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His name was Sardrun Steelborn, and he was the sole survivor of the massacre at the Ungbarroud slave camp.
He was but a dwarven boy of eleven years.
And a detachment of the Arragoth Marines, assisted by adventurer auxiliaries, had come to bring him home.
Herr Heike Eisen was one such auxiliary. She had journeyed to Belgrath, the great dwarven city (even so, in its diminished state), in an attempt to earn the favor of Reikhurst's old allies. She knew not what to expect, but she did not anticipate that such favor would be easily granted. For after all, she was but one woman, a knight of a decimated order from the ruined capital of a shattered kingdom, and it had been five long years since that very ruination. But if she could show the Council of Belgrath that there was hope yet for the Kingdom of Reikhurst, that she was willing to give of herself to aid with whatever ailed the dwarven stronghold, perhaps she could reforge that old trust, and thus gain an ally in the upcoming battle against the Slaughtern Vampire Host.
As it turned out, her arrival was timely.
A general call had been put out in the City Center of Belgrath, a call for diverse adventurers and fighters that had been going on for weeks. Though Belgrath, with a Portal Stone located within the city itself, was a hub for travelers going east and west through the Spine, not many had answered this general call. The nature of the task was a perilous one indeed.
The Arragoth Marines were going to delve into the Blightlands, into territory under the brutal control of Molthal and its teeming hordes of Blight Orcs, to liberate the slaves of a camp named "Ungbarroud." The Blight Orcs had recently sacked a dwarven hold in the far eastern mountains of the Spine, taking any dwarves that they did not slaughter outright there to Ungbarroud. Among those captured was Sardrun Steelborn, nephew to a venerable and respected Councildwarf of the esteemed Steelborn Clan. Nearly all of Belgrath was incensed by this transgression by Molthal, and thus the mission was born. The plan was straightforward: use the Belgrath Stone to teleport (in waves) the raiding force of Marines and adventurers to the Ixchel North Stone, hurry north to the fork in the Drawa River whereupon the Ungbarroud camp was to be found, liberate the slaves, and retreat back to the Ixchel Stone before they were overwhelmed.
Upon learning of this mission, Heike Eisen volunteered immediately.
The journey to Ungbarroud had gone well. The first battle of the mission, fought there, had not.
The Blight Orcs occupying the slave camp had proven to be extraordinarily vicious and cunning. Though outnumbered by the hundred-strong force of Marines and the thirty-strong force of auxiliary adventurers, they held the gates and harried attempts to scale the wall. This, as they were sensing inevitably defeat, to buy time for their fellow Orcs to begin systematically butchering all of the slaves in the camp. And, at the same time, a small and covert flanking force had gone round and killed scores of the Marines' and adventurers' mounts--which would cripple the upcoming retreat to the Ixchel Stone.
The Marines and adventurers prevailed without a single casualty, despite the Orcs' tenacious defense and flanking maneuver. Inside the camp, they found the piles of corpses, all those dwarves taken from the fallen hold and hauled off here to Ungbarroud. Then, underneath one odd pile, Captain Grunni Ironhammer himself found Sardrun. All of the other dwarves near the boy, his fellow compatriots of the fallen hold, had shielded him from the Orcs' butchery by throwing themselves on top of him, protecting him as they themselves were hacked to pieces. The boy was covered in blood and white with shock.
But it was time to go. They hadn't a moment to lose.
Hordes of Orcs, seeking glory and spoils and the favor of Menalus, were converging on the retreating Marines and adventurers as soon as they heard.
Days after the raid on Ungbarroud, the foremost of these hordes has caught up with them.
"ARRRRRRAAAAAAGOOOOTH!" Captain Grunni shouted. "FOR-MA-TION!"
Heike watched as the dwarven Marines organized themselves in disciplined fashion into their ranks, filling up the descending draw from wall to wall. These walls were sharp ridges, practically cliffs, that were impassable terrain lest the Orcs had some kind of magic in their arsenal. Thus the draw would act as a funnel, limiting their numbers that they could have in battle at once, this advantage outweighing the minor bit of high ground enjoyed by the oncoming Orcs as they descended into the valley. And they were out of time regardless--this was as good as it was going to get.
Sardrun, at the back of the formation with Heike, said with a frail tone and glassed eyes, "They're going to take me back..."
Heike knelt. Placed her armored hands on the dwarven boy's shoulders. Said firmly, "They shall not. Do you hear me, Sardrun? They shall not. We're not, I'm not--"
Ella. Her failure to the orphan girl. And a pang of guilt. Shame.
"--going to let anything happen to you."
Sardrun just looked at her. His lips trembling as the distant howls and battlecries of the rapidly approaching Orcs could be heard, the rising dust of their rumbling advance like the smokestack of some baleful fire. Heike's face was hard set with determination, but it did little to assuage the boy's trepidation. And so Heike stood, amidst the other adventurers at the back of the Marines' formation.
Victory. Victory would assuage his fear.
And in that victory as well, perhaps a measure of redemption for herself, for a failure of her past.
He was but a dwarven boy of eleven years.
