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Strikeforce | |
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Chapter 3: The Orcs Attack!
Chapter 4: Tamanos = Peace?
Asura turns quickly all around looking intently into the woods.
Pendran and Dayal exchange glances. Pendran says, "Just like the supposed abbey a year ago?" Dayal gives a curt nod.
Asura says, "Wonderful. That one will probably report to the army and they'll be ready for us. It might be a good idea to have the remaining scouts quickly kill it!"
Dorin moves over to the female orc and examines her for a moment. He then pulls out his crossbow and loads a bolt.
Cadar looks around at the carnage and swears quietly to himself. "Oh God! This is unforgivable. I apparently misjudged those mercenaries. A mistake I will rectify at our next encounter. Apparently, we have been duped. The information of the mage seems perhaps to have been inaccurate. The lack of patrols seems to come from the fact that the orcs thought we were at peace. Damn it! I will not be used as a pawn!" Cadar's eyes close as he makes a silent prayer.
When he finishes he says, "The damage has been done. Never are the innocents free from the carnage of any war...that is the sad, brutal truth. We must move forward with all speed. There is no point in stealth, they know we are here...we must not give the orcs time to prepare."
The man in dirty leathers moves to examine the area where the orc disappeared. A few moments later he says, "This one was good. There is barely a hint that he was here. He didn't leave a trace, but there are several animal tracks here, a pair of large cats and a few others I couldn't identify… Odd I would have expected wolf tracks, but there are none." He muses for a moment then says, "I'd better get back to scouting." With that he moves out in a northerly direction disappearing quickly.
The wizard says, "I wonder if our scouts have located the stronghold yet? It would be in our favor to assess our enemy's potential strength before making a decision to attack. Maybe we can even cripple them by simply cutting off their supply lines, or using the weather to bog them down."
With that he suddenly pulls out a spell book, and starts looking intently into it. "Hmm, I wonder do I have a weather control spell, or maybe a control elemental spell?" He closes the book a moment later apparently disappointed.
Laurian's handsome face is set in a mask of rage. His hands grasp his Lochaber Axe so tightly, that his knuckles have turned white. In a whisper he says, "I have sworn to protect the denizens of this valley. Though we may be at war with the orcs, it does not give justification to harm innocents." Dropping to one knee, and with his head bowed Laurian says, "By my honor do I swear, that those who were involved in this slaughter shall not live more than a minute after we have met. Those killed today will have their revenge."
Looking at the Tempest Chargers and his brother, Cadar says, "A noble oath...but let us not have people on personal revenge quests, it could result in the deaths of us all. I am unsure of the strength of the mercenaries, though their ruthlessness is evident. Let's move from this place quickly. Before those orcs return with a larger host."
Pendran hefts his overly large war hammer and says, "We will eventually have to kill that one orc. In my experiences with orcs, when they swear revenge they act out on it, whether it takes them, two minutes or twenty years. About a year ago we had a companion named Charon. Apparently he upset one orc and that orc chased him for several years. It took Charon a lot of help to kill that one orc, but it was for naught as the orcs oldest son took up the cause and he was apparently much stronger than the father. We were there when the son was killed...at least we thought he was killed. After Charon left us, the orc we thought we had killed appeared in our camp days later looking for him. Even though he had us at his mercy he did not attack us, because he wanted only Charon. Though he if ever kills Charon, I know I'm next on his list. Orcs are if nothing else, persistent."
Moving into the forest, they quickly leave the carnage behind. Moving quickly they come upon a strange road that cuts through the forest like a hot knife cuts through butter. The road is straight, even and bone white. No one can even guess as to what substance it is made of. The road seems to be about ten or so feet wide.
Pulling back into the forest, the main group follows the road until their destination is in sight. The scouts quickly rejoining the group report that the wall does in fact go all the way around the encampment and the gate by the road is the only way in.
