Post by Oniryukain on Aug 9, 2006 21:14:41 GMT -5
*~The Coming of the Orcs~*
[/b][/center]Around the year -3000 DR (1003 PreSol) a strange horde of humanoid creatures appear on ships from the Darkus Sea and made landings near the Crying Falls of Ensis. These beings seemed much like large bulky Humans with often-greater amounts of hair, even to the point of seemingly like fur, and small tusks out of their mouths as well as an obvious lack of intelligence. They first had contact with the impressive Sillilnyme Empire, the noble haughty Elves of the western coastal region – this meeting was one of massive bloodshed, as upon seeing the Elves these outsiders attacked without warning and managed to destroy the port village of Les-Mith, this was obviously met with a terrible show of the Empire’s might. The outsiders that attacked the port were slaughtered beyond description, but this was not all of them, most of their ships landed closer to the actual waterfalls. These beings continued to land on the coast, the Sillilnyme sent warning to the Human villages that littered the edge of their empire in the south, not far from the falls, and quickly they readied themselves for battle. The creatures launched a series of offensives against these villages and met heavy resistance from these entrenched Humans, the two groups took heavy casualties during this initial battle from underestimating their opposition. The second set of offensives launched by the outsiders took a handful of the villages with no Human survivors, there are many horror stories describing the carnage of these beasts one of the most well remember being they flayed the women and child and devoured their flesh. The Sillilnyme sent no aid, yet they did not turn away any of the Human refugees, they did not wish to bring this horde back toward the inadequately defended border so all they could do is gather their forces and wait. Many Humans lost their love for the Elves during this, but in hindsight it is quite understandable their tactics even if it is inhumane to those suffering from the attacks. These attacks would last nearly six months before a turn in the tide.
Following reports of these attacks in the west, the Arbonian Empire held gladiatorial style games in efforts to find a warrior of enough skill to handle these outsiders without sending out the armed forces that were currently stationed on the border with Jaia. The games were vicious and often considered worse than the carnage seen in war, there was no rules in the matches, only the survivor would be crowned the greatest warrior in Fenmyr. The games came down to four people: Quain Dracheklinge, Destiny Makrelen, Drei Kife, and Shin – in the final match of the game a free-for-all between the four of them, Quain conquered each and every one of them without slaying any of them. Upon being crowned champion, his reward was their lives as their reward would had been death instead of endangering the champion’s mission, the Ensis granted Quain’s request only if they could defeat the outsiders. After receiving the blessings of the Ensis, the four gathered their supplies and headed to the Crying Falls, a journey that would take three months.
Over these three months the four would grow closer as a team, friends, and even something more between Quain and Destiny, they would face great dangers and difficult choices. There was fun and laughter on the way, a journey is nothing without such, but soon enough they came to the site. As it came into view, the smoldering remains of what use to be a small village filled their senses – the smell of death and blood, the sound of the dying and the howling wind, the taste of blood and sweat, the sight of the destruction and the scattered bodies, and the cold feel of the death hung in the air. As they went about proper burial of the dead, they found a single survivor, a girl named Sara who told them about the attackers, beasts with tusks like boars, “Orcs” as she put it. The word, was foreign but seemed proper for these outsiders. Following the girl’s information, the four found these “Orcs” and sought retribution for the fallen, what followed came to be known as the Dracheklinge Triumph, yet it was far from a total victory. In the battle, both Destiny and Drei were slain by the Orcs, Destiny in an attempt to save Quain and Drei from the magic of several shamans. In the end though, Quain managed to take the Chieftain’s head and the orcs scattered mostly to the east and south – their mission completed Quain and Shin began the journey back to Verzhul, the capital of Arbon. However, on the journey back the two grew apart, cold and hateful of one another, to the point that Shin left to enter the northern realm where his one lover still dwelled. Now alone, Quain finally returned and was welcomed as a hero, a hero that was dead on the inside, his closest friends – those he fought beside all gone, he has little to live for, but that would not be the case for long.