The Saga of the Vyir: Arngrimur the Bloody-Hand

Prologue

"Who is the best warrior of them all?" asked a Nord huscarl to his weapons-brothers. The men pointed at old Karl Yaeger. Karl Yaeger shook his head. "No the best warrior ever was Arngrímur the Bloody-Hand." said Karl. "He was a Vyir warrior that I had the great honor of fighting beside for almost 20 years before he vanished. No-one knows what became of him." Karl sighed and drank deeply, he remebered that night all too well.

Chapter One.

It was thundering and lightening. "Arngrímur!" where are you?!" cried Karl to the darkness. He was extremely worried that something had happened to his friend. The rain began to come down and he looked down at his weapon. "I pray to the gods that I didn't kill him!" he said to himself. "I didn't kill him!" he cried. He looked around the battle field for his friend and saw nothing. He began to toss aside Orcish bodies. "Arn!" he screamed. He looked down and saw his pendant. He took it up, weeeping and set it on an ancient stone cairn. He stared at the pendant for awhile and then ran into the forest and ran back to Nordlandia. Home. 

Chapter Two.

The younger warriors were settling into their bunks in the Hall and Rognvar approached him. "I know you are a berserker." he said softly. "You did what you could." he said reassuringly. "Why do you say that you wolf-pup? You didn't hear my story." he said morosely. "Tell me again." said Rognvar. "Alright. It was the day of the battle." said Karl.

"Men! Form your shield wall!" said the Thane. "Here they come!" said a huscarl. The men barely had enough time to get into formation as the Orcs riding their Frostwolves hit the combined Vyir/Nord line at full force. "Stay close!" hissed Arn to Karl. Arn nodded. The battle quickly turned sour as the Vyir and Nords fell like rotten corn to a sharp sythe. "What is happening? Some magic?" asked Karl but his friend had vanished. He tore through the lines, killing hundreds of Orcs and bought enough time for the Army to escape the onslaught but he couldn't find Arn anywhere.

Chapter Three.

"My lord. I have examined the skull of your son. The hit to the skull was bad. He will suffer delusions for the rest of his life." said the healer/priest gravely. "So Karl cannot fight with the other men then. What can I do with him?" asked Yarl Konrad Frothenburg. "He can fight, but he will see people that aren't there." said the healer. "Be glad that his birth injury wasn't worse, or you would have lost him." said the Healer. "The will of the gods be done." said the Yarl heavily. 

"Papa, where is my friend Arn?" asked Karl. "Perhaps he went to the Temple?" asked his mother. The boy ran off and went to the Temple and looked around and saw his friend sitting on a bench. "Why did you vanish on me?" asked Karl. "I come and go." said Arn simply. "Please don't leave me again." said Karl. The boy nodded and they went off to play Orcs and Warriors. 

Chapter Four.

"Arn! Did you actually exist? I saw your pendant! Why am I cursed with this condition?" sobbed Karl when he reached an open meadow that he remembered as being the site of his first battle. He heard a rustle of footsteps behind him. "Karl. I will never leave you nor will I forsake you." said Arn. "Surely you are a ghost!" said Karl, fearful. He turned and saw Arn, bloodied and wearing the pendant. "Karl, touch my arm." said Arn. Karl reached out and grasped a very real shoulder. "I don't understand, you shouldn't have survived that battle." said Karl to Arn. "I am a two-handed wielder, remember? I killed most of that Orcish Army. Our troops got out safely. I had to retreat to the woods and reheal completely." said Arn. They began to walk for awhile and then, with an almost superhuman speed, Arn ran forward and vanished. "Is he a god?" was the thought that formed in Karl's mind at that moment. "No my friend. I am you." said a voice that was unmistakably Arn's voice. Karl paused and thought for a moment. It made perfect sense. Arn was always braver, stronger, faster and tougher. Karl knew he was not that way but he considered himself more of a naturalist and spent most of his time (when he wasn't fighting) recording plants and animals in the forest and meadows of Vyirlund. "So that is the secret." said Karl to himself.

Chapter Five.

The war was over for five years and Arn had not returned to Karl. Karl had settled in as a full-time naturalist, compiling a huge volume of observations into a leather-bound book. He took in a young, promising whelp by the name of Rognvar the Uneasy and was teaching him how to fight and how to use nature to his advantage when out in the wilds. The two had their conversation and Karl paused. "Rognvar, there is something I need to tell you." said Karl. "Say on Nord." said Rognvar. "Arn was me. I did those things, but I always saw that part of myself as a different person. Arn would always appear when I was in high stress, because of my brain injury from birth." said Karl. Rognvar was astounded. "You killed over 5,000 Orcs then?" asked Rognvar, astounded. "I guess I did but I was fighting alongside myself so I couldn't tell." said Karl. "Does Arn return to you anymore?" asked Rognvar. "No, I think that side of me is either resting or is "back" in the right part of my brain. I see him in dreams from time to time but he is fading. Fading fast." said Karl. 

Chapter Six.

