Post by Sir Kerag on Sept 12, 2011 22:35:03 GMT -5
Kerag's lupine ears perked when Chaz said she was a drow. He'd assumed Chaz shacked up with another kitten, but it seemed the clever inventor was full of surprises. He nodded silently, intently listening to the Cat before finally speaking up, clearing his throat.
"Oh wow, I wasn't expecting such..." What was the word he was looking for? "Complications in your life Charles. I understand why you came to town then."
The orc leaned closer to Chaz, making sure no one else could hear them.
"Whenever you get the time, and it's not presumptuous of me to ask, you've got to tell me how you tied the knot with a drow woman! I hear most are not so cuddly, but I like to think you have good taste in women. I offer my services to you again good sir, if anyone comes lookin for ya, let me know and I'll set em straight!" He pumped his arm, making a confident gesture and smiled.
Haha! He grinned widely, his ears flattening to his head again.
Yeah, I'll be sure to. Usually I try not to pick fights, but, uh....trouble usually somehow finds me. He rubbed the back of his neck, his grin turning sheepish.
That's how we met, actually. I got time if you do.
A good scientist is a person with original ideas. A good engineer is a person who makes a design that works with as few original ideas as possible.
Post by Sir Kerag on Sept 12, 2011 23:22:56 GMT -5
Kerag laughed, motioning with his hand to continue.
"Now's as good a time as any. Who knows when I'll be able to sit down and relax once I'm back on duty. Indulge my curiosity Charles I have all night."
Kerag snagged the ivory skull pipe from his pouch, fitting the tip comfortably in between his lips. Inside was an abundance of small red-tinted herbs he proceeded to light now, inhaling a lung full of strawberry scented red smoke which danced upwards from his nostrils in wispy tendrils.
Well...alright. He took in a deep breath and patted the table.
The Overwood is a forest not far from here, big and pretty well soaked in magic. The Drow cities are deep inside, and if you go in there without permission they kill you. He leaned back a little, gesturing widely with his hands.
See, I lived in a little village on the outsides of the Overwood. The Cathian that come from there are descended from a little more...wild stock. That's why Tallia looks different. She's from the North, I'm from the West. Anyways, we were having a...hobgoblin problem. He winced.
We were sieged for a week or so, and the last of us were holed up in the biggest building in town, the church. Hundred or so of us, all in this church designed for fifty people. It looked hopeless, the last of our food was running out, the barricades were weakening, and them BAM!
He stood up, the chair kicking out from under him. He gestured wildly, almost childishly as he spoke, animatedly detailing the battle that followed.
The Drow swept in! The villages on the outskirts were their major contact with the outside world, and they liked us enough to help when they knew we couldn't help ourselves. There were a dozen or so, a whole squadron, sweeping through them like a hot knife through butter, and at the head... He sighed, spreading his arms.
Anri! She was gorgeous! She was a mage then, still is, lightning shooting from her fingers, zapping the goblins left and right, but it wasn't enough. There were hundreds of them, and eventually even the Drow were forced into the church. They held them off for four hours until the barricades got smaller and smaller. At the time, I was working on these little...well, they're these metal balls that you threw and there's an explosion, sort of like magic but not, and I was using those until I ran out, and as I threw my last one I saw Anri got knocked over.
His hair stood up on end as he remembered, and he jumped onto his chair, holding an imaginary weapon.
There was a goblin hanging over her, and I ran at it, no idea what I was doing, swinging my wrench, and clocked it over the head. I either killed it or knocked it unconscious, but it didn't matter; I helped Anri up and... He grinned.
She smiled. At me. Drow never smiled. First sight.
He let out a breath and sunk into the chair, his frame a little limp but utterly happy.
She left home after that. We traveled with a circus for a while, but had to stop when her mother got sick. And now... He rubbed his neck again.
Now I'm here I guess.
He chuckled nervously and looked from Kerag to the other people at the table.
A good scientist is a person with original ideas. A good engineer is a person who makes a design that works with as few original ideas as possible.
Food and a show! The tale mesmerized Kerag, or rather, Chaz's telling of it inspired from the orc a great amount of respect and favor. The orc set his pipe down and clapped after the cat finished his story. He was grinning openly as smoke danced from his mouth.
"Charles you may have a knack for more than just inventions and repairs. Excellent performance; heart warming tale. Tis sad you can't be together right now. I myself understand the loneliness of separation and distance. It will be good to know your employment goes for the cause of love and family. I respect that."
Kerag patted him on the back again, "I knew you had some spunk to you, good job winning the girl over." He chuckled, remembering lifetimes ago it seemed to him now.