Taking a look they see a twenty-foot clearing between them and a very tall wall at least 20-30 feet in height. It is made of small red bricks and is very straight and relatively smooth. On top of the walls are slim black metal spikes each about a foot in height. A small sign is located about eye-level next to the only opening. The only opening in the wall is where the road goes through. The entrance is about ten feet in width matching the road exactly. They catch a glimpse of a guard post just inside the gates.
For a moment all is quiet then a siren splits the air, words in the strange Orc language are shouted inside the camp and a large gate made of iron bars an inch wide slides shut blocking the entry into the compound, but not the view of the inside. They catch glimpses of orcs running back and forth, mostly away from the gate. There are voices shouting incoherently and one or two screams.
Off to the left one of the mercenaries is scaling the wall unseen by the orcs, who haven't put anyone on top of the walls. As he nears the top he tosses a small black box just over the top of the wall. A moment later there is a tremendous flash of light and a deep rumble of thunder. The mercenary disappears over the side and a few moments later the gates swing open. The rest of the mercenary band appears on the road and charges through the gate.
The group watch as the band of mercenaries is met by two orcs dressed in some kind of red and black uniform. The orcs seem inexperienced at best and are quickly cut down. There are more screams behind the gate, some of which are cut off prematurely.
Zraxin appears beside the party and says, "What was all that noise?"
Pol appears moments later.
he wizard says, "Interesting little friends we've tagged up with, shall we follow them into the battle?"
Rek stands in stony silence watching the gate where the mercenaries entered.
Turning to Ralandin, Laurian says, "My friend it is time to enter battle, though whether our enemies are the orcs or the vile mercenaries is unknown. In either case, I would be most grateful if you would stand at my side."
Ralandin replies, "It would be an honor to fight with you. With the power of Enerius we cannot fail."
Asura checks her gear for a moment then says, "What do you propose we do in response to this situation? Should we help the mercenaries destroy the orcs?"
Cadar looks around and mutters, "There is something amiss here, if this were a troop encampment there would assuredly be guards on the battlements, there wouldn't be a road leading directly to the city, there wouldn't be civilians out picnicking in the forest. There are no defenses period!"
Dorin says, "I hate orcs, but lets face it; If the orcs are NOT ready to wage war, and we attack them, we might be starting a war instead of avoiding one. And no one, not even an enemy deserves what happened to the orcs in the clearing, it is without honor. I say we ignore the orcs and stop the mercenaries. At worst we will have lost surprise and it will have been as if we failed in our mission. At the best we could avoid a war entirely between us and the Orcs."
The man in dirty leathers and says, "Are we going to fight or what? I don't care how you feel about what happened back there, but we got a mission to do. Remember these orcs started this war, not us! Either we get on with this mission or we get out of here now." He looks nervously toward the gate making sure the sound did not travel that far. He need not have bothered as the clash of metal and the raising of voices in battle yells and screams of death all but drowns out everything.
Pendran and Dayal mutter amongst themselves.
After a moment one voice booms above all the noise, speaking in the strange Orc tongue. A moment later the mercenaries begin to curse. Their curses are cut off as a there is the sound of a great wind and all four mercenaries literally come flying back out the gate, covered in greasy oil, mixed with blood. They land none too gracefully on the white road leaving ugly brown streaks as they slide along it before coming to a stop.
"Damn it!", Cadar swears, "I do not have enough information. I will not stand the slaughter of innocents, but we have no choice but to enter. Dorin! The plan you outlined earlier... Can you bring our party behind the main building on the side facing the wall? We will then assess the forces with relatively good cover. Also it will allow some level of stealth while the orcs are occupied with the mercenaries."
Dorin nods and says, "I can take two at a time."
Gesturing to Sivad and Zraxin, the pair stands next to him and he places his hand on their arms and bows his head in concentration. The trio slowly sink into the ground disappearing entirely without a trace.
Two minutes later he reappears this time standing between Dayal and Pendran. Again the trio slowly sinks beneath the ground. Two minutes later he reappears.
