Escape from the Orcs

Chapter One: The Escape.

The human slaves, all once proud merchants and warriors of the now destroyed Kingdom of Halvoor, were being herded out of their pens and barracks and Kor'Rath'A'Gor, the prison camp overseer, barked out the daily orders and the listless men went about their tasks. Not that they had a choice. Unknown to the Orcs, a rogue-mage, Kilan, had slipped into the camp in the dead of night and had met with the former Officers of the men, the lords and the other leaders and they all hit on a plan. The human rogue-mage had set up a portal in a natural cave underneath one of the barracks. and the grilling leading into the cave had been loosened and reshut as not to attract the attention of the Orcs guarding the camp. The men went about their business and Kilan, dressed in prisoner rags, winked at the human who had volunteered to create a diversion so everyone could portal out safely. "Aye, tonight" whispered the prisoner to the mage. "Go about your tasks! Mealtime is over you worthless slaves!" shouted an Orc guard, Kilan quickly vanished into the brickyard, where the slaves were covered in clay and the Orcs could not tell who was who. At exactly sunset, the prisoner made for the wooden wall and tried to climb over it but did so shouting as to attract the attention of the Orc guards. "Stop him!" shouted Kor and the Orc guards ran to try to shoot him down as the prisoners made thier way into the escape barracks. Lt. Fromold of the Imperial Army removed the gate and men began to jump into the cave. The brave Lt. kept watch at the door as the men filed into the hole. No signs of the Orcs. "I guess our guy must have made it!" whispered a human soilder, "he'll make it to the border and we'll reunite someday and tell our grandchildren the tale." said another. "Silence in the ranks!" whispered an Imperial Officer. Soon, the last Officer was in the hole and the grate was sealed. The Mage motioned to the men and they followed him down a steep tunnel to a large chamber with a portal leading to a forested area. "That forested area you see lies within the boundaries of the Elven Realm. Get to an Elven lord and pledge your sword to him because that's the only way you men are getting home." said the Mage. Everyone jumped through the portal in one leap and the mage leap through as well. "Only 102 Orc camps to go!" said Kilan to himself.

Chapter Two: The Forest Realm.

The trees soared to the heavens and the men were amazed at the sight of it all. "No wonder the Elves want to keep everyone out, this is amazing!" said an Officer. The twin suns shone through the canopy and the grasses swayed with the breeze. "Keep your eyes upwards. The Elves live in villages in the treetops." said Lord Tyrus. "Form an orderly formation!" said Lord Tyrus, the former General of His Majesty's Imperial Horse. He protected himself from discovery by posing as a thief and a vagabond and did not reveal himself to the other Officers until everyone was safely out into the Elven Realm. The men formed up and began to march. "Hold!" said an elven voice in their language. "We are escapees from the Orcs!" said Lord Tyrus. "Do I care? You are trespassing in the Realm of the Elders of the Forest. You must leave, at once!" said the scout. "We only seek an audience with your Emperor." said Lord Tyrus. "Fine! Follow me and don't touch these trees, these are our ancestors!" snapped the Elf. "Little good it will do you! The Emperor knows how much you love to cut down trees for fire and farmland. He will give you some food and clothing, and then you will return to your homes." said the scout and he rode ahead of the human column. After two days, the column came to a large lake and on the island in the middle of the lake was a crystal palace. "The boaters will take you to the other side" said the Elf. The men loaded up into the boats and the men crossed the lake to the island. The scout talked with the Emperor's Gaurds and they nodded that the humans may pass. Lord Tyrus and his other Officers strode in to meet with the Elvish Emperor. "Your Majesty, the Speaker of the Heavens." said Tyrus as he kneeled. "You may rise, what occasion brings you to our Realm and my Palace?" asked the Emperor. "We seek clothing and weapons so we can retake our fallen Kingdom from the Orcs." said Lord Tyrus. "Did you not hear?" asked the Emperor. "I did not your majesty." said Lord Tyrus, fearing the worst. "I am already allied to the Ten human Kings. I will give you armor, clothes, food and weapons and a rearguard of 200 of my archers." said the Emperor. "I thank you, my Majesty." said Lord Tyrus. "The Orcs had the nerve to invade our Realm and burn our beloved ancestors so we put aside our animosity for a common good." said the Princess, Lyrica. She had been clothed in a white robe were she stood with her brothers and sisters. "We thank you for your efforts on our behalf, lord?" asked Lord Tyrus. "Princess Lyrica." said the elven Princess. "Our healers will try to heal your men but they have no expirence with humans." said the Princess. "We have a military doctor in our ranks that can assist them." said Lord Tyrus. 

The rest of the evening was a diplomatic fencing match with the Princes. They wanted to know why humans lived in opposition to nature while Lord Tyrus explained that the Kings hired Forest Wardens to maintain the Royal Forests for hunting and timber. "No farmer, either free or bond, is allowed to cut away the Royal Forests" explained Lord Tyrus to the Princes. "Unless the wood is dead." he added. "But men had left the plains a long time ago to settle in our Realm and then you founded your Ten Kingdoms." said Prince Vessarian. "The tribes that left the plains did so with the education from the hill dwarves of how to farm. Without that, we would still be raiders and herdsmen." said Lord Tyrus. "But that was thousands of years ago." said Lord Tyrus. "3,450 years ago, when my grandfather was ruler of this world." said Prince Vessarian. 

More to come!

Of the damned and their unwitting followers

Lush was the grass on the fine summers day,
the children of the gods went out to play,
the sons and daughters of men went to the river's edge,
common sense mixed with hubris, 
all came away from that exchange,
a bit more confused than before,
less sure of themselves,
a bit less confident.
No two things, 
being in opposition to each other,
can be true.
And yet,
the children of men,
listened to the children of the gods,
and went their own way,
and built their glorious ruins,
and cried about their greatness,
until it became dark,
and the children of the gods,
turned out not to be the innocents,
they pretended to be,
and the play-masks came off,
and the demons revealed themselves,
at last.
The children of men screamed,
that death was upon them,
but it was too late.
Their piles of bones,
lay strewn along the rivers-edge,
their blood,
mingled with the river,
and the terrible children,
awaited their next meal.

