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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lars Frehse" data-source="post: 924197" data-attributes="member: 1674">Battle of Scorched Rock- part 2Those Scorchskulls who weren't killed right away tried to save themselves by running away. After all, half of the soldiers and their chieftain were dead before they even knew what was going on. As far as they were concerned, it was impossible that any enemies could have gotten to the scorched Rock. After all, there were scouts all along the border, and they would have had to be invisible to get there in the first place.Nothing had prepared them for the slaughter they were now experiencing. There wasn't even a real chance of fighting back, since their opponents were killing them from fortified positions above. So, they ran, carrying their wounded among them.Ben and his pioneers cheered as they shot a few last arrows after their fleeing enemies. Their first battle had been a full success and they hadn't even lost one orc. When the enemies were gone, Ben's orcs looted the dead that had been left behind and seeing that there was little chance that more enemies would come this night, they celebrated well into the night, using the beer that they had brought through the portal as well.Two days later, they saw the main force of the Gravelfists approaching from the west. Niklas, who had scouted ahead, was the first to arrive on the rock, and immediately he told the incarnate about the battle he had witnessed himself.The orcs had attacked their enemies with the unstoppable force of a tidal wave, and for two hours, he and everyone else wasn't able to judge just how the battle was working out. Like all other officers, Niklas had fought alongside the men in the front row, and there was no tactic or planning. The only rule was that whenever you saw an enemy, you attacked him.Eventually, though, there were less and less enemies to attack, and the only ones left standing were Gravelfist orcs. When the battle had died down and the sun was setting, they roughly estimated that they had lost about a thousand orcs and another thousand were severely wounded and would need at least a few days to recover.For the Scorchskulls, however, the battle had been a disaster. Most of the five thousand warriors who had attacked were dead. Those who were wounded were killed as well, for even though the Gravelfists had reached some civilization, they were still orcs, and just like they would never expect mercy from an enemy, they would never think of giving any either. They considered mercy to be a sign of weakness and for them, taking prisoners was just wrong and against nature.Once they had climbed onto the rock, the army settled down. Even though the plateau of the scorched rock was big enough for a town to be built there, it was still crowded when the nine thousand remaining Gravelfist-orcs settled down there. Fortunately, the waterhole in the middle seemed to offer an unlimited supply of water and their food would last them for several weeks as well.After sunset, Jan was approached by one young orc who had been close to him ever since he had settled down in the camp. His name was Chirra, and to the paladin's surprise, he seemed to be genuinely interested in Corean. "Sir", he said breathlessly, "I and some other of the orcs had seen strange lights in the waterhole.""What lights?" Jan asked in common, since he was the only one of the friends for whom the orcish tongue appeared to be unpronounceable.Chirra spread his arms, indicating his own puzzlement:" I don't know. It looks like there are eerie lights deep down in there"Jan, who had been sitting on a stool in his small tent, pushed his hands on his knees and got up: "Alright, I will take a look, then. Come along".He picked up his friends and Donnangar, and together, they went to the waterhole. And really, there, somewhere deep in the water, they saw pale lights, which seemed to be slowly moving. However, from up there, it was hard to tell whether the lights were right under the surface or somewhere in the far deep of the unexplored water reservoir."I'll take a look", Ben announced and jumped down, turning into a shark as he hit the surface of the water.For a while, the shaft went straight down. Then, after a couple of dozen yards, and well under the surface of the plains, Ben suddenly found himself in what seemed to be a giant underwater cave. Except for the rock above him, he saw no end anywhere.The dancing lights were still far away, and for a moment Ben wondered whether he had discovered an underwater ocean. Lead by an impulse, he decided to swim deeper towards the lights, and soon he reached the first swarm of white and blind fish.He ate some and noticed that he liked their taste, and then he noticed that there was something strange here. There was a scent, which he had never smelled before. It was almost as if everything down here had taken on the scent of something living, as if this one living being had been around for long enough that even the fish had taken on it's smell.It was then that he saw the giant tentacle shooting towards him.The thing was about as thick as he was, and he was a big shark, after all, and it moved at a speed much faster than his own, that much was clear. Yet, something in Ben kept him from running. Somehow, this whole situation seemed to be of no threat to him. In a way, it was almost familiar."So, you have returned, as you have promised", a voice suddenly boomed in Ben's head.Staying calm, Ben thought, addressing the source of the voice:" You know me?""Yes, sure", the voice boomed, and then it "said"  something that no humanoid tongue was supposed to pronounce- it was Ben's shark name.Now Ben understood. He must have been here in one of his previous lives, and assumed his shark form back then as well. "Well", he thought wistfully, "So much about discovering this ocean."."Pardon?" the voice boomed again, and Ben realized that the thing must have thought that he had addressed it."I am sorry", Ben thought, "but I don't have any memories of the last time I was here. So, who are you?"</blockquote>

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