"This has been a pleasant evening Charles thanks for the talk and entertainment." He offered to shake his hand.
Post by Sir Kerag on Sept 13, 2011 11:45:48 GMT -5
Kerag was mindful of his grip, not wanting to ruin the inventor's hand. The orc laughed, surprised Chaz was interested.
"Well in that case, I can stick around to tell my story." He paused thinking for a moment. "But I'm afraid it's not a heart warming tale."
The orc shifted his weight on the chair, lighting up his pipe again, preparing to speak.
"Are you sure? Not all of it is doom and gloom I assure you; though an orc who leaves his clan to become a knight and eventually a town guard is alone for a reason."
Kerag chuckled, a tinge of sadness in his tone.
"Don't expect theatrics, I'm not as spry as you are Charles."
Last Edit: Sept 13, 2011 11:47:04 GMT -5 by Sir Kerag
Rue had been listening to Chaz's story, seeing as her companions had remained unresponsive. She excused herself from them and walked over to join the cathian and the orc, neither of whom she had ever met before.
"Excuse me, but I couldn't help but listen to your tale. Mind if I join you?"
Post by Sir Kerag on Sept 14, 2011 17:15:38 GMT -5
Kerag smiled at Rue and offered her a chair. "By all means join us."
Kerag took a long heavy drag from his ivory pipe, letting the strawberry scented red smoke drift above him in a hazy cloud, his good eye looking upwards at it, seeing within the tendrils a tapestry of war and battlefields, the events of his life on display.
"Fair enough Charles, I will tell you my story, but don't carry sympathy in your heart for me afterwards. The past remains buried in time, as it should." The orc rested his head against one hand, elbow propped on the table.
"But first I feel it's prudent to explain where I come from, the savage warrior culture from which I set forth on this long journey. To the far west are the Great Plains, home of the now fallen Mirengrote Kingdom. Half a millenium ago the orc tribes were once a united people on these plains, and their strength was fearsome, their savagery unparalleled. It took a great war chief, Grok the Cannibal, to keep the barbarians together." Kerag smirked, "Yet my people do not understand respect without fear, power without rage and mindlessness. Before Grok could topple Mirengrote, his generals betrayed him, then each other, leading to the formation of the Five Tribes."
Kerag dragged from his pipe, holding up an open hand. "In the North is where my tribe retreated after the chaos, into the mountains where we slaughtered a clan of Dwarfs living there, using their mines and the natural environment for protection. So it was for many a century, till my time." The orc scratched his chin, starting to smile. "There was a time when I was content with my journey, ignorant of the world, an honored berserker of my clan with a mate and heir, my son Dra'tok." His good eye watered a little when he croaked the name, pausing.
"The first snow of the year had covered the mountains when I was taken from them. My berserker's and I had clashed with another orc tribe over territory. We stood victorious over them, red snow as far as the eye could see. I remember dragging the slain into a huge pyre we constructed. Orcs burn the dead, burying them is a custom of the civilized world."
The red smoke lifted higher above Kerag's head, and inside he now saw the advancement of a legion of black armored soldiers in the snow.
"Weary from the battle, the thunder of another army's approach surprised us, and we stood no chance against our sophisticated opponents. The Black Knights of Mirengrote in obsidian armor and sword decimated my warriors, taking prisoners, myself included." Kerag finally looked down at his wrists and shook his head.
"I resolved to never be shackled again. Three long years in slavery, in which I flourished fighting others of my kind, slaves and brave fools to the death. When I didn't kill, I mined the mountains. That was when the rebels of Mirengrote rescued me." Kerag chuckled, "Or rather they helped. I'd had enough of my new masters and killed my overseer with my chains, and when I thought myself surrounded, outnumbered, and done for…." More red smoke left his nostrils, Kerag's eye relaxed, enjoying the whimsical shapes it made in the air above them. "A rebel prince hoping to instill an uprising against their tyrannical, bloodthirsty council, whom removed the monarchy promising a democracy instead turned oligarchical, saved my ass and freed all of us. He was a charming rogue, and I owed him my life." Kerag shook his head again, "I helped them overthrow the council….And in return the new king knighted me, only a title at first before he had me properly trained to bear the title honestly." Kerag made eye contact with Chaz. "An orc knight is a rare thing, most of my kind do not care for law or honor. At first I reluctantly followed the prince, and came to find many friends from races I'd previously hated simply because of the xenophobia I was raised upon. An orc does not care to make friends with elves and humans, we do not create, we only destroy and raid, pillage, and make war."