 

(Fan fiction)World of Warcraft: Dunmere

Chapter One

The Dwarves of Ironforge were a pretty contented and focused lot, they mined, smithed weapons and drank ale. Politics sometimes came in into the mix and when it did, it became messy. The unofficial Dwarven motto was: "Don't Mess With Me"

Dunmere was one of the dwarves. He was enjoying his trade of seeking mineral lodes in old caves when word came down from King Bronzebeard that "everyone" had to drop mining and pick up "discovering the distant past" Dunmere was privately outraged and only told his sweet wife, Lonra. "Did ye know that fool King of ours is trying to cut us off at the feet? We can't mine anymore!" he groused, which Bronzebeard dwarves did so well. "Perhaps he'll change his mind." she reassured him. "Nah, he's a stubborn old Bronzebeard!" said Dunmere. "Once an idea gets into that head of his, he'll never get it out!" he said. "Like that time he got the idea to marry into the Dark Iron Clan, they aren't even allied to us for crying out loud!" he exclaimed. "Moira is a nice enough girl" said Lonra.
"A cunning and clever girl at that!" he exclaimed. "Pipe down, have some ale." said Ofstead, his neighbor. "Come on over and we'll have a pint!" exclaimed Dunmere. "Sure, just say nothing about our King for crying out loud!" exclaimed Ofstead. Old Ofstead came over with three empty steins in his hands and filled them up at the ale barrel. "Can't say I blame you for being upset!" said Ofstead, "My own uncle is ancient and not getting any younger and that mine he owns for our King is sitting empty and not making a single coin!" exclaimed Ofstead. "Everyone just took off?" asked Dunmere. "Yah, that and troggs." said Ofstead. "Blasted troggs, they almost split my head five winters ago!" said Dunmere. "Ten winters ago." said Lonra. "Oh, right!" he said, not wanting to repeat the story. "Tell us!" said Ofstead, with a huge grin on his face, he loved this story. "Alright. I was asleep and I began to sleepwalk from our barracks into the mine. I run into this huge trogg and I woke up thinking 'I'm dead!' anyway I get out of there except for the fact that the trogg hit me on the head and I ran deeper into the mine! Anyway I found me handy stash of armor and weapons and I set it on me body and went to fight my way out! I reach the exit of the mine only to find that all the troggs had cleared out. Vamoosed. You know what? A giant, trogg-eating spider was standing right behind me just waiting for me to take a step backwards. So I calmly walked out when I felt this thing dripping poison on my armor and I didn't return to that mine until I had Vassarian and Olsen the Mighty kill that thing!" laughed Dunmere. "Where is Vassarian now?" asked Ofstead. "Ah, he was sent to a bad engagement with the Twilight's Hammer and he lost half of his unit, he resigned in shame and is now retired to Stormwind, fishing and hunting in Westfall and drinking and playing cards with other army vets at that one bar in the old trade district that I could never remember. All the retired military and active mercenaries go there, seems to work out well enough, the King's spies recruit there for that agency no-one dares to speak about. Lots of rogues there sometimes. Most of the time some mercenary guild is having a party for a member that is leaving, keeps them from going you see." said Dunmere, rambling. "We know." said Ofstead. "Anyway I was up there two years ago and ran into Silent Charlie, he seemed up to no good, as usual. I asked him a bunch of questions but he said he was in town to visit his sick grandmother, then he told me there "might" be a steady payday for me if I fed him whispers from Ironforge. I flat out refused him. He told me about the Twilight's Hammer infiltration of the Dark Irons. I told him we never see Moira and he laughed for a half hour or so and that was that!" laughed Dunmere. "So he quit the topic?" asked Ofstead. "Yeah, he was working for the King of Stormwind so he didn't want to make us want to quit the Alliance and join the Horde. Why are these silly humans so afraid we'll join the Horde? The Horde ransacks our villages just as much and anyone else's village! No turning back now!" exclaimed Dunmere. "The Tauren almost joined the Alliance." said Ofstead. "That was a bloody shame, that elder female they had was a wise cow. But they listened to their war chiefs instead and now they swing the blade for the damned Orcs." said Dunmere. "You would think those zombies would have been natural Alliance, after all, they were human." said Ofstead. "Yeah, you can blame that on the witchcraft of the infamous Dark Lady." said Dunmere. Everyone sat silent for a moment. "My cat has been meowing for it's supper. Time to go." said Ofstead. "Wait, before ye go, I have a proposal to present to ye." said Dunmere. "Anything to do with damp caves or abandoned mines? We would need five or more dwarves, armed to the teeth if we were to do that!" exclaimed Ofstead. "Actually yes, I spoke to ten Bronzebeards and five Wildhammers. We have fifteen of our race and two Night Elves, Ossarion and Vassarian." said Dunmere."Oss and Vass will heal us in case we are injured. I am taking front and we'll shield wall if we have to." said Dunmere. "Count me and old Magi the Hardened in." said Ofstead. "Old Magi? I thought he died." said Dunmere. "No, he lost his wife and went into mourning for a year, he only came back into the main forge recently." said Ofstead. "Helga? She was a brave woman." said Dunmere, "I must have been away when it happened." he added. "You were out scouting the cave at in Kalimidor. Found enough copper to buy us a nice new rug." said Lonra to Dunmere. "You are worth every gold coin." said Dunmere with a grin. "No kidding, the dowry my father demanded put you back seven years." laughed Lonra. "These humans, now they don't have a dowry strictly speaking but the father does give a gift to the groom and walks the bride down the aisle, kinda like us." said Dunmere. "I'll see you at the first trumpet blast to-marrow!" exclaimed Ofstead. "I will see you then with the crew!" said Dunmere. Ofstead left. "That was nice of him." said Lonra. "Ya, and he'll turn around and report everything to the King too!" exclaimed Dunmere. "Let's go to the Inn for dinner." said Dunmere. "We could ride to Stormwind and eat at that nice Inn in the Mage district." said Lonra. "Naw, that cook did give me a bout of the runs for a week, some murloc fin stew he made, said it was spiced up with something. It was still terrible!" said Dunmere. "Alright, we'll go to the