3. *ORC WAR*

*ORC WAR*

  • G

    Major Lyte, looking a bit tired still, nods to Dante

    _Clearly, the day was won by the orcs…the first victory in all of the four massive engagements they have gained on us.

    The day was not lost by any soldier's lack of bravery...all fought hard, and many brave deeds were done. We failed because somehow these orcs managed to overrun our established camp, taking back all that we had previouslyt fought so very hard to achieve.

    If we had known our advance into the fortress had been thus set back, we would not have seperated our strongest forces off to assault the lower fortress. Twas folly to try and take the entire upper level without General Grag, and without many strong clerics.

    I was at the front with Major Mog, Wog, Rolan, Dwin, and Nalio, and together, we simply did not have anywhere near the might neccesary to take the upper fortress. The archers, mages and the healers that we did have performed admirably, but there are limits to what can be accomplished with the forces we had available. The duergar below meant we could expect no relief from below in the fortress from the General, who also was facing overwhelming odds, and we held only as long as our healing and stamina allowed.

    If our camp, with it's hospital, guard, supplies and siege machines had not fallen without any warning, I think we would have succeeded. These are the fortunes and the fog of warfare.

    There will be another day, and another battle. Eventually, we will prevail."_

    she salutes


  • Dante looks around

    Is it ower or what??
    Where did everybody go??


  • Corporal Arielle finished patching up Private Gorfins wounds upon returning to Jiyyd. Seeing him in a more relieved condition, she spoke to him solemnly

    "Gorfins, doos me a fava un writes downs wot me sayins fer r'ports te de Cap'ns."

    Gorfin nodded and smiled doing his best to translate Arielles rough common accent

    Captain Elrien,
    I wish to honor at this time the bravery and courage of the Archer and Mages division in the orc war. This group stood tall and valiant, never shirked an order nor never abandoned their posts. These fighting men and women, some Legionaire, some common Jiyyd citizen militia were of the most fearless and honorable soldiers I have ever been to battle with in all my days. I was proud to have them at my side, through thick and thin they came through for the Legion and for Jiyyd. Furthermore, to the healers that came and helped us when we needed it most, I praise Helm and all of the gods for thier adept service to my division. For without them we surely would have fallen short in our arial assault. Although we did not win this war, we lived to fight another day, respectively.

    Sincerely,
    Corporal Arielle de' Arnis, Troffs Legion

    Arielle smiled at Gorfin as he looked up at her "All done ma'am."
    she then grinned and replied, "Reads it backs te mees?"
    Upon doing so, she was very satistfied with Gorfins translation. She took the letter to the Legion Hall, placing it upon Captain Elriens desk and with a heartfelt and proud look, turned and headed back towards her post at the Jiyyd west gates


  • It all sounded grand and heroic . . . take the fight to the orcs, end this war once and for all. And so they gathered. Big, (Wogs, Rolan) and small (Barquin, Dwin) and all in between. They sorted themselves and resorted themselves.

    Arandor and Lyte, Elrien and others tried to form groups and then they pushed off to wards the orc fortress. Some wondered where the General was but they were sure there was a good reason for his absence as he would never voluntarily miss a good orc battle. Spreading out into a battle line they marched to war . . . orc war.

    Jerr found himself beside the wee druid whom he called Barq. They and a few other healers gathered to try to support the fighters in the front line. But the battle did not follow a script, it was not a nice clean sweep.

    The crash of the bolt made Jerr jump with a start. he did not know if that was from their side or a mage from the other side had called it in. They hadn't even made it to the walls yet and one man was down. The happy go lucky halforc bard, Ox. No shiny dance to celebrate the victory tonight. No bellowed lyrics or saluting of officers. They dragged him to the side and pushed on. To fall back at the first sign of weakness would only strengthen the orc resolve.

    Huge orcs broke through the front line and ravaged the support group. Spells, arrows, blades and blood filled the air with a ballet of death and destruction. Short pauses in the battle only served to punctuate the violence of the moment. Jerr was glad Jena had decided not to come. The gentle healer would not have done well, here.

    The gate was, of course, locked. Strong arms and weak minds forced an entry and the force was within the walls of the orc fortress. Again the orderly lines degenerated into a maelstrom of battle, friend and foe mixed and danced the steps that always insured that one would not walk away.

    "Take the hill!" the orders kept running through Jerrs mind. "If we can take the hill then we will hold the advantage, go left through the gates . . ."