"Does Karl know that Arn, the warrior he speaks of, died 100 years ago and is buried over in a mountain near here?" asked one of the younger warriors to Rognvar. "He told me of an exprience he had, he was on a battlefeild calling out to Arn and he found his pendant." said Rognvar. "That is odd, that matches the story of Ulric and Arn. Ulric was looking for Arn and found his pendant and put it on a stone cairn and wept because he killed his friend by mistake." said the young man. "Odd, so somehow that story ingrained itself into his memory and his "other personality" became that famous hero." said Rognvar. "You should hear him retell the story. He is trying not to repeat it, so he can silence the sickened part of his mind." said Rognvar. 

Chapter Seven.

"Karl. I am back!" said Arn to Karl. Karl was startled to see Arn standing there. "Relax and you will enter back into me." said Karl quietly. "Karl. Before I go, I have a bit of a confession to make." said Arn. "Say on old friend." said Karl with a tear in his eye. "Karl. I lied when I said that I was you. I gave you those abilities because they always existed inside of you. I was your mentor and your guide. I am Arngrimur the Bloody-Hand and I was accidently killed by my friend Ulric on this very meadow 100 years ago. I am not quite a ghost you see. I am now a god." said Arn. "You are indeed the great hero?" asked Karl. "Yes, and I changed form and trained you as I trained Ulric. I even gave you the night vision of the night when Ulric killed me." said Arn. "Why?" asked Karl, quite shocked. "Because my dear brother, Ulric was your Vyir grandfather and I promised to watch over his seed always to the gods. A vow is a vow." said the demi-god. "But keep this to yourself, the gods must keep secrets you know." said Arn with a wink and a smile and he vanished, never to again appear to Karl.

Chapter Eight.

Karl visited the Tomb of his late friend. He left a bundle of mountain flowers and the pendant on the lid of his stone coffer. "Rest in peace my dear friend, and could you maybe train Rognvar?" asked Karl. "No, that is up to you my dear friend." said Arn's voice in his head. Karl closed the tomb and returned to his hut and did as he was told. Rognvar grew into a fine warrior and on more than one occasion, Arn fought at his side.

THE END

The Golden Hind

Chapter One

"Anders! Feed the chickens!" shouted the farmer at his son. Anders rolled his eyes and went to the stone shed to fetch some chicken feed. "My life is so small and predictable." he said to himself. He poured the feed into the sacks and lugged them to the chicken coup. "Why can't you buy slaves for this menial work? I should be out with my cousins and brothers on a shield wall somewhere!" said Anders, somewhat irritated. "WHAT?!" shouted his father. "Fine! Never mind!" said Anders. "You are my son, surely you wouldn't abandon the farm?" said his father. "I might leave for awhile and learn to be a warrior." said Anders. "You keep talking about that but you don't have the gold for the armor and the weapon!" exclaimed his dad. "Because you don't even pay me a wage to work here? What is my recourse?" asked Anders. "The farm will be yours in time." said his dad. "Well, I don't much want to be a farmer!" spat Anders back. Anders father turned red in the face. "DON'T BACKTALK ME!" he shouted. "Fine! Goodbye!" said Anders as he dropped the sack onto the ground and walked off the farm. He kept walking, looking behind him until he reached the village of Goskerdam. 

The village of Goskerdam was a thriving little market center with it's share of Inns and merchants. Paulsen the One-Eyed was the man whom Anders went looking for. He knocked at a door near the village center. "What?? Oh! It's you! Come in!" said Paulsen. He opened the door and Anders walked into the simple one-roomed hut. On the walls were mounted shields and weapons and on the table was a spread of food and ale. "You are expecting company?" asked Anders, pointing to the table. "Yes, some friends of mine are coming by later. If you are here for what I think you are here for, join us for awhile. We'll talk." said Paulsen. The village clock struck 8am. "Sit, have breakfast!" said Paulsen cheerfully. The two men sat down and began to eat. "So you decided to stop being a slave for your father? You did the right thing." said Paulsen. "But before you can be of any use to yourself, you need to stop thinking like a slave. Have independent thoughts, let your actions be dictated by logic rather than by need." said Paulsen. "I can do that." said Anders. "And you need a better name." said Paulsen. "We'll call you; "Anders Troll-killer" ha!" said Paulsen. "But I've never killed anything in my life! Except for a stray wolf." said Anders. "Don't worry lad! All new warriors are called that, until they become famous." said Paulsen. "So I'll be a freebooter?" asked Anders. "Not so fast! First we need to get you trained." said Paulsen. "Well, I can kill wolves with a short sword." said Anders. "That is a small start lad, but I was killing giant cats at thirteen!" said Paulsen. "Do I need to learn a ward spell to protect myself from magic attacks?" asked Anders. "Yes, I will teach you that myself, I am something of a hedge mage after all." said Paulsen with a note of pride. There was a knock at the door. "Come!" said Paulsen. The door opened and a Dwarf and a High Elf walked in. "Anders, this is Knordd the Sledge and Mun the Archer." he said, motioning to the dwarf and the High Elf.  Both humanoids nodded. "I am Anders, just joined up." said Anders. "You are a chicken farmer?" asked Mun to Anders. "I used to be until I quit that today." said Anders. "You reek like it." said Mun with a disarming smile. "Watch out for Mun, he has that smile of his whenever he is sizing up a possible opponent." said Paulsen. "Boy. Here is the truth. A chicken farmer can never be a warrior. Stop being a damn chicken farmer!" exclaimed the Dwarf to Anders. "I'll need new clothes then." said Anders. "Yes, you are slowly getting it." said Paulsen. The Dwarf reached into his dufflebag and tossed out a leather jerkin with leather shoes. "Wear that instead." said the Dwarf. Anders quickly changed into the jerkin and was given studded armor. "Wear that as well." said Mun. Anders quickly put that on. "I will train you as an archer first. You will receive all your training in the wilds." said Mun. The group said grace for the meal to the gods of the Light and ate. An hour passed and many stories were told and finally the group got up and left the cottage and the village for the wilds. 