close-by Inn then." said Lonra. They got up and walked the great, circular hall until they reached the Inn, which was near the main exit to outside. Some Night Elf mercenaries were standing around, bragging about their gear and humans were riding their mounts at full speed down the walkways. "Watch out! Don't run me over! Sheesh!" said Dunmere to a group of humans too much in a hurry to get outside and kill wolves. "So the King's father let all allied races have temporary residence here. They all live in the Inns and they use Ironforge as a base ro keep Horde out of our lands, nice enough exchange I suppose but I wish they would be careful more." said Dunmere to his Lonra. "If they hit me, I'll just punch them into the grilled trench. That'll teach them a lesson." said Lonra with a frown. They reached the Inn and it was packed with "space goats" and Night Elves. "Don't you have a city to live in?" asked Dunmere in jest. "Darnasus is a holy city." said Fallalor in his ancient manner. "Not much going on at the Tree anymore." said a younger Night Elf. Dunmere and Lonra sat down. Fallalor came over and joined them. "Word has it that you are leading a crew into some lost cave." said Fallalor. "I wish I could bring you along but I have seventeen in my crew already, one more would be overkill." said Dunmere to the Night Elf. "I have news." said the Night Elf. "Ossarion the Wisened is sick with the distemper again and cannot come." said Fallalor. "So are you his cousin?" asked Dunmere. "I am, and I am a Paladin of the First Rank." said Fallalor. "Fine, make your mark in this book." said Dunmere as he pulled out his accounts book from his pocket. The Night Elf drew his clan symbol on the page. "Okay then, the pay is 5 gold a day and 5% of everything we find. I would be minded to pay three but you are a healer." said Dunmere to the Night Elf. "That is fine, I need a relic though. That is why I am volunteering, I need the staff of Gorlem." said Fallalor. "Never heard of it." said Dunmere with a frown. "Gorlem was a druid of ours who went into the Dream and never returned. I was charged by our leaders to find his staff and to return it without any loss of potency." said Fallalor. "So this is a holy quest? Do we need to fight anything to get at it?" asked Dunmere. "No, just the usual cave monsters." said Fallalor. "Slimes, Furblogs and troggs, oh my!" said Dunmere, quoting an old dwarven child's fable. Fallalor chuckled slightly. "Also something else, my master senses a danger lurking deep within this cave. He can't see it but it's there. He can feel it." said the Night Elf with a look of worry on his face. "The cave of Nash? What was it before it was used as a wine storage and a mine?" asked Dunmere. "A Burrow we called Ban'lashas. It was used by our druids before we abandoned it because of it's danger." said Fallalor. "For the Emerald Dream?" asked Dunmere. "Yes. And for storing powerful ritual objects. Do not repeat that to our human friends, they have a strong desire to learn but they often take the wrong path and become evil." confided the Night Elf druid. "I figured that out after Arthas murdered his father the King of Lordereon and Benedictus turned against the Light and joined the Twilight's Hammer." whispered Dunmere. "Not all humans are bad, they are just a tad, well, misguided." said Fallalor in a low voice. "I heard that." said a human mercenary rogue. "Old Farnar! Come on over!" exclaimed Dunmere, recognizing an old friend immediately. Farnar the Sneaky came over and sat down, holding four ales. "Shall I propose a toast? The King of Stormwind, nay, his son, the Crown Prince, has discovered the rumored Continent of Panderia!" exclaimed Farnar the Sneaky. The room cheered, the band started to play and the bard set dwarven words about the Crown Prince into his song. "I wonder if our King, well I guess he is a co-leader, but I wonder if he will send us down to Panderia next, now that King Magni is frozen into a block of crystal?" asked Dunmere. "Perhaps. But I need a favor, and I am willing to pay my own way. Can you take me down to the cave? I need a ton of slime for a client. He didn't say what it was for but I can say it was a mage who asked for it." said Farnar with a wink. "If you'll fight for us, we'll gladly pay you." said Dumere to the human rogue. "Deal, does 10 gold a day sound good?" asked Farnar the Sneaky. "Ten! Are you out of your mind? Five and no more!" said Dunmere. "How much of a profit do you make off the ores?" asked the Sneak. "After auction, I will only get maybe 20% profit because I have to pay all of you." said Dunmere with a frown. "Gah, I have to drop. My father is dragging my hide out to a historical dig, me and my brothers." said Yons. "Okay, we just lost five good dwarves." said Dunmere. "Sorry." said Oog. "Don't be. It's not yer fault." said Dunmere to the dwarves. "Fine, we can recruit here." said Dunmere to his wife. "Well, I am going home honey. That was a good meal. You haven't even touched your food yet." said Lonra. "Food? I'm too busy with business! I'll see you at home dear." said Dunmere. She left and he cast his eyes around the room. "You there! Do you need employment?" asked Dunmere to some Wildhammers. "Does it involve gryphons?" asked the older Wildhammer. "We might need to fly out to the location, yes. But the rest of it is in a cave." said Dunmere. The Wildhammers walked over. "I am Tharu Wildhammer and these are my sons and nephews. How much are you paying?" asked Tharu. "Five gold a day. Another five if you provide us with flying mounts." said Dunmere. "We have a deal. Do you have a quarter master? I am a fine cook!" bragged Tharu. "I see this as a one day job. We go in, kill everything, get what we need and walk out. We can eat at the Inn, no wait. There is no Inn where we are going!" exclaimed Dunmere. "Fine, I'll bring food and ale and the tents." said Tharu. "How much you want for your services?" asked Dunmere. "Ten gold a day and not a gold piece less!" said Tharu. "Fine, you are hired. I'll just have to remain there for an extra day to mine enough copper to make a profit." said Dunmere. The Wildhammers cheered and everyone sat back down and had a round on Tharu. "I suppose the one good thing that I have going is that ever since the Bronzebeards went nuts looking for Titan artifacts, the price of copper and other metals has soared at the Stormwind Auction House in the last year or so!" laughed Dunmere. The dwarves laughed and they drank to the health of the Head of the Bronzebeard clan and to the confusion of Moira Dark Iron.

