Post by Queggy
Blood and ShadowA tale told by an old Orc Shaman named Kul'gosh to young Orc children right at the beginning of the First War.
Characters - Kul'gosh - The protagonist. An old Orc Shaman retelling his memories to young children.
Hur'gun - An Orc Blademaster and leader of their war party.
Vull - An Orc warrior.
Gulmar - An Orc Scout.
Current "Chapters" Out - Night OneNight TwoNight ThreeNight FourNight FiveAll subsequent "chapters" will be posted and linked here, as according to ArgentSun's
suggestion. Please post all comments here and tell which "chapter" you are commenting on.
Author's Note - You may want to go
here for a translation of some Orcish words.
Post by Queggy
Blood and Shadow (The Fourth Night)Kul'gosh stood up slowly, leaning on his bone staff. When he saw the children he waved for them to follow. They trekked silently through the dunes and crags of Durotar like ghosts of the past. A muffled pounding resounded through the still night air, getting louder and louder. A few minutes later they all filed between two tall pillars of red stone and out onto the sandy beach, the dark waves crashing loudly against the shore. Kul'gosh sank wearily to his knees a few feet from the high-tide mark.
"It has been warm today," he said tiredly.
"And I thought that some fresh, cool sea air might do us some good." The children all nodded and said,
"Don't worry, Shaman! We remember what happened last night, go on with your tale!"Kul'gosh chuckled quietly and said,
"You do do you? Very well then . . ."Their tired band pushed through the dark forest, they dared not light any torches for fear of attracting any unwanted attention.
"Blademaster!" one of the scouts shouted angrily. Kul'gosh thought his name was Gulmar.
"We must stop and heal our wounded before they die! We can not go tramping through a dark forest on a strange world or else we will all end up dead! We've already lost four warriors to those pink skinned cowards!"Hur'gun turned around. In the shadow of the giant trees, he was but a black silhouette against a dark background dotted with stars. Hur'gun nodded slowly.
"I know," he said, pointing with his large blade.
"We are making for that knoll there."Poking up from the shadow of the treeline was a tall, rocky hill.
"From there we'll have a good view of the surrounding countryside." he said.
"Now let's go!"They all peered quietly through the bushes. From below they had been unable to spot it, but as they climbed higher, they could see the glow of the fires. When they had gotten even closer, Hur'gun picked a small team of people to scout ahead. The group consisted of Hurgun, Kul'gosh himself, a small but large warrior named Vull, and the scout Gulmar. They had crept up to the very top of the hill without being seen, but now there was no more cover between them and the fires. Gathered around the light was four of the small, pink beasts. One was robed in blue with a strange, glowing, purple
eye around his neck. The second one was robed in white cloth fringed in gold, and the other two were clad in armor. Hur'gun signaled for them to draw back.
"Alright," he said as soon as they were out of earshot.
"Gulmar, you sneak in there and kill the one in white, it looks like it might be a healer. I'll get the one in purple, and then Kul'gosh and Vull can take care of the other two. Let's go."They snuck back quietly to their previous position and then Vull adn Kul'gosh watched as Hur'gun and Gulmar
disappeared .
Kul'gosh and Vull waited in the stillness of the night, listening to some strange bug keep *chirping*, when all of the sudden Gulmar appeared and
stabbed his target in the back, instantly killing them. The other beasts gaped silently for a moment at Gulmar, but Hur'gun appeared before any of the other beast could attack Gulmar and sliced downward with his blade, almost slicing off the spellcaster's left arm before he
disappeared, only to reappear a few feet from Kul'gosh and Vull's hiding spot. Kul'gosh stood up shouted a war cry before loosing his own attack at the spellcaster. His
spell hit the spellcaster in the chest and finished him off before it bounced over to the other beasts and hit them. Gulmar had already disappeared again, Hur'gun was dueling with one of the remaining beasts, and Vull and
charged at the last beast left. Kul'gosh had nothing left to do except to heal the wounds of his comrades once they were finished. He sneered, these monsters were weak and cowardly. They had hardly put up a fight at all, in fact, the other fighting was already over, Kul'gosh moved forward, one of his comrades might have been wounded, but he doubted it. A few minutes later, the rest of their group arrived at the top of the knoll, they all ignored the limp forms thrown to the side.
Hur'gun stood up.
"Set up camp and get some rest. Tomorrow we'll have a lot of work to do. Drom and Tulk, you have the first watch." Kul'gosh watched as his brothers set up camp and fortified the top of the hill. They hadn''t been prepared when they first exited the portal, but the pink skinned monsters had better watch out, he thought.
"We are coming for you."
Post by Queggy
Blood and Shadow (The Fifth Night)Kul'gosh sat up slowly, his giant tusked mouth stretching farther apart than seemed possible as he yawned. At first he thought that his head was pounding, but then he realized that it was the ocean that was making the noise. Apparently he had slept through most of the day judging by the position of the sun on the horizon. It was almost dusk. The dripping forms of the children marched up the beach towards him. One of them had slung a few fish over his shoulder.
A while later the fire was sinking lower and the fish was but a memory. Kul'gosh leaned back slowly until his head rested on the sand, the stars and fire dancing in his eyes.
"Well," he asked tiredly.
"Are you ready to continue the story now?"Kul'gosh loped back towards camp, exulting in the
freedom of movement granted to him by the spirits. With their help he could cover ground much more quickly and also blend in more. At the top of the hill where their base camp was located, he found Hur'gun drilling soldiers on battle tactics. Kul'gosh ran right up to him and shifted back to his Orc form, panting and placing his fist over his heart in a salute.
"Blademaster," he gasped tiredly,
"I got as close to the outpost as I dared and then scoped in on their movements." Hur'gun waited quietly for him to continue.
"The walls are heavily fortified and guards patrol them frequently. I believe that there is a place where those that practice the arcane reside. I do not believe that it will be easily taken."Hur'gun grimaced and swore.
"We don't have enough strength to go through them to reach the portal again! This was supposed to be a scouting mission! Did you see anything else?"Kul'gosh shook his head.
"No Blademaster. There was nothing but a small village and a few outlying farms."Hur'gun stood there pondering the situation for a moment or two while the soldiers behind him fidgeted restlessly.
"Farms you say?" Hur'gun inquired.
"Yes, Blademaster." he replied.
"Then the thing to do," Hur'gun said.
"Is to harry the farms and the village, drawing the monsters strength away from the Portal."Kul'gosh gaped at the Blademaster.
"Harry them? They are defenseless peons! There is no honor in such combat!""Honor?" Hur'gun replied.
"Honor died long ago. This is a war. I will do whatever it takes to get us back to Draenor."Kul'gosh just stood there, his mouth agape as the camp burst into a flurry of motion as everyone prepared to move out.