The pine trees loomed high against the mountains and the howling of wolves could be heard, as well as the disconcerting screams of Wood Trolls and the noises of woodland creatures. The small group walked off the road and slowly, making sure they weren't being followed by dire wolves or giant cats. Mun saw a small herd of Red Elk laying down on the forest floor. "Tonight we eat!" said Mun. "Take this bow and arrows" said Mun. Anders equipped the bow and arrows. "Shoot after I shoot." said Mun. The High Elf left an arrow fly and it hit a deer. Anders shot and it hit the stag in the heart. "Good shooting!" said Mun as the stag fell to the ground. The High Elf skinned the deer and butchered it while the others did what they could to help. "We are living in the wilds for a few days. It'll be your only chance to get started." said Paulsen. "If a bandit attacks us, which is likely in these parts, take this mace and back me up!" said Knordd. They finished taking what they could use from the stag and left the gut pile for a passing bear, after Mun took some intestine for bow string. The group walked to a meadow and set up three skin tents and a campfire. Mun instructed Anders how to make an archery target and Knordd instructed Anders how to hit with an iron mace. "Now hit the target dummy like you mean it!" said Knordd to Anders. Anders swung at the target and connected with the head and took it off. "Good! That will be your weapon, for now." said Knordd. Day became night as the training continued. Day became night as the group settled in for the night. Knordd shot up from his wrap about 10:00pm. "Wait, I hear humans nearby." said Knordd. The others quickly woke up and armed themselves. "Be ready for action." said Paulsen to Anders. "Hello there! The local Yarl has issued a warrant for the return of a missing servant!" said the man, stepping into the light of the camp. "Stay in the tent." hissed Paulsen to Anders. "I haven't seen a servant here but I will send him your way once I see him." said Paulsen to the ranger. "Good, there is a bounty of 10 gold for his return." said the ranger. The ranger turned on his heel and left. After almost a half hour of waiting, Anders emerged from his hiding place. "Your father seems to think that you are a slave after all? Did he sire you by a Kelti woman?" asked Paulsen. "No, I am pure Nord. My father is a bit funny in the head." said Anders. The group returned to their bedrolls without comment and slept until daybreak.

The group wrapped up camp and began to hike deeper into the wilds, were they fought dire wolves and wood trolls. Anders was already feeling like he was a battle-hardened veteran with all the kills that they made. The group came upon a stone tunnel in the side of a large hill. "Some ancient tomb, no doubt." said Anders. "Make yourselves torches, we are going in." said Mun. The group wrapped branches with linen rags and set them on fire and proceeded to enter the dark tunnel. The tunnel let out into a central chamber and Paulsen cried out to some armored men sitting around a table. "Hey, It's me!" said Paulsen. The men greeted them. They came to the table. "This is our newest member! He passed all the tests successfully. Shall we add him to our band?" asked Paulsen. "What is your name lad?" asked one of the warriors. "Anders Wolf-Killer" said Anders. "What is your weapon?" asked another. "The mace." said Anders. "What is your trade?" asked another. "Warrior." said Anders. "Welcome to the Golden Hind Band" said Paulsen. He shook Anders hand and everyone exchanged greetings and congratulations with Anders. "We work contracts for the Yarls." said Paulsen. "Our specialty is killing bandits." said Paulsen. "Most of the time, most bandits can pay a fine and get off but when they come back, that is when the Golden Hind is called in." said Paulsen. "We split the loot evenly. We are based here and in town. When a war starts, anywhere in the world, we are called in by some Yarl or some Emperor and we fight for pay. War is our real payout." said Paulsen. "Then we join our other chapters and our numbers swell to 1,000. The Grand Master of our Guild is Lord Gerhardt the Cat-Killer and he commands us in battle. Since he is a lord, he expects everyone to obey him without question." said Paulsen. "Humph." said Anders. "Sorry boy, the only armed men out there not sworn to a lord are bandits!" exclaimed a warrior. "Let us pray." said one of the men. They prayed to the gods of the Light for a blessing on their enterprise.

