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Message: <blockquote data-quote="seasong" data-source="post: 735766" data-attributes="member: 5137">Breaking Cat"Great dragon, what is it you would speak with me about? Our humble tribe has observed and respected the ways of dragons in all places we have been. My ancestor..."The kobold tilted its head, and spoke for Amalan in orc, "I am not interested in your history, humble or otherwise." It paused to sweep its arm across an arc covering the orc army in the distance, "Orcs have always been in the wild valleys. Orcs have always observed the compact. This is as it should be, and I do not care where they travel, so long as they leave no more trace than they have in the past."The kobold hissed the next words, angrily, "But orcs have been careless! In the past four years, two tribes, desperately, have damaged the land. I have been forced to take a direct hand! I have had to heal scars in the earth!"The war chief, ten times the mass of the small kobold, took a step back, "I, Great Dragon, we have not done these things! We are...""Silence! You have not done these things yet. And so it is that I will not destroy you yet. But I have observed carefully, these past few years. The tribes have shifted. They moved east and west like too many tadpoles in an orphaned pool of water, trying to find clear space, and tearing into each other to clear it."The kobold looked intently at the war chief, "But mostly, the tribes move west. Most of the tribes that have done damage are new tribes, from the east beyond my lands. I would know why, and you have come from the farthest east of any tribe. You will tell me what you know."Upslope, still trudging slowly and almost out of earshot, Athan almost fell backward for leaning.The orc looked down at the kobold. It was such a tiny creature, pitiful even compared to the humans, and yet his survival, and the survival of his people, depended upon how he treated it. He was not worried about his people's opinion of him, should he grovel. His people had a long and glorious history of grovelling to dragons - it was simply how you dealt with creatures that could flatten entire tribes. But the appeals to pity and demonstration of humility was not working.He thought of the human. The human leader had bowed, been respectful, but had calmly accepted judgement rather than beg for better. He could understand that, although it was almost will-breaking to speak so to a dragon. He straightened his shoulders, "Very well. You care nothing for my tribe. You care nothing for our history. I have spoken with two dragons before this. Neither made threatening sounds when my people had done nothing wrong. Neither treated my people's history as armorcat dung.""I will tell you what you wish to know. You are powerful, and hold dominion over these lands, and I believe you have a right to know. But I will not bend my back to a dragon who can not return respect with respect."The dragon leaned down, and his voice shook the earth beneath the orc's feet, "FORGIVE... MY IMPATIENCE. I AM... TIRED... OF THESE PROBLEMS. I WOULD... SEE THEM... SOLVED."The war chief suddenly felt many times better about this approach. A tiny voice in his head was still screaming in fear, but he silenced it, "Oh great dragon, your statement fills my heart. I will tell you what you wish without reservation!""Far to the east lies a tribe, the Buhkenahk. They hold a mountain sacred to all orcs, and are a powerful tribe. They are stronger even than us, although they have learned to respect our strength. Ten years ago, one of their tribe came to be known as a mighty warrior of legendary power. In battles, he was said to slay ten enemies with every attack, and to have hurled boulders as might a giant.""That mighty warrior became their new war chief, and became greedy. He coveted larger lands, and had a vision of orcs united under one name: Buhkenahk. It is a grand vision, and he is not the first orc to have dreamed of such a thing. But I will not be called Buhkenahk, and so I and my people traveled west.""The life of a nomad is harsh. We can not afford pity for another tribe. We have driven tribes before us as we travelled, and they have in turn driven tribes before them. These are the new tribes you speak of.""I have grown tired of destroying orcs. I have grown weary of war with my own people."The orc continued to say more, but Athan and the General had left earshot of the orc's strong voice.</blockquote>

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