The plague- part 1
The plague
They left the corridor and turned north into the hills.
For the next hours, they rode side by side with the Gravelfist orcs through the hills. Some of the orcs seemed to disapprove of members of the divine races coming to their encampment, but none of them spoke up against their leader. So, while their obedience to their charismatic leader kept their chaotic natures in check, some of them nonetheless shot hate-filled looks at them. However, when Jan checked their auras, he found that none of those orcs was genuinely evil.
Except for the "Clack-Clock" of their steeds hooves, it was a silent ride. Neither Donnangar nor his followers adressed the adventurers, and they, not knowing what to say, remained silent as well. As they rode on, the nameless orb rose, covering everything with it's pale light.
The monotony of the ride had made the friends drowsy, and they had started to wonder just how long they would have to ride on, as they saw the glow of a large fire and a collum of smoke behind the next hill. Immediately, the orcs dug their heels into their steeds and rode up the hill, with the heroes following close behind.
From their, they saw an orcish camp. There were dozens of tents which were encircled by a circular ditch on a hill some hundred yards away. Close to it, there were several animals, mostly horses and cattle, surrounded by large, wooden impromptu fences. Everywhere, there were Orcs, fighting back groups of attackers, while three of the tents were burning.
The attackers were six legged lions. Their bodies were bent in a way that the front portion was in an upright position, and they were wielding primitve spears, while they used their "middle" paws to claw at their opponents. They looked like feline centaurs, only that their upper body wasn't human, but still those of lions except for their front paws, which were formed like human hands.
The orcs at the camp seemed to have a hard time driving back the attackers, and Donnangar spit out their name:"Proud!".
Just as they were about to ride to the camp in order to help the pressed orcs, they saw two additional groups charging through the plains. Donnangar and his men rode down to intercept the right group, and the heroes rode down the left side of the hill to intercept the other one.
As that group of proud ones saw, that the friends were blocking the way to the camp, they lowered their spears and charged the heroes.
Some of them hit during that initial attack, and as the adventurers fought back, they soon saw that those "Proud" were indeed ferocious and formidable opponents. In melee, they got back on their hindlegs and towered over them, while they were thrusting their spears and slashing with their claws.
For minutes, they fought, and each time they managed to defeat one of their feline enemies, another one of the adventurers was wounded by a spear or a claw, until only Ben, Jan and two of the proud were left standing.
Fortunately, Ben had by now taken care of his wounded and unconcious friends, knowing that they were stable, and he was dodging the blows of one of the proud while Jan fought another one. Even though the Paladin was heavily armored, he too was by now bleeding from several small cuts and bruises, and as he saw as the other Proud tossed Ben through the air like an oversized toy, he knew that he was in dire distress.
Jan was now battling the two remaining proud. He hardly got to striking any blows himself, since he was busy keeping them in his front. He knew that once they would be flanking him, he would be doomed. But then, after he had been hit again, he wounded his opponent and suddenly, Donnangar was there.
The orc jumped down his dire wolf, drawing his falchion in one swift motion and with a speed and agility that was astounding for such a massive humanoid, he quickly cut the proud in half.
Now, with his back free, Jan struck down his remaining opponent and immediately afterwards he and Donnangar checked on his friends in order to tend to their wounds. As he used his divine powers, Jan was surprised to see that Donnangar too was wielding divine powers- the orc uttered short mantras and the wounds of the unconcious heroes closed.
When they had all regained their conciousness, Donnangar cleared his throat and spoke with his deep and harmonic voice:" You have gained my gratitude. The battle is over, and you have almost risked your lives, trying to defend our settlement. Gortak is right, indeed, there is nobility in some members of the divine races.
"Since you have risked your life fighting the enemies of orcs, you shall celebrate like orcs, as well. Come, and we shall drink beer from the skulls of our vanquished foes!"