Standing between Ralandin and Cadar, Laurian touches both men on the arm and bows his head in concentration and they also sink into the ground disappearing.
Dorin repeats this process taking Asura and the wizard.
Laurian returns and transports Pol and Rek.
Dorin appears again to take the Man in Dirty Leathers.
.
.
.
They come out of the ground in a shady spot. The wind is blowing gently. They are about 20" away from the large wall surrounding the place. Behind them rises a tall three story red brick and glass structure with many windows. Peeking inside the windows there are many tables and chairs arranged in a strange fashion. The tables are small, just barely big enough for one person. Each table has a single chair all in straight rows facing one end of the room, where a green stone slab streaked with white is mounted into the walls.
There is a scream from above and an orc face pops back into a window.
Moments later a dozen faces appear peering out of windows two floors up. Seconds later they are followed by a shower of small wooden sharp stakes, books and papers.
There is a scream off to the groups left and in the distance they see several orcs running out of a pond.
Pol moves away from the building and out of the shower of falling objects, the others are not far behind.
"This is not a war camp, it's more like a school." Dorin comments, "The only orcs here capable of making an attack on us would be the teachers. Did you see how quickly the two by the gate were cut down? These orcs are young too. What do you think the possibilities are that the abbey you spoke of was also described as 'an Orc base preparing to strike?' I say we find the mercenaries, capture them, and go and have a little talk with the honorless bastard who sent us here!"
Asura shouts, "This is a school! These orcs are being educated, and probably NOT in a manner suitable for combat! Don't retaliate, those are children!"
Furious Rek growls, "I'm going to hunt that wizard down and drop him off at the nearest orc campsite and let them deal with him."
He turns to the man in dirty leathers and says, "I don't care for orcs at all but these are different from the ones where I come from. Where I am from, they are bloodthirsty and not at all into educating there young. I believe we should leave here now before we start a war that didn't existent before."
Sivad nods and says, "I would say that we should have known better, but how could we have? We have been at odds with the orcs for so long that our hatred and fear for them have blinded us." He frowns for a moment, "I've never heard of orc schools...has anyone else?" It seems no one amongst them has ever heard of such a thing.
Cadar turns to the mage and asks, "Do you have a spell that will allow us to converse with the orcs?" The mage shakes his head negatively. Cadar curses, "We need to show them that we are not hostile, and that we are here to determine if a war is necessary."
Turning to the others he says, "We need to find a way to contain the mercenaries, and show the orcs that we mean no harm. Everyone keep a close watch out. We don't know what traps are around or where an orc may be hiding. All it takes is one well placed..." A sudden whizzing sound though the air interrupts him. Only quick reflexes saves him as metallic object slices through the air where his head had been only a moment before. The object flies past and curves around in a tight circle returning to the hand that cast it.
In the distance there is another explosion.
The party looks to their right again to see a group of a dozen orcs dressed in some kind of padded uniform with symbols on the front and oddly shaped helmets. Six orcs form a line in front with four in the back wielding what looks like strange metal boomerangs. A moment later four more orcs appear grunting as they push a strange contraption in front of their group.
The contraption looks like long tower shields mounted on a heavy ground frame. The shields seemed to be covered with thick padding. The moment the contraption is in place, the six in the front line begin pushing toward it towards the group using it as a shield. Through the cracks they see the four orcs with the metal boomerangs jockeying for a clear shot. One of the orcs that moved the contraption in place is standing in the back of the group shouting some sort of repetitive chant that is taken up by all the orcs.
Many members of the group begin dodging as the metal boomerangs are thrown with amazing accuracy.
After a few moments the chant begins to be echoed from the windows above.
Asura yells, "Does anyone speak orc, or do any of you orcs speak common? We aren't here to fight!"
The man in dirty leathers dodges a boomerang and says, "I think it's time to get the hell out of here! Can you priests manage that? You got us into this mess!"