The next day, the 10 man band attacked a bandit camp of 20 bandits, took them by surprise and killed most of them and captured the remainder. The gold was counted out and several ingots were produced from a chest. "Look at the seal." said Goddric the-Mace. It was the seal of the Orcish Empire. "The Orcs are paying the bandits?" asked Anders. "No, more than likely, the bandits hit an Orcish caravan." said Paulsen, squinting at the gold bar.  "The Yarl needs to know this." said a warrior. "We'll send the new guy with a seal and the bar." said Paulsen. "Take these to the Yarl and say nothing. The Yarl will understand." said Paulsen to Anders, thrusting the ingot into Anders hands. Anders left the underground room and traveled back to the Yarl's Seat along with Yodric the Strong and Ulfric the Hammer. They came to the Great Hall and knocked on the door. "Official business only!" said a guard. Anders showed the guard the ingot and the seal of the guild. "Go in!" said the guard and he opened the door to the Great Hall. The Hall was mostly empty except for the Yarl on his throne and his two trusted huscarls, one on his left and one on his right. The group did not bow, according to Nord custom, but instead lowered their right hands with the palm up. "Welcome! What brings you to my Hall?" asked the Yarl. Anders passed the Yarl the seal of the guild and the Orcish ingot. "This means the Orcs are on the move again. Go and call your Guild Master and tell him to come here speedily." said the Yarl. "Wait." said a hooded man. He walked to the throne and looked at the ingot. "This ingot is fifteen years old, it dates back from the last war between the Vyir and the Orcs. No war. No worries." said the Mage. "You have provided another valuable service to the Yarl and the people of Nordlandia." said the Yarl to the Mage. "If you have any other ingots, keep them. This is ancient history." said the Yarl. He tossed the ingot back to Anders. The small group left. 

"So." said Paulsen. "The Yarl's Mage thinks that this seal is old? We'll keep our eyes open for any Orcs but in the meantime, we continue to fill contracts for the Yarl." said Pauslen. The group went out and traveled in the direction of Yarl Yurgenor's Tomb to clear the area of bandits. "Stop." said Paulsen as the group drew close. An odd stench was in the air. "Orcs, unmistakable!" said Paulsen. The figures in the tents around the tomb entrance were much bigger then men and moved slower as well. "Must be ten of them, no doubt, it is a scouting party." said Paulsen. "We'll slip away and warn the Yarl." said Paulsen. Just then, a group of twenty Orcs came in from behind them and began to yell in Orcish. "To arms!" said Paulsen. The group of 20 men drew their weapons and gathered into a shield circle. The Orcs attacked mercilessly and killed five of the warriors before the remaining Orcs retreated. "Retreat." said a wounded Paulsen. The group fell back to their under hill stronghold and tended to their wounded. "Hopefully the Orcs won't find us here." said Anders. "There is a spell on the door, only humans can see the entrance." said Paulsen. Hagamar the Hawk-Keeper went outside and sent a message to the Yarl by one of his homing Hawks. 

The Yarl's Mage received the Hawk and took and message and tossed it into the fire. The events of the battle played out as illusion in the fireplace. "Our deal with the Orcish lords can never be discovered." said the Mage to the Yarl. "Send your huscarls to tell that guild to leave your kingdom and never return." said the Mage to the Yarl. The Yarl nodded blankly and did what he was told. The huscarls rode hard to the guild hideout and brought the bad news. "What sort of betrayal is this?" asked Paulsen, now mostly recovered. The huscarls shrugged. "Anders. Go with these huscarls to the Yarl and listen in." whispered Paulsen to Anders. Anders saddled a spare horse in the stables inside of the Tomb and rode out with the huscarls. The small group returned to the Yarl and the Yarl looked at Anders with a questioning look. "Why are you here?" asked the Yarl. "I wish to pledge myself to your service!" said Anders. "Done! You are now my huscarl. You can live here. I will send you on assignments to pick up criminals and wolf heads and if you know the epic tales of the Nords, that is a bonus. I enjoy hearing them." said the Yarl.  Anders settled into his new role as a spy and send messages by pigeon when he could. The Guild Master of the Golden Hind rode to the Hall and pay the Yarl a visit a week after the expulsion of his guild. "Your highness! Please tell me what is going on?" asked lord Gerhardt. "What brings you to my Hall? I heard you were engaged elsewhere." said the Yarl, vacantly. "You expelled my guild from your kingdom. What did they do?" asked lord Gerhardt. "Nothing, they were bringing in false reports of Orc activity." said the Yarl, not under his own power. lord Gerhardt saw the magical trance that the Yarl was under. He went to the Hall gong and hit it with the clapper. The Yarl quickly came out of his trance. "What?? Where?? How long have I been out?" asked the Yarl. "You were under a magically induced trance. Some Mage put you under a spell." said lord Gerhardt. "My Mage! He is a traitor!" exclaimed the Yarl but it was too late, the Mage caught both the Yarl and lord Gerhardt with frost bolts and killed them instantly. The comatose huscarls, deluded by the sleeping spell, disposed of the bodies in the Hall basement but Anders had a powerful ward and was able to escape the influence of the spell. He hid himself in a backroom and quickly wrote to the High Yarl of Nordlandia to send an army of mages to deal with the traitorous mage. He also penned a message to Paulsen. He dispatched the pigeons and they flew swiftly to Paulsen at the Tomb.