    So in through the gate sand a quick left and there were mages and more orcs than he had seen in a long time. "Charge!" Yelled some blood-crazed warrior from the Jiyyd force (or was it an orc? Th voice was loud and brutal and so distorted in the screams of the dying that was a background to the day)

    As he struggled up the hill Jerr watched ruvulets of warm blood flowing down between his feet, melting paths in the snow until they, too cololed and froze. He brushed past an orc spitting out his last defiant breath into the face of an elf and gained the ledge where he and others rained arrows down on the foes below. It was from this vantage point that he first saw him.

    He was large, a greyskinned beast. He bellowed in orcish but the name Tempus was mingled in with the words. And the spells. He called once and a man went down, stabbed a hundred times by blades stabbing up through the snow. Another gesture and phrase and Jerr staggered back as dark energy stripped him of life, replaced bravery with fear. But back to the edge and arrows rained down upon this leader who ran like the wind and seemed to shrug off or almost negligently deflect so many shots.

    He was everywhere, this leader of the orcs. Leading a charge one moment and summoning reinforcements or dropping back to heal his own forces. And as more orcs arrived fewer of the attacking force stood there to meet them.

    Now the number of bodies in the snow numbered five. Blue and Lyte, Ox and Nalio, and the wee mage, Bel'mar. Their gear was scattered about the hill, waiting for the call to fall back, or the celebration of victory. Jerr wondered, idly, whether Sy was with the others, with Grag.

    Just hold the ground. Take the fight to them. The priest orc hit and ran hit and ran. Drawing them into traps and ambushes. Bleeding them dry then sending his own forces to keep them off balance, unable to rest. The he would be back again, fresh and casting spells. And the drums kept calling and orc voices roared in the distance. The drums got louder and were answered by Jerrs drum, the War Drum of the Nars. the Jiyyd force took heart for a while but then the obvious was hammered home.

    Their force was weaker now. Bled out. potions quaffed bandages hanging in tatters off of some of them. Still the drums grew louder, and the voices, the chant to Tempus. This was not a few more orcs. This was not the village of orcs that a steady war had been fighting and depleting. This was something new, somthing more powerfull.

    Jiyyd had Grag

    The orcs had finally found their own warleader, and he was leading them to their first victory.

    Retreat was suggested.

    "Over my dead body!" One of the front liners cried.

    "That will be arranged." Jerr yelled back. "And then what of the families back in Jiyyd. Will your honor require THEIR dead bodies? We die here and Jiyyd may fall."

    Many wanted to stay, but more saw the reality as the orcs started to come out of the mist, a solid wall of mean unwashed flesh. Arrows may kill a few but the wall changed shape but not solidity. And so the force fell back. Grabbing the bodies and what they could recover of the gear, they retreated. Across snow bright with blood the dragged corpses weighed down with armor as the archers discouraged heroes and the front line became the back line, defending the slow withdrawal.

    For some it was a time of shame.

    Back in the commns Jerr sang a song, not of victory but of something more
    **He charged the forces twice his strength and made them respect his blade
    He died with honor on that field as numb hands still held his blade

    But what of after, when the battle was done?
    When we had lost, were forced to run?

    Another hero rose then too but he killed not a single foe
    He rose to a task that others might miss and his effort made him slow

    He could have run, been oh so long gone but that he did not do
    For he dragged a body, a fallen warrior, someone he never knew

    Just ten more, twenty more, he said as he tugged
    Not far but, damn, twas a heavy corpse that he lugged

    The armor was piled on the top of his pack
    Other things dangled, too, trying to break his back

    But drop it was the one thing he did not do
    For he was a battle brother, doing what he must do

    Heroes are not always those in the eye of the storm
    Risking it all while dealing out harm

    The ones who support, who do what must be done
    Who work but never get their time in the sun

    They, too, are heroes so raise your mugs high
    And join me in blessing . . . the little guy**

    //ooc I want to join the others in saying that that was an excellent event. LD I knew you were dangerous before, now I am damn glad you are usually on our side. Gobble, Corvus, great job with riding herd through crashes and all.


  • While many brave men and women stood upon the plains south of jiyyd and bore in like the spear of a hunter to the orc fortress, a smaller group was matching thier paths hundreds of feet below.

    The weary party, consisting of Grag, Zyphlin, Amissa Lee, Cathrine Evenstar, Kara Du'monte, Vall, Tolin the Dwarf, and Uchi came out from the caverns they entered some thirty six hours latter. Thier bodies were ragged, thier packs lighter, thier foot falls heavy.