The mage speaks a rune and the air in front of him shimmers, turning aside a boomerang that would have surely removed his head.
Dayal raises his shield to protect himself and Pendran.
Sivad tries to hide behind Zraxin as he begins a quiet prayer.
With his shield raised, Laurian turns to Ralandin. His eyes begin to shine, and he says, "It appears our choice has been made for us. We have no choice but to fight. Perhaps we will have to knock some sense into them before they will listen to us."
Ralandin nods and says, "It seems we must fight." He raises his shield to deflect a boomerang only to have it slam into his shield and knock him down flat on his back.
Rek wielding a bastard sword, swings and hits a boomerang, changing its course so that it crashes through a window in the building.
The mage yells, "STOP WE COME TO HELP FEND OFF THE ATTACKERS".
The orcs grimly continue to advance, their supply of boomerangs is being augmented by the orcs in the rear.
Asura yells, "Don't attack back! We need to show them that we're not here to fight! But defend yourselves, don't let them hurt us either!"
She holds her two-handed sword up high and suddenly it's as if the sun had come down to earth and landed a few feet away. A brilliant bright light engulfs the sword and Asura is lost in the brilliance.
Surprised by the light, everyone shields their eyes.
The chant is interrupted by shouts of surprise.
"Pendran! Now would be a good time!" yells Dayal.
"I'm trying to remember! It's been a long time!" Pendran yells back.
The mage begins to speak another rune.
Almost as suddenly as it appears, the light fades. Everyone tries to see through the giant spots that nearly blot out their vision.
When their vision clears they realize that the orcs pushing the contraption were unaffected by the light, but their boomerang throwing companions were. However the orcs hiding behind the contraption are only ten feet away now.
In a rush, the mage finishes his rune and the awkwardly points in the general direction of the contraption, his vision still affected by the bright light he indicates a point a bit too close to the party. Suddenly the entire area is covered in giant white silky spider webs.
Laurian, Asura, the man in dirty leathers, Cadar, Pol, Rek, Dayal, Pendran, the contraption, the orcs pushing it and the four boomerang tossing orcs are caught in the giant webs.
Pendran begins yelling, "Tamanos! Tamanos! Either I'm saying we want a truce or we want juice I can't remember which! Tamanos!"
Sivad finishes in his prayers.
The appearance of the giant web after the bright light brought on by Asura's blade halts the stream of objects falling from the rooms above.
The mage gasps in surprise as the webs entrap members of the party.
"Well that is one way to prevent anyone from killing each other."
The orcs contraption is quite firmly stuck, but the orcs themselves have little trouble retreating out of the mass of webby material.
Asura begins hacking her way out of the web, her glowing sword leaving a streak of light in its wake.
Laurian, the man in Dirty Leathers, Pol, Cadar, Dayal and Rek begin cutting themselves free as well.
Pendran, with no difficulty hefts his huge war hammer obvious to the fact that every movement only entraps him even further.
Dayal frees himself then looks for Pendran and cries, "Oh no don't use that cursed bloody hammer here! You might end up in a real orc military camp! Pendran don't!!"
Ignoring his companions cries Pendran swings the hammer around his head once. After one circle his arm stops moving in a straight up position, but the hammer continues to twirl in a circle on his open palm. The web seems to be drawn toward the hammer and within seconds Pendran disappears in what looks like a tornado-shaped web cocoon. The cocoon rises up above the ground leaving Pendran free of the web. When the bottom of the web is at the level of his hammer the entire thing bursts into flames disappearing within seconds. Unfortunately the hammer doesn't stop and a small twister forms around Pendran. The wind quickly picks up and begins drawing all lose objects around him and soon are strong enough that they threaten to lift everyone off the ground. Then just as suddenly the hammer stops and with it the wind.
Pendran bursts into a full run just as all the lose objects picked up by the wind come crashing down where he stood.
By now the orcs have disappeared around the far corner and no sounds come from the windows above. They hear sounds of activity somewhere behind them though. Rek moves down the wall to investigate, moving with a speed that men half his weight would envy.