Paulsen and the men had retreated into the deeps of the Tomb into their "fallback" room which had been cleared of human bones and was set up like any other hall, and it had a backdoor to the wilds. The men were listening to the messages and were shocked to learn that their Guild Master was dead. "That means I am now the acting Guild Master." sighed Paulsen. "The first act, we are taking over the Hall and we are imprisoning that traitorous mage!" exclaimed Paulsen. "The second act, we are going to write the Yarl's son and send him down with an army, if our spy didn't already alert the High Yarl." said Paulsen to the men. The men walked up the narrow passage to the outside and found the hidden, jury-rigged stable they had built and mounted their horses and rode hard and fast to the Great Hall. The men rubbed their wards and they were all shielded from magics. They drew their weapons and entered the Great Hall. The huscarls came at them with weapons drawn, shouting "traitors!" and Paulsen quickly went to the Gong and hit it with the clapper and the huscarls awoke out of their trances. "The mage!" cried a huscarl. "He is a traitor! He has been cooperating with the Orcs the whole time to bring the entire Orcish Army into the Kingdom!" said a huscarl to Paulsen. The mage appeared and began to chant a Resurrection chant. The bodies of the dead Yarl and the dead Guild Master came into a state of undeath and attacked the guilds men. "Use your wards!" shouted Paulsen. The men rubbed their wards and the zombies collapsed back onto the floor, dead. The mage then conjured up a fire-demon and transformed into a raven and flew off. Just then, Anders sent a flock of Hawks after the shape changed mage and the Hawks devoured the mage with their sharp talons. The mage changed back to human and fell back to the ground, dead. "Quick! Burn his body! He might resurrect as a zombie!" said Paulsen. The men threw the corpse into the fireplace and watched it burn. "The gods curse your soul for all eternity." said the group priest solemnly to the burning corpse. A scream was heard and it was done, the mage was defeated forever. 

The men thanked Paulsen and Anders for their quick action and thinking and Paulsen made himself the Chief Marshall of the Kingdom until the son of the Yarl could return to claim the throne. When the son rode in with his 1,000 huscarls, he was met outside of the city by a much bigger force of Orcs. The battle raged for two days, the Orcs losing five Orcs for every Nord killed. The High Yarl arrived with his force and joined the battle, defeated the Orcs and gave chase to them, killing them and scattering them to whence they came. The Golden Hind fought bravely that day, quickly joining the main force of the new Yarl and standing with the sheildwall and keeping the Orcs from busting through the main line. Paulsen died during the battle, having been run through by an Orcish spear man. Anders avenged his death by going berserk and killing twenty Orcs before he fell from exhaustion. He was quickly pulled out of the battle and rushed to a nearby shed were he was able to rest and heal up.

One Year later.

Anders was on his farm with his new wife, Gretta. His two year old son chased the chickens and the Kelti slaves did all the work while he supervised them. His old father had only died a year before, just before the Orcish invasion. As a huscarl, he was able to build a Hall on his farm and he turned the old house into a barn for the slaves and the animals. "Hail Guild Master!" said a messenger boy who handed him a message from the Yarl. "Wife, I have to depart shortly. I have an invasion of trolls to deal with." he said to Gretta. "Your son will miss you." she said with a smile. "There will come a time that he won't miss me. Until then, I will train him to be the best warrior my family has ever seen. Until then, he learns how to run a farm." he said. He kissed her with a deep and passionate kiss and he ran to his waiting horse and rode off.

THE END.

The Lost Prince

Chapter One

 A new age had dawned for the lands of men. The Empire was gone and in it's place were baronies, all slowly forming into larger and larger combinations until five Nord Kingdoms arose. White-River, Stags-Heart, Golden-Dome, Mountain's-Dale and Nord's-Haunt. (all the names are given in English as to not confuse the reader) Her Kings were: Hermann-Deathblade of White-River, Hanns-The-Great-Reacher of  Stagsheart. Pieter-Oathblade of Golden-Dome. Gerhart-Hall-Songs of Mountain's Dale and Jurgen-White-Blade of Nord's Haunt. The Nord lords ruled over the former subjects of the late Empire and added the strongest of them to their armies when wartime with the Orcs or other Night creatures came about. It was no secret that each of the Kings desired to be the Kaiser but the defense of humanity came first. 

The Prince of Nord's Haunt, Karl Yaegar II, was captured by native bandit-rebels  when he was in transport between Holds and passed to the care of an elderly native woman who tended bees. His father launched an all out effort to find him but the elderly woman hid him when the knights came, looking for an infant with his features. The woman renamed him Ostric and taught him in the ways of beekeeping and the forest. Years passed and his father had given up on him as dead and sired several new male heirs, Prince Konrad, Prince Lothar, Prince Dagobert and Prince Ewald. 