    When back in Jiyyd Zyphlin spoke of the trip, thier attempt to reach the back ranks of leadership of the Orcs through the underground caverns. They travelled through successfully at first, save for a few powderkegs to open up pathways, slicing through dozens and dozens of orcs. They came to a large section of walls and a number of charging orcs. However it was past these walls that things became truly interesting.

    He told of Duegar flooding up from lower down as they battled the Orcs. Soon it was a bloody free for all, the heros fighting Duegar and Orcs. Orcs fighting the heros and dwarves. Dwarves fighting everyone. It was chaos.

    Soon all that was remaining in the little corridor were the heros and the dwarves, though sounds of the combat between the Grey Dwarves and the Orcs farther down below was evident. A bloody battle began, lasting at least eight hours or more with barely any letting up. They battled tireless despite thier muscles aching and thier minds ringing from the constant sounds of combat and hits from weapons and spells. The clerics called forth to thier gods…and the bard to his, mostly for luck...asking for more spells, but even those became depleated over the time. The General himself fell unconsious to a barrage of six of the toughest Duegar warriors, but was thankfully recovered and restored by the group only to barrel back into their flanks once more.

    In the end however a retreat was needed. The heros...bloodied, battered, and nearly dead...took a small lull to make thier way back through the caverns and to the light of day once more, leaving the Duegar and the Orcs to continue thier struggle hoping that perhaps one side would damage the other enough to end thier threat.

  • N

    ((THANKS TO GOBBLETOM, CORVUS, AND LOWERDENIZEN FOR THE BEST EVENT I'VE BEEN IN FOR AWHILE! I had a blast running around trying to keep folks alive and kill the baddies. Hats off to one of the highlites of my Narf career!))


  • Amidst the chaos of the siege on the orc fortress, while Jiyyd was an abandoned town, two tall men in black and green plate mail entered and offered their aid to a foolish halfling who claimed himself a Legion scout.

    Zy'thyal and Elvin entered town soon after and together they and the two darkly clad men set off to the orc plains, where they slew many beasts of chaos only to find the gate to the orc hold locked.

    On what may appear to be an unrelated note to the untrained intellect, on the middle of the officers' table in the Troff Royal Legion Hall, two severed orc heads lay unceremoniously, dried blood all about them and small puddles of it on the stone floor. A message is scraped into the wood with what would appear to have been something like a rusty dagger or the rough spike on an iron gauntlet. It reads, "Good tidings, General Grag and the Troff Legion, from the church of the Black Lord."

    A rather messy and sarcastic olive branch, no?

  • L

    //Couldn't be there, if it started at the exact time, I could have at least been there for all of it 😢


  • Sy'wyn is seen gathering supplies throughout Jiyyd, keeping a close eye on the menhir stones near the Jiyyd cave as he goes back and forth, then finally settles up near the temple in deep prayer, unsure if he should go out against the orcs, or stay and help with the destruction likely to be caused on the town by the orc's catapaults.

    //Not sure if i can make this one sadly. Pretty sure that Gobble has something big planned for the end, since the last one involved orcs chanting Grag the Coward!! :lol: //

  • L

    Julian waxes his precious elven bow, then tightens the strings in his harp ready to inspire his allies in the battle. He then takes his notebook and quil pen ready to write another tale


  • ((…theres a war?))


  • That's 5am Saturday for you GMT folks.
    And 3pm Saturday for Kiwis and Ozzies, iirc.

  • S
    Legion

    Sharpens axe Tonight is a for sure thing.. 12am est .. or 9pm pst 🙂 See anyone willling to die there :roll:

  • G

    not clear..fridays night in euro time? ^^

  • ICC

    @70397b758e=sd_luv:

    OK guys .. ORC NIGHT is friday night…

    *KULL raises his massive war axe real high and sets lose a wil roar that ecoes thro the surroundin areas, till the winndy plains, making the orcs wet their pants (if they have any) in complete panic * :twisted:

    WROOOOOOOOOOOHHHHH

    KULL (Half orc barbarian, Training Officer in the Legion)

    “To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of the women!”

  • S
    Legion

    OK guys .. ORC NIGHT is friday night… Gobbletom dresses up as the king and his girlfriend dresses up as the queen and usually do some "role playing". So he thought he might as well make it A official night to end the wars.. 🙂 Let the "games begin" :evil: 8O


  • well school starts up again in a few days so weekends good for me 🙂

  • ICC

    @5f086c2d52=sd_luv:

    Was hoping for this sunday!

    Works just fine for me!


  • Just give me date and time and i'll be there! 🙂

    Been wanting to get this Orc war over with for some time. 😛


  • Nalio would love to take part in it… if she's welcome...