And a detachment of the Arragoth Marines, assisted by adventurer auxiliaries, had come to bring him home.
* * * * *
Herr Heike Eisen was one such auxiliary. She had journeyed to Belgrath, the great dwarven city (even so, in its diminished state), in an attempt to earn the favor of Reikhurst's old allies. She knew not what to expect, but she did not anticipate that such favor would be easily granted. For after all, she was but one woman, a knight of a decimated order from the ruined capital of a shattered kingdom, and it had been five long years since that very ruination. But if she could show the Council of Belgrath that there was hope yet for the Kingdom of Reikhurst, that she was willing to give of herself to aid with whatever ailed the dwarven stronghold, perhaps she could reforge that old trust, and thus gain an ally in the upcoming battle against the Slaughtern Vampire Host.
As it turned out, her arrival was timely.
A general call had been put out in the City Center of Belgrath, a call for diverse adventurers and fighters that had been going on for weeks. Though Belgrath, with a Portal Stone located within the city itself, was a hub for travelers going east and west through the Spine, not many had answered this general call. The nature of the task was a perilous one indeed.
The Arragoth Marines were going to delve into the Blightlands, into territory under the brutal control of Molthal and its teeming hordes of Blight Orcs, to liberate the slaves of a camp named "Ungbarroud." The Blight Orcs had recently sacked a dwarven hold in the far eastern mountains of the Spine, taking any dwarves that they did not slaughter outright there to Ungbarroud. Among those captured was Sardrun Steelborn, nephew to a venerable and respected Councildwarf of the esteemed Steelborn Clan. Nearly all of Belgrath was incensed by this transgression by Molthal, and thus the mission was born. The plan was straightforward: use the Belgrath Stone to teleport (in waves) the raiding force of Marines and adventurers to the Ixchel North Stone, hurry north to the fork in the Drawa River whereupon the Ungbarroud camp was to be found, liberate the slaves, and retreat back to the Ixchel Stone before they were overwhelmed.
Upon learning of this mission, Heike Eisen volunteered immediately.
* * * * *
The journey to Ungbarroud had gone well. The first battle of the mission, fought there, had not.
The Blight Orcs occupying the slave camp had proven to be extraordinarily vicious and cunning. Though outnumbered by the hundred-strong force of Marines and the thirty-strong force of auxiliary adventurers, they held the gates and harried attempts to scale the wall. This, as they were sensing inevitably defeat, to buy time for their fellow Orcs to begin systematically butchering all of the slaves in the camp. And, at the same time, a small and covert flanking force had gone round and killed scores of the Marines' and adventurers' mounts--which would cripple the upcoming retreat to the Ixchel Stone.
The Marines and adventurers prevailed without a single casualty, despite the Orcs' tenacious defense and flanking maneuver. Inside the camp, they found the piles of corpses, all those dwarves taken from the fallen hold and hauled off here to Ungbarroud. Then, underneath one odd pile, Captain Grunni Ironhammer himself found Sardrun. All of the other dwarves near the boy, his fellow compatriots of the fallen hold, had shielded him from the Orcs' butchery by throwing themselves on top of him, protecting him as they themselves were hacked to pieces. The boy was covered in blood and white with shock.
But it was time to go. They hadn't a moment to lose.
Hordes of Orcs, seeking glory and spoils and the favor of Menalus, were converging on the retreating Marines and adventurers as soon as they heard.
Days after the raid on Ungbarroud, the foremost of these hordes has caught up with them.
* * * * *
THE SECOND BATTLE
THE SECOND BATTLE
"ARRRRRRAAAAAAGOOOOTH!" Captain Grunni shouted. "FOR-MA-TION!"
Heike watched as the dwarven Marines organized themselves in disciplined fashion into their ranks, filling up the descending draw from wall to wall. These walls were sharp ridges, practically cliffs, that were impassable terrain lest the Orcs had some kind of magic in their arsenal. Thus the draw would act as a funnel, limiting their numbers that they could have in battle at once, this advantage outweighing the minor bit of high ground enjoyed by the oncoming Orcs as they descended into the valley. And they were out of time regardless--this was as good as it was going to get.
Sardrun, at the back of the formation with Heike, said with a frail tone and glassed eyes, "They're going to take me back..."
Heike knelt. Placed her armored hands on the dwarven boy's shoulders. Said firmly, "They shall not. Do you hear me, Sardrun? They shall not. We're not, I'm not--"
Ella. Her failure to the orphan girl. And a pang of guilt. Shame.
"--going to let anything happen to you."
Sardrun just looked at her. His lips trembling as the distant howls and battlecries of the rapidly approaching Orcs could be heard, the rising dust of their rumbling advance like the smokestack of some baleful fire. Heike's face was hard set with determination, but it did little to assuage the boy's trepidation. And so Heike stood, amidst the other adventurers at the back of the Marines' formation.
Victory. Victory would assuage his fear.
And in that victory as well, perhaps a measure of redemption for herself, for a failure of her past.
Experimenting with starting a thread in medias res, past the usual meet and greet. Feel free to assume a basic level of familiarization with your character, my character, and others that are part of the auxiliaries.