Turn 34A -- Dain Dreams?

Feeling the heat of the mid-day sun beating down on his face, Dain awakens to the smell of wildflowers. As he sits up to look around, he finds that he is alone in a field surrounded by lush, rolling green hills. He quickly scans the area and realizes that he is lost, in an area he has never seen before in his life. Looking around he also realizes that his companions are nowhere to be seen.

"What now?" thinks Dain as he sets off walking to the south.

After taking only a few steps, the scenery around him seems to change dramatically. Dain is no longer walking along in the field, but instead walking down a crowded road heading into a city full of people. As Dain looks at the people passing by him he notices that they seem to be walking around in some sort of mindless state, blank looks on the faces of each citizen.

"Excuse me, kind sir," says Dain to a middle-aged man with black hair as he passes, "But what city is this?"

The man turns a blank stare toward Dain and in an even, emotionless voice answers, "This be Great Shaboath." The man turns without waiting for a response from Dain and continues down the crowded street. The citizens appear to be going about their normal activities but again, none of them show any type of facial expression or emotion to their deeds. Scratching his head, Dain turns up the street and heads into a tavern to have a look.

The tavern is no different from any other tavern Dain has ever entered in his life except again for the weird citizens inside. Dain orders a drink to help soothe his aching head and takes a table to look at the people some more. After a few minutes a man of average height dressed in leather armor and wearing a dark cloak with a hood moves over to lean down on Dain's table. This man is the first man Dain has seen to express any type of emotion. The man has an eye-patch over his right eye and a deep scar on his face as well.

"You cannot escape me mage! Your soul shall be mine!"

Startled by this threat and the imposing man looming before him, Dain attempts to cast a spell to hold the man in place. The words of power come to Dain's mind but he is unable to draw the needed energy into his body to be released! The man looks at Dain and leans his head back as he loughs loudly.

"You fool!! You are powerless here!"

Frightened by his inability to cast and the presence of the mysterious man, Dain jumps up from the table and heads out the door of the tavern. Unfortunately though, Dain steps right into the middle of a very large orc encampment!

Apparently started by the appearance of the mage, the leader of the orcs steps toward Dain. Dressed in a mixture of chain mail and leather with spikes on the shoulders and knees, the very large and very ugly orc moves closer to the mage. A very large, double-headed battle-axe is cradled affectionately in its hands, appearing as light as a feather to the beast.

"Well, well," says the orc, "It seems our little rabbit has come to us!"

The rest of the orcs in the encampment roar with laughter at the words from their leader. Strangely, the first thought Dain has is that he doesn't know how to speak orc but yet this orc is speaking it and Dain is understanding it fluently!

"We don't have to hunt no more. Take him!" says the leader.

The last image Dain has is that of the thirty plus orcs rising from their places in the dirt to tear at the flesh of the struggling mage. With a blood-curtling scream, Dain awakens from his slumber.