As they rode down to the encampment, Ben asked the orcish chief about the Proud, and Donnangar explained, that the proud were a race that had once been created by Hrinruuk, the hunter. During the divine war, they had lost whatever culture and civilisation they used to own and were now savage humanoids who only lived for the battle. Worst of all, their favorite food were humanoid babies and children, while they didn't make much difference between Goblins, Orcs, Humans, Elves or any other species, as long as it was humanoid.
They went into the encampment, and now, the resentment of the orcs had disappeared. Considering their visitors to be brothers in arms, there was much backslapping and cheering and they were offered places of honor next to Donnangar.
They all sat down in a big circle around a bonfire that was lit for the occasion, and Donanngar adressed the orcs in their own tongue while Torn translated for his friends:" We have fought a great battle tonight. Tomorrow, we will burn and mourn our dead, but tonight, we will celebrate the living!".
And with that, he raised his cup, which was crafted from a Proud's skull and the actual party started. For hours, the night sounded with drunken orcish songs, and they sang and drank until the sun rose again. By then, all of the heroes had laid down to sleep and only Torn celebrated along until he fell into a drunken stupor.
On the next morning, Jan was the first to wake up. Now, he saw that there were several tents which were removed from the rest of the camp. As he walked past one, he saw an orcish druid opening the tent. In the tent, there were six orcs who were all covered by patches of green fungus.
He waited outside until the druid was back and asked him what was wrong with those inside. The druid seemed surprised that anyone could not know and he said:"It is the plague, of course.".
"What kind of plague? I have never heard of it?".
"Now, it seems that is is some kind of fungus that starts to grow on the skin and eventually enters the body through the orifices, where it grows in the intestines and the lungs, and so on, until the infected one dies. Unfortunately, we have only one druid who is powerful enough to cure this disease, but he can only do so once per day... Unfortunately the disease is killing faster then we can heal the infected ones..."
Jan nodded gravely and went back to the tent that had been given to him and his friends where he told them what he found out.
As they walked out together, they encountered Donnangar and asked him about the plague.
"Ah, I wanted to talk to you about that, myself. You see, for about a month or so, we had been suffering from the plague. Some of us are spared while some of us get ill and die... You can probably understand, that for a people of warriors like us, it is even more horrible to die like that, without honor...
"Anyway, the first who had been infected had been Orcs who had been in Mullis town before. Now, I wonder whether the cause of this disease lies in Mullis Town. We would like to investigate their, but no human trusts an orc...", said Donnangar and shrugged.
"It is highly unusual for me to ask you this, but our prophet Gortak says that the future of my people lies in cooperation with the likes of you, so I humbly ask you to go to Mullis Town for us and find out what causes this plague".
They didn't have to think long and after looking around and seeing that his friends agreed, Torn said:" We are more then willing to do this. We would like to look around a little more here, and then we will be off.".
Jan had another question:"What I don't understand is that you are such a friendly people. I don't want to insult you, but I have never expected to find orcs who are not only motivated by their own wild natures!"
"I do not consider your question insulting. It is true- we orcs are filled with the rage of our creator: Khadum. And he created us for a life of war and bloodshed. Yet, when the Paladins of Mithril created the Windspires, more then a hundred years ago, there was a time, when all of a sudden the weather here in the plains improved.
"All of a sudden, the land blossomed, and many of us, among them my tribe, the Gravelfists, were able to settle down and live lives as farmers or artisans... Unfortunately, the Vengaurak and the Blood monsoon destroyed many of the spires and the weather got hostile again. Yet, for once we had tasted a life that was better then the one Khadum had planned for us... We have changed. And though we Gravelfists are now hated by many other tribes because of our relations with humans, most of believe that this is the way to go."
Donanngar paused shortly and then added, like an afterthough:" But of course we are still warriors, do never forget that."
They shook hands, and the heroes went back to the infected ones in order to learn more about the plague.
As they walked there, Ben said:" While we are still here, we should be careful not to touch the infected orcs or their clothing. I don't want to turn into a mushroom, and I am certain neither do you.".
That was great.