Unfortunately the Bandit-Rebels, led by Tanaric-the-Bloodly-Handed, raided the Hold and killed the King, his wife and all of his sons. Tanaric made himself the King and became a great tyrant over the people of that Kingdom. The lords refused to swear alliegence to him and rose in revolt with all the thanes, knights and Nord freeholders. The Tyrant's Army consisted of most of the native population. The war lasted seven long, bloody years and the old woman fled with her adopted boy to the Court of Hermann-Deathblade. 

Chapter Two.

Ostric and his "mother" were allowed to settle in the village of Tannhausen. She was appointed the "Chief Beekeeper" and planned to pass the role to her adopted son when he was old enough. The war was long since over, the Tyrant Tanaric had been murdered by his own mistress for a steep blood-price and the Crown of that Kingdom had reverted to King Pieter-Oathblade and his heirs. The old woman died and Ostric longed for adventure and spoke with the King's Captain of the Army to enlist as a soldier or a Fenns-Ranger. He was placed under Ganaric-Strongarm of the Royal Rangers in his seventeenth year and he married a local girl. His marriage had caused a bit of a stir because he looked Nord but he spoke the language of the Kelti. 

One night, Ostric, and his fellows were out on patrol when they seized several bandits in their camp and questioned them. "Lord Yaegar? Is that you? You look as alive when we first took you for ransom many years ago. Of course the ransom note never went out because I was captured and thrown in yet another dungeon, one of many in my poor, miserble life. If I can make amends with you, return to claim your throne. You are the sole heir of King Jurgen-White-Blade." said the bandit. The men all laughed at once. "You certainly have a sense of humor bandit!" said Ostric. "Perhaps your little story will buy you the giblet in the Kingdom of Golden-Dome but fortunately for you, you will only be jailed and you will pay your fine and you will go free." said the Captain of the Rangers. The men shot questioning looks to Ostric and he strugged, something he didn't do often, if he could help it. The Captain shot Ostric a look that said "Come talk to me later." and Ostric couldn't help ducking it. 

The Rangers rode back to the Hold and unloaded the bandits into the gaol and collected their fines. "Now get out of the Kingdom." warned Danaric, the Captain of the Rangers, to the bandits. They left the bandits in the cell and just as Ostric turned to leave, the older bandit threw a pebble at Ostric. "Hey! What I said was true, it wasn't a drunken story. I have a witness, according to the customs and the laws of the Kingdom. The other witness is Yesarian-The-Troll-Killer. He lives over in Klausenhiem and tends the King's cattle there."
said the bandit. "What? He didn't want to run the risk of being declared an outlaw and being hanged?" asked Ostric with a grin. "Better, he "got religion" and teaches every weekend at the Temple." said the bandit. "If you ask me, he is just trying to cover his own arse." said the bandit. Everyone laughed. Everyone except Ostric. Ostric walked back up the stairs and went to the room were Danaric's office was located. "Come, sit down." said Danaric as he beckoned his charge to a chair. "Ostric. You said that you were the son of a beekeeping lady, Messinia Faratric? And yet you look Nord? Who am I to believe? Did you commit a crime against your thane or your King?" asked the Captain. "Old Faber collected the honey from her, he is my witness." said Ostric bravely. "Then I shall talk with him. I would hate to remove you from the Rangers but if his story doesn't hold, I will have to arrest you for making a false witness to an Officer of the King." said Danaric gravely. Ostric left the room and went back to the bunkhouse and sat on his straw pallet and began to think, "who was he really?" he wondered as dayfall became night. The men were gambling away their paychecks again with games of cards and dice and plenty of the King's ale and rum. He tended to avoid their games and instead sent his money to his new wife, who tended to his "other" home, which was a cottar rented from the King, worked by a Kelti slave, a young man who had flights of fancy to enliven his dull life as a slave. He worried sometimes that he didn't get home enough and that the slave would "move in" on his wife and kids and he would lose what joy he had. He took it upon himself to warn the slave to mind his own business. The next day came the "drums for muster" and the men lined up in the courtyard of the Castle. "Good, good." said the Captain of the Rangers as he inspected the men. "Oh, Ostric, good news. I talked with the old man. Your story holds water.
I also checked out the story of our bandit warlord, turns out that his story is true. You are the son of the late King Jurgen-White-Blade. So we have a bit of a problem; you are unlawfully married to a native, since you are a Nord. You can remain with us, since we take both Nords and everyone else. No problem there. Another problem is you don't know a lick of Nord and to boot, you dress like a native and the King of this Kingdom wants to see you immediately." said the Captain. "Yes Sir!" said Ostric and asked to be dismissed. "Everyone is dismissed!" said the Captain. The men went back to their bunkhouse, since the day was an off-day. Ostric went to the throne-room and bowed to the King, who was off his throne and pacing. "Oh Ostric. I wanted to talk with you. You seem to be in a bit of a bind, now that your past has been accidentally revealed. Several Kings want you to swear alleigence to them as liegelord while you retain your Kingdom for their benefit. Problem is you have no legs to stand on, no-one would recognize you as a noble. I could keep you here at this court, under my protection but I look down on idle Princes. You have to do something. I shall put you in charge of the Rangers. Your pay will be seven manors. I raise you to the rank of Knight." said the King. "I am astonished, your Grace!" said Ostric. "Don't screw this up, and learn Nord for crying out loud." said the King. "Dismissed!" said the King. Ostric went to his wife and told her the good news. "But you have to find a way to pass as Nord." said Ostric. "Fine, I will dye my hair reddish" she said. Ostric went and tried to get himself called by his true name; (Sir) Prince Karl Yaegar II. He learned Nord from the former Captain of the Rangers, whom he raised to Secondary Captain of the Rangers, since he was back to just being enlisted. He sent his wife and children to Yurgenson Hall and she watched over the manors from there while he continued in his duties to the King. 