Dayal glares and Pendran, "You just had to use that bloody hammer didn't you! You know that thing is going to get us killed one of these days. Maybe you should find that orc and give it back to him before he hunts us down!"
Rek takes a quick peep around the corner and returns even faster than before.
Then man in dirty leathers, brushes off the last of the webbing and looks worriedly all around. "If this is a school where are the teachers?" He pokes a dagger at the broken window, knocking the rest of the glass off the pane. "This is a school right? So maybe somewhere in here is a teacher that speaks common or at least some of his students. I don't think these people were much expecting an attack by us this deep into orc territory. We had better settle this quickly 'cause I know one of the first things I would have done would be to send someone for help...maybe on one of those flying creatures he ", he gestures toward Rek, "saw. If there is a local militia, they are going to be down here soon and I plan on being out of here one way or the other when they do." He gingerly climbs into the window, "Since we're sitting ducks out there, why don't we try in here." He jumps inside, there is the crunch of glass beneath his feet. He turns to look back at the group.
Rek reports, "We got trouble. There is about a dozen archers with strangely stringed bows heading our way. I saw the bodies of one of the mercenaries, he looked like a pincushion. So apparently they are pretty good."
The mage brushes off the last of the webs and says, "I don't think that they are likely to be friendly to us. We have two choices: one is surrender and try to explain why we were trespassing in their village, the second option is to continue with the mission as outlined to us. Either way, we still are likely to end up in trouble."
Laurian turns to face down the length of the wall and says, "Better decide quickly what you intend to do. If you are going into the school, do so now. I will try to cover you." With that, he takes several steps in front of the party, and waits grimly for the orcs.
Pendran says, "Well...they might be willing to listen to a truce. The orcs we have fought don't shirk battle. But they occasionally will take the chance not to fight. But then seeing as how those mercenaries came in...I don't know if they will be willing to listen before we are dead."
Asura says, "Maybe we should all get inside then. It gives us a stronger defensible position, as well as shelter from projectiles."
"Good idea...lets move inside." Cadar decides, "At least that will give us some time to figure out what to do. Apparently these orcs are in no mood to talk. Either they cannot understand or are unwilling to listen. Either way, we're dead if we sit here out in the open. Your idea is good. We'll all move into the school. I am not big on taking hostages, but we may have to risk the orcs thinking that in order to get out of here alive. If all else fails, we can get out of here the same way we got in. Our other option is to fight first and ask questions later. I have a funny feeling that we will very soon be meeting orcs that will make this little escapade look like a picnic in the park."
With that Cadar begins to lift his ponderous bulk through the window. Rek helps out pushing him as he gets stuck inside the frame. A few seconds later Cadar pops through and crashes to the ground on the other side knocking tables and chairs over. Rek leaps nimble as a cat.
The man in dirty leathers looks through a small window inset in the door to the next room. He looks back and says, "Could you be a little quieter? We don't want them to know we are in here yet."
Dorin is helped through next, then the mage and Asura.
It's then that the archer orcs make their presence known. The archers appear down the side of the building and line up in a straight line each taking aim from a distance.
Pol climbs through followed by Sivad and Zraxin.
And the first arrows fly...and much to the surprise of Laurian, Pendran, and Dayal, the arrows overshoot by five feet, except for one, which bounced off the side of a wall and fell short by a dozen paces.
Laurian enters next, quickly realizing he has no shield as the second volley comes flying down. This volley is right on target.
Pendran takes a glancing hit to one arm. While Dayals' shield takes three direct hits. Pendran and Dayal dive through the open window as a third volley comes striking down where they once were.
Cadar whispers something to Dorin.
The man in dirty leathers opens the door and looks both ways. The party quickly files out of the room and the shuts the door behind them.