Coming Soon! Chapter Two!

If you like this story, give me feedback at GershomArizona@hotmail.com and if you are a writer, feel free to write about Dunmere in your fan fiction. I am "open sourcing" him for the benefit of other writers and fantasy fans.

Keep reading and writing and have fun!

The Rose

Far in the distant past,
Long time past,
Lived a Frenchwoman of great virtue,
Of great beauty,
Of great splendor,
Many men courted her,
But she refused them all,

So great was her beauty,
She attracted King Henry,
He shut her in a maze of roses,
Yet she would not consent,

She pined away,
Weeping for France,
her eternal beloved,

The King wrote her many sonnets,
Many poems,
She refused every one.
Into her breast she plunged a dagger,
And unto the ground her blood did spill,

On that scarlet ground grew a red rose,
Upon seeing the rose,
The King did weep,
He forbade any to remove it,

France regained her fortunes,
But lost her fair maiden of virtue.

The End.

The End of an Age

The Orcs had one last Kingdom after they had been driven out of their mountain fast by King Uffawick the Sword-Hand and his Paladin army. The Orcs had retreated far into the great Blackwald and built wooden castles and wooden cities there, in violation of the edict of the Speaker of the Sun (The god-King of the Elves) and for a time they were able to grow in numbers and train a new and fearsome Orcish Army. Their new Castle and City they name Kara'Garth the Great and they brought in captive hill dwarves as their farmers and herders. The fifteen Kingdoms ignored the Orcs and fought each other in endless wars to create a Second Empire. Castles became more complex than ever and city walls became thicker and thicker. The Barons found themselves invested with more power than their kings and their domains often crossed Kingdoms. The Paladin orders slowly disbanded as the need arose for more mounted, plate wearing Knights. The Barons spent no expense in hiring mercenaries, as archers and swordsmen. The Holy Church began a massive Cathedral and Monastary building campaign and the High Polemarch of the Church began a concerted effort to bring the Kingdoms under his rule. He summoned the remaining Paladins and organized them into the Order of the White Rose. The new Order went to their Monastaries and Abbies under the guise of peaceful monks and began to train and wait for the order to take over the Kingdoms and the baronies. At this critical juncture in history, a man came out of an isolated village in the south of the continent and began to show all the marks of being the next (and long awaited) Ethnarch. He gathered common men to his side and began to denounce the High Polemarch as a complete fraud and displeasing to the creator of men. He walked the continent, preaching thousands of sermons and finally met the High Polemarch. The High Polemarch fled in terror at the Light that the Ethnarch exuded and the Ethnarch took his seat as the head of the Church and called the Barons and Kings to himself. They obeyed and he ordered them to unite the Kingdoms into a Second Empire. He also commanded that the barons hand their armies back to the Kings, as what the other Ethnarch meant when he created the barons at the end of the First Empire. The Kings held a council there and Markus Augsburg was made Emperor. The Kings demoted themselves to be Electors and the last official act of the Ethnarch was to appoint new bishops and a council of Twelve Polemarchs to oversee the Church. He also kept the Paladins to himself and ordered that, on his demise, the Paladins would be under the control of the Emperor and the Twelve Polemarchs. The Ethnarch walked out and went back to his native village and continued to heal and preach from there. Emperor Augsburg then went to a nice area which contained rolling, unsettled green hills and ordered that the city of Augsburg be built there. Augsburg Castle was at the center of the city and everything was white to symbolize peace. The city grew as merchants from all over the Empire (and nobles) flocked there to build shops and homes. The whole city was built of white stone and was made as modern as possible for the time. The city soon boasted five churches, two Cathedrals, one University, seven abbys and a Parlimentarian Hall for the Imperial Reichstag. The armies were given to the Emperor and the Kings were also made the Marshalls of the Imperial Army. The Yarl of Nordlandia and the Yarl of Vyirmark heard of the creation of this new Empire and they formed an alliance with the Second Empire. The Yarl of Nordlandia gave his daughter in marriage to the Emperor Augsburg and the Yarl of Vyirmark sent his sons to study at the University at Augsburg. Then the Orcs, now having reached over a million Orcish Warriors, surged out of the Blackwald and attacked the Castles and cities of the Second Empire. The Emperor gathered his 2 million strong army and met the Orcish force at Dunfire and beat them soundly. The remaining Orcs fled into the forest but were picked off by the archer forces of the Speaker of the Sun. The Imperial Army then marched on the Orcish Kingdom and put Baron Galwick as the Governor and left a garrison there. Baron Galwick had the Orcs rebuild the city as a stone city and tore down the outlaying castles, as demanded by the Speaker. Thus the Orcs came under human rule. They were made serfs of the humans and over the next centuries, except for one revolt led by Orc'Mar, never again took up arms. They began to lose size and strength and gradually began to look more and more humanoid. They even gained in intellect as well. 


The End.

Not all solutions are solved by a wizard....

The wheat fields of the Yensen farm were ripe to harvest, being the fall of that year, three years before the Second Great Orc War. The Yensens soon discovered that all of their sickles had been stolen and worse, all their prize cattle had been stolen. "Sabotage!" cried Kyle Yensen the Elder. "And no human would do such a thing either!" and the old man went back into the thatched hut, cursing his luck and lord Demming for demanding 50% of the profits of the harvest for rent. Hoth, the eldest son, vowed to find the thieves and return the stolen items. He ran into the house and grabbed the sword and shield that hadn't seen use since the last Great War. "Just get the items we need back, don't go sallying off on a great adventure." warned Jensen Sr. The stubborn young man nodded and took off towards Bandits Cave. 


He reached Bandits Cave that afternoon and discovered the family tools mixed amongst other farm tools. The odor reeked of Troll. He gathered the chests and started for the entrance when he was hit over the head by a big club.


He woke up in shackles in a dungeon. There were several men like himself, all groaning that they had been ambushed. "Where are we?" asked Hoth to the others. "This cell reeks of Orc and I suppose we are the uninvited guests of some local Orcish warcheif." said Vearne the Right-Eyed. "Slavers. Miserable slavers the lot of them!" spat Hoth. "Ah, but we can jump the jailor. Just hit him right bellow the left ribs, he keeps putting his hand there." said Vearne. The ugly Orcish Jailor came alone and even laid aside his weapon. He began to unlock the bracers of Hoth when Hoth punched him bellow the left rib cage and the jailor went to the floor, cursing. Hoth seized the chance and took the keys and quickly freed the other men in the cell. Hoth seized the jailor's weapon and the others went to the weapons racks and took weapons they needed to defend themselves. They scoured the dungeons, killing Orcs and freeing humans, dwarves and elves. The band of escapees reached 2,000 and the band elected Hoth as their General. "We can take on the local garrison." some argued. "No, we march home and we fight any Orc that opposes us. We need to rally our Kingdoms and our nations!" said Hoth, General of the milita. The band agreed and they fought their way out of the tunnels and outside to freedom. 


Hoth quickly returned to the cave with a band of 20 men and took the farm tools and whatever weapons they could find and left. Hoth returned to his farm only to find a smoking ruin. He discovered the bodies of his family, burnt bones and he vowed revenge. He buried the bones and gave them the last rites before leaving. "We need to find the baron's army. He will be the first one to detect any Orc troop movements." said Hoth to his irregulars. The original 2,000 met him on the road and declared that the Orcs were moving by stealth. "We shall need a wizard then." said Hoth and the men tried to talk him out of it. "The Paladins would be better!" they cried. Hoth then declared that he would try to enlist the aid of the local chapter of the Hand of Light, several of their number were skilled trackers. The irregulars marched to the local Abby of the local order and the Paladins there quickly let them in. "What happened?" asked Hoth. "The Orcs burnt down the Royal Castle at Davenham and burnt Davenham to the ground and massacred all the inhabitants." said the Polemarch. "They are moving by stealth, we hoped we could find some trackers from amongst your number." said Hoth to the Polemarch. "Hard to miss them now! They have 1 million Orcs and we are behind the lines!" said the Polemarch. 


The men sat down and the Polemarch brought Hoth up to date. "The only thing that is protecting this Abby is a Light Shield, once that goes down, we'll be massacred by the concealed Orcs in the fields around the Abby!" said the Polemarch Addison. The irregulars, alarmed at their plight, vowed to join the Paladins and help fight the war. "Hoth, take 300 men and harrass the enemy. Kill them in small numbers, hit and run. Then we might be able to distract them long enough here for the other Kingdoms to gain strength." said the Polemarch. Hoth then took the men, all armored in hard leather and well-equiped for the fight and provisioned. went into the deep, dark Bralewood and set up camp. They dug traps and built a pallisade wall around their forest camp and sallied forth to the roads to harass Orc patrols. They robbed many Orc resupply caravans and slaughtered many Orcs in the process. The gold and the silver they took was put into a general chest and the men kept any food they could get. 