Chapter Three

Word got out to the other Kings in the other Holds that King Pieter had taken the once-lost Prince under his protection. The Kings schemed to get the loyalty and attention of the Prince and began to send him gifts. King Hanns sent 20 hunting steeds, King Hermann sent an ancient sword, King Gerhart sent 1 million in gold. The Prince used the gold to rebuild his father's Castle from ruins. He had ridden out to the site many times and was able to locate the graves of his fallen family and reburied the remains under a chapel he had built on the site of the new Castle. He hired stonemasons to build the Keep and curtain-walls and the Hall. The project took 10 years. The King became worried that he would lose his possesion to the Prince and finally the day came when the Prince vouched the question. "May I, Sire, be finally recognized as the Crown Prince of my own Kingdom?" asked the Prince, in full Nord, dressed in Nord noble clothing. "Fine, I release you from my wardship. Your Kingdom is safe and the other Kings have told me in letters that they would recognize you as King of your own Kingdom. Your lords already recognize you, as you know. I would like my manors back though." said the King. "Fine, they are thine." said the Prince. The family had since moved into the new Castle so the manors that he held from the King were occupied by their thanes. 

The mysterious Ethnarch visited the Crown Prince and gave him his blessing. The Patriarch crowned the Crown Prince as King in full sight of his lords and subjects. His first act was to allow the marriage between Nords and natives.

The End

(I might rewrite this in more detail at a later point but it is late and my mind feels like mush.)

World of Warcraft: In the Very Begining Of Azeroth....and the Very End of Azeroth.

Chapter One. Anulith.

Back in times before Stormwind was only a small trade town associated with no Kingdom whatsoever, back before all the Kingdoms of Azeroth came into being, there was a solitary High-Elf Wizard named Anulith. He lived in early Stormwind right where the Palace is now, in a simple house, built away from the center of the town (now the Old Center) He did not like humans but they pestered him anyway. (The reader should take note that the High-Elves of Azeroth looked down on their human cousins, in the years before the first Alliance) They came to him about all their problems, thinking that they would all "go away" with the proper application of magic. He shook his wisened head at their requests and instead gave time-tested advice and even gave (sometimes) a "placebo" spell that made them "think" that their problem had gone away. One day, when he was cleaning his small house, stacking his spells and singing in his singsong High-Elf language, an old man appeared at the door. "Wise one, teach me what you do." he said. "Go away and get your possesions then." said Anulith. "Master, I have no possesions" said the human in a humble retort. "Go then and proclaim your greatness to all of Stormwind then." said Anulith. "Master, I have no greatness." said the older human. "Give me all of your gold then." said Anulith. "Master, I have no gold to give." said the human. "Then you are indeed ready. Come in and help me create this potion I've been working on for weeks." said Anulith. "My name is Darnath." said the human. Anulith stood upright as shocked. "The prophecy is true then!" he exclaimed. "I know you, I know what you are to become, and what your Grandson is to become." said Anulith. "From your loins, a city shall be built, and it shall float in the air and draw all of Azeroth to it." quoted Anulith. Darnath said nothing, but was amazed at his new Master. 

Chapter Two. Darnath the Magus and Yves the Gifted.

Years passed and the solitary Anulith returned to his homeland to take the Great Sleep in the Emerald Dream. Darnath was given the mantle of the Magus and he began to teach others. Pilsor the Dwarf, Garngan the Gnome, Liam the Blessed (human) and Fadmoor the High Elf all became his students. This became the basis of the University that was later centered at the Mages Tower in the Mages District. Darnath was careful to use everything that Anulith had taught him and even added some rituals and questions to the mix to prevent evil beings from becoming members of their group. He also began a process to explain, using science, the different elements of magic. Years later, students would either curse him under their breath or they would bless him, depending on their I.Q. Darnath suddenly vanished on an expedition to Kalimidor (which was as of yet, unclaimed by the Horde, but in two more years, the Horde would burst on the scene) Pilsor and Garngan set out to find their master and left the growing University in the hands of their fellow Masters. A student, Yves the Gifted, was already passing all of his courses and talked of a floating city in the sky as if it was a present reality. The Masters of the University promoted him to the rank of Exhalted Master and on that day, he revealed that he was the secret son of Darnath. They made him the Lord High Wizard and he became almost a potentate in his own right over Azeroth because of his wisdom and foreknowledge. The future Kings of Azeroth came to him, seeking a blessing in organizing the human towns and villages into Kingdoms. He gave his blessing and a stern warning: "The strongest of you is going to be asked to lead an Alliance against an alien invader from an alien world. It would have been best for all of you to unite into a single Kingdom, but your languages have already been divided by the Great Druid, from a time only remembered by the High Elves. When a leader arises, follow him, because he will save Azeroth from several horsemen. One horseman is Green and is alien. One is a Demon and One is Death itself." Then he said something cryptic, "The Alien is the servant of the Demon but beware of the horseman of Death, for he shall spring from the seed of Menthil." "Death shall utterly consume the north and the alien shall ravage all of Azeroth and settle in the land to the west." "The light shall come when the seed of the ruler of Stormwind shall discover the rent land to the south, then all things shall be known perfectly." said Yves. The Wizards were astonished at this prophecy. 