He lifted the pipe from his lips, drinking from a tankard of ale at his side, "I found value and appreciation in things my ignorance had kept me blind to, and a new code of honor replaced the mindless rage of my past. When I returned to north, my tribe ostracized me for mixing with the civil races despite how desperately I tried to convey how I defeated the enemies who slew so many of us. They could not see past the armor I now wore, and the compassion which awakened deep within me. My mate would not speak to me, and Dra'tok held a grudge against me. It broke my heart to be turned away from the people I so wished to return to for so long." Kerag tried to not shed a tear, but his hand went up anyways wiping away the drops that fell regardless. "So I returned to Mirengrote, serving my lord a decade before we faced an army of orcs the likes of which had not existed since Grok's time. At the head was Dra'tok, changed so much from when I last laid eyes on him. I pitied him and was proud of him all at once, so caught in hate, so trapped by it, yet so cunning and strong. Standing against my kin, our forces clashed along the plains, feeding the vultures for weeks with the sheer amount of corpses which covered the ground. Dra'tok and I dueled, so ready he was to kill me, and I so reluctant to deliver a fatal blow. When he surrendered, I offered to take him back under my wing, to show him the new world I'd discovered. Clever Dra'tok took this opportunity and cut my left eye out." Kerag felt the eyepatch with one finger, "I did not think I would ever see him again after that day…"
The orc sighed, finishing his pipe. "The next ten years in Mirengrote were happily spent, my new family managed to keep me from thinking too often of my slain kin, and I fought valiantly for my kingdom whenever trouble arose threatening its walls. The one enemy I could not swing a sword at however, crumbled all I had worked for, taking the lives of so many. A plague mysteriously swept across the kingdom, and it was all I could do to keep from getting sick. The king and everyone I held dear passed away, and so the survivors and I burned the city, like a great funeral pyre, so that perhaps the disease would not spread, and the bodies of the deceased could find peace."
Kerag looked around, spreading his arms.
"Then I heard about Wistvale, a frontier town on the edge of nowhere, where one's fortunes could be made, and danger assuredly found. I traveled a years pilgrimage to arrive here, and the rest has quickly fallen into place." Kerag sighed, then laughed. "Tis a long tale I know, thank you for sitting through it Charles." The orc smiled, letting the dreary mood wash over him and pass, it actually felt better to finally tell someone of his old plights.
"Now soon I'll pass the Guard test and help keep Wistvale safe. I may be old but I can't sit around for too long, have to stay busy."
Last Edit: Sept 14, 2011 17:17:34 GMT -5 by Sir Kerag
Venom got up as well and headed towards Kerag's little group. He tried to sit close to Rue but not enough to scare her off. He was really interested in her. Sitting and listening to the orc give his story, Venom realized he was not the only one alone with all his family and everyone else he knew gone. Maybe that's why they got along very well. They both had some emptiness within them. Venom got his feet and raised his glass, facing Kerag.
To Kerag! To the people he's lost and the new one's he's gained amongst us! We shall both be guards soon brother!
Rue listened to the story intently. Although he had said not to carry sympathy for him, Rue couldn't help but feel sympathetic and a great deal of respect for the brave orc in front of her. He had left his home to stand for something new to his race and traveled to Wistvale to help make it a better place - it made her feel like a coward for the reasons she had traveled to Wistvale. She joined Venom and raised her glass to the orc.
"Kerag, is your name? Quite a story you have there, Kerag. If you don't mind me asking, did you ever see or hear from Dra'tok again?"
Chaz listened wide-eyed, leaning off his chair a little. Finally he fell forward right as Rue asked her question, landing on his face. He got back up and cleared his throat, brushing himself off embarrassedly.
A good scientist is a person with original ideas. A good engineer is a person who makes a design that works with as few original ideas as possible.
Post by Sir Kerag on Sept 14, 2011 23:04:37 GMT -5
Kerag watched Chaz fall on his face and found it difficult to stifle his laughter. He didn't wish to be rude to his friend, so he patted him on the back. "You alright Charles? It appears my story captivated you hehe." Kerag smirked, his good eye looking over at Rue, his eyebrow raising in interest. Venom proposed a toast and Kerag rose his tankard of ale, drinking its contents greedily. "Thanks brother, so we shall indeed."
Rue posed her question, and he sighed for a moment, his lips curving into a wide grin.
"As a matter of fact I did. Here in Wistvale of all places." The orc paused, letting his response sink in before elaborating.
"During a morning patrol we found a legitimate fighting pit. I participated and my opponent turned out to be none other than my son! I was finally given the oppertunity to pay him back for his deceit, and ruined his reputation here. I do not know whether he still resides here, planning revenge, or If he has left town." Kerag frowned, finishing his tankard. He seemed troubled.