Then the Orcs came for them. The attack was at twilight in the morning and a force of 100 Orcs attacked the camp. The humans were almost overwhelmed but fought bravely and pushed back the Orcs. The 270 men and Hoth knew they had to move camp so it was decided to climb Skybreaker mountain and camp up there, away from any attempted Orc attacks. They walked the trail up to the midway part of the mountain and camped in a forest meadow up there. Strewn all around could be found the stone remains of the titans. The humans knew the story and they called their new camp after the famous battle that ended the titan race. They began to erect a wooden castle and then after a few months of construction, began to build a stone tower of uncut stone in the center of the wooden castle. They called the Castle "Skybreaker Keep" and declared Hoth to be the lord of it. The local dwarven King challenged them about their construction of that keep but they truthfully replied that it was only for the duration of the war. The King, who was trying to stay out of the conflict, finally decided to pitch in with the humans and he committed 100 dwarven builders to rebuild the flimsy wooden castle into a stronghold of stone. Once the keep was finished and the irregular band had grown to 600 men, they began to set up other camps in order to keep the rebellion going against the Orcish Warlord, T'mand-kun. The war was now going badly for the Orcs and all the Warlords began to withdraw their forces into their mountain fast of Orgirum. The last Warlord gathered 800 Orcs and assaulted Skybreaker Keep and lost all 800 Orcs while the humans only lost three. The humans took the remaining Orcs prisoner and captured T'mand-kun and locked him up, hoping for a ransom. "Kill me. I am dishonored." said the Orc in the language of the humans. Hoth took the Orcish Warlord out to the Courtyard and beheaded him, despite the protests of the Paladins. Hoth then had the head sent to the Orcish King in a basket as a severe warning. With the war over, the barons came to Skybreaker Keep and asked him to give up the Castle and discharge his remaining men. He agreed, although it meant returning to a lower social order. 


The Dwarves occupied Skybreaker as Hoth and his now unarmed men rode off the mountain. "lord Hoth! Fear not! Your name is much published and we have you to thank for slowing the Orcs down to a slow crawl." said lord Demming. "I am still a lord then?" asked Hoth. "You earned the title. The King wants to meet you himself." said the Baron. The party rode to the Camp of King Altheling and the King greeted him as a lord. "lord Hoth! My newest baron, made in the valor of war. Take 800 knights and proceed to Carl's Pass and hold it at all costs. The Orcs are coming back!" exclaimed the King. lord Hoth bowed and rode to the large group of Knights waiting for him. "Provision and follow me. The Orcs come again!" said lord Hoth. The Knights saluted and began to load their horses up with bags of food and skins of wine and bluestone water. "And take Magus Ikan" said the King. The Magus reformed as a human, he had been in the form of a battle-gryphon. "Greetings." said the Magus. "I would have helped earlier but the Orcs give me the chills." said the Magus. "We got on just fine without Mages." said lord Hoth. "You need me this time, the attacking Orcs have a powerful wizard. A Red Magus named Kal'lath." said the Magus. "Fine, join our ranks." said lord Hoth. Not being a fool, lord Hoth seeked out the King and asked for 300 Paladins. "Granted. The Polemarch of the Order will join you with 300 Paladins." said the King.


lord Hoth and the others rode directly into a trap at the pass and were all taken prisoner by the Orcs. lord Hoth was seperated from the group and taken to Ma'gath'Or'goh Castle and locked in the lowest level of the dungeon. He looked for opportunities to escape but none came, since he was in a dark cell without a light and his jailor would shove the food through a trap in the door. He began to pray in earnest to the creator of mankind when a rogue fairy made it's way into his cell. It ignored him but he was able to see the whole room now and he saw a boarded up door, rather crudely boarded over, down a tunnel into the darkness. "You!" he whispered the the fairy. "Nordaman." said the fairy, surprised it was noticed. "Get the key!" he whispered. "For what shiny trinket I get?" asked the fairy-sprite. "Anything! Just get me out of here!" whsipered lord Hoth. The fairy nodded and returned after what seemed an eternity with the keys. The fairy-sprite loosed him and he rubbed his wrists as he looked at the boarded over door in the cell. "Here goes nothing." he whispered and he kicked in the boards and a cold wind came up from the descending tunnel and he shivered. He walked down and kept his eyes open, the Pixie followed him closely. He saw a skeleton of a dead Orc, clothed in ancient chainmail and a sword was rusting on the ground. He took the chainmail and the sword and continued down the steep incline. He came to a massive underground canyon and he looked around and was surprised to see a village and a huge ceiling light. "Dwarves" he whispered. He made his way down to the village and the first dwarf to recognize him called out his name in a friendly manner. "Hoth! You freed me and I fought beside you during the last war, remember me?" asked the dwarf. "Isander? I thought you died!" said lord Hoth merry that he found his old companion after all these years. "Nah, you can't kill a dwarf." said Isander. "What do you think of our hidden home down here?" asked Isander. "It works I guess." said lord Hoth. "I have second shift in the mines tonight. You are free to stay as long as you like." said Isander. "Thank you, but what I need to to gather a force to free the other captives." said lord Hoth. "The war is on again? Let me get the Thane, you can tell him." said the dwarf. Isander ran off and the Thane ran back with Isander. "The war is back on? I can give you 200 warriors and myself." said the Thane. The Thane whistled and all the male dwarves of the settlement came out of the buildings and the mines. "To ARMS!" said the Thane and the dwarves went to their weapons racks and armed themselves. "Follow me!" said the Thane and lord Hoth led the way back up the long ramp to the Orcish dungeon. They marched through the Castle and found it empty of any Orcs. They freed all the human prisoners and the prisoners armed themselves with the Orc weapons. The huge force marched down to the pass and found bones of Orcs and humans lying scattered about and fire burn marks on the walls of the mountains. "They brought out the mages." said one warrior. The force marched to Gatwick only to find that the city had been taken over by the Orcs and the humans there had been made into slaves. The army then retreated into the Gatwick Wald and began build seige machines. 