Chapter Three: Timor Menthil and Tearthas Menthil.

Timor was a Cheiftan of the lands of the North. His family already ruled and owned most of the North and there was talk of making him the King, in order to unite against the coming threat. He was present when the old Wizard uttered his prophecy and everyone agreed that it was the gods of the Light that used him as a vessel to warn the beings of the world that a terrible and dark new era was coming. Timor did not agree with the prophecy and believed that it could be changed. He began to teach his son, Tearthas Menthil I, that the Light was the only way to rule and his son was made King instead of him because of past disputes with other cheiftans in the north. The Cheif of Alterac, seeing that the boy Tearthas was made King, seceeded and declared himself King of Alterac. His line was doomed to produce a traitor to the First Alliance. Thus relations between Lordereon and Alterac were strained at best. Under the boy King Tearthas, Lordereon was built up into a mighty city, with low taxes and free trade within the Kingdom of Lordereon. Stormwind crowned her King but it was a small and struggling Kingdom that often depended on Lordereon for settlers and financial support. She seemed doomed from the begining. She lost control of several lands to the south and struggled for years afterwards to recapture them. One of the graduates of the Magical University (as it was informally called at that time) was given a title of nobility and he proceeded to "outdo" his fellow nobles by building a great Castle in a rocky and barren area. He called it "Karazhan" and it was only discovered years later his dark secret and his ultimate undoing and the Castle's abandonment to it's magical horrors and ghosts. 

Chapter Four: Pandaria.

Prince Anduin Wrynn was surprised to see an aged human he had never seen before. "Did you get here first?" asked the boy Prince to the ancient man at the Pools of Healing. The man was dressed as a Pandarian and wore a Pandarian hat. "No my son, these Pandarian were here first." said the old man. "Tell me who you are?" asked the boy. "Ah, if you studied your history, you would know me." said the old man. "Darnath the Exhalted?!" asked Anduin, extremely surprised. "Yes, and did you know that the Light let me see you before you were born? You, my son. You are the Dove of Peace that will lead the Alliance and the Horde to a lasting peace. That was the last bit that Yves withheld, and that is why you came to Pandaria. To find me and to hear the last bit of history. The End of History." said the Aged man. "It will never end, perhaps the wars will end, in time, but history will never end." said the boy Prince. "Listen, in later days, the Elves, your friends, will retreat into the Emerald Dream, the Dwarves will seal themselves into the mountains and the Orc will leave Azeroth for their homeworld. Azeroth will become the domain of man evermore." said the old man. "What of the Gnomes?" asked Anduin, already sad. "They will leave Azeroth as well in great ships and pursue their destiny." said the Old man. "The Light will transform the murlocs and the Naga into tiny creatures that will pose no threat to men, the gnolls will revert back to their dog-forms and will no more be a threat, all because the final demons of the world will be conquered by your grandson." said Darnath. Prince Wrynn paused, thinking of his beloved, a girl that he was betrothed to, who was of the line of Menthil. "The seed of Arthas and the seed of Wrynn will undo what the Orcs had began." said Anduin, remembering the ancient text he had read. "Yes, and now that you realize that you must return to Stormwind and marry your beloved. Within a year, your father will die in battle on a distant shore." continued an Old Night Elf that had appeared. "Anulith! My old master! You have returned!" said a surprised Darnath. "Yves will be with us shortly. He too, went into the Emerald Dream, his High Elf Blood allowed him to do so." said the High Elven spirit. "And when your father dies, you will be crowned King of Stormwind and Lordereon." said Yves, also a spirit. "Lordereon's darkness will be lifted and the undead will be defeated. By you. Thousands will follow you into Lordereon and settle there, the old city will be rebuilt and you will sit as King in the Citadel of the Kings of Lordereon." said Yves. "But here this, in the later years of your life, you will fight the new Lich King, a seed himself of Arthas and Deathwing, he will command the powers of hell and death as well as the elements, and for a time, all will seem to be lost, until your son saves you in combat, and you will die upon your bed in peace." said Yves. Then the spirits blessed him and all vanished, including the old man. Anduin turned to his Pandarien friends who had all fallen into a deep slumber. "Wake up, I am going home. Destiny calls." 

THE END

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.

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