no idea how to fight like real men.

Well, that's how I ended up being sold into slavery, once a proud Chief, fallen so far just to see what's wrong with my tribe. That's when he showed up, I still have no idea who "he" is, as he showed up in a cloak, freeing me and three others.

A pirate named Gillux, a young warrior named Jaune, and a small fairy who I didn't catch her name. Just before he had bought us, I decided to scare the "captors" a bit, and decided to test the metal chains I were in, needless to say. They were nothing compared to the dwarven chains us Orcs are used too. They shattered in pieces, I heard a screech as a guard fell off of the platform we were being shown off on. I just sat back and laughed.

That's when we started being moved, they never even bothered to rechain me, or attempt to tie me at all. The man who bought us didn't seem to care, neither did I, for I had another chance at freedom. Well, at least that's how I was hoping it would go.

We were brought to a Colosseum, a fighting ring seems easier for me but, some people don't like "orc talk". Little did we know, the entire place was full of undead, probably around 13 to 14 regular zombies, and one troll zombie.

Now I'm not a small orc, but that thing was huge, towering at around 12 feet tall at least, and the brightest plan we had, was to split up, and fight the smaller ones first. Thankfully the man controlling this, had been nice enough to leave use a few rusty swords.

I decided to charge the troll, I wanted its head. I fell slightly short of the head, and plunged my sword into its knee, the fairy who I had mentioned earlier, decided to try and taunt the troll....while my sword was in its leg. I wasn't going to let her take this kill from me, so I stood my ground, and held on for dear life.

Thankfully it seems the troll had bee rotting for quite some time, because as it went to run towards the fairy, I managed to tear the bottom part of the leg off. The troll slammed into the ground expecting to take a step, then just falling due to not having a leg, I laughed and yelled, "Zombies are pretty stupid huh?"

Apparently not every was having as nice of a time as I was, silly humans, not enjoying the excitement of battle. Now that the troll zombie was quite wounded, it made for an easy kill, I had a tough choice ahead of me, do I pull the leg off the sword and stab it, or do I use the leg as a giant club.....I went with the latter option.

As I jumped atop the rotting corpse, the bugger tried to grab me, and he damn near did, thankfully trolls aren't the most dexterous of creatures, especially when undead. I let loose a savage cry as I slammed the trolls own leg into its skull, thankfully it died after the first swing. By the time me and the fairy had dealt with the troll, the rest of our group had dispatched most of the zombies as well.

That's when "he" came out, the hooded man who had bought us earlier today. "You have fought for your freedom, and have earned it today". After waiting for a few seconds for any kind of response, he then said: "There is a village just north of here, a few hours travel at the most, take care."

So we set off, not questioning why he had bought us, not sure why we were even still traveling together. Not many words passed between the party of Me, Gillux and Jaune, the fairy had disappeared by now. That was the last time I saw her, or the man.

The man had lied I guess, it was over a day's journey. Maybe we had taken the wrong path, maybe we are slow. Those thoughts started picking at me, telling me to hurry up, be done with this, get home to your tribe.

Yet I still felt like I had learnt nothing, Gillux asked "Would you guys like to remain a rag tag party for now, until we finally have enough money, and knowledge on how to get back to our homes?" Jaune and I just slightly nodded in agreement.

Finally, we made it to the village, it was just a small one, no more than fifty people. They almost looked like they'd never seen an orc before, or at least not one trying to kill them. Things were pretty awkward at first, women shoving kids into houses, yelling to further ones to not go near us. Men preparing weapons, torches, and even armor. I yelled out "We....Well I am not here to hurt you, just here to make some quick gold, learn where the hell we are, and how to leave."

Thankfully the mayor was a more understanding person, agreeing to meet with Gillux and I, we talked for a couple hours, about who we were, why we were here, what we needed. In the end he only agreed to help us if we helped him. Of course, I agreed, that's how the world works, nothing for free. His daughter and a couple other children had gone missing, they suspect a small shrine near by is causing the issue, probably a few pesky cultists, nothing we couldn't handle.

After naming our price, both information and one hundred gold per person, we reached an agreement, we would get his daughter back, and if she was dead, half payment.

It was less than a 40-minute jog to the shrine, who would build a village so close to something so dangerous? And humans call orcs stupid. Jaune was taking his sweet time with the walk, so Gillux and I decided to scout ahead, now neither of us is quite the ninja we had thought we were. Maybe it was the heavy breathing from the jog here, maybe it was because it had been days since our last rest. We were spotted almost instantly, just as we had thought, by a couple cultists.

Sadly, these were not your average cultists, but rather, ones skilled in summoning. They summoned a Fire elemental, an Earth elemental, and a Wind elemental. The first two were almost too easy, we took a couple hits, but nothing too severe. The Wind elemental was quite challenging, as they can attack, but then disappear into the air.

I was heavily injured at this point, my mind was going wild, was I, the chief of a clan about to be brought down? Then I remember what my father had told me about magic, to fear it, for it is stronger than a normal man, however. If the caster of the spell is killed, the magic stops.

I pounced, as a blood-soaked orc, shining red, on the first cultist I saw. I almost forgot how fragile human bodies are, I still remember how he snapped as I landed atop him. Gillux shouted in pain as the Wind elemental slashed him again, almost knocking him unconscious. "Guess that's not the right cultist, onto the next.". I charge the next one, punching his as hard as I could in the chest, I think that was the first time I ever held a heart, who could blame me, I was curious how it tasted. As I took a bite of it, I felt something digging into my back. The Wind Elemental, turns out there was a third cultist hiding in the shadow.

I laid there for a couple minutes, blood pouring out of my wound, Gillux and Jaune, who had finally caught up, had gone ahead. None of us had medical training. My last few moment were thinking of my tribe, if my son would make a good enough chief. I guess I'll never know, I'll never see my family or home again, I'll never fight again. But at least I died a warriors death, for that is all us orcs want in life.