The seige began on a rainy day and the human archers spent the next several hours picking off Orcish wall-guards. The skies began to open as lord Hoth came out of deep prayer and he ordered the Army to attack. The Army made it's way up the gangplanks and onto the walls and massacred the weakened Orcs. After the secured the walls, they came down into the city and went house to house, massacring the Orcs and freeing the humans enslaved within. They entered the Castle by a tunnel that lord Hoth's dwarven friend knew about and surprised the Orcish Garrison inside and after a fast battle, the Orcish Garrison was put to the sword. The Orcish Baron Gar'Mesh'Ger'Doth was captured and was beheaded on the orders of lord Hoth. The freed residents of the city reclaimed their homes and went to the city Cathedral and took out the Orcish idols of Gar'Mosh and cleansed it of the uncleaness of the Orcs. The new lord Mayor asked lord Hoth to garrison their city and to remain as the city's lord protector and lord Hoth agreed and sent a small force to find the main army. The scouts came back several days later with the news: Ten kingdoms had been overthrown, ten remained and the allied Army was confused and on the retreat. "So, we'll have to hit them from behind again. We will liberate each Kingdom, leave it in the hands of the people for now and recruit all males except for those needed for defense." And the growing Army of lord Hoth set out with their numerous dwarven allies and began to recapture all the castles and all the cities from the Orcs, having no mercy on the enemy and sparing no expense to win a complete victory. They stumbled into the litter of the Emperor Dagan Kara'Goth and they put the Orcish Emperor to the sword along with his nobles and vassals. The Red Magus came and tried to fireball the Army but an ancient White Wizard by the name of Omesius fought the Red Magus to a standstill in a long wizard's battle until the Red Magus was burnt to a crisp. 


The main Orcish Army heard the news and disbanded. The Allied Army retook the remaining Castles and towns, just 10 of them left. The Orcs ripped off their armor, threw down the weapons and headed back into their mountain fast. The Allied Army, headed by the 15 Kings, chased the Orcs into their stronghold and laid siege to it. lord Hoth was entrusted with a tiny force of dwarven engineers to undermine into the courtyard of the Orcish Fortress of Groma'Gol. The main force entered the tunnel and poured into the Castle. The defenseless Orcs surrendered but the Kings knew better. They put the entire garrison to the sword and they executed the Orcish Crown Prince and his brothers and cousins. They spared Mith'na, the daughter of the late Emperor and the Kings conferred on her the right to sit as queen of the Orcish Domain. They also forced her to swear that she would never send another army into the human, or allied realm again and she reluctantly agreed. The Allied Army marched out with the freed prisoners, some of them having never seen the light of day since the war began. 


lord Hoth was given twelve baronies as his reward and he used his position to ensure that the people had the rule of law. He rebuilt the cities with white stone and modernized the defenses, roads, sewers and even opened major Universities and Libraries, something that had not been seen since the time of the Old Republic. lord Hoth died at 103 and his son succeeded his title and his lands and was crowned King of Alveria on the death of the old King. 


The End. 

The Factions

Veronasici was a city-state not like any other. It was wealthy beyond compare and her mage designed towers soared high in the sky. She had a vast, white wall that surrounded her and the entire city was a giant circle, with the ancient White Tower in the center of the city. Julius Garrius Mahonius was a Senator of that city, he was proud of his native city and the power the Republic had reached, when it had absorbed all the other Republics by treaty after the Third Orc War. Now he was fighting ambitious men who were seeking a crown that was illegal by law. He knew he could not let them succeed, least the Republic become an Empire and the Annals warned of past Empires, how they quickly fell.  Julius knew of these warnings and had all the copies of the Annals himself. The Annals were 100 books total and it required a prince's ransom in money to get the whole set. He was walking up the steps into the ancient Senate building when he was approached by a man in common dress. "Psst. I can advance your career." said the mage in disguise. "How? You are just a voter." said the Senator, indignant of the intrusion. "I have tricks that can fool the public. It is all yours for 20,000 golden lira." said the mage. "So you are the one that is turning one faction against another? I should vote you out of the city!" exclaimed the Senator. "I know you seek the Chair of the Senior Procouncil, it can be yours. You can defeat the tribunes that you have been debating." said the mage. "I rather enjoy the debate, it keeps the tribunes at bay." said the Senator. "The Senior Procouncil doesn't even like you, his faction is at odds with yours." said the mage. "I give him a goose every holiday festival. He has never said anything amiss to me." said the Senator. "Are you aware that he hates that bird? Try duck instead." said the mage who vanished into the crowd of voters. Another Senator approached. "The Varro faction is at it again, they are blocking our law with an ex-nilio provision." said Senator Thorious, a rather tall man, balding but in good health otherwise. "To the void with that faction! I will get up on the rostrum myself" said Senator Mahonius. He entered the Senate building and as a part of the business of the day he signed citizenship papers and he stamped property transfers for his voters in his district while the Varro faction was at the rostrum warming up the debate with their most Senior Senators, Avarus Varro the Younger. "Listen to me! The law is unjust to the poor of the city who have no vote! Why do we allow the elder Senators to pass over the needs of the poor year after year? I urge a vote on this matter!" and Avarus Varro the Younger stepped off the rostrum. Senator Mahonius stepped up to the rostrum. "Senator Mahonius is now recognized." said the older, wiser Senior Procouncil, Caius Varro the Elder. "If I may correct some points that our tribune just made. First of all, we have no poor in this city. They are residents, but only temporary. Most of them move on to other cities and some do become citizens here. That has been the historic trend. We cannot live without their labors and if we do begin to give them what they demand, what else are we going to give them? The city itself? No, let them remain where they are, in the apartments and in the laborers rooming houses. Let me remind you that it was my faction that abolished slavery when the senior factions were utterly opposed to it! They resisted that change but it was for the health of the entire city. Laborers from the provinces are free laborers, free to come and go as they please. Any attempt on our part to tie them down would be a mistake and it would be a step back towards slavery, albeit a different kind of slavery. A slavery of the State, where the State decides where the laborers must work, where they must sleep, where they must eat, and so on and etc. So please support our law that would bar the populous factions from making this city into another Herrodium, that infamous place that quickly became a dictatorship once the populous became too strong in it's Senate." said Senator Mahonius. He stepped off the Rostrum and smirked at his opponent. "Cast your votes Senators." said Varro the Elder. The Senators dropped the black marbles into their cups on their desks to signify the "no" vote to the proposed change to the law. The Aedile counted the marbles and whispered to the Clerk of the Senate. "189 against. 23 for. The measure to change the law in consideration is void!" said the Clerk. The Senators of the Tuilius faction and the Daius faction shook hands on a victory against the "absurd commons" as they called their opponents on the other side of the aisle. Building the alliance between the two Patrician factions had not been easy, since one esteemed itself to be the "true voice" of the founders of the city while the other represented the newer landholding class. "Well now. You have had your way." said Varro the Elder at the Podium. "The laborers will continue to live on the margins of our Republic. Consider that one man with a voice of a god can stir the laborers into a frenzy. Did you not also make it harder last year for the laborers to purchase land in the city, thus making it harder for them to be citizens? You cannot take with one hand and rob with the same hand. I therefore move to allow the laborers to use our baths in the city." said Varro the Elder. "You cannot propose a motion! You know that!" said Tibius the Younger. "You are out of order." said Varro the Elder, evenly. "I know the law, I am not making an official motion, but I am merely "advising the Senate" as my duties state." said Varro the Elder. "Watch your tongue! Your language was out of order!" said another Senator. "Leave him alone!" retorted a senior tribune. Senator Tullius walked up to the now empty rostrum, as the Elder Varro returned to his seat. "The law says that if any man oversteps his bounds, he must be suspended from the Senate for one year." said the Senator. "I propose to suspend the Senior Procouncil and hold an election for a new one, in one years time." said Senator Varnius. "I second the motion." said Senator Mahonius. A verbal fight broke out between the factions and the Senior Procouncil slipped out of the Senate and met with his advisors. "I have ruled this city for thirty years unopposed and they want my head? I never gave in to the populous factions in my whole career. I just wanted to toss a sop to that faction to keep them from leaving our city in protest." said the aged  Senior Procouncil. "You put your sandal in your own mouth. You can avoid an election by retiring and appointing the new Senior Procouncil yourself." said the Lawyer Valaius Graciens. "But who would I pick? The factions would vote to suspend my salary if I chose a conservative and if I chose a liberal, the other factions would think I was soft in the head and they would never talk to me again!" said the Senior Procouncil. "The populous factions aren't as powerful as they once were. Give the office to Senator Mahanius. He is an expert balancer of factions." said the Lawyer. Senator Mahonius? He gives me geese every year, I can't stand geese! It's like he is picking at me. Nevertheless he has a brilliant mind and he isn't a populous. Send him to my villa at the top of my tower." said Varro the Elder.