Looking around they find themselves in a long hallway about 10" wide and fairly tall. There are many sets of doors placed along the hallway. Between the doorways are strange metal cabinets set into the wall. Dozens upon dozens of them line the hallway. Down the hallway to the right is a wide staircase that leads both up and down. Noises are coming from down that end of the hall.
Looking the other way down the hall there is a succession of doors and metal cabinets until the end of the hall terminates in a window. Looking in the window is an orc who points to them and talks to someone else outside.
They are surprised when the door they just closed is rocked by multiple thumps. Several arrows have nearly pierced the doorway the tips of the arrows protruding several inches of the wood.
Looking at the arrows Asura says, "Um... on second thought, perhaps remaining here is not such a good idea after all."
Pol takes an arrow from his quiver and says, "Clear a path to the door now!" As everyone stands aside, he readies the arrow into his huge bow. Pulling back he holds it for a moment then lets it fly. The arrow blasts through the door, almost, ripping a huge hole in it and leaving the sound of low rolling thunder in its wake. Beyond the door they hear the crashing of a window and a few shouts.
The elf takes another arrow from his quiver and shoots again, the arrow blasts though the door as if were made of paper, leaving rolling thunder in its path. More shouts accompany the second arrow.
Dayal says to Pendran, "Remember on the next orc we see!"
Ralandin turns to Laurian and says, "That was a brave gesture, but I think next time you should let me try to stop the arrows." He hefts his shield with a large score across it from where it deflected the metal boomerang.
Laurian turns to the group and asks, "Anyone have a spare shield? Mine got left on my horse."
Sivad looks around, "And here we thought orcs were unorganized stupid brutes, except for the occasional orc mage. Nothing in any of the history books has ever mentioned orcs schools. What does this all mean?"
Dorin growls at Cadar, "I told you I couldn't get us back out, and that it was the one draw back to the plan. If we can survive another day I can do it... I think we might be forced to try the rings, although I figure that they probably won't work, or are booby trapped in some way. However, if we can manage a head start, I can PROBABLY dissuade any orcs from chasing us, but depending on how persistent they are, they might ignore whatever I do. Aside from that though, I think that fleeing is a bad idea, simply because we will have touched off a war. What would you do if someone broke into your house at the same time that someone started murdering your children? You'd do what the orcs will do. You will attack the thief as well as the murderers. Our only hope is to talk to the orcs and make them understand that we don't want war and that we are being manipulated, JUST AS THEY ARE! What we probably should do is surrender because, if we just try and hold them off, sooner or later a stinking mage is going to come around and try to fry us. You and your brother have sullied my honor Cadar, but the blasted wizard who sent us here has done a far worse job than you. I can forget our disagreement..."
Dorin's rant is interrupted as the sound of a female voice is raised not too far away. Moments later a door only 20" away slams open and out storms a young female orc. She turns and shouts back in the doorway, before turning her back on them and heading toward the stairway.
A moment later a young male orc appears in the doorway. He moves after the female orc apparently pleading with her. She stops and turns around and begins to yell at him. At that point she notices the group. When the young man turns around and sees the group he immediately takes a protective stance between the group and her.
He then does something that causes the mages in the group to gasp in surprise. Grim purpose set on his face he begins moving his right hand in the air and where it passes the air glows, inside of a second he has completed a drawn rune. The rune glows fiery red for a moment then the lines seem to shrink to seven individual points each point becomes a flaming red arrow.
Pendran pushes forward and yells, "Tamanos! Tamanos!" He holds his hands up away from his sheathed weapon.
The orcs face changes back and from grim to humorous. The female orc starts laughing hysterically.
Pendran repeats this time somewhat unsure of himself, "Ta..man..os?"
Finally the orc says in common, "You came all this way for a school lunch?" He is smirking openly now and the woman howls echo though the hallways.
The window at the other end of the hall, behind them, is shattered as several arrows pierce through it. Unfortunately for them the glass changed the direction of the arrows which bounce harmlessly off the metal cabinets and hit the ground nowhere near anyone.