The Senate ended for the day and everyone was getting ready to leave when the lawyer for the Procouncil approached Senator Mahonius. "The Senior Procouncil wishes to speak with you, in his villa." said the lawyer. "Fine, I will meet with him then." said the Senator. The Senator ordered his carriage to take him to the villa tower of Varro the Elder. The device itself was a magical nature and the sphere that pulled it did what it was told and took him to the tower. He got out and walked the 100 steps to the top of the tower and the servants of the Senior Council met him and offered him some grapes. He partook in some, but limited himself out of politeness as was the custom. The Elder Varro strode into the main room in all the terror he provoked. Then he did something surprising. He took off his amulet and the sense of terror left. "An enchanted item? Is that legal?" asked Senator Mahonius. "Is it illegal? Look, every Senator has his tricks he uses to influence the Senate. Not all votes are done with a clear mind." said Varro the Elder. "I use my voice.  I use my logic. That seems to keep everyone in line." said Senator Mahonius. "Remember that orb I gave you when you became a Junior Senator, all those years ago?" asked the Senior Procouncil. "Yes, I still keep it with me. The words on it from the author of the Annals: "What has been done before will happen again." said Senator Mahonius. "And only brave men can avert the tide of evil." finished the Senior Procouncil. "That item was an enchanted item as well. My Grandfather gave it to me. I gave it to the man who was to succeed me. You are that man." said the Senior Procouncil. Senator Mahonius looked astonished. "Don't be surprised. I was close friends with your father. Your father and I stood down the traitor Gaullius on the floor of the Senate and forced him to resign, keeping our tiny Republic out of the hands of the Orcish Empire. It is amazing what slavery gold will buy these days." said the Senior Procouncil. "I refused the offer of the Magus, you know that." said Senator Mahonius. "And yet your sphere is enchanted." said the Senior Procouncil. "I did not know, it was a reminder for me, the words of the Annalist." said the Senator, taken aback. "Your answer is a wise one. It was honest. I would give up my fortune for an honest politician. You are that man but let me warn you: When the pain comes, it will be harder to make a wise decision, an honest decision." said Varro the Elder. "And pleasure is much, much worse. Let your incomes be from your estates and not your office. Remember the Annals! The Herrodians perished and their city was burnt by the Orcs because it was in a constant state of revolt. Mob rule is never a good answer for any question, it is the end of human civilization as we know it." said Varro the Elder. "Yes, my conduct on the floor of the Senate was reproachable but as my parting advice to you; let the commons purchase their lands and don't be so eager to appease the ancient families. Your great-grandfather was also a commons once, until he purchased land and built a sizable estate, selling wine and selling silver from his mines. He was a man of talent. We didn't frustrate his talent. We saw his son join our ranks in the Senate. Learn that lesson my dear boy." finished the Elder Varro with a tear in his eye. He patted the Senator's shoulder as a sign of respect. "I will hand in my resignation and put your name up for a vote. To-marrow." said the Elder Varro. They shook hands and the Senator, greatly humbled, left the Villa.

The next day, Senator Mahonius waited at his chair as he signed citizenship papers and warrants for unused property and so forth, "Where is the Senior Procouncil?" he asked a legate, who was studying under him. "His wife informed us that the honored Procouncil passed away in his sleep last night. There is no heir named so there will be an election." said the legate. "I never got the news. I visited the Procouncil last night and he all but annointed me for the position." said the Senator. "You might want to inform your own faction of this because they are pushing Braius Maximo as the new Senior Procouncil." said the legate. "What??" said the Senator in surprise and he went to see his fellow-factioneers who were talking in hushed words at the Statue of Marius Maximus the Great. "What on earth is going on? The Senior Procouncil named me as his choice." said the Senator. "Where is your proof? Don't you have papers to sign?" asked the fat and gloating Senator Braius. "Besides, the populous faction is pushing Varro the Younger as their pick. He has already promised a long list of unwanted reforms! Braius is our only hope!" said one wealthy Senator in hushed tones. "I am senior to Braius! The commons will quit our city in protest if he is elected, you know his statements that he made. "The poor ought to live in stables" and "the poor should eat horsefeed" he is an absolute reactionary!" whispered Senator Mahonius. "The noble Senator is right! We need a moderate at this time. Not some populous nutcase or a callous aristocrat either. I will propose that Senator Mahonius be elected Senior Procouncil." said Senator Tibius. The men returned to their seats as the Aedile pounded the hammer at the Rostrum. "This meeting of the 123rd Senate of the year 1506 C.I. shall come to order! The honorable Varro the Younger has been asked to serve as speaker pro-temporare." said the Aedile. Varro the Younger stood up and he exuded an air of honor, but the Senator knew it was a magical trick. "My party has proposed me for election. I daresay I cannot accept this nomination at this time, as my lovely wife is due to give birth to twins. I instead pass the nomination to Senator Mahonius." said the populous Senator. He stepped off the rostrum and Senator Mahonius stepped up. "I am indeed surprised at this sudden turn of events, for I counted on a close race with the honorable Senator from the Populous faction. I accept the nomination and I will be humbled to serve as your Senior Procouncil." said Senator Mahonius. The Seante broke out into applause but Senator Gaius Helm was not pounding his podium. "If I may have the floor?" asked the elder Senator. "You may have the balance of my time sir." said Senator Mahonius as he stepped off the Rostrum. The elder Senator stepped up and his voice cracked as he spoke. "My dear Senators! The Orcs in the north country, the very Orcs whom we signed a treaty of friendship with, are arming at an incredible rate and their warchief has just changed his fealty from us to the Orcish Emperor, Saom'oairk the Terrible. We must elect a Dictator at once to deal with this crisis." said the elder Senator. the elder Senator stepped off the rostrum and smirked at Senator Mahonius. A populous Senator stepped up. "What now? A false crisis? Did the aristocrats want to snatch the choice of the late Senior Procouncil out of the hands of the Senate and make Senator Gaius Bilboius the Dictator? I smell a rat, the Orcs are always changing their minds. Their factions are more fluid than ours. I doubt they will march on the very Republic that defeated them in battle over sixty years ago. I urge you to stay the course and vote for our esteemed Senator." said the populous Senator. The Senator stepped down and the Aedile stepped up. "All in favor of of making Senator Mahonius the Senior Procouncil, drop in a white marble. All in favor of making Senator Bilboius the Dictator, place in a black marble." said the Aedile. The room was silent while the Senators dropped in their choices. The Clerk counted the marbles and the Aedile read the result: "164 for Senator Mahonius, 54 for Senator Bilboius, the rest abstaining. The vote is for the peace to continue." said the Aedile. The Senators rose to congradulate Senator Mahonius and he received them. He then slipped out and stepped up to the Rostrum. "My first act as Senior Procouncil is to ask that Senator Bilboius the Elder form an army and ride hard to the north to gather intelegence on the enemy. The Army shall consist of 2,000 horsemen and no foot troopers. We need them to get in and out fast enough to gauge their strength and their plans. If war is declared, I will step aside for the election of a Dictator, although I do not advise it at this time." said the Senior Procouncil. The Senate ended for the day and a fully tattooed man with a long beard wearing Vyvir furs stepped up. "Are you the King of this place?" asked the barbarian. "I am no King, but I am the elected leader. What is it?" asked the Senior Procouncil, now concerned that the Vyvir have come to talk, because it usually meant the Orcs meant business. "The Orcs have launched a massive army into our homeland, we need 10,000 of your best foot troopers to help us fend them off. My armies are badly outnumbered, 3-1 odds against us. I am a Warrior King, I do not beg. I ask." said the barbarian. "You are High King Ronald Greythane? the son of Orikric the Great?" asked the Senior Procouncil. "Yes, I am that. Elected by my fellow Yarls last year on the death of my great fahter." said the barbarian King. "So we have that much in common. I never expected my office." said the Senior Procouncil. "I trained hard for mine, their was no doubt of my succession" said the High Yarl. The Thanes around him grunted in approval. "How many men do you have ready to fight?" asked the Senior Procouncil. "We have 50,000 ready at arms but most of them are tied down as defense, least the native Orcs burn down our holds. We only have 10,000 free and ready to fight." said the High Yarl. "Keep them on standby, I have sent a Senator with an Army northwards to assess the Orcs strength." said the Senior Procouncil. "I know their strength, 60,000 infantry and 10,000 mounted on war-wolves and 6,000 Mages. General Gar'argh is leading them into battle, I fought him before on the battlefield, he is hard to kill." said the High Yarl. "Oh dear. You will be speaking to the Senate to-marrow. In the meantime, do relax in the Hostel Tower and we will pay your expenses." said the Senior Procouncil. "We are grateful for your hospitality, Senior Procouncil. I will offer you my daughter in marriage tonight, as we feast." said the High Yarl. "I fear I cannot, for I am a married man." said the Senior Procouncil. "Fine, I will give you my prized steed, "Thadric" (the joke is sire, we always name the horse for the last owner, so when it dies under us, we can quickly collect the fine for selling a bad animal! Har! Har!) said the High Yarl partly under his breath. The Senior Procouncil laughed a hearty laugh, just to be diplomatic.

The barbarians and the Senior Procouncil feasted at the Procouncil's Villa. The Vyir told many jokes and one of the Thanes, who was a Skald, told the legends of the Vyir people, from their exodus from their native Island, to the conquest of what was Orcish territory and what is now Vymark, or Vyirlund. The Skald sang of their warrior kings and their dealings with the treacherous Orcs and Trolls. The Senators read their poems and their stories to their guests, all dealing with the rise of their city to it's current Republic, which covered 60% of the entire land. "Every weekend in our arena we have a bloodsport where random mercenaries fight each other for a prize of gold. Each side is equally armed and no side has an unfair advantage, did you wish to join us?" asked the Senior Procouncil. "We have pit fighters in our Kingdom, but they are disgraced sons of thanes and Yarls. Only the common Karls go to see those fights. We are Nobles." said the High King, taken aback by the offer. "I apologize, our cultures are different in that regard." said the Senior Procouncil. "Instead, could I ask for a favor? I need a tutor for my young son. I will send him to you, to get him out of danger. Could you find a tutor for him and he can live in your court during the war?" asked the High Yarl. "I would be honored." said the Senior Procouncil. "Send him when you are ready." said the Senior Procouncil. The Vyir always traded family when they made an alliance, it was an ancient custom, and a practical one too.

The war went badly for the Republic and many cities were burnt to the ground by the Orcs. The war dragged on for seven years which ended in the siege of Veronsici. The archers on the walls took down the Generals of the Orcish Army and even took down the Orcish Emperor. The Crown Prince of the Orcish Empire took his massive army off the field in an orderly retreat and declared the war to be over. The Senate, seeing that most of the Republic was in ruins, made the Senior Procouncil Dictator and Imprator for life. He protested the decision, since he wanted to retire but he agreed at last and ordered the rebuilding of the Republic. The old cities were rebuilt on Veroniasici's circular axis and each city retained their Senates. When the Vyir Yarl, who was now the High Yarl of all Vyir Kingdoms, married his daughter to the Imprator to seal an alliance, the Senate, overawed at the man, declared him Augustas and made him Emperor, and thus began the First Empire. The Augustas retained the Senate and appointed a Chancellor to oversee the Senate and he even created a separate body for the Tribunes. The First Empire grew in size when it cleaned out pockets of land held by the trolls and it even made the restless Nordlanders to the north agree to one Yarl and the Emperor confirmed the new Yarl and in turn the Yarl swore fealty to the Emperor. Vyirlund kept aloof from the Empire and continued it's long and bitter war against the Frost Orcs. The ancient Orcish Empire, except for their mountain fast, was slowly annexed to the First Empire over the next 200